Titanic Movies on Blu-Ray

[Dan Kappes]

Most of the Titanic films ever made are now available on Blu-Ray, where the picture is really clean and high-definition.

Do you think the Blu-Ray releases of the 1943, 1953, and 1997 Titanic films and 1958's A Night to Remember give much better quality to those films than they originally had when they were projected in movie theaters in their original release years?

 

[David G. Brown]

Blue ray or chartreuse, the crisp and clear image of a fresh-struck 35mm print projected by a pure carbon arc lamp has never been excelled. Yes, our modern gizmos are wonderful...but only for teeny, tiny TV sets. Even the biggest electronic screen is no match for a 50 foot wide screen. Frankly, the images we watched in the 1950s and even early 60s were spectacular. Then, came TV with 3rd or 4th generation prints struck on 16 mm film and projected by incandescent lamps. The color was all wrong even for monochrome film chains and the quality of the images became as fuzzy as a child's Teddy bear. That's what you've been watching all your lives (assuming you're under 59 years or so of age).

A "film chain" was a device for projecting multiple images into one camera. Flopping mirrors did the optical switching. Mos U.S. equipment had two film projectors and one twin-drum slide projector. My experience in "the pit" as the film room was called taught me the slide projectors were easiest to get sharp focus. The two film machines were always slightly different -- one better than the other. The result was a sort of "blah" black and white image or an off-color image from color film.

My point is that the old tech projection equipment was designed to properly show black and white films. Nothing equals the original engineering. Sure, blue ray looks a tad better than standard DVD. But it doesn't hold a candle to black and white positives printed on high-quality stock and projected using blazing white carbon arcs. Eat your hearts out kids, some things were better -- a lot better -- in the old days. To see a movie you held your girl friend, not some piece of cold plastic.

-- David G. Brown

 

[Seumas]

"SOS Titanic" is still available only in the 95-100 minute cut isn't it ?

It would be good to have the 180 minute (approx) cut available one day.

 

[bitcohen]

James Cameron: ”I’m looking forward to seeing movies on one of these great displays, in my home starting this year"
https://www.dolby.com/us/en/technologies/dolby-3d.html
He said this in a recent interview talking about the new Dolby (glasses-free) 3D.
Is it possible that Titanic will finally be released in 4K (as well as in Dobly 3D Blu-ray) later this year?

 

[Dan Kappes]

James Cameron: ”I’m looking forward to seeing movies on one of these great displays, in my home starting this year"
https://www.dolby.com/us/en/technologies/dolby-3d.html
He said this in a recent interview talking about the new Dolby (glasses-free) 3D.
Is it possible that Titanic will finally be released in 4K (as well as in Dobly 3D Blu-ray) later this year?

Yeah, the 3D Blu-Ray which was released in 2012 needs glasses for it. It would be nice to have one in 3D that doesn't need glasses and also one in 4K.

It would also be nice if Cameron's film The Abyss was also released on Blu-Ray this year. It is the 30th anniversary of that film after all.

 

[clipartkind]

There's a reason TITANIC won Oscars for almost every single department, it's an exquisite example of the best of film craft on every level.

And I still think it's an injustice that Cameron wasn't nominated for his script. People mock a few lines of clunky dialogue, mostly in the "Picasso" scene, but the script is a work of Swiss-watch genius, with colorful, active, complex characters that people around the globe related to and cared about. Those characters have goals in conflict with each other, facing ever-increasing obstacles, coming up with creative solutions to them. Story structure like that is the real heavy lifting of screenwriting, and Cameron is a world class MASTER at it.

I think because in this and AVATAR, Cameron was intentionally working with archetypes and tropes, people found it easy to bash him for "cliches" or for "copying" other films, but that was exactly the point, he was intentionally and knowingly writing elemental stories that recur over and over in pop culture throughout the centuries.* THAT is why those two films were monstrous hits. It can't just be explained away with the novelty of 3D technology or a bunch of teenage girls, HUNDREDS of MILLIONS of people went to these clipart and told their friends to go see them as well. The box office for both films stayed consistent week after week after week, that just doesn't happen unless people truly love a film.

*For proof that Cameron knew exactly what he was doing with TITANIC, look at STRANGE DAYS in comparison. He wrote, produced and edited it immediately before TITANIC, and it's the polar opposite - a dark, complex, much more nuanced film, which is not easy to love (though passionately loved by those who did get it). It was equally brilliant, but grossed about $1.95. He knew precisely what he was doing with TITANIC.

 

[Cam Houseman]

There's a reason TITANIC won Oscars for almost every single department, it's an exquisite example of the best of film craft on every level.

And I still think it's an injustice that Cameron wasn't nominated for his script. People mock a few lines of clunky dialogue, mostly in the "Picasso" scene, but the script is a work of Swiss-watch genius, with colorful, active, complex characters that people around the globe related to and cared about. Those characters have goals in conflict with each other, facing ever-increasing obstacles, coming up with creative solutions to them. Story structure like that is the real heavy lifting of screenwriting, and Cameron is a world class MASTER at it.

I think because in this and AVATAR, Cameron was intentionally working with archetypes and tropes, people found it easy to bash him for "cliches" or for "copying" other films, but that was exactly the point, he was intentionally and knowingly writing elemental stories that recur over and over in pop culture throughout the centuries.* THAT is why those two films were monstrous hits. It can't just be explained away with the novelty of 3D technology or a bunch of teenage girls, HUNDREDS of MILLIONS of people went to these clipart and told their friends to go see them as well. The box office for both films stayed consistent week after week after week, that just doesn't happen unless people truly love a film.

*For proof that Cameron knew exactly what he was doing with TITANIC, look at STRANGE DAYS in comparison. He wrote, produced and edited it immediately before TITANIC, and it's the polar opposite - a dark, complex, much more nuanced film, which is not easy to love (though passionately loved by those who did get it). It was equally brilliant, but grossed about $1.95. He knew precisely what he was doing with TITANIC.

Agreed. James Cameron knew what he was doing. That 1997 movie is my favorite movie ever, I love it despite its flaws. I love it even above my favorite Star Wars movies