The 1997 film Titanic, directed by James Cameron, tells the story of Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Rose DeWitt-Butaker (Kate Winslet) and, of course, the ship itself. Titanic set sail on April 10, 1912 with 2240 souls on board, and proceeded to sink from April 14-15, 1912. When the ship finally sank she took 1517 lives with her before coming to rest 12,600 feet below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean.

The movie begins with footage of the shipwreck taken in July of 1996 at Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. Cameron then cuts to Brock Lovett who is inside a ship as he travels around the wreck where trying to find The Heart of the Ocean, a priceless necklace. Instead they find a drawing of a girl wearing the necklace; a 100-year-old woman hears about the drawing, identifies the girl, and begins to tell her love story–the love story of Rose and Jack. That’s where the story begins.

When the Titanic set sail, Rose DeWitt-Butaker is seventeen years old and trapped in an arranged marriage to Caledon (Cal) Hockley (Billy Zane). Rose’s mother, Ruth (Frances Fisher), arranged for her marriage to Cal as a way to maintain their social status after Rose’s father died leaving their family debt-ridden. Rose’s mother believes that social status is much more important then having a loving marriage. But, Rose disagrees. And when she meets Jack aboard the ship under…special…circumstances. She’s left thinking that she might have a chance at real love and happiness.

Jack Dawson is twenty years old when the Titanic set its sight on New York. He’s a poor artist who managed to win his tickets aboard RMS Titanic through a lucky hand of poker. Jack is the first person to let Rose be herself and have fun, and that is what makes them perfect together. But when tragedy strikes, their love is put to the test.
Cameron, who also wrote the screenplay, donned the idea for the movie from his love and fascination of shipwrecks. Cameron and his crew had about $200 million to create and produce the movie. Much of that money went to building a replica of the ship for the launching and sets that could be lowered into huge tanks of water to stimulate them sinking as the ship sank. Titanic has a running time of 195 minutes, reeled in $2.187 billion, was nominated for fourteen awards, and won eleven Oscars.

Overall, Cameron did an amazing job recreating the ship’s sinking and telling the story of Jack and Rose and once you watch Titanic, you’ll be left in awe, with a new perspective on the story of the RMS Titanic and what it means to really be in love.