Like him or not, James Cameron sure knows how to make a movie. His latest film Avatar has recently became the highest grossing film of all time, raking in a ridiculous $1.859 billion. This number eclipses the previous movie Titanic, also directed by Cameron that brought in $1.843 billion. It cannot be denied that Cameron knows how to capture the attention of a wide demographic of moviegoer and create movies that flat out make money. Here are some of the reasons the latest Cameron films have been box office hits.

In the Titanic movie, Cameron made the wise decision of picking heartthrobs Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslett to portray the main characters, a love story that is almost too good looking to occur in real life. Avatar implemented the same type of approach with visuals so stunning that they would be impressive to nearly everyone. Using the latest technology available and really running with it, the Avatar movie took advantage of the breakthroughs in 3d and Imax and allowed viewers to be transported inside the fantasy world.

Always visually stunning, always engaging, Titanic and Avatar have it all. Plenty of emotion, special effects that blow audiences away, and characters that are well developed. Audiences end up loving or hating characters designed by Cameron and connect with them, even if they are little blue people. Say what you want about the budget of his movies, but the result is always something stunning. After creating gems such as Terminator and Aliens, it’s not surprising that Avatar is a great science fiction/fantasy movie, a genre that Cameron is used to working within.

The happy ending. Something that Cameron illustrates perfectly, and sometimes unexpectedly. Both films take the idea of a happy ending and really drive the point home. The incredible ending of Titanic showed a ‘love conquers all’ type of ending which people go crazy for. Cameron’s movies have been successful simply because he knows the formula and knows what’s popular at the time. In an event that few thought possible, Avatar has finally sunk Titanic and has become the highest grossing box office film of all time.

October 26, 2009

At 2 months old, Millvina Dean was the youngest person on the Titanic when it met its ghastly demise on April 14, 1912. almost 100 years ago. Her ashes were recently scattered at the location of where the vessel embarked on its maiden voyage in Southhampton, England. Dean’s parents were originally on a voyage to emigrate to Wichita, Kansas when the vessel struck an iceberg in the middle of the Atlantic. The 2 month old Millvina and her parents were transferred to the Titanic due to a coal strike which delayed their original ship. Miss Dean, her mother, and her brother were placed on lifeboat 10 after the collision and they were among one of the first passengers to escape. Her father did not survive.

Miss Dean died at her nursing home in Ashurst, in the New Forest, on May 31 — 98 years to the day that Titanic was launched in Belfast. About 150 people, including representatives from Titanic societies around the world, attended the service. Her death came a month after Titanic movie stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet offered to pay her nursing home fees. Almost 100 years after the Titanic disaster, the living legacy of those who survived the wreck has ended. Although pieces of history illustrating the tragedy remain, the last living legend of one of the largest maritime disasters of all time has been laid to rest in the Atlantic.

Miss Millvina Dean was laid to rest on May 31, 2009

October 27, 2009

Official owners of the Titanic shipwreck by the name of RMS Titanic Inc. are planning a possible expedition back to the legendary shipwreck in 2010. The company is currently undergoing court hearings to ensure that the salvage would preserve the legendary Titanic shipwreck for public as well as being a lucrative salvage for RMS Titanic Inc. This expedition would mark the first one since 2004  (one of the previous include an expedition for the 1997 Titanic movie).

U.S. District Judge Rebecca Beach Smith, a maritime jurist who considers the wreck an “international treasure,” is presiding over the hearings. They are not only intended to determine a salvage award, but to establish legal guarantees that thousands of Titanic artifacts remain intact as a collection and forever accessible to the public. Some pieces have ended up in London auction houses. Over 5,900 pieces of china ship fittings and personal belongings are valued at over $110 million and are displayed by Premier Exhibitions Inc.; a subsidiary of RMS Titanic Inc.

Judge Smith has called the management of Premier Exhibitions into question, but the company claims that the hiring of their new CEO Chritopher Davino has turned the company around. The company underwent a board change in 2009 and received a $12 million cash infusion from investors. Davino took charge five months ago.  Jack H. Jacobs, one of the new directors, said Premier had been “an extremely poorly run company,” but has turned around. He said the mismanagement did not extend to the conservancy of the Titanic artifacts. Asked by RMS Titanic attorney Robert W. McFarland if Premier was committed to properly maintaining the artifacts, Jacobs replied: “Yes, absolutely committed. Unequivocally committed.”

Deep-dive explorer Paul-Henry Nargeolet, who has led five expeditions to the Titanic wreck spoke to the dangers of deep sea exploration including icebergs that can destroy dive ships, claustrophobic voyages 12,000-feet down to the wreck through 33-degree Atlantic waters. After being discovered in 1985 by Dr. Robert Ballard, the Titanic wreck has been undergoing court claims as to the ownership of the wreckage. Courts have declared that RMS Titanic Inc. has exclusive rights to salvage the Titanic. At the hearings this week in Norfolk, lawyers for RMS Titanic will seek title to the artifacts and a monetary award for its salvage costs.

Judge Smith has called upon the government to assemble the Titanic artifacts as a collection available to the public. Smith is mindful of the historic importance of the Titanic and the 1,522 lost in the tragedy based on her previous rulings and statements from the bench. If the court agrees to RMS Titanic’s request, the company could sell the entire collection to a museum with court approval. The company has said it has no plans to do so.

A citizen by the name of Douglas Faulkner Woolley has also challenged the case and is planning his own expedition. So the question still remains: who owns the Titanic shipwreck, one of the largest collection of historic artifacts buried 2.4 miles below the surface of the Atlantic.

