I only cry during Titanic when I watch the first tape...

There are exceptions to that statement, namely "Man In The Iron Mask." Leo manages to round out an exemplary cast.

And an honorable mention for "The Quick & The Dead"...

I think I'm the only person on the planet who hasn't seen "Titanic."

The only movie that has made me laugh so hard I cried is "The Big Lebowski"...every time I see it.

I hope appropriate--

It was hurricane season and I had joined up for a month long ocean adventure out in the Atlantic.

The purpose of my trip was to be an engineer on a 200 ton 120' ocean going vessel. The owner and I knew one an other and he asked if I would help him and a couple of other guys bring the ship from Marathon, Florida, to Norfolk, Virginia. He gave me about 25 minutes to make a decision that would take me to sea for the month of October 1997. The movie Titanic, by that Chippewa Niagara native-Cameron guy, was set to open in Japan on November 1, and in the USA, one month later, Dec. 1, 1997.

By the time I saw the film in December of 1997, I had been over what was believed to be the ocean grave site of 425 souls from the Spanish ship Neustra El Juno. The passenger list included mainly civilian women and children, with a few men and a group of Spanish soldiers. The women and children transiting to their newly relocted husbands in the Southern portion of North America, now the United States coast from the Carolinas South and into Florida and the Caribe. The date of the sinking was the night of Oct. 4 or 5th, 1825, or 172 years nearly to the hour.

Prior to leaving the Norfolk--actually Little Creek Marina, we had engine difficulties and other dock side problems that had delayed our departure for more than 72 hours and the people that had contracted for the services of the vessel qwere becoming anxious to leave the dock ASAP. They were tired of the delays and the weather for the site, some 40 miles off the coast, was rapidly deteriorating for what looked like a prolonged period of time--bad news for all of us.

The preperations for leaving were finally wrapped up and in an hour the ship was leaving the port entrance at Fort (?) lighthouse, and into the bottom portion of the Chessapeake Bay leading directly out and into open ocean. The hour was late for the afternoon and the trip would take more than several hours. By midnight, our progress had been slow but steady, arriving at the coordinates sometime after the bewitching hour. Because our mission would require daylight, the orders were to check and set our sea lights, then circle until daybreak within a mile of so of the site.

Needless to say, everyone's spirit was somber and somewhat severe. No one was speaking to anyone else, and it was as much because of the late start leaving port and arriving in the middle of the night but more so, everyone realizing that we were over top the mass grave of people who died a terrible death in stark conditions at sea. Below us lay the life's stories of what would be literally piles of bones, if the site-guidance director (different than navigator) was completely accurate in his determination of where we were at sea. Even with the GPS and Sperry Gimbled-Gyro not an easy thing to do. The solemnness of all the souls that were now above the darkened horizon. The setting was being accented by the stereophonic audio system of the ships speakers playing ENYA and other other-worldly musical scores the entire night. The Celine Dion song only yet existed on the unreleased sound track of the yet to be released movie.  

Not one person shipboard spoke throughout the night and there were more than a dozen people on board with only perhaps three that had gone to their quarters to sleep. It is very hard to describe the mood, the tone and tempo of the diesel ship engines and the drone of the sea pounding on the metal hull and silent men sitting on a ship.

When I returned to this area at the end of my 30 day trip (I think it was Halloween or night before), was when the movie Titanic opened a month later on Dec. 1, 1997.

I went to the movie and was embarassed at the end. I was a mess when the lights came up and had to leave by the back exit. My girlfriend was stone cold and dry eyed. To this day, whenever or wherever I hear that Celion version of the theme song I have to turn it off or get away from it. Yes, it's that strong to this day almost ten years later.

I guess you can figure out for yourself as this is a pretty lighthearted thread... (:weep:)