It was such a strange sensation excitedly signing up for covering Titanic’s 4K Blu-ray release. I figured that delving into such a task would be easy for me as I (sometimes ashamedly) broadcast to the world that amongst everything else I’ve ever seen, Titanic remains my favorite film. I don’t claim that it is faultless, and I don’t argue with those who find the whole spectacle and melodrama of it all a bit much for their tastes, because I would even argue that this being my favorite film is out of step with the rest of my tastes of French films and horror films. Perhaps it’s my endless fascination with maritime disaster, dating back to when I was merely six years old, or maybe it’s because I’m a closeted softie beneath the surface of Bitchdom that gets me in my feelings whenever I hear the opening note of James Horner’s “Hymn to the Sea.” It could be a little bit of all of those things, but I can’t always explain myself when pressed on it, and perhaps that’s why it surprisingly makes it so difficult to actually sit down and write something substantial about a film I claim to love so much. Perhaps it doesn’t even matter since I gather that if you’re even remotely interested in a 4K Blu-ray release of the film, you’ve most likely seen the film and don’t need me to convince you of whatever you already feel about it.
Anyways, therapy session aside…Titanic is now out on 4K Blu-ray in both a standard and collector’s edition set, and it’s an absolute doozy. The new 4K remaster was shown off earlier this year when the film was re-released into theaters in a 4K 3D remaster for the film’s 25th anniversary (this also included very limited Dolby Cinema and IMAX 3D releases for this, too, much less prevalent than during its initial 2012 3D re-release). While I saw this re-release in theaters earlier this year, I didn’t get an accurate representation of what to expect from the Blu-ray as the theater that I chose to see it at shoved the film in its smallest cinema with a slightly blurry projection quality (this theater has since fallen under new management and has improved itself greatly), so I went into the 4K Blu-ray slightly blind. However, I did frankly worry that it wouldn’t feel as miraculous a remaster as the 2012 Blu-ray remaster made for its 3D re-release would as that release still remains one of the greatest remasters of that home media generation, and still, to this day, looks incredible. However, there always seems to be a lesson learned from anyone within the industry who doubts James Cameron, and every time I find myself doing so, I learn the same hard lesson.
But first, let’s revisit some plot, even if it feels redundant.
In 1996, a team of treasure hunters lead by the charismatic Brock Lovett (Bill Paxton) are searching for a missing necklace nicknamed the “Heart of the Ocean,” an extravagant piece of jewelry originally owned by Louis XVI of France with a mythologically large blue diamond at its center, said to be larger than the Hope Diamond, and rumored to have gone down with the sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912. Lovett and his team of explorers search the seafloor wreckage of the doomed ocean liner searching for the necklace, to no avail. However, when they discover a graphite drawing of a nude woman wearing the Heart of the Ocean, they attract the attention of 100-year-old Rose Calvert (Gloria Stuart) of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, who claims to be the woman in the sketch. Initially hesitant to believe Rose’s claim, Lovett and his team invite Rose and her granddaughter, Lizzy (Suzy Amis), out to their research vessel, hoping for the elderly Rose to assist in locating the necklace.
What begins as a search for wealth culminates in Rose recounting her time in extensive detail aboard Titanic as a 17-year-old Philadelphia aristocrat (Kate Winslet), confined by her domineering mother, Ruth (Frances Fisher), and her abusive fiancé, Caldeon Hockley (Billy Zane). Onboard, Rose meets third-class drifter Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio) after he saves her from a suicide attempt by jumping off the back of the ship. What transpires is a whirlwind romance between Jack and Rose as Jack teaches Rose how to let go of her repressive upper-class upbringing that has left her so deeply unhappy with her life, and this expectedly displeases her mother and fiancé. As Rose plans to abandon her life of luxury with Jack upon their arrival into New York City, her plans are derailed when the Titanic, claimed to be “unsinkable,” collides with a giant iceberg in the North Atlantic, filling the ship’s bow with freezing cold water, lifting the gargantuan ship’s stern into the air, and sending 1,514 of the ship’s 2,224 occupants to a watery grave. As the ship slowly sinks, Rose’s alliances are tested, human nature is pushed to its most animalistic state, and the reality of death for many onboard quickly sets in as the disaster of a lifetime plays out in front of their eyes.
