I loved the movie but I'll take a shot. Some possible reasons: 1. A story about a sinking ship could be a rather bleak, depressing watch. 2. So, the maiden voy

I loved the movie but I'll take a shot. Some possible reasons: 1. A story about a sinking ship could be a rather bleak, depressing watch. 2. So, the maiden voyage of a ship turned out bad because it hit an iceberg. There was no war element, nothing. Have ships sunk due to icebergs before? Sure. 3. A movie about Titanic could be a better candidate for a documentary, not a hollywood drama. I could pass. It was James Cameron's execution (including the Jack/Rose love angle, the human emotion, the SFX) that made the movie into the gigantic hit it turned out to become. The idea was alright, at best.