Here’s the thing about a movie based upon a historical event – you know how it is going to end. No matter how the characters’ stories play out on screen, if the film does not intend to be revisionist, events will unfold as they are documented. Knowing that, there is something to be said for taking a story with a known ending and making it both suspenseful and exciting. That is what James Cameron was able to do with Titanic. Perhaps one of the greatest and best-known oceanic disasters, Titanic’s sinking was a major twentieth century event with plenty of contextual intrigue. Despite her resting place in Poseidon’s lair, Titanic’s top-billing in a 1997 blockbuster raised multiple high-profile careers and joined the Oscar elite with 11 wins. This impressive resumé places Titanic at 83 on AFI’s Top 100 list.

As a movie made during my lifetime, I was able to see Titanic in the theater at release. It was a spectacle then that carries similar gravitas today. When it first came out, I only recognized Leonardo DiCaprio from What’s Eating Gilbert Grape. Kate Winslet was a new face, though she certainly left an impression on early-teen me after being drawn like one of Leo’s French girls. Watching Titanic today, while I still appreciate that “artistic” sequence, I can see the film is more than a love story set on a doomed voyage. There is a tale about social inequity and prejudice, the impact of choice, and the confrontation of mortality woven through tragic encounters as Titanic steams through her final hours. Perceived invincibility created by youth, wealth, or bravado leads characters of varying significance down different paths to shameful grabs for survival or heroic final efforts, but they all lead to the water.

Probably the least complex aspect of Titanic is its story, but it plays well by focusing on the clear division between the wealthy and the steerage. The ship’s decks physically separate the different classes of passengers with strict enforcement of who can be in which part of the ship. Additionally, “steerage” is used by first-class passengers to dehumanize the people it categorizes. The word becomes a slur when it should otherwise be innocuous, an injustice fostered by luck of circumstance and the environment in which people entered the world. While the “have nots” are simply happy to have passage to the United States and the hope of a new start, the wealthy focus on playing their games of one-upsmanship or using the voyage to carry out affairs, they feel invulnerable. This is why Titanic’s story is the simplest part of the film; the characters simply have to carry out their slot in life and natural conflict ensues.

As with many of its peers, Titanic is steeped in social commentary, and that is an important component of a movie’s legacy if it is to end up on a list like the AFI Top 100. Titanic, however, is a creation that extends way beyond commentary into full-blown cinematic spectacle. If you step back and examine Titanic as the sum of its parts, the largest contributors are the soundtrack and sound design, visual effects, and 1997 starpower. James Cameron is known for pushing visual boundaries, and the same holds true in Titanic. Twenty-three years later, the visual effects hold up to a remarkable degree, and if you have seen any behind-the-scenes images, you have to appreciate the extent to which movie makers can make the shell of a set feel like a mammoth structure full of weight and bustling life. Cameron continued his reputation of being a master of visual immersion. Beyond the sights, the auditory experience is enveloping. The ship itself is given personality through the sounds one would imagine a large vessel makes while plowing through the ocean. While the orchestral soundtrack meshes so well with the action unfolding on screen that you barely realize each scene is enhanced by the music’s presence, Celine Dion pulls it all together with the easily recognizable, never dying “My Heart Will Go On”. Then, without even realizing it, the accompaniment is pulled away, and the only sound is the ship, the water, and the panic. The absence of extra sound actually chills the viewer to the bone, creating a sympathetic experience for the threatening cold those on the ship must have surely felt.

I enjoyed revisiting Titanic with a new appreciation, and I am glad for the reprieve of being able to watch a more modern film on the Top 100. Titanic is a good movie with a lot to offer beyond its marketing as a romantic drama. The historical backdrop alone is fascinating and makes Titanic worth watching. Some day, Titanic’s remains will disappear as they are consumed by the ocean, and the only artifacts of its existence will be what humanity has pulled from the water, documented, or created. When it comes to film documentation, we could certainly do worse than Titanic.