If  “Titanic” (in 3D) has confirmed one thing for us, it is this: the bigger the better. Now, I’m not usually one to be won over by 3D because, as to be honest, I usually don’t see all that big of a difference between 2D and 3D. I even went as far as to say (before I saw the movie, of course) that I wished they weren’t releasing it in 3D and just kept it the way that it was.

However, after I saw it, I couldn’t wait to see it again and dragged anyone who was remotely interested in the movie with me. It was everything I could have had hoped for and more.

When “Titanic” was first released in theaters back in December 1997 (I was 5 years old). I was a huge Celine Dion fan and had seen the previews for the movie with her song “My Heart Will Go On.” I begged my parents to take me to see it. Being the responsible parents that they are, they told me I was too young to see the movie but I could listen to the song as much as I wanted.

I didn’t know it at the time, but the real reason they wouldn’t take me to see it was that we were going on a family cruise in the upcoming months and they knew if I was traumatized by the sinking cruise ship in the movie, I would have refused to go on a ship myself.

Eight years later, I came home from a friend’s party and my parents had taped “Titanic.” They asked if I wanted to watch it. From then on, it has been one of my favorite movies.

Now I’m accustomed to the criticism — as I’m reminded by some of my own friends — about how I could possibly watch it over and over and still enjoy it. “You already know what happens,” they all say or, “How could you sit there for over three hours to see it for the thousandth time?”

My reasoning is always the same: the story, the characters and the themes in this film are fascinating, and the adventure compels me in a way that few other movies can compare to. Either that or I really need a good cry.

Similarly, I’m sure that many people in their teens and early 20’s didn’t get the chance to see the movie in theaters when it first came out. Seeing it up on the big screen, and in 3D,  you feel like you’re a part of the journey.

Sitting in the theater with my 3D glasses on, I felt like I was a passenger on the ship and could almost swear that at any moment the tumultuous waves of the North Atlantic would come crashing through the screen and soak us all. I didn’t think I could feel any more compassion for the passengers, but I sympathized with the characters and their situations even more because the experience felt so real.

Despite having seen the movie a dozen times before, I was hanging on 100-year-old Rose’s every word as she recounted the terrible events of April 14 and 15 1912. The whole thing was so real that by the time the credits rolled, the majority of the audience was in tears.

The story presented in “Titanic” is not only immensely didactic, but is one of those stories that I think will always stay with people. It was even sold out one of the times I went to see it. The fact that a movie originally released 15 years ago, that most people have already seen, was able to sell out really proves that “Titanic” is one of those rare cinematic gems that is sure to withstand the test of time.