Starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in the roles that would make them global stars, TITANIC tells the story of the epic romance between two star-crossed lovers set against the backdrop of the legendary and ill-fated maiden voyage of the "ship of dreams." (from Paramount Home Media Distribution)

Looking back now nearly fifteen years on the release of the epic film Titanic, it amazes me to think it's been so long since I first saw this film when it debuted in theaters. In fact, it was the film, due to its subject matter, content and popularity, that inspired me to begin writing movie reviews for this very website in early 1998. You see, I grew up with a morbid fascination of Titanic and its horrific and unthinkable disaster. Because of Robert D. Ballard's history-making discovery of the wreckage in 1986 spawning numerous books and documentaries, I just marveled at the photos and paintings of the wreckage and wanted to know more about how this massive ocean liner could have possibly become nothing more than twisted, rusted hunks of metal and ghostly images hidden deep beneath the ocean's surface. It all sounded like a movie, and in 1997, acclaimed director James Cameron made that idea a reality.

Granted, Cameron's Titanic was NOT the first time this story had been told in film. As a book and a movie, A Night to Remember was previously one of the more well-known tellings of this story (And Cameron admits to that film being the inspiration for making his movie). And even since Cameron's epic, the story has been retold in television films and miniseries. (I wonder what survivors, if they could see all of this today, would say about such milking of a terrible disaster.)

In 2012, 100 years after the sinking of Titanic on its maiden voyage, James Cameron's once-top-box-office-hit (his follow-up Avatar dethroned Titanic in 2009) was re-released to the cinemas after a 3D conversion. Now, in the late summer of 2012, Titanic finally makes its blu-ray debut. But before I get to the high definition transfer and remastering of the 1997 movie, I'd like to briefly re-evaluate the film.

I had first seen Titanic in theaters (three times, too, I think) as a teenager in the close of '97 and beginning of '98. The love story did pique my young love interests, but it was also the film's setting: at sea on the glorious ship of Titanic that really interested me. The fact that Cameron recreated much of the ship to 90% of its original scale, using many of the original manufacturers of the same things featured on the ship (like carpet and fine china and such), just further interested me. Cameron was bringing to life the disaster on screen in a way no one had ever seen before (or since). Using the story of lower class and upper class teens who fall in love on this doomed vessel catered to my generation and reeled us in by making us care for dear Jack and Rose and their ill-fated romance.

While Cameron's script wasn't necessarily the most brilliant you might read for a romance or historical film, he was certainly no dummy for casting two beautiful actors as the leads and surrounding them with respectable acting talent. Somehow, Cameron found just the right ingredients to forumlate cinematic success, and it showed as the film sustained box office domination for months after its initial release (which just doesn't happen). And still today, it's a big deal to finally be getting a blu-ray, high definition release of Titanic.

In January of 1998, it was partly due to its edgy content that made me want to review Titanic for the growing JFH readership at the time. The most memorable, obviously, is Kate Winslet's topless nudity during a scene where Leonardo DiCaprio's Jack Dawson is drawing her character, Rose, in her stateroom. Rose drops a sheer shawl (which briefly shows some see-through nudity, and climbs onto a couch to be sketched by Jack. At first, nothing explicit is revealed, but we see her bare breasts as she starts settling onto the couch and again while we see Jack in the midst of drawing her there. We see the full nude drawing a few times during the movie, but it's in this scene that Winslet's topless nudity is pretty significant. It was startling enough to viewers (and for a movie aimed at teens?) to make many question how it could have squeaked by with a PG-13 rating at all. On top of that, there's a pretty sensual scene where Jack and Rose have sex in the back of a car they find on board. We see her hand slap against a foggy window (from the outside) to represent her climax, and then we see the two in a sweaty embrace inside afterward (again... this is a movie aimed at teens?). For language, there's at least one usage of the "F" word (which still irks me to this day, too; the character uses it flippantly and then apologizes for it), an array of other colorful language - including quite a bit of blasphemy - and pretty intense violence once the sinking and pandemonium begins. The finale, from the ship going down to survivors of the sinking seen frozen to death in the water hours later, is all very intense and even disturbing for some viewers. The movie as a whole really pushes the PG-13 rating, so parents who see it and think it may be safe for 13 year olds will want to think twice. It's unfortunate, too, because the language was a bit gratuitous and the sensuality puts it over. Considering that this is a fictitious love story set within an historical event, it's disappointing it wasn't made a bit more family friendly.

