Product Description
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Leonardo DiCaprio and O-nominee Kate Winslet light up the
screen as Jack and Rose, the young lovers who find one another on
the maiden voyage of the "unsinkable" R.M.S. Titanic. But when
the doomed luxury liner collides with an iceberg in the frigid
North Atlantic, their passionate love affair becomes a thrilling
race for survival. From accled filmmaker James Cameron comes a
tale of forbidden love and courage in the face of disaster that
triumphs as a true cinematic masterpiece.
.com
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When the theatrical release of James Cameron's Titanic was
delayed from July to December of 1997, media pundits speculated
that Cameron's $200-million disaster epic would cause the
director's downfall, signal the end of the blockbuster era, and
sink Para Pictures as quickly as the ill-ed luxury liner
had sunk on that eful night of April 14, 1912. Titanic would
surpass the $1-billion mark in global box-office receipts, win 11
Academy Awards including Best Picture and Director, launch the
best-selling movie soundtrack of all time, and make a global
superstar of Leonardo DiCaprio. A bona fide pop-cultural
phenomenon, the film has all the ingredients of a blockbuster
(romance, passion, luxury, grand scale, a snidely villain, and an
epic, life-threatening crisis), but Cameron's alchemy of these
ingredients proved more popular than anyone could have predicted.
His stroke of genius was to combine absolute authenticity with a
pair of fictional lovers whose tragic e would draw viewers
into the heart-wrenching reality of the Titanic disaster. As
starving artist Jack Dawson and soon-to-be-married socialite Rose
DeWitt Bukater, DiCaprio and Kate Winslet won the hearts of
viewers around the world, and their brief, but never forgotten,
love affair provides the humanity that Cameron needed to turn
Titanic into a moving emotional experience. Although some of the
computer-generated visual effects look artificial, others--such
as the climactic splitting of the ship's sinking hull--are
state-of-the-art marvels of cinematic ingenuity. It's an event
film and a monument to Cameron's risk-taking audacity, blending
the tragic irony of the Titanic disaster with just enough
narrative invention to give the historical event its fullest and
most timeless dramatic impact. --Jeff Shannon
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Set Contains:
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Perhaps James Cameron wasn't ready to dish in 1999 when his
mega-hit debuted on DVD with nary an extra (no, we don't count
the trailer). Now in 2005, Cameron and his magicians dish on the
cutting-edge effects and the craft of the movie. The heart of the
extras are over 45 minutes of deleted scenes fans will fawn over,
including some dealing with historical backstory (including a
scene on the nearby ship California), a great kiss between Jack
and Rose, and an extended suspense scene (listen to Cameron's
commentary on that one). Happily, the alternate ending was not
used (no, Jack doesn't live). The sound has been upgraded
(including a DTS 6.1 ES track), the color palate is richer (the
interiors glow more), and the picture is anamorphically enhanced
for widescreen televisions, although the film is now split onto
two discs.
The three-disc set has an abundance of materials; the galleries,
for example, contain 628 on-set photos, 447 personal photos from
the cinematographer, 532 storyboard sketches, 148 technical
drawings, and even a 72-page bibliography. The features on the
sets and effects offer some great tidbits, many dealing how
everything had to be made versus rented since most items were
going to be destroyed on camera.
Cameron is pictured on the box art and his stamp is all over the
DVD set. He narrates the deep dive footage, you can read his
original "scriptment" (if you want to read though 492 page
clicks; some of these extras would have been better on a CD-ROM),
and his commentary track is so complete, he covers most of the
items the historical experts offer on their own track (they get
too caught up in the film to muster more interesting facts). He
offers only one apology for a factual "guess" and clears up that
"king of the world" riff at the Os. The third commentary with
most of the key members of the cast and crew is worth a listen
but, alas, Leonardo DiCaprio does not contribute to this or any
other new feature. Other must-sees: a time-lapse short on the
creation of the boat set, and the first-half of a salute to the
staff that works as a blooper reel. One caveat: there's a
four-disc Region 2 version available in Europe with parodies and
other extras, but no one is offering an official reason why it's
not offered in the States. --Doug Thomas
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