James Cameron's epic romance and disaster film chronicles the ill-fated maiden voyage of the R.M.S. Titanic, focusing on the forbidden love between a young aristocrat and a poor artist.
Synopsis
Rose DeWitt Bukater, a 17-year-old aristocrat, boards the R.M.S. Titanic with her wealthy fiancé and widowed mother, feeling trapped by her social obligations. Her life changes forever when she meets Jack Dawson, a free-spirited artist who won his ticket in a poker game. Despite their vast class differences, they fall deeply in love, unaware that the ship of dreams is hurtling toward a tragic destiny in the freezing waters of the North Atlantic.
Information |
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Language |
English |
Country |
United States |
Premiere date |
December 19, 1997 |
Running time |
194 minutes |
Genre |
Drama Romance |
Budget |
$200,000,000 |
Box Office |
$2,264,743,305 |
Crew |
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Directed by |
James Cameron |
Produced by |
James Cameron Jon Landau |
Written by |
James Cameron |
Music by |
James Horner |
Cinematography |
Russell Carpenter |
Edited by |
Conrad Buff James Cameron Richard A. Harris |
Production Co. |
20th Century Fox Paramount Pictures Lightstorm Entertainment |
Distributed by |
Paramount Pictures (USA) 20th Century Fox (Intl) |
Top Cast |
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Official Trailer |
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The Plot
Discovery in the Deep
The narrative commences in 1996, deep within the North Atlantic Ocean. A team of treasure hunters led by Brock Lovett is aboard the research vessel Akademik Mstislav Keldysh, utilizing advanced submersibles to explore the haunting wreck of the RMS Titanic. Their objective is singular: to locate the "Heart of the Ocean," a legendary necklace featuring a rare blue diamond. The team succeeds in retrieving a safe from the wreckage, but upon prying it open, they find no diamond. Instead, they discover a preserved sketch dated April 14, 1912—the very day the ship struck the iceberg. The drawing depicts a nude young woman wearing the necklace.
News of this discovery reaches Rose Dawson-Calvert, an elderly pottery artist, and her granddaughter, Lizzy. Recognizing herself in the drawing, Rose contacts Lovett, identifying herself as the woman in the sketch. Intrigued, Lovett flies Rose and Lizzy to the Keldysh. While the crew displays recovered artifacts and forensic simulations of the sinking, Rose begins to recount her traumatic and transformative experience aboard the "Ship of Dreams" 84 years prior.
Boarding the Ship of Dreams
The story flashes back to April 10, 1912, at the Southampton docks. Seventeen-year-old Rose DeWitt Bukater boards the Titanic bound for North America, accompanied by her wealthy but arrogant fiancée, Caledon "Cal" Hockley, and her controlling mother, Ruth DeWitt Bukater. Despite the luxury surrounding her, Rose feels suffocated; she is trapped in an engagement arranged solely to resolve her mother's secret financial debts and maintain their high-society status. Meanwhile, in a nearby pub, a drifter named Jack Dawson and his Italian friend Fabrizio De Rossi play a high-stakes poker game against two Swedish immigrants. In a stroke of luck, Jack wins the hand with a full house, claiming two Third Class tickets to the Titanic just moments before departure. They rush aboard, celebrating their good fortune.
Once at sea, the class divide becomes apparent. Jack and Fabrizio befriend Thomas "Tommy" Ryan, a proud Irishman, and spend their time on the Poop Deck. It is there that Jack first spots Rose on the First Class deck above, instantly captivated by her. However, Rose's internal despair deepens. That evening, overwhelmed by the prospect of a loveless marriage, she rushes to the stern, climbing over the railing with the intent to commit suicide. Jack, resting on a nearby bench, intervenes. He gently talks her down from the ledge, but as she turns to climb back, she slips. Jack catches her, but her scream alerts the crew. After pulling her to safety, they are discovered by Quartermaster George Rowe and others in a compromising position. To save Jack from arrest, Rose lies, claiming she was trying to see the propellers and Jack saved her from falling. Cal and his valet, Spicer Lovejoy, arrive; while Cal is furious, he reluctantly invites Jack to dinner in First Class as a reward for his "heroism," though Lovejoy remains suspicious of Jack's untied shoes.
Crossing Lines
The following day, Jack and Rose bond while strolling the Boat Deck. Though Rose initially rebuffs Jack's questions about her love for Cal, she is charmed when she views his sketchbook, realizing his immense artistic talent. As they prepare for the evening, the "Unsinkable" Molly Brown, a nouveau riche philanthropist, takes pity on Jack and lends him a tuxedo for the dinner. Jack navigates the First Class dining saloon with wit and charm, impressing the wealthy passengers. After dinner, the men retire to the Smoking Room, but Jack slips a note to Rose asking her to meet him at the Grand Staircase clock.
Instead of the stuffy social gathering, Jack takes Rose to a lively party in the Third Class general room. Amidst Irish music and stout, they dance wildly with Fabrizio and Tommy, momentarily escaping the rigid constraints of Rose's life. However, Lovejoy spies on them and reports back to Cal. The next morning, Cal furiously confronts Rose, flipping a breakfast table and forbidding her from seeing Jack again. Ruth adds to the pressure, tearfully reminding Rose that their survival depends on this marriage.
A Change of Heart
Later that day, Jack attempts to speak to Rose during a church service but is escorted away by crewmen. Undeterred, he steals a coat and hat to blend in on the First Class deck. He finds Rose undergoing a lifeboat tour with Thomas Andrews, the ship's builder. Jack pulls her aside into a gymnasium, warning her that her compliance with her family's wishes is extinguishing her "fire." Rose, frightened by the truth, tells him to leave her alone. However, while enduring a tea time filled with superficial gossip and her mother's criticism, Rose realizes she cannot go through with her life as planned. She seeks out Jack, finding him at the bow of the ship at sunset.