There's a lot of emotion packed into a film like Titanic. Because I saw it as a teen, it represents a certain time in my life for me, and takes me back every time I watch it (for better and worse). And, as you watch it through the years, you can see it through a different set of eyes as you grow from, for example, the teenage years of the main characters to the adulthood of some of the victims and even the parenthood of some as well. Cameron did a great job bringing a relatable human element to the story that spans generations. It's no wonder a movie like this has endured and been embraced by so many. Since its runaway success, the film has gotten a lot of hate from people who think it's uncool to like the movie due to the romance elements, sappy moments, cheesy one-liners ("I'm the king of the world" and "Jack! I'm flying!" anyone?) and over-played Celine Dion song. But I firmly believe more people like it than they have the guts to let on. It's a far from perfect film, clearly, but when you consider the work Cameron put into it, the detail in the sets, the acting performances, the memorable score, the groundbreaking effects for its time, and its grim finale, Titanic was quite the achievement in filmmaking.

Now, when a film is converted for high definition, the end results are often mixed. However, the conversion for Titanic was a painstaking frame-by-frame remastering and it really shows in Blu-Ray. The film has never looked better. From the vibrant colors to crisp visuals, the movie certainly doesn't look fifteen years old. One thing that would irk me about DVDs is how the darkest scenes often had flashes of red in them, looking rather synthetic. But this high-def Blu-Ray transfer is really fantastic. And the sound has never packed such a punch in a home entertainment release before.

Fifteen years later, Titanic still holds up as an entertaining, sobering, and moving story. It's easy to see why some viewers wouldn't quite warm up to a teen whirlwind love story, but the film is rich enough with human elements and tragedy that it's tough not to feel something while watching it. To this day, the movie's final moments sparks emotions I felt when I first saw it. Even with its flaws, Titanic is still a cinematic wonder.

26 years ago, the massive box office success Titanic hit theaters. In 2012, 15 years after the release of the movie and 100 years since the ship's disastrous sinking, the movie made its Blu-Ray debut, and it's taken an additional 11 years to receive a 4K UHD transfer. Considering it held the title as biggest-movie-of-all-time at the box office until another James Cameron movie, 2009's Avatar dethroned it, it's amazing it's taken this long to be given the UHD treatment. So... how does it look?

The movie's opening shots are relatively grainy -- including the Paramount logo -- so my first reaction was of disappointment. However, once the submersible scenes kicked in, I was in awe. The clarity and crispness, the color vibrancy and the contrast... it's beautiful. I found myself actually dropping my jaw at some shots - like the ship in 1912 at night on the water. This is the the way this movie was meant to be seen. It's gorgeous. I actually can't recommend the 4K transfer enough.

If I had to point out one negative, it's just that the heightened clarity does make a couple special effects shots stand out more obviously. One that comes to mind is when Jack and Rose are running away from a wall of water down a corridor--which now even more obviously now looks like Winslet's and DiCaprio's faces super-imposed over their stunt-doubles'. Some of the other shots of characters in the water with the ship's smoke stacks falling and such also look more obvious. These are super minor gripes, but it's just one of the drawbacks to sharper pictures in movies. Still... this transfer looks dang good. It gives the movie such an extra punch of life to it.

The 4K UHD disc release comes bundled with a digital copy (Apple or VUDU, not both) and a bonus Blu-Ray disc loaded with bonus features. It includes a brand new documentary called Stories from the Heart (35:58) which features James Cameron, Kate Winslet, and producer Jon Landau sharing memories from the production and from the movie's success afterwards. Some of the stories are ones told before (and even in other documentaries on this disc), but it was fun to hear some stories that I don't think I've ever heard being told before. Cameron talks about trying to get a sunset shot for the "Jack, I'm flying!" romantic moment, and how they always had to be ready for it just in case a natural sunset presented itself. We also get treated to a lot of "B-Roll" on-set footage of scenes being filmed and the cast having fun on set, and it was just really fun to take a trip back in time to see some of that--especially since it's otherwise such a serious and dramatic movie. (1 "h*ll," 1 "d*mn," 2 "G-d," 1 "Oh my G-d")

