Best and Worst

[Jack Coburn]

Since i've got nothing better to do, i'm going to do a survey on what the worst scene from a titanic film is. I'm pretty sure the most popular response will be the rape scene from the miniseries, however i haven't seen it(thank god) so mine would from Cameron's Titanic where Cal is chasing jack & rose down the grand staircase trying to shoot them. I cant imagine anything stupider than a man trying to kill two people (who will probably die anyway) on a sinking ship and they're are few lifeboats remaining. Talk about priorities! anyway that's just my opinion.

 

[Michael H. Standart]

Something about putting "...the wormy on the hooky" in Raise The Titanic was hardly what I would call good scriptwriting. Anne Archer did a nice job with it, but the line still stank.

 

[Andrew Fanner]

The American looking railway stock in the Cameron film?

 

[Jeremy Lee]

What American looking railway stock?

 

[monica e. hall]

So many candidates, so little time! From a film made in 1950/60s, I don't know when, who - Captain and victims singing valiantly as it goes under, no panic. And the later film with David Warner as 'Beasely', where he tries to get a girl into an empty bedroom and she refuses. (How many times has David Warner gone down now?) The rape scene sounds pretty bad...haven't seen it myself.

 

[Chris Dohany]

The rape scene was quite terrible so I would rank it as worst. A close second place would be awarded to Barbara Stanwyck screaming "NORMAN!" in the 1953 Titanic movie.

 

[Jack Coburn]

Another scene which i didn't like was from ANTR where everyone prays as the ship goes down. I know probably a lot of people in that situation would have been praying in their own minds, but i can't imagine everyone just standing there, watching the water rise on a deck which would have been impossible to stand on. I reckon it would have been more like Camerons titanic with people panicking and jumping off the ship. This dosen't take anything from the movie though, which i think is a lot better than Cameron's.

 

[Inger Sheil]

Rape scene in the miniseries (I imagine that one is going to garner a few votes!). Any scene with Murdoch in it from the same miniseries. James Moody holding a cup of [expletive deleted] tea and being away from the wheelhouse and the telephone when the crow's nest bell rings in the Cameron flick...in fact, any scene with James Moody in it from the Cameron movie.

 

[Michael H. Standart]

Inger, don't forget the animated flick where the mice sing as the ship sinks and nobody dies. (Ducking for cover now!)

 

[Dave Gittins]

I agree with Jack's original nomination. The shooting scene was simply silly and I wonder whether Cameron now wishes he had cut it. If you want a laugh, run the last half hour or so of Cameron's flick with the sound off and the TV set to black and white. It's pure 1920s silent movie ham.

A personal favourite is when Lowe, in his lifeboat calls for survivors and gets an echo!

 

[Jack Coburn]

Lightoller from Camerons Titanic was just as bad as Murdoch from the miniseries. I hated the way they had him loading the lifeboats, espeacily when he seperates an elderly couple who clearly wanted to be together.

 

[Randy Bryan Bigham]

That awful miniseries had so many bad scenes it was painful to watch. Poor untalented Marilu Henner was dreadful as Molly Brown and Tim Curry's rapist was a disgusting example of cheap sensationalism.

Susan St. James in SOS Titanic must be the plainest leading lady in any Titanic film, not to mention the most hairstyle-challenged. And why did the director try to make the Countess of Rothes seem like a slut? Remember that shot of her admiring herself in the mirror? Her expression made one wonder if a scene from "Lady Chatterley's Lover" was about to be enacted. Very tacky.

 

[Jim Kalafus]

"Rose" looking at "Jack" in the final moments on the fantail and saying something to the effect of "This is where we met." Rose, who has been obnoxious through 99% of her scenes, bellowing "I'm through with being polite" to the lift operator. The electric lights which sometimes burn under water (as in the 'Body floating in the lounge"' shot) and sometimes don't (as in the long scene in which Jack and Rose are trapped behind the gate and the lights are shorting out and there is absolutely no suspense since, naturally, they can't die that early in the sinking sequence) or, of course, the "Jack chained to a pipe" interlude which, on top of generating no suspense at all, is one of the weirdest structuring choices in film history in that the whole faux jewel heist frame up plot twist (presumably introduced as a homage to 1912 film making) comes AFTER the collision and not before. Molly Brown travelling with a set of men's formal wear which fits Jack perfectly is also a groan inducing oddity. Rose's smarmy Freud reference. The odd blue pall which surrounds the characters during the sinking sequences-perhaps in homage to the cheap use of ChromaKey in films of lesser budget. Jack saying something to the effect of "Take a deep breath" as they are about to be sucked under which, since neither character has shut up since scene one, is patently impossible. Jack quoting Lightoller ("Feels like a thousand knives") during Rose's ever-so-suspenseful suicide attempt. Jack's two "artist" scenes and his masterpieces which, sadly, were never to be executed on the black velvet where they rightfully belonged. The gambling scene in which Jack wins the tickets meant to highlight that he is, of course, a leading man in the old movie man's man style which instead underlines the fact that he isn't. The 'rabid dog' style of acting, lacking only drool, Lightoller displays during his sequences. Hard to choose a 'worst.'

 

[monica e. hall]

So, you enjoyed the movie then, Jim? Good to meet someone else who appreciates Jacks 'masterpieces' - modestly executed by Cameron himself, I understand.

 

[Iain Stuart Yardley]

The "I'm the King Of The World!" scene makes me want to crawl up me own a***. Funny that, how it involves Jack. Again.

Cheers,

Boz

 

[Randy Bryan Bigham]

Hey Boz,

RE: "I'm the King of the World"

Ah, you're just mad Jack stole your line. That WAS you stumbling around BTS saying that wasn't it? Or was it another loud-mouth Englishman? It was you or Paul, one.

Happy holidays to you!
Randy

 

[Jack Coburn]

I say the same thing for the flying scene.

 

[Jeremy Lee]

What about "I can see the Statue of Liberty already! Very small, of course!"

 

[Iain Stuart Yardley]

"Do you love the guy?", asks Jack, not sounding as if he gives a 'hoot' anyway.
"You're very rude", whinnies Rose, blah blah blah.
She's just had a near-enough heart attack, bleating about how unfair life is to expect her to conform to society's expectations. And then she gets all snotty. At that point, had I been Jack, firstly I would have "frisbied" my alleged sketch book overboard and secondly, would have replied:
"I'm glad you're marrying Cal. You'd spoil another couple. You and him would make a good pair of shelves. Plank."
I shake my head in disbelief and feel the life draining out of me everytime I see that scene. I believe - yes, it has - it's got Jack in it. Again.

 

[Jeremy Lee]

At this stage, Jack was already finding opportunities!