Master Rank #586

Titanic

1997

GCML Total8.0040% Greatness · 40% Engagement · 20% Ease

Directed by James Cameron

CastLeonardo DiCaprio · Kate Winslet · Billy Zane

USAEnglishDrama / Romance194 minPG-13
AFI 100Narrative FeatureDeliberate pace
Original poster artwork · Great Cinema Master List
Oscar · 11Globe · 4

Spoiler-free premise

Aboard Titanic, wealthy passenger Rose falls for artist Jack while resisting an oppressive engagement before the ship strikes an iceberg.

Read expanded premiseLonger, still spoiler-free

In 1912, first-class passenger Rose DeWitt Bukater boards Titanic with fiancé Cal Hockley and mother Ruth, feeling trapped by their expectations. She meets third-class artist Jack Dawson, whose freedom draws her across the ship's social boundaries before disaster.

Why it belongs

Cameron unites star romance with engineering-scale catastrophe, deploying the ship's geography to expose class and survival instantly.

Read expanded why it belongsThe fuller editorial case

Full-scale sets, miniature and digital extensions, engine rooms, decks, gates, flooding corridors, James Horner's themes, and Winslet and DiCaprio's chemistry let private romance guide viewers through a complete physical system.

Major award record

Metadata only · zero points in 40/40/20

Totals include every recorded competitive win. Only Picture or top-film honors, Direction, Screenplay, and lead or supporting performances are named.

Continue the conversation

Double Feature