Y'know, in rewatching the movie - yet again - after all these years, it really is a marvel in many ways. Certain aspects of the movie still irk me (the language, the sexual content, and some of the characters in the "present day" plot), but everything from Cameron's attention to detail in recreating the ship, to his camera sweeps, angles, and shots... it's really an impressive piece of filmmaking. And the more I learn about the production itself, the more I appreciate the movie. While still a wildly imperfect movie, it remains a filmmaking masterpiece nonetheless.

The full details for the extras included are listed below from the official press release (Most of these were covered in my 2012 Blu-Ray Review below this list):

Blu-ray Bonus Disc

• TITANIC: Stories From the Heart—NEW! ... Director James Cameron, producer Jon Landau, and star Kate Winslet share memories and favorite moments and recount the challenges of making the greatest love story in cinema history. Go back in time with film clips, photos and behind-the-scenes moments.

• TITANIC: 25 Years Later with James Cameron ... James Cameron explores the enduring myths and mysteries of the shipwreck, and mounts tests to see whether Jack could have fit on that raft and survived.

• Behind-the Scenes presentation hosted by Jon Landau—NEW! ... Jon Landau introduces a series of behind-the-scenes segments showcasing the making of TITANIC.

• Trailer Presentation hosted by Jon Landau—NEW! ... Jon Landau shares an inside glimpse into the marketing of TITANIC with a story of how a 4-minute trailer overseen by the filmmakers was delivered to theatres, instead of the original “action” trailer.

• Fan Poster Art—NEW!
• Reflections on TITANIC (4 parts)
• Deleted Scenes with optional commentary by James Cameron
• Additional Behind-the-Scenes
• Deep-Dive Presentation narrated by James Cameron
• $200,000,001: A Ship’s Odyssey (The TITANIC Crew Video)
• Videomatics
• Visual Effects
• Music Video "My Heart Will Go On" by Celine Dion
• Still Galleries

 4K Ultra HD Disc

• Director Commentary by James Cameron
• Cast and Crew Commentary
• Historical Commentary by Don Lynch and Ken Marschall

Titanic: The Final Word with James Cameron (1:36:16) - The second of the two new documentaries has Cameron rounding up 8 experts about Titanic, Naval ships, and other relevant fields to try to come to a final decision of exactly how Titanic sank, broke apart, and landed on the ocean floor. For those who don't really care about the actual sinking, this won't be interesting, but given my longtime fascination with it, I found The Final Word to be wholly interesting. The team take a look at the crash site on the ocean floor and try to use it as a forensics team would use a crime scene to reconstruct the sinking and the ship's breaking apart that night. Cameron takes the reins and leads the discussion, but he ultimately monopolizes the investigation, quickly shutting down suggestions from other experts to decide that his deductions are final. It makes the investigation a bit slanted at times, but what the group collectively deduces by the end seems to make sense. What's interesting, too, is they discover that some of the sinking details in Cameron's 1997 film are wrong, but James admits to not wanting to change the movie, as he says that once he starts, he's not sure where he would stop. The documentary utilizes clips from Titanic, his Ghosts of the Abyss documentary and new animatics to piece together the sinking visually. The discussion closes with the group hypothetically discussing how more people could have been saved if they all were transported to the ship a second after the iceberg hit (And Cameron confidently insists he could have saved everyone). The final animation of the "actual" sinking (as per the group's final word, mainly Cameron's) is very spooky. But the documentary, unfortunately, doesn't stop there. Instead of leaving it all about Titanic and that tragedy, the film director tries way too hard to relate the disaster to today's political state in end, saying the next great disaster will be "climate change." The documentary should have ended with the final animation of the sinking; we really don't need Cameron's final word. With that, it no longer is about the ship at all. But despite the weird ending, The Final Word is still a fascinating addition to this set.

