Dark Mode Light Mode
Dark Mode Light Mode

10 Worst Movies That Tried to be ‘Titanic,’ Ranked Find help us

James Cameron‘s Titanic is a disaster-romance film starring Leonardo DiCaprio as a poor artist named Jack, and Kate Winslet as Rose. Rose is a rich woman engaged to a rich man whom she does not love, and, while on board the ill-fated RMS Titanic, meets Jack, and the two fall in love, which is horribly cut short by the looming disaster. It’s one of the most tragic and famous love stories of all time, and was, at one point, the highest-grossing movie ever made.

With the huge amount of success the movie received, many filmmakers decided to take many of its concepts of love and tragedy and combine them into their own film, usually set in some different period of death and destruction. But some were actually so shameless as to be almost exact copies. These are the worst movies that tried way too hard to be Titanic, which did not win them over or make them succeed as much as their filmmakers likely thought they would.

Titanic

Release Date

December 19, 1997

Runtime

3h 14m

Director

James Cameron





10

‘The Promise’ (2016)

Directed by Terry George

Christian Bale and Charlotte le Bon in 'The Promise'
Image via Open Road Films

The Promise takes place in the early days of World War I and the Armenian Genocide, following a love triangle between an American journalist, a French woman, and an Armenian apothecarist. To its credit, this movie isn’t the worst thing ever, but it’s painfully average in pretty much every way, never mind the fact that some themes felt very Titanic-esque, which had some viewers raising their eyebrows and wondering if that’s what director Terry George intended or not.

The tragic love story isn’t just about forbidden love amidst a long-established, yet hollow relationship that happens to take place during a huge crisis, but also about the after-effects of the conflict, with the apothecarist later raising his cousin and aging as he sees her grow. Kind of like the modern day segments of Titanic, no? In short, this one could technically have plausible deniability in regards to ripping off of James Cameron, but the influence is undoubtedly still there, and can be seen from a mile away. Had it succeeded in other aspects, it might have been a bit less obvious, though.

the-promise-movie-poster.jpg

The Promise

Release Date

April 21, 2017

Director

Terry George

Writers

Robin Swicord, Terry George





9

‘The Mountain Between Us’ (2017)

Directed by Hany Abu-Assad

Kate Winslet and Idris Elba in The Mountain Between Us
Image Via 20th Century Fox

The Mountain Between Us is a story of two polar opposites who become trapped in the snowy mountains of Utah, and begin to fall for each other in spite of the trying circumstances. No, there’s no maritime disaster, but the disaster-romance themes are pretty clear here, and when it’s not busy ripping off of the Titanic‘s romantic concepts, it’s busy ripping off of other polar survival films.

One of the lovers is even played by Kate Winslet, for goodness’ sake! Little on the nose, don’t you think? Her character even has the same cynical outlook and self-pity that Rose has in Titanic, and they honestly kind of feel like the same person, albeit in very, very different circumstances. It may not be as obvious as other rip-offs or cash-ins, but The Mountain Between Us wasn’t super shy about letting its clear influences be known.

the-mountain-between-us-movie-poster-1.jpg

The Mountain Between Us

Release Date

October 20, 2017

Writers

J. Mills Goodloe, Chris Weitz





8

‘Passchendaele’ (2008)

Directed by Paul Gross

Canadian soldiers fight in the mud in 'Passchendaele'
Image via Alliance Films

Passchendaele is a Canadian World War I flick that, for all its faults, actually nailed the titular Battle of Passchendaele at the end. If the movie had instead diverted all of its resources for showing the battle in more detail, it probably could have been awesome. But of course, director Paul Gross for some reason felt that a romantic plotline ought to be the primary focus here, making the majority of the story about a former soldier who falls in love with a woman. Said woman’s brother joins the military and heads off to the front, prompting her boyfriend to don the uniform once again to keep her brother safe.

The battle the movie is named after only covers like 20 minutes of the film. Everything else is an attempted tragic romance story with some of the cringiest dialogue ever committed to film. It was a valiant effort, but to no avail. There are too many flaws to list, but of course, the main flaw is that it was trying too hard to be the next Titanic, when it should have just been a movie about the Battle of Passchendaele. Then it would have been pretty good.