In one of the voyage's most tender moments, Rose approaches Jack, signifying her choice to be with him. He asks her to close her eyes and guides her to the railing, spreading her arms. When she opens her eyes, she feels as though she is flying over the ocean. They share their first kiss as the last sunlight fades—a moment Old Rose notes was the last time Titanic ever saw daylight.
The Drawing and the Collision
Jack and Rose retire to her stateroom, where she makes a bold request: she wants Jack to draw her wearing only the Heart of the Ocean diamond, which Cal had given her earlier. Jack complies, sketching her in the nude with professional focus. As they finish, they are interrupted by Lovejoy. They flee through the ship's corridors, evading the valet by escaping into the boiler rooms and eventually finding refuge in the cargo hold. There, inside a touring car, they consummate their relationship. Afterward, they head to the forward well deck, where Rose decides she will leave the ship with Jack when they dock in New York.
Tragedy strikes just as their future seems bright. In the crow's nest, lookouts Frederick Fleet and Reginald Lee spot an iceberg directly ahead. Fleet rings the warning bell and phones the bridge. First Officer William Murdoch orders an emergency turn—"Hard to Starboard"—and throws the engines into "Full Astern." Although the bow swings away, it is too late. The iceberg grazes the starboard side, buckling the hull plates and breaching five watertight compartments. Jack and Rose witness the ice fragments falling onto the deck, unaware that the ship has received a death blow.
Chaos and Accusations
Returning to the stateroom to warn her mother and Cal, the couple is ambushed by Lovejoy, who slips the diamond into Jack's pocket. The Master-at-Arms discovers the jewel, and Jack is arrested for theft. While Jack is handcuffed to a pipe in the Master-at-Arms' office on E-Deck, the ship's grim reality is confirmed: Thomas Andrews informs Captain Smith and Bruce Ismay that the Titanic will sink within an hour or two. The evacuation begins, but with lifeboats for only half the passengers, panic simmers beneath the surface.
Ruth and Molly Brown board a lifeboat, but Rose refuses to leave without Jack. She abandons her mother and navigates the flooding corridors to find him. With the help of Andrews' directions, she locates Jack but cannot find the key to his handcuffs. In a desperate move, she wields a fire axe and severs the chain, freeing him just as the water rises dangerously high. They fight their way back to the Boat Deck, only to encounter Cal. In a feigned act of care, Cal gives Rose his coat (unknowingly containing the diamond) and persuades her to board a lifeboat, promising he has an arrangement for himself and Jack.
The Ship Goes Down
As Rose's lifeboat lowers, she locks eyes with Jack and, unable to bear the separation, jumps back onto the sinking ship. They reunite at the Grand Staircase, but an enraged Cal grabs Lovejoy's pistol and chases them, firing wildly into the flooding dining saloon. He eventually gives up when his ammunition runs out and he realizes Rose has the diamond. Jack and Rose encounter a terrified child in the flooding corridors but are forced to keep moving. They become trapped behind a locked gate as the water rises, but Jack manages to open it with keys dropped by a fleeing steward.
On the deck, chaos reigns. The ship's band plays "Nearer, My God, to Thee" as the end draws near. Thomas Andrews awaits his fate in the Smoking Room, staring at a painting. Captain Smith retreats to the bridge to die with his ship. First Officer Murdoch, overwhelmed by a rushing crowd, shoots Tommy Ryan and another passenger before turning the gun on himself. Cal, desperate to survive, grabs a lost child to secure a place on a collapsible boat. As the final plunge begins, the forward funnel collapses, crushing Fabrizio. Jack and Rose scramble to the stern, climbing the railing as the ship tilts to a terrifying angle. The lights fail, plunging the vessel into darkness, and the ship's structure snaps in two. The stern crashes back down, crushing Lovejoy, before rising vertically and sinking into the abyss, pulling Jack and Rose underwater.
A Promise Kept
Jack and Rose resurface in the freezing Atlantic. They find a wooden door panel from the First Class lounge, but it is only buoyant enough to support Rose. Jack remains in the water, holding onto the edge and Rose's hand. As they wait for rescue, Jack makes Rose promise that she will survive and live a full life, no matter the odds. Slowly, the screams of the dying fade into silence. When a lifeboat finally returns looking for survivors, Rose tries to wake Jack, only to realize he has succumbed to hypothermia and died. Heartbroken, she kisses his hand and lets him go into the deep. summoning her last ounce of strength, she swims to a nearby corpse, blows a whistle, and alerts the lifeboat crew, becoming one of only six people pulled from the water.
The Heart of the Ocean
Aboard the rescue ship RMS Carpathia, Rose hides her face from Cal, who searches the steerage survivors for her. She later learns that Cal committed suicide after the Stock Market Crash of 1929. When an immigration officer asks for her name, she replies, "Rose Dawson," casting aside her former identity.
Returning to 1996, the elderly Rose concludes her story. She walks to the stern of the Keldysh alone. It is revealed she has had the Heart of the Ocean in her possession the entire time, having found it in Cal's coat after the rescue. She climbs onto the railing and drops the diamond into the dark water, returning it to the Titanic where it belongs. Later, as Rose sleeps in her bunk, photos on her dresser show she lived the adventurous life she promised Jack—riding horses, flying planes, and acting. The film ends with a vision of Rose, young again, entering the Grand Staircase of the Titanic. She is greeted by those who perished, including Thomas Andrews and Fabrizio. At the top of the stairs waits Jack. They kiss, applauded by the gathered souls, as the screen fades to white.