Deleted Scenes (57:32) - There are 30 deleted scenes with optional commentary from James Cameron, as well as his 2005 introduction audio to the scenes. All of them have finished effects and music, which is a nice touch (Hey, they could afford it, right?). All of these scenes are remastered for high definition, which is excellent. ["Spoilers" of these scenes are ahead!] The first scene, "I'll Be The First," is an extended sequence of Rose unpacking her art on the ship, with a cold exchange between her and Cal. While it's a little corny, it really sets up the fact that she just doesn't love him. "Rose Feels Trapped" takes place just before Rose heads to the back of the ship where she first meets Jack. She comes to her room alone and throws a bit of a tantrum, panicking about her life's situation. "Brock's Dilemma / Rose Visits Third Class" inserts another present day scene into the past story and interrupts the flow of Rose recalling her story all in one night. Brock tries to get more info out of her, and then feels the loom of defeat in his pursuit of the heart of the ocean. While the scene does slow down the movie, it adds more meat to Brock's plot. This all transitions back to the past with a new scene where Rose goes to third class to find Jack in a setting we otherwise don't see in the movie. It also shows more of Jack's friends on the ship. It's a nice scene that I kind of wish was still in the film. "Rose's Dreams" is a conversation between Jack and Rose where Rose vents about all of these wild dreams she wishes she could experience. Some of them actually come true in the photos we see in her room at the end of the film. Here, you really see the spitfire that Rose is beneath the surface. "Come Josephine..." takes place after the third class party and we see Jack and Rose walking and singing "Come Josephine" on the ship's deck. Sadly, it brings weight to her singing it at the end of the movie and probably could have been left in the finished film. It's also a nice moment between the two that shows more of their romance blossoming. "Extended Sneaking To First Class" shows more of the gymnasium (which is a famous sight from the Titanic wreckage). "Extended Escape from Lovejoy" shows more of Jack and Rose running through the ship evading Lovejoy. Here Rose tells Jack more about who Lovejoy was to Cal (1 "S" word). "A Kiss in the Boiler Room" soon follows as they pause for a romantic embrace while running through the boiler room. It's a bizarre place to share a moment, but the way it was shot does look pretty cool. "Wireless Room/The Californian" shows the Titanic communications team telling off The Californian team for warning them about ice. It was wise to cut this one (1 "bloody h*ll," 1 "Chr*st," 1 "b*stard"). The tenth deleted scene, "How 'Bout A Little Ice?" is a unique shot of Molly Brown asking for ice in her glass at the moment the huge iceberg passes by the window behind her. It's meant to be for a laugh/irony, but I can't say it fits the mood (1 "bleeding Chr*st"). "Flirting With Ice" has Rose shoving ice down Jack's shirt after the ship hits the berg. "The First S.O.S." shows Captain Smith ordering the sending out of a distress call and the wire team decide to use "S.O.S." for the first time. "Ismay Panics" shows a brief moment where Ismay hysterically tries to board a lifeboat (1 "For G-d's sake"). "Molly Brown's Rowing School" shows Molly teaching people how to row in her lifeboat. "Irish Hospitality" is a brief moment where some third class passengers give Rose a blanket and a swig of alcohol from their flask. "Ida Straus Won't Leave" is a little moment where Ida argues with her husband that she won't leave him. "Farewell To Helga" is an unnecessary but melancholy moment where Fabrizio is forced to leave Helga with her family as he joins Jack and Rose to try to make it off the ship. "Boat Six Won't Return" is a sad but great scene where Captain Smith calls back boat six to add more people but the crewman in charge of the boat refuses to return. This is followed by a short moment back in the gymnasium with some of the first class passengers talking and then a shot of the famous baker (who really did survive) chugging alcohol from a bottle. "Release The Hounds" is more of Cal trying to strike up a deal to get on a lifeboat. "A Husband's Letter" is a brief scene where a random man gives Rose a letter to give to his wife if she (Rose) survives. The twentieth scene, "Jack and Lovejoy Fight," is a good one. It's much too long, and slows the film down, but it gives explanation as to why we see Lovejoy with blood all over his head during the sinking. Cal gives his gun to Lovejoy and tells him he can have the diamond if he retrieves it from Jack and Rose. He then pursues them through the dining area where there's a cat-and-mouse exchange between the three of them. Jack and Lovejoy then fight it out a bit -- which has some really, poorly obvious stunt double moments for Jack, making the scene cheesier than it should have been (1 "S" word). "Guggenheim and Astor" is an unnecessary moment where the two briefly run into each other before the end (1 "d*mn"). "I'm Not Going" has one of the guys in the communications room insisting he won't leave his post. "Cora's Fate" is a miserable shot that reveals that little Cora gets caught behind a locked third class gate as water rises around her. "Extended Jack and Rose in the Water" shows Jack threatening a man who wants to join Rose on her floating door raft. "Out of the Question" is just a shot of a lifeboat listening to the cries of those in the water and a passenger saying they should help, while another refuses to help them. "How Dare You!" is where a crewman finds a man posing as a woman in a lifeboat. "Chinese Man Rescue" is from the 'Is there anyone alive out there?' sequence where they find a Chinese survivor and rescue him (in other words, it wasn't just Rose who got saved from the frozen waters). The last two scenes make up about fifteen minutes of footage. "Extended Carpathia Sequence" shows a lot more of Rose's arrival on the Carpathia and being rescued. It also shows a bunch of the survivors - some familiar faces - and Ismay doing a kind of 'walk of shame' before other survivors. The montage in the final film works really well, but here you see more of Cal looking for Rose on the ship and the tension of her hoping he doesn't find her. There's also some more dialog from old Rose. Finally, there's the Alternate Ending, which has more dialog between Brock and Rose's granddaughter as the rest of the crew celebrate the end of the searching for the diamond. And instead of Rose tossing it into the ocean (like in the final film), the granddaughter spots her just before she drops it and she and Brock rush to stop Rose. Brock begs her to let him hold it and after she lets him have a moment with it, she tosses it overboard (1 "S" word, 1 "G-d forsaken," 2 "Oh my G-d," 2 "J-sus," 1 "s*cks"). It's a pretty terrible scene that ends with everything laughing. I'm thankful it didn't end so corny (But it is slightly neat to see little cliche references to the Jack and Rose story here, like a shooting star, which is also from a deleted scene, and Rose telling Brock to live in a way to make every day count). Overall, these scenes are a good viewing -- even if the alternate ending is pretty awful.

