Titanic

1997 · directed by James Cameron · 194 min

28,663 feet · Prominence

4th of 24,106 films scored

The Rewatchables‘Titanic’ 25th Anniversary With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan →

How this film scores

Draw97

Lifetime worldwide gross $2.26bn, re-releases included; about $3.79bn in 2026 money.

Rank2 of 11,051In 19971 of 213

How Draw works

Inflation-adjusted worldwide box office, on one global curve, and nothing else. It does not know whether a film was good.

Praise91

Awards claim half the headroom above the critics' score.

Critics82 baseAwards99 signal → +9 lift

Oscars11 won Picture, Director, Original Song, Cinematography, Costume Design, Production Design, Film Editing, Visual Effects, Original Dramatic Score, Sound, Sound Editing3 nominated Actress, Supporting Actress, Makeup and Hairstyling

Golden Globes5 won Motion Picture, Director, Screenplay, Original Score, Original Song3 nominated Lead acting, Supporting acting, Screenplay

BAFTAs6 nominated Film, Directing, Sound, Original Music, Editing, Craft and other

How Praise works

Critics set the score; a tiered award record, Picture and Directing carrying the most weight, claims half the headroom above it. Praise is the verdict at the time; Legacy is the verdict since.

Legacy95

Judged directly: Global phenomenon, still ubiquitous decades on.

Verdict95 of 100IMDb8 from 1.4mWikipedia190k views a monthAge29 years

On the listsNational Film RegistryAFI 100evidence, not an input to the score

Scored beside it · 4 of 4,039 films judged

100Star Wars (1977)

98The Godfather (1972)

96Jaws (1975)

95The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

95The Matrix (1999)

95The Shining (1980)

95Titanic (1997)

If it does not belong in this company, the number is wrong.

How Legacy works

Legacy is a judgment, not a formula. A film can be adored by critics and culturally quiet, or lightly reviewed and permanently lodged in the culture, and no arithmetic over IMDb numbers tells the difference. Every signal behind it keeps updating.

draw 97 praise 91 legacy 95averages 94, placing it at28,663 ft

How the three become one number

Added, not multiplied, so a film transcendent on one pillar and weak on another is not zeroed out. A compression curve then squeezes the top, because the seven greatest films ever made should not be four thousand feet apart.

Whose apex this is

▲ Leonardo DiCaprio ▲ Kate Winslet

In these careers — elevation for this film

Leonardo DiCaprio21,720 ft Kate Winslet21,345 ft Billy Zane19,009 ft Kathy Bates18,719 ft Bill Paxton18,457 ft David Warner17,677 ft Victor Garber17,655 ft Barry Dennen17,650 ft