With a budget estimated at $200 million, a release date almost six months overdue, and a surplus of horror stories from the set, it would be easy to write “Titanic” off as yet another disappointing event movie in the tradition of “Waterworld.” From the opening shots of the so-called “unsinkable” ship’s current home, two-and-a-half miles below the surface of the North Atlantic Ocean, it becomes abundantly clear that director James Cameron’s take on the most famous marine disaster in history is a whole new animal.Deceptively subtle, “Titanic” tells the fictional story of Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Rose DeWitt Bukater (Kate Winslet), two young people from opposite social spheres who meet aboard the doomed vessel in April, 1912. Much to the chagrin of her millionaire fiance Cal Hockley (Billy Zane), Rose yearns for the strength to break free from the shackles of a refined, upper-class existence and live life to the fullest like the free-spirited Jack. Needless to say, the starving artist and the rich debutante share a passionate love affair, but only for a few moments before disaster strikes.Demonstrating an attention to dramatic detail only alluded to in previous sci-fi efforts like “Aliens” and “Terminator 2,” Cameron confidently navigates “Titanic” through a wide array of moral lessons critical to its epic narrative. The most detestable aspects of human nature come to the forefront when the fruits of technological ingenuity flounder; as a result, the success of a record-breaking passage is eclipsed by the prospect of unthinkable tragedy and the effective demise of the innocence of youth.Though DiCaprio and Winslet gravitate to familiar “Romeo and Juliet” characterizations for the better part of the story, they shine in the intensity of the film’s final half-hour. DiCaprio’s Jack scolds with heartfelt fervor upon Rose’s ill-advised return to the sinking vessel, while Winslet breathes credible life into the cliched boundaries of female self-assertion that seem typical in other Cameron movies.With an approximate running time of 195 minutes, “Titanic” is likely to lose much of its audience to impatience. The actual two-and-a-half hour sinking of the Titanic is dutifully reenacted as an event that builds to a slow boil. When all hell breaks loose, as is apt to happen in any Cameron film, the payoff is well worth the wait. Bodies free fall from the upright superstructure when the Titanic makes its final plunge to a watery grave, and the first-person perspective of Russell Carpenter’s cinematography adds an awe-inspiring air of haunting surrealism.Contrary to popular opinion, “Titanic” proves that bad publicity cannot kill a great movie. James Cameron has created an Oscar-worthy masterpiece that, despite moments of flat characterization and overly-melodramatic dialogue, transcends all expectations. Like nothing you’ve ever seen, “Titanic” has the potential to go down in history as being the definitive version of a well-known catastrophe.