I’m of the firm belief that Titanic is as popular as it is because it is truly a universal film, blending the seemingly opposite genres of romantic melodrama and horrific historical disaster films together, bringing out every shade of genre in between, giving something for everybody. Yet, perhaps it’s how Cameron, even with his sometimes stilted dialogue writing that still hasn’t really been improved on in 2023, mixes technological spectacle with genuine heart from the story at its core. Whether it’s the fictional characters of the love story at its center, or the historical characters peppered throughout played by the likes of the wonderful Kathy Bates, Victor Garber, Bernard Hill, Jonathan Hyde, and Eric Braeden (he himself a childhood survivor of the sinking of the MV Wilhelm Gustloff, the deadliest sinking of a single ship in human history), even the smallest of characters have some sort of memorable quality about them, whether it be lovable or loathable. With an ensemble as massive as Titanic’s, Cameron could have just as easily rested on the laurels of the film being a technological showcase alone, but instead, it is the perfect mixture of elements at play here. It’s a world of complexities, imperfections, contradictions, injustices, and everything in between, but it’s that “reach out and touch it” quality of the narrative worldbuilding with the film’s faultless practical and digital work recreating every last detail of the Edwardian-era ocean liner that creates an experience like none other. And I truly mean “like none other.” Often imitated, never replicated. Not in the absolute slightest.
TITANIC Limited-Edition Collector’s Boxed Set. Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures.
The new 4K Blu-ray release based on the 4K 3D remaster done by Cameron comes to the U.S. market courtesy of Paramount Pictures (and by 20th Century Studios everywhere else) in two different releases: a standard release in a standard-sized Blu-ray case with a 4K UHD Blu-ray disc containing the film and its commentaries included, as well as a standard Blu-ray disc containing the rest of the film’s extensive selection of special features. There is also a collector’s edition 4K UHD Blu-ray release retailing at about $100 more than the standard edition, which comes housed in a large artbook with the same two discs, as well as collectible keepsakes including:
- Ship blueprints with highlights of where on the ship certain notable parts of the film take place at.
- Sheet music for Céline Dion’s love theme to the film “My Heart Will Go On”
- A replica of a few handwritten notes written throughout the film by Rose and Jack.
- A replica of Jack’s ticket won in a poker game at the beginning of the film, misattributed to him as Olaf Gunderson, the originally intended Swedish passenger Jack won his tickets from.
- A replica of a ticket to view the launch of the Titanic from the Belfast docks in 1911.
- Replicas of the dining menus from third, second, and first class respectively.
The question at hand is “Is the collector’s edition worth the $153.99 base price being asked for it?”, to which my answer is not as simple as you would think. On one hand, for a Titanic superfan such as myself who has never owned memorabilia like this before, I absolutely see the value in owning this box set. Yet, for myself, comparing it directly to the Amazon-exclusive collector’s edition 3D Blu-ray I bought for $99 in 2012, which contains some overlap in the memorabilia (the menu to be specific), as well as other more historical documents such as White Star Line marketing pamphlets, newspaper replicas detailing the sinking, and replicas of telegrams sent the night of the sinking from the boat, as well as a similar artbook and frankly, a more attractive hat box set that also included the standard Blu-ray case inside for storage and homogeneity on a collection shelf (of which this release does not include), I’d say that I would probably be slightly dissatisfied had I spent that much money on this set myself, rather than being graciously offered a copy by Paramount for review. Had it been the same $99 that the 2012 set was, I think I would feel differently, but that is a very inflated price for such a set. I think 99.9% of buyers will be perfectly content with the standard set offered by Paramount, as the collector’s edition doesn’t have any on-disc special features that the standard edition also doesn’t have.
It should also be worth noting that both releases come with redemption codes for digital copies of the film, though my copy of the 4K Blu-ray was missing mine. I’m hoping that’s a simple packaging error and not something prevalent across the collector’s edition release.
As for what’s on the disc itself, Cameron’s 4K remaster of the film is nothing short of miraculous, which is saying so much next to the already wondrous 1080p remaster done a decade earlier. Titanic is such a richly detailed film that every subsequent remaster of the film from here until eternity will reveal some new little thing that you’ve never noticed before in the intricacies of the set or costume design, or in the different shades of makeup the first-class women wear, accentuated wonderfully by the gamut of Dolby Vision, or the deep shadows of the unforgiving ocean as the sea swallows the Titanic in the dead cold of night. There is so much wonder to be found, not only on the surface of Titanic, but in the ever growing little details that Cameron hides in the shadows of all his films. Everything is so beautifully meticulous that is helped so wonderfully by this remaster. This is a film that, without context, and sans only a few moments of shoddy CGI, remains practically ageless, if not looking more advanced than many $200 million blockbusters of today.
Not only the film’s clarity, but the expanded color range of the film is so richly improved upon in this remaster thanks to the Dolby Vision implementation that it brings an already gorgeous film to even more life than before. From the deep rich neutrals of the ship’s interiors, to the warm, luminous glow of the sunset on Jack and Rose’s romantic bow flight, to the cold, dark shadows of the cruel ocean as the ship descends into the watery void, there is a wonderful amount of color variation and popping contrasts that build a beautifully realized world to life, and more detailed than ever. Even having seen the Dolby Vision debut of the film in Dolby Cinema in 2017, I was still in awe of the film’s vibrant, but intentionally restrained color palette on display.