01296416_poster_w780.jpg

Passchendaele

Release Date

October 17, 2008

Runtime

114 minutes

Director

Paul Gross





7

‘Passengers’ (2016)

Directed by Morten Tyldum

Jim (Chris Pratt) affectionately touches Aurora's (Jennifer Lawrence) hair in Passengers
Image via Columbia Pictures

One wouldn’t be wrong for calling Passengers Titanic in space,” because that’s honestly what it feels like. The story is about a spaceship loaded with human passengers in a cryogenic sleep that is bound for a new homeworld, when two of them are accidentally awakened early by a glitch in the system’s AI. When they awake, they discover their ship, and the hundreds of lives on board, are bound for disaster, and must find a way to stop it.

But naturally, the two find the time to establish a sort of forbidden relationship, too. Passengers does not do itself any favours, and though it might seem unique at first glance, it eventually does away with everything that makes it so, and completely wastes the talent of its principal cast. As it goes on and gets duller, it becomes clear that it really is trying to be Titanic in space, if only subtly.

passengers-2016-poster.jpeg

Passengers

Release Date

December 21, 2016

Runtime

116minuntes





6

‘Poseidon’ (2006)

Directed by Wolfgang Petersen

'Poseidon' (2006) 3

Back in 1972, a disaster-survival movie called The Poseidon Adventure came out, which is about a ship that gets capsized by a huge tsunami, keeping its survivors confined in an upside-down ship. It was honestly pretty incredible, and has developed quite a cult following since its release. In 2006, the hype surrounding Titanic was still kind of fresh, so Wolfgang Petersen likely felt that there was no better time to do a remake of The Poseidon Adventure.

Thus, Poseidon was born. One of the worst disaster films ever made, Poseidon not only did away with just about everything that made the original good, but it also included aspects and elements of Titanic, making it appear as some sort of hastily cobbled-together Frankenstein’s monster of assets borrowed from other movies, which is definitely not a good look. It lacked any real charm or depth, and felt like just a quick cash grab made for fans of Titanic, but not for fans of the original movie.

poseidon-2006-poster.jpg

Poseidon

Release Date

May 12, 2006

Runtime

98 Minutes





5

‘Pompeii’ (2014)

Directed by Paul W. S. Anderson

Kit Harington in Pompeii
Image via Sony Pictures

Upon its release, pretty much everybody knew what Pompeii was trying to do, even if it was almost 20 years late to the party. The film is a disaster romance set in the First Century CE, when Mount Vesuvius erupted, destroying the nearby city of Pompeii. In this flick set in the Roman Empire, Kit Harington plays Milo, a gladiator who falls in love with a wealthy woman named Cassia (Emily Browning), despite the fact that she is engaged to a rich man, whom she doesn’t really love.

Basically, a poor man falls in love with a rich woman amidst a devastating disaster that killed thousands. Sound familiar? Sure, Pompeii might have been visually impressive and managed to do well for itself at the box office, but there was never a shadow of a doubt in anybody’s mind that it was really trying to rip off of James Cameron, probably with the hopes that if they waited long enough, people would forget about Titanic and wouldn’t notice the borrowed elements. Everyone noticed, Pompeii… everyone noticed.

pompeii

Pompeii

Release Date

February 21, 2014

Runtime

105 minutes

Director

Paul W.S. Anderson





4

‘Pearl Harbor’ (2001)

Directed by Michael Bay

Pearl-Harbor-Rafe-McCawley-Danny-Walker-Doolittle
Image via Buena Vista Pictures Distribution

Director Michael Bay‘s Pearl Harbor is possibly the worst offender in its attempt to be like Titanic. Instead of being about a love triangle at sea that goes terribly wrong when disaster strikes, Pearl Harbor is about a love triangle at sea that goes terribly wrong when disaster strikes. In all seriousness, it had a lot of the same tropes as Titanic, including the theme of disaster, only this time it was about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor during the Pacific Theatre of World War II.