Titanic Shipwreck

Located in Istanbul, Turkey, the Titanic De Luxe Beach and Resort Hotel is modeled after the Titanic all the way down to the nine decks. Firmly built on land (of course) guests are in no way in danger of sinking into the Atlantic, but three massive pools on either side gives the illusion that one is amidst a body of water (sort of). Such quirks as a port hole shaped mirror and a deck on the roof give guests every luxury of being on the Titanic along with the modern luxuries of being at a first class hotel. The resort includes an Olympic sized swimming pool, an lagoon, and two water parks to enjoy during the stay as well as its own private stretch of beach for maximum relaxation.

A top-class spa, 3 tempting restaurants and more activities have received a 4 1/2 to 5 star rating overall among visitors. The truly unique experience is once in a lifetime and the beautifully designed hotel is definitely worth checking out. The full list of features include:

View of Titanic hotel from pool area

Titanic Conspiracy Overview

There are some who believe that the Titanic tragedy was simply a conspiracy designed to pull off one of the largest acts of insurance fraud ever committed. The sister ship of the Titanic by the name of the Olympia had sustained damage during one of its voyages and it was said that the ship was rendered completely useless. Many experts see evidence that supports this theory due to some of the inconsistencies in the Titanic’s story.

Small differences in the two ships have been analyzed by experts suggesting that after the Olympic had been damaged, that it was designed to look like the Titanic. Many accounts of this type of marine insurance fraud has been documented throughout the course of time. The idea of swapping ships in order to collect insurance is not a new idea, and if the story is true, this would be the largest case of marine insurance fraud ever successfully pulled off.

Titanic Conspiracy Theory

There are many reasons to consider the possibility that the Titanic was replaced by her Sister the Olympic. Probably the most common inconsistency in the story of the sinking of the Titanic is the differing paint jobs between the two ships. The Olympic’s hull was painted white for more media friendly pictures, while her sister, the Titanic was the more commonly used black.

The wheelhouse of the Olympic was also constructed in a bow fronted fashion. However, a photograph taken from the top of the huge steel gantry specially constructed by Harland & Wolff to enable them to build the vessels shows this not necessarily to be the case. This photograph, taken immediately after the ship was launched, appears to show a straight fronted wheelhouse, exactly as it appeared on earlier drawings of the ship.

Damage to the Olympic occurred when it was inadvertently rammed by a British naval vessel by the name HMS Hawke. Both ships received major damage from the incident and it left the Olympic with a large hole in the hull and her main starboard engine out of commission. With the help of a few tugboats, the Olympic was taken back to Southhampton to assess the damage. Eyewitness reports suggest that the route of the Hawke and the Olympic intersecting may not have been an accident at all.

When White Star brought the event to court in order to claim damages for the dismembered Olympic, it was ruled that the collision was entirely the fault of the Olympic. Unable to collect money for her repairs, White Star was left with a severely damaged ship which was losing the company money by being unable to collect fares.

Damage reports had found that the outer covering of one of the propellers had been severely damaged, the crankshaft had been damaged, and the bearing within the propeller had also been bent. The central turbine engine was unusable and the impact of the Hawke’s iron ram had caused vast internal damage to the Olympic. The Titanic and Olympic had cost a fortune to build, and would require years of operation before the company would see any profit. It was absolutely necessary to get the Olympic up and running.

Harland & Wolff had no spare engine crankshaft, propeller, or propeller shaft on hand to replace those damaged items on Olympic , except ones awaiting fitment to her sister vessel, Titanic. Essentially, the Olympic was repaired with parts from the unfinished Titanic, some of which can still be seen. One of the propellers still bears the 01 from the Titanic, which was model 401. It should also be noted that the bent bearing, which was designed to last a lifetime was never commissioned to be replaced. This would have resulted in a shaky voyage, which was noted by a passenger and survivor by the name of Lawrence Beesley.

Both the Titanic and Olympic were not initially designed to have bulkheads installed, but one was put into the Olympic to repair the damage to the hull. When Dr. Robert Ballard found the wreckage of the Titanic, he found a bulkhead which was not mentioned on any of the initial plans.

A Harland & Wolff photograph of Olympic , taken when the vessel was in the Thompson Graving Dock in 1911, clearly shows her to have had a vertical joint in her hull plating immediately forward of the port side anchor hawse pipe. Photographs of Titanic , while still on the stocks and while fitting out in 1911, show that there was no similar joint in her hull plating just ahead of her port side anchor. However, In a picture of Olympic , taken during her 1912/13 refit following the Titanic disaster, shows this vessel not to have the tell-tale plating joint; proving quite conclusively that the hull pictured is that of Titanic although the name Olympic is clearly visible on both sides of the bow.

Quite possibly the most conclusive evidence that Titanic conspiracy theorists believe proves the theory is the tonnage of the ships. Many additions were made to the Titanic while attempting to model the Olympic after her. The Olympic was recorded as having a tonnage of around 45,000, while the Titanic weighed in at about 46,000. Plainly put, the addition of 1,000 lbs to the Titanic still resulted in the Titanic weighing 46,000, which doesn’t make a lot of sense. It is very plausible that the 1,000 pounds of tonnage was added to the Olympic in order to meet the weight of the Titanic.

Some other aspects support this theory such as some of the lifeboats having the name of the Olympic engraved into their gunwales and a carbon copy of a photograph of the Olympic stateroom emerging during the filming of the 1997 Titanic movie taken by a submersible.

Titanic Conspiracy Possible Evidence

April 14 2012 marks the 100th anniversary of the maiden voyage of the Titanic. This marks one of the largest maritime peacetime tragedies in history. Titanic Universe remembers the lives lost on that day and the historical icon that the Titanic has become to the world. We have gathered the most information possible to bring our readers the complete story of the Titanic from construction to wreckage as well as little known facts about the night of April 14, 1912. Remember the historical event and check out our photos, stories, and facts surrounding the Titanic Anniversary.

100th Year Anniversary of the Titanic Sinking