DVD Review: Titanic - Collector's Edition
Jump To: Video/Audio/Features/Bottom Line
::Movie review
No one could have predicted the phenomenon that became Titanic. In fact, I think most experts believed it would be a colossal failure. It wasn't that people doubted the abilities of James Cameron. That he can make entertaining and successful films is without at doubt. Rather, Titanic was just too ambitious, too costly and too, well, titanic to succeed.
At 200 million dollars, Titanic remains as one of the most expensive films ever made. In fact, the film cost more than the real Titanic. It was plagued with production delays, which prompted further predictions of gloom. Most films never see 200 million in returns, so the fear was not that it wouldn't make any money, but that it wouldn't make enough. Titanic's opening weekend only brought in 28.5 million, which also didn't bode well, as box office returns traditionally fall off sharply after opening.
Except in the case of Titanic.
Unexpectedly, Titanic's second weekend actually out-performed the opening. It opened on the 21st of December, 1997 and by the 19th of January, less than a month later, it had surpassed its budget. And then it kept going. Within another month, it had doubled its budget in box office returns, and every week it broke new box office records. When all was said and done, Titanic's world wide box office revenue was better than 1 billion dollars, making it the most successful theatrical release of all time. Then it followed this up by tying first place for the most Academy Award nominations with 14 (and winning 11).
The big question is, how did this film become so successful on this scale? Yes, it's a good movie, but a billion dollars? I've seen Titanic a number of times and I've given some thought to just why so many people like it, and I have a theory:
James Cameron's genius was in telling this true story from the viewpoint of a pair of fictional characters. Almost everyone knows, at least on a basic level, what happened to the Titanic. However, since it's a real event, forcing it to focus on the real people on board would only serve to distance viewers. Because the main characters are fictitious, it allows the audience to identify with them, to place themselves into the situation. Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Rose (Kate Winslet) may be a bit anachronistic, but that only further binds the audience to them.
There is also the Titanic itself -- the ship, not the film. There have certainly been disasters in human history that are on a far greater scale than the Titanic, but for some reason, it is this incident that resonates and haunts people. We want to know what happened and why. We want to know what it was like to be on board, knowing the ship was going to sink. We want to know what it was like to put your loved one onto a boat so she could get to safety, knowing that it meant you had to stay behind and die. Jack and Rose become our guides. Because they aren't tied to the restrictions of history, they can be everywhere and experience everything, taking us along for the ride.
There is something undeniably moving about the Titanic. James Cameron constructed special submersibles and filmed on the actual wreck. In fact, he spent more time "on" Titanic than the original passengers did. He was so deeply moved by the experience that he returned to film a documentary underwater. In fact, almost all of the crew relates stories of Titanic impacting them in some way or another during the shooting of this movie. And this comes across in the film and, unexpectedly, it touches the audience.
As I mentioned, Titanic is not the worst disaster in history -- it's not even the worst disaster at sea -- but it has somehow become the representative disaster. Maybe this is because it all happened so quickly. Where else have so many people gone from total elation, only to find themselves a few short hours later desperately fighting for their lives?
In a way, the Titanic is a monumental representation of the folly of human endeavors. In this time of massive earthquakes and ravaging hurricanes that have left thousands dead, Titanic remains a shining example of what really matters. Ships sink. Buildings collapse. Possessions get washed away. But at the end of the day, it's our lives and those of the people we love that are worth striving to save. James Cameron's film is both important and successful because it doesn't approach the disaster of Titanic with clinical detachment, false sentiment, or mindless action. It approaches it with heart.
::Video
I have to be honest and say say that I was disappointed in this presentation. Paramount split the movie into 2 discs, presumably to preserve the bit rate and give the best possible video quality. But then they went and tossed in both a 5.1 Dolby Digital track, a 6.1 DTS track, 3 audio commentaries and branching behind the scenes footage, and all of that effectively cancelled out the benefits of a 2-disc presentation.
