Titanic

James Cameron’s “Titanic” is an epic, action-packed romance set against the ill-fated maiden voyage of the R.M.S. Titanic; the pride and joy of the White Star Line and, at the time, the largest moving object ever built.

She was the most luxurious liner of her era — the “ship of dreams” — which ultimately carried over 1,500 people to their death in the ice cold waters of the North Atlantic in the early hours of April 15, 1912.

The movie is a ride, and not without the odd moment of corniness. But it’s also about freedom and flight, bondage and stagnation. And most fittingly, as a memorial itself, it’s about memory and the act of remembering.

See Titanic for its success as an outrageous visual stunt — a marvel of cinematic sleight-of-hand. But don’t go with any illusions that this soap opera on water is anything but a cartoon melodrama with fairy-tale leads.

1997 | PG-13 | 3h 14m | Drama, Romance