I remember the second half of Titanic being almost watchable. That verdict would have been completely undone if they'd gone for this astonishing Telenovela ending.
What lies ahead includes some swearing, blasphemy and the most cringe-worthy dialogue ever conceived. Even worse than Rose's earlier line "I'll never let go, Jack. I promise." Uttered as she let's him sink into the Atlantic.
Anyway, you've been warned...
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2tYHcXNwAk]
For 49 more alternate movie endings, go here
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Ignoring that this is from the director of the two second highest-grossing films of all time, as an option for the former holder of that title, ignoring all the 3 hours 10 that has gone before - this is bad. It's not "tastes like diabetes" sweet, nor stinking bishop cheesy - those things could be bearable - it's simply dire.
And from a plot point of view, it makes it about the modern quest to find the diamond with Rose's story a mere sidetrack, a wild goose chase. The chosen ending kept the star-crossed lovers story which Rose tells to people trying to find the diamond as the main bit and letting go of the diamond at the end suggests that she broke her promise to Jack a second time - letting go of her memories.
Not going with that ending probably meant that the film grossed a few hundred million more than it would have done. What I can't believe is that Cameron thought that was good enough to waste film on!
Definitely prefer the ending the film gets shown with
For me, with whatever get's left on the cutting room floor, it's 'no harm, no foul'. Fascinating to look at though. The alternate ending for The Birds was an improvement over the original. And the alternate ending for Dr. Strangelove should have made it into the movie, but not as a replacement ending. The original ending with Slim Pickens could never be improved upon!