The remainder of the bonus features are from the original DVD releases and appear here in regular standard definition.

Construction Time Lapse (4:20) is a sped up time lapse of the construction of the ship set in Mexico. It's pretty fascinating to watch what all went into its construction.

Deep Dive Presentation, Narrated by James Cameron (15:30) - This is a great batch of footage that Cameron and his crew filmed of Titanic when they went down to the wreckage for the first time in 1995. Cameron narrated in ten years later for a DVD release.

$200,000,001: A Ship's Odyssey (The Titanic Crew Video) (17:52) is a candid montage of cast and crew cutting up on set. They even work in clips from Poseidon Adventure and other classic films as part of the gag. It wraps up with a very long montage of clips of various members of the film crew who you generally would never see otherwise.

Videomatics (3:18) - There are a few videomatics, aka video storyboards, of the sinking and deep dive, all accomplished with miniatures and a lipstick size camera. Nowadays, these storyboards would be done with computer animation.

Visual Effects (7:50) - This is a breakdown of the effects used to create the engine room, "I'm Flying" scene, first class lounge (which kind of ruins the scene in the film as they reveal the background was all miniatures with the actors being shown in front of a green screen), and the sinking simulation animation that's shown to 'old Rose' in the beginning of the movie.

Archives
In this section, we have stuff like Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On" music video, Theatrical Trailers, TV Spots, and Still Galleries. The most unique additions here are probably the Titanic parodies (10:16). The first is an MTV 1998 Movie Awards Skit where Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller play movie execs who pitch the idea of a Titanic sequel to [the real] James Cameron. Next is an SNL Skit from January 9, 1999 where Bill Paxton reprises his role as Brock for a fake "alternate ending" where the SNL team beat up old Rose (played by Cheri Oteri). And finally, there is a video called Titanic in 30 Seconds, reenacted by Bunnies... which is pretty silly.