Starring:	Kate Winslet
	Leonardo Di Caprio
	Billy Zane
	Kathy Bates
	David Warner
Screenplay:	James Cameron
Director:	James Cameron	Colour

He's only been and gone and done it. The film we all wanted to hate (and many still try) because it was a man's ego run riot is, in a word, brilliant. And James Cameron, the man who wrote, directed, co-produced and spent $200m on Titanic proves that, even more the Steven Speilberg, he is now captain of all the movie world. An historical romance may seem like a strange departure for the master of sci-fi and action, but classic Cameron themes keep the ship afloat - misplaced faith in man and technology, and the equality-cum-supremacy of women hark back to Aliens and the Terminator series in particular. Our heroine Rose (Winslett) is set to marry supersnob bastard Zane and, trapped in a loveless and lifeless existence, she does the decent thing by hanging off the back of the ship, ready to jump. Enter Jack (Di Caprio), the poor boy full of dreams, who persuades her to stay her execution. All of this is framed by the modern day Rose, telling her story to the divers scavenging the wreck. So we know from ten minutes in that, not only does the boat sink, but the hero survives. It's credit to Cameron's smart screenplay, populated by interesting characters, that one of the oldest love stories in the book not only holds your attention until things go belly up, but is almost enough on its own to make a decent movie. The pacing of the enormously long film is astounding, proving that Cameron - more visually astonishing here than ever - is a damn fine storyteller. He is aided by strong performances by all the leads, most notably Di Caprio, who is naturally exuberant without being annoying. Winslet too makes her on-screen transition from spoiled brat to axe-weilding Cameron Babe very nicely. While the film plumps for comic relief once or twice too often, could have done with a minor dialogue polish and lays on the syrup a tiny bit thick occasionally, these niggles pale next to the grand sweep. It is very, very powerful stuff. Appropriately, as things reach the awful crescendo, it really is almost too harrowing to watch. A responsible director such as Cameron would never have wished the true event portrayed any other way. The net effect is that it took 48 hours for this reviewer's normal sleep patterns to return. Films this big don't come along every day, and when they do they're often a let down. Jump aboard this one, which lives up to the hype, as quick as you can and see it on the big screen - of all the things people may say on leaving the cinema, "it won't lose much on video" won't be one of them. An instant classic. This will last as long as the movies do.