3. Titanic
Titanic held the record for being the highest-grossing movie of all time for 12 years (until Cameron himself bested the record with Avatar) and it’s easy to see why it endeared itself to audiences so much.
Let’s face it, pretty much everyone headed into Titanic knowing it was going to be a tragedy, but I’m not sure anyone expected to get so connected to Rose and Jack’s love story. It sounds strange saying that given that Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio were all over the marketing for the film, but the performances that both actors give in this movie are so captivating that you can’t help but root for a romance you know is already doomed.
Its three-hour runtime is very effective on this front, because it spends the first hour making you fall in love with them, all while increasing the tension and building up suspense to the iceberg collision you know is coming. And when it comes, and all you feel is heartbreak and terror, you still find yourself championing Jack and Rose’s will to survive and love each other.
Titanic is heartbreaking, heartwarming, infuriating, and beautiful – and when it’s not busy being all of those things (and more), it’s a visual spectacle. It is, and always will be, a masterpiece of cinema.