Titanic

Titanic is one of the most successful movies of all time.  Why?

Maybe because of its great stars?  Well really only Leo was a big star at that time.  Kate Winslet was still wearing old clothes and acting in period pieces.  I think even Billy Zane was more famous than her.  You should listen to him.

It could be because of its great love story?  The love story is all made up, it's not real, and there are plenty of movies about love stories.

What about its amazing special effects?  It wasn't the first movie to use amazing special effects.  Some of James Cameron's other movies, like the Terminator series, used incredible special effects.  However, when it was made, it was the most expensive film ever.

How about the tragic story, and the theme of the battle between nature and man?  There are also plenty of movies about this.  It's not like people didn't know what was going to happen at the end of Titanic.

I think that just leaves two options.  Firstly, there weren't many other good movies on at that time. 

The other option is that it could just be the amazing soundtrack, which also featured one of the most successful songs ever made.  I'd love to write about why that song was such a big hit, but I have absolutely no answer why.

Looking at James Cameron's record, it's hard to argue that Titanic wasn't just an aberration amongst some ground-breaking (usually sci-fi films).  I think his new movie could be very interesting too.

I should probably also note I've never watched the entire film.