Michael Bay is perhaps best known for his action movies, and he really should have stuck to his guns on this one, because this movie was a critical and commercial failure. Had the movie used its huge production value to actually show the battle and make it somewhat historically accurate, it probably would have been fine. But the budget mostly went to detailing a romantic plot that nobody asked for, with the crucially important event feeling more like a backdrop than an actually huge part of the film, which is something that Titanic did right. There are definitely better movies out there about Pearl Harbor, ones that aren’t so blatant about ripping off of other movies.

pearl-harbor-2001-poster-ben-affleck.jpg

Pearl Harbor

Release Date

May 25, 2001

Runtime

183 minutes





3

‘Titanic II’ (2010)

Directed by Shane van Dyke

A still from the Titanic ripoff movie, Titanic II
Image via The Asylum

No, Titanic II is not a sequel to the original James Cameron movie, official or otherwise. Instead, this indie flick is an Asylum movie about a new ship bearing an identical appearance to the doomed ocean liner that launches in the year 2012, marking the 100 years anniversary of the original maiden voyage, taking the exact same route. What could possibly go wrong? Naturally, this new ocean liner takes a turn for the worse when a chunk of iceberg breaks off and creates a massive tsunami, sending other, smaller iceberg hurtling right into the ship. Repeat: it’s not the iceberg that gets struck by the ship, it is the ship that gets struck by the iceberg.

Terrible CGI of the event aside, the movie is largely a super preachy film about global warming, with a shoehorned message in there that doesn’t really belong. Yes, climate change is important, but there were far better ways to tackle it. Oh, and there’s also the romantic plotline of course, one which falls flat on its face, and is nowhere near on the level of depth of the Cameron film. All in all, it’s just a mess, and was clearly hoping to rope people in with its title, making it seem like an actual sequel rather than an unconnected film. If it weren’t for that sneaky little tactic, this movie wouldn’t have even hit the bargain bin. Heck, it probably wouldn’t have even hit the garbage bin.

01670690_poster_w780.jpg

Titanic II

Release Date

August 7, 2010

Runtime

90 minutes

Director

Shane van Dyke





2

‘Titanic: The Legend Goes On’ (2000)

Directed by Camillo Teti

Titanic: The Legend Goes On came out just three years after the Cameron film, so there’s no question in anyone’s mind that they were clearly trying to rip off of what was, at the time, the highest-grossing movie ever made. This Italian animated feature opted to go for a more Disney-like musical set on the doomed ship, but instead of it being about a rich girl and a poor boy falling in love, it’s about a rich boy and a poor girl falling in love.

It also really doesn’t help that the characters resemble Jack and Rose just a little too closely. But that isn’t even the worst part of it. The worst part is that it was deeply insensitive, making the tragedy seem a sort of fantasy-like adventure, with sentient animals, evil stepmothers and stepsisters, and a rapping dog. Yes, this actually happens in a movie about the deaths of 1,500 people. There’s just no more room for any more awkwardness or shameless plagiarism in this movie, but the sad thing is, it’s not even the worst movie to take this route (or the first).

Titanic: The Legend Goes On is currently not available to stream, rent, or buy in the US or Canada.

1

‘The Legend of the Titanic’ (1999)

Directed by Orlando Corradi & Kim J. Ok

The Legend of the Titanic is yet another Italian animated musical film that tried to capitalize on the recent success of the James Cameron movie. Though the two have similar titles, they have absolutely nothing to do with each other other than the fact that they have pretty much the exact same plots, styles, and blatant sense of plagiarism. First of all, why do both of these movies imply that the sinking of the RMS Titanic was a “legend?” It wasn’t a legend or a myth–it actually happened, for crying out loud!

In any case, this one, which came out a year prior to the other, is by far the worst, earning a measly 6% on Rotten Tomatoes. This movie was such a disaster that it’s almost on par with the catastrophic events that the film is actually based on. Maybe nobody died during the movie’s production, but it is downright shameful and embarassing. Somehow, they decided that the message of the film should be about the whaling industry, and not, you know, the deaths of 1,500 people. It’s ridiculous, and not even in the “so-bad-it’s good” kind of way.

The Legend of the Titanic is currently not available to stream, rent, or buy in the US or Canada.

KEEP READING: 10 Best Natural Disaster Movies of All Time, Ranked

Add a comment Add a comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Previous Post

As Pakistanis die in fresh Mediterranean tragedy, a question lingers: Why? | Migration Find help us

Next Post

Why Fans Think Ava Is Leaving Days of Our Lives: Spoilers Explained Find help us