On the maiden voyage of RMS Titanic, in the year 1912, the mother of impoverished New York debutante Rose DeWitt Bukater is scheming to marry her to a rich high society bully. Rose, in desperation,...

On the maiden voyage of RMS Titanic, in the year 1912, the mother of impoverished New York debutante Rose DeWitt Bukater is scheming to marry her to a rich high society bully. Rose, in desperation, prepares to throw herself overboard and is saved from a watery grave by Jack Dawson, a happy-go-lucky young American artist travelling in steerage. Across the social chasm between First Class and the lower decks, the two fall in love. Meanwhile, however, the ship is being driven towards its date with destiny by the dastardly Lord Ismay, Titanic's reckless owner. Ismay knows very well that there are far too few lifeboats, but he hopes to hit the headlines with a fast crossing. His lickspittle ship's master, Captain Edward Smith, steams full speed ahead into an ice-field, and the ship goes down with over a thousand souls, including one of the lovers.More than eighty years later, a salvage team hunting for treasure on board the remains of Titanic flies a survivor of the shipwreck onto its salvage vessel...