What I saw in this transfer were muted colors, poor contrast and some compression problems. This is all relative, mind you. It isn't really fair to say that this is a terrible transfer, but it certainly isn't up to the high standards we've become accustomed to from recent releases. In fact, I compared this transfer directly to the 1999 release and other than this new edition being anamorphic, I just didn't see a a significant increase in quality.
I've read other online reviews that have praised this transfer and I just have to wonder what they were watching. Some have called this reference quality and I'm sorry, but that's just a huge exaggeration. As I said, my opinion is relative -- this isn't a bad presentation, but certainly not what I was hoping for.
Given that this is a prestige title in the Paramount library, and also given how long we've waited for a special edition version, it's disappointing that the video quality wasn't a home run.
::Audio
My mixed feelings about the video quality were quickly off-set by a superb audio presentation. The 5.1 Dolby Digital track is lively and very good, but is (pardon the pun) blown out of the water by the ultra-dynamic 6.1 DTS track. The frequency range here is absolutely stunning, with crystaline highs and bone-rattling bass. Technically Titanic might not be an action movie, but there are some really great action set-pieces and they really benefit from the DTS track. I'd venture to say this disc sounds better than the theatrical presentation.
::Special Features
Take a deep breath, settle back with some popcorn and brace yourself, because there are a ton of extras in this set.
First on the list is a branching behind-the-scenes feature that plays along with the movie. At certain points you are directed to access a behind-the-scenes segment about various segments of the film. This has been done before on other discs, but what I found to be a nice touch was the fact that these featurettes are presented in anamorphic widescreen, so they blend well with the film presentation. Also nice is that you can choose to play all of these separately from the film.
You can also choose to play one of three audio commentaries:
The first features director James Cameron. By his own admission at the beginning of the track, Cameron doesn't really like commentaries. His opinion is that the film should speak for itself. However, he goes on to say that he agreed to record this track for the fans, and it certainly doesn't appear that he begrudges the experience. Once he gets into it, he really comes alive talking about his experiences with Titanic -- both the real ship and the film.
The second track is a cast and crew commentary -- and I really do mean "cast and crew." I'd venture to say that if you had anything at all to do with the making of Titanic, then you're probably featured in this track. At first I was a bit overwhelmed by the onslaught of various speakers, but then I kind of got into it. Each person's name is subtitled when they talk, so you always know who is who. Furthermore, with so many people offering commentary, the DVD producers really had a lot of good stuff to work with. The result is that every single comment is insightful or interesting and timed exactly right with the film.
The final commentary is the weakest of the bunch and features Titanic historians Don Lynch and Ken Marschall. Perhaps understandably so, they spend most of their track simply pointing out the various elements of the ship and story that are historically accurate. On its own, this would be pretty interesting, but a lot of this is covered by the other tracks and supplements (in fact, in Cameron's commentary, he is pretty candid about the details he got wrong and why).
The second disc of the film features an alternate ending. Essentially, this ending is a different handling of old Rose (Gloria Stuart), Brock (Bill Paxton) and the diamond. Cameron made an excellent choice in dumping this ending, as it plays extremely false, in my mind, by trying too hard to explain everything. In the accompanying commentary, Cameron admits that the film works better with its more mysterious finale. Also on disc two is the music video for Celine Dion's My Heart Will Go On.
Disc 3 contains nothing but supplments. There are three sections here: Deleted Scenes, Marketing and Special Features.
The Deleted Scenes have their own section because there are 47 minutes worth of them, and they also include commentary. I don't envy the job Cameron had while editing this film, because most of these deleted scenes are pretty good and offer up additional character moments. Ultimately, most were cut for pacing and a few had to go when the ending was changed. Overall, it's nice to see them and the only obviously out of place scene is an extended fight between Jack and Lovejoy (David Warner).
The Marketing section showcases the Fox Special: Breaking New Ground, which is a 45 minute television special about the making of the film and the history of Titanic. This is probably most interesting for the interviews with Titanic survivors and the vintage photos of the ship and passengers.
There are 7 Press Kit Featurettes and finally a DVD is calling an Electronic Press Kit for what it is. Unlike the thinly disguised EPK's however, this is a true press kit and features short 2 and 3 minutes segments that would have been sent out to reporters and reviews to help generate interest and excitement for the film.
The final bit in the Marketing section is a series of posters.
Starting off in the Special Features area is a "1912 Newsreel" feature that contains some scenes from the film and some additional footage, all edited together and processed to look like an old news reel. It's a bit cheesy, but kind of fun.
Next is my favorite extra in this entire set. It's a 4 minute timelapse montage of the construction of the Titanic set. While watching the film, it's easy to take for granted the spectacular sets and this short presenation really makes the point.
The Deep Dive presentation takes a look at the challenges of the footage of the real Titanic wreck that was shot for the film. While interesting, this bit kind of pales in comparison to Cameron's excellent Ghosts of the Abyss film.
The Titanic Crew Video is a wrap film put together for the members of the cast and crew and contains a number of funny moments (my favorite is comment about Cameron's "freeze ray" -- you'll know it when you see it).
The Titanic Ship's Tour is a piece that was actually put together for members of the ships historical society. They were allowed access to the sets in between filming in order to record footage of what things really looked like. If anything, this is a testament to how meticulously accurate Cameron was in the details.
The VideoMatics and Visual Effects sections showcase some of the impressive (and some subtle) effects work on the film.
Finally, there is a gallery of images.
Whew! It was a marathon effort to go through the wealth of materials in this set. Amazingly, almost all of it is worthwhile stuff, which is sometimes rare in this day and age when studios will throw almost anything on a disc just so they can label it a "special feature."
::Bottom Line
It's only fitting that the most profitable movie in Hollywood's history receives a mammoth (or titanic, if you will) special edition. And amazingly enough, almost all of it is good. It's clear that a lot of thought and care went into the materials chosen for this set. I only wish that the actual presentation of the film was a little better. Even so, simply the addition of an anamorphic transfer is a huge improvement over the 1999 release. If you are a fan of this movie (and considering the world spent over a billion dollars to see this film, chances are good that you are), you should definitely pick up this set.
| Movie |  |
4.5 / 5 |
| Video | |
3.5 / 5 |
| Audio | |
5 / 5 |
| Extras | |
5 / 5 |
| Family Friendly | |
2 / 5 |
| There are elements in this film that will be very intense for younger viewers -- it is after all, a film about a shipwreck that killed 1500 people. Overall, however, it is an engaging film and behind the fictional love story is a relatively accurate account of an important historical event. | ||
| Overall | |
4.5 / 5 |
- Robert Wurth, ©2005
::Technical Specs
Studio:
Paramount Home Entertainment
Year of Theatrical Release:
1997
Disc Format:
3 single-sided, Dual Layer
Image Format:
Anamorphic Widescreen
Aspect Ratio:
2.35:1
Region Encoding:
1 (North America)
Sound Format:
Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby 6.1 DTS
Running Time:
194 minutes
Director:
James Cameron
Stars:
Kate Winslet, Leonardo DiCaprio, Billy Zane, Kathy Bates, David Warner, Gloria Stuart, Bill Paxton
MPAA Rating:
PG-13
Disc Supplements:
- Commentary with James Cameron
- Commentary with Cast and Crew
- Commentary with historians Don Lynch ad Ken Marschall
- Branching behind-the-scenes features
- Alternate ending with optional commentary
- 47 minutes of deleted scenes with optional commentary
- Fox Special: Breaking New Ground featurette
- Press Kit featurettes
- Marketing image gallery
- 1912 Newsreel
- Construction time lapse
- Deep Dive featurette
- Cast and Crew film
- Titanic Tour
- Videomatics featurettes
- Visual Effects breakdowns
- Image gallery
