Titanic [4 Discs] [Includes Digital Copy] [Blu-ray/DVD] [1997]

We all know the story! This review is about the Blu-Ray and the 3D. James Cameron did a excellent job remastering and did very well with the 3D! So what's changed? Scenes that were somehow 'ordinary' before are now 'dimensional' - at times you feel you could reach out and actually touch them... Examples - the front railings of the sunken liner at the bottom of the Atlantic at the beginning of the film, the unmanned sub that is filming it then making its way through the insides of the wreck - you now feel the machine and its cables - the space around it - the bubbling of the water - the barnacles and silt disturbed to the left and right. When the engine room ship-sized pistons kick into gear as the last boilers are lit - their size and power; the drinks glasses on the table at dinner as Bruce Ismay pompously tells of how he arrived at the ship's name - they have space around them and you feel you could almost lift them off the tablecloths. Even something as unassuming as Molly Brown's decorative hat as she talks to Jack (at a later dinner table setting) now reaches out of the screen into the aisles with extraordinary depth. Winslet's costumes are glorious too - First scene when they go back when she gets out of the car first thing that pops out is her hat... her radiant eyes and lustrous hair. The feeling of sea air and wind on the ship's gangways when Rose and Jack walk and talk and discuss art is accentuated - more realistic. But if I was to note just one scene that sums up how improved this version is - it would be the one where Rose tries to kill herself by jumping off the back of the ship. As she steps over the railings and the camera looks down at the cold wash below - suddenly the distance and the hugeness of the ship becomes 'real' - looking downward and with that added depth - you can 'feel' that fall...that freezing water below... The sound is huge too - groaning steel - creaking wood - the water crashing out of the screen right into your face as it floods corridors... Side note...... James Cameron is a perfectionist when it comes to detail and just take notice how the small things stick out in 3D also the above..Can't wait for his Avatar 3D to come out in October 2012

Before James Cameron's masterpiece of a movie was released, I was taught, in history class, about the Titanic tragedy - of the hundreds of people who either drowned, or were shot, and the few who survived the sinking of the doomed ocean liner. Cameron brings to life this story of disaster - and, for precious few, triumph. The heroine Rose is brilliantly played by the great team of Gloria Stuart and Kate Winslet. Stuart's Rose, a 105-year-old retired actress, for the very last time, returns to the spot where she fell in love with Jack (Leonardo di Caprio) for the very first time, and wistfully reminisces the happiest - and saddest - days of her life. Forced into an unwanted engagement to a rich, handsome, yet abusive and domineering man, Rose (Winslet) stands on the prow of the enormous vessel, contemplating suicide, but is rescued by Jack, who is financially very poor, but spiritually very rich. He saves her not only from the bad marriage, and from death by her own hands, but his love rescues her from herself - he teaches her to dance and to think and to wield an axe - and even, horror of horrors, to spit! Because of him, she learns to love to live. He tantalizes her with the prospect of horseback riding Western style, and flying an airplane, and working! A new Rose has begun to bloom! Likewise, every moment spent watching Di Caprio's spirited and compassionate Jack is a sheer joy. There is urgency and genuine concern in his piercing eyes and sharp voice as he liberates from the mundane conventional thinking of what is expected of civilized women at the beginning of the twentieth century and begs her not to remain a brat, but to see far beyond the confines of her own mind! As the ship sinks, Jack's only concern is for Rose, and he lays down his life for her by having her lie down on a large piece of wreckage, as he tries his best to tread water, his hand in hers. He remains with her long enough to extract from her a solemn promise that she will work, have fantastic adventures, marry, have children, and die an old lady. After decades have come and gone, she (Stuart) looks over the waters for one last time and lies down for one last time, a smile on her face. On her table by her bedside is photographic proof that she has, indeed, kept her promise - there are pictures of her as a movie star, a pilot, and, perhaps best of all, a beaming horseback rider! When she resurrects, this time played by Winslet, on a heavenly friend-filled Titanic that will never ever sink, she and Jack are reunited forever, and go on to live happily ever - and ever - after! One minor problem I had with an otherwise excellent story is Rose's pretty, but far from lovely, necklace. It is worth millions of dollars, and was given to her by a man she despises, yet she still clings to it, only to toss it into the freezing waters of the Atlantic, instead of having sold it long ago, or even, at the last minute, giving it to her cherished granddaughter! The film is dramatic enough without this added piece, which I consider unnecessary and I found slightly distracting, as it detracts from the central focus on the star-crossed love of Rose and Jack. Still, I found "Titanic", on the whole, to be a jolly good sea yarn, full of courage in the face of adversity, worth seeing over and over again!

By this point, almost all of us have seen the movie Titanic at least once. This film is constantly on TV, was recently on Netflix, and has been widely available for purchase since its original home video release back in 1998. So why own it? When you purchase a movie these days, you get a whole lot more than just the movie. The Titanic disaster is such a historic event, this film is loaded with all kinds of great features to watch, including two separate documentaries regarding the event. The second disc in the set actually contains over six hours of bonus feature content. In my opinion, that's crazy (in a good way). Of course, the main version of the movie is great too. On blu-ray, you are getting all the high definition has to offer and this film will go great with just about any surround sound system or soundbar. Although you may have seen the movie before, watching it on a large HD screen with surround sound is a completely different experience. I honestly felt like I was right there on the ship. The only more negative note is that calling this a four disc set is a bit misleading. Two of the discs are a DVD copy of the film, which is also on the first disc; the blu-ray version of the film. If you have blu-ray players, you may never even use the DVD versions of the film (why would you want to when the movie stops right in the middle and you have to put the other disc in to continue?). So really, depending on what format you prefer and will use, it's really a two-disc copy of a blu-ray and a two-disc copy of a DVD. I don't blame Best Buy for this though, because all of the retailers have marketed this film this way. One nice touch is that they included a digital copy of the film with the set. I haven't used this yet, but I do not believe it is Ultraviolet, therefore, it will be stuck to your iTunes account. That's great if you have Apple products, not so great if you don't. Apple will no doubt support Ultraviolet eventually, but until they do, the digital copy is almost useless. Either that or Apple will need to launch an app for Android phones and non-Apple TV's (Samsung, Vizio, Sony, LG, etc). Ultimately, this is a very well put together set and if you have any emotional connection to the Titanic, this is a great one to own. Although you can find this rather easily, Netflix pulled it from their catalog last year and while it might come back, the point is that by owning it, it will always be there when you're wanting to watch it. The special features are a big bonus with this one.

I've been a huge fan of this film since it's release in 1997. I've seen it 8 times in theaters, watch every Titanic documentary that comes across on History Channel and other such outlets, have owned the film on VHS, DVD, DVD Deluxe, and now this one. This is epic in the classic sense. While the screenplay is terrible, the acting, costumes, sets, directing, and sound all prove that, indeed, it is possible to make a good film from a bad script. The visuals are exceptional - you'll notice the individual people in some of the wide shots - particularly after the sinking, rather than anonymous blobs they were before, and a lot of tiny details in the clothing and set design that show off the painstaking detail. The lossless soundtrack brings this thing to life, and the 3-D brings depth and scale that 2-D can never hope to reach. Top it off with an entire disc full of special features (including one hour of FULLY PRODUCED deleted scenes. That's right; music, full sound effects, clarity as good as the regular film, and none of those weird numbers at the top of the screen). Most of these are rightfully cut, but there's a brief scene showing the unfortunate end of Cora (the girl Jack dances with at the below-decks party) and her parents, the make the tragedy hit harder (too hard? Cameron thinks so) than ever before, and an alternate ending (along with greater Brock Lovett character development in earlier scenes) the one which involves Rose dropping the Heart of the Ocean overboard, is still flawed, but, in my opinion, better than the original, and you get to see Brock react to seeing her do it. Finally, there's a documentary that goes through everything - from Cameron getting the idea to pre-production, production, release, cultural phenomenon, the Oscar triumph, backlash, and ends with the 3-D conversion to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the sinking. Conclusion: a must have for fans, a should have for everyone else.

I'm a huge history buff and since I have known about the Titanic, its history, and its story, I've been fascinated ever since. This is truly one of my favorite films of all time. This movie may or may not stand the test of time. Its theory of why the ship went down has since been replaced by a discussion of the fire down below. Its most indulgent moments have become the stuff of parody. But if we're going to judge this film, let's judge it by its impact on release. I saw it four times before it left the theater. I was entranced by it. The performances were stunning, as was the cinematography and direction. It's a great story, about the folly of human beings and the absolute imperative of living your life while you've got breath in your lungs. I loved the chemistry between DiCaprio and Winslet, but there were great performances as well from Billy Zane, Bill Paxton, Kathy Bates, Frances Fisher and Gloria Stuart. I loved the use of music and I have the soundtracks. I loved the whole thing! After you watch a film 900 times, you lose sight of what was great about it and all that remains is its imperfections. This was still a great ride!

An exceptional film in all respects that really connects with its’ audience. It is filled by superb acting, sensitive cinematography, a well-fitted sound-track, on-point sound-effects, and is directed with a visionary mind – all of which make for a grand view. This romance is centered on the sinking of the R.M.S. Titanic mid-Atlantic at 230AM in the dark of early morning on April 15, 1912. The story-line mixes history with a fictional high-stakes romance, and by any measure Titanic is a marvelous, over-the-top movie that needs to be seen and then seen again. This fact is certain: “1,500 people went into the sea [and drowned] when Titanic sank from under us. Six were saved from the water, myself included. Six out of 1,500. Afterward the seven hundred people in the boats had nothing to do but wait,,,. wait to die, wait to live, wait for absolution which would never come.”

Titanic is a movie that is more for people that are very interested in the titanic shipwreck. Every time time I watched it, i felt really sad because, it's obviously a really emotional movie. I bought this in 3D because, I also recently got a 3D player, and I wanted to get a few 3D movies to watch, this is one of them. There were a very few scenes where something came at you. One was, every time there was an underwater shot, little particles in the water would come out, and it was soo cool. there were a few more, but, it wasn't the best 3D. And also, this wasn't shot with a 3D camera, which we use nowadays for 3D movies, so, they digitally converted it into 3D, and HD. But, there were shots in the movie where the 3D was confusing, but, I gave them credit for being able to convert it to 3D. This movie isn't for sensitive people, but, you'll still cry if you are'nt. And, I wasn't too crazy about the 3D.

My review is strictly from a personal connection to the real Titanic story. I was never a fan of the "love" story; although there are a lot worse you could watch. What I was haunted by and remember the most is the attention to detail that James Cameron brought to the set pieces. I read a National Geographic magazine about the discovery of the Titanic wreckage when I was a kid and I was fascinated with the turn of the century architecture and decor of the greatest sealiner in history. Cameron brought those images to life. I would have been intrigued with the design alone, but of course, with the tragic story only made the Titanic and this movie that much more infamous. The movie got a lot of those things right and for that (and the amazing score by James Horner, RIP) I continue to enjoy this film all these years later.