As for the film’s new Dolby Atmos mix (the film was only shown in Dolby Vision in 2017, but not with Dolby Atmos sound), the results are a lot more subtle, but nonetheless faultless. This isn’t as much of a brand new way of enjoying the film’s audio landscape as much as it is expanding upon an already wondrous DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix included with the Blu-ray. Usage of height channels are subtle, but effective, and the existing plane that the rest of the mix exists in remains as immersive, if again, subtle as ever. The film obviously utilizes the full soundscape more with the film’s latter half with wonderful atmospherics provided by the chatter of panicked voices pervading the backgrounds, the rushing cascade of freezing cold water filling the once lively halls of Titanic with nothing but freezing death, the creaks of the once great ship as it strains to stay in one piece as she slowly comes to terms with her doom. Everything about this audio remains clear, precise, moving, and full-bodied, improving on what I already deemed as perfection. James Horner’s iconic score has never sounded sadder.
To say that Titanic comes with a good amount of special features would be an absolute understatement, and to say that I’ve gotten through even a portion of them on offer would be an outright lie to you, dear reader, as this release contains over 15 hours of special features, spanning from featurettes made at the time of its release, its collector’s edition DVD release in 2005, its 10th anniversary DVD release in 2007, its 15th anniversary 3D Blu-ray release in 2012, as well as a new retrospective documentary made for this specific release, as well as newly included fan-made posters included in the stills gallery. Paramount claims there to be over 15 hours of special features included with this release, which might be padding it out a little given that 9.75 hours of that are the three separate commentaries included with the film, but it’s still an absolutely overwhelming amount to dissect even if ⅔ of said hours are commentaries. The full suite of features here include.
- Director’s Commentary by James Cameron (2005)
- Cast and Crew Commentary (2005)
- Historical Commentary by Don Lynch and Ken Marshall (2005)
- “Titanic: Stories from the Heart” (35:58)
- “Reflections on Titanic” (01:03:46)
- “Titanic: 25 Years Later” with James Cameron (42:06)
- 30 Deleted Scenes (57:28)
- Behind the Scenes Presentation hosted by Jon Landau (34:13)
- 36 Additional Behind the Scenes (34:54)
- Deep Dive Presentation hosted by James Cameron (15:31)
- “$2,000,001: A Ship’s Odyssey – The Titanic Crew’s Video” (17:54)
- Videomatics (03:54)
- Visual Effect Breakdowns (07:54)
- Trailer Presentation hosted by Jon Landau (08:16)
- Music Video “My Heart Will Go On” by Céline Dion (04:45)
- Still Galleries, including a newly included section with fan-made posters. Also, they left out the IMAX 3D exclusive poster in the 3D re-release section of the poster gallery.
Is this 4K release of Titanic the best way audiences have ever been able to watch Titanic at home? From a technological advancement standpoint, absolutely, though your experience with it might be down to a matter of taste for one reason alone that has haunted me: the 3D version of the film. James Cameron’s 3D conversion of the film in 2012 genuinely changed the fabric of Titanic from the inside out. The rich narrative world extended far into the screen and made the previously-mentioned “reach out and touch” elements feel even more real and more like you could step into this subtly redefined world. Paramount included the 3D version in its 2012 Blu-ray release, featuring the film’s open-matte IMAX 3D exclusive aspect ratio of 1.78:1 (a ratio that strangely was not included with this year’s limited IMAX 3D re-release). These are one of those moments where I am truly aching for 4K 3D to be a thing, and I had hoped that the immense success of Avatar: The Way of Water (2022) would have ushered in a new age of adding that as a bonus feature on some televisions, but unfortunately that has just not been the case. The open-matte 3D version of the film, even if it is only in 1080p, and even if it lacks the wonderful sights and sounds that Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos provides, is still my favorite version of the film. This new 4K remaster might be my most accessible version of the film nowadays as accessing my old 3D television is nowhere as easy as it used to be for me, but the wonders that the third dimension did for this film cannot be understated, and I so deeply wish there was a technology that could allow us to be able to experience it again in this new upgraded format. Regardless, if we couldn’t have 3D, I would have loved for there to have been an open-matte option to view the 4K film in 2D with, or even a high frame rate presentation as shown in Dolby Cinemas earlier this year (like what was included with the 4K Blu-rays of Ang Lee’s Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk (2016) and Gemini Man (2019)). I realize that it is somehow even further of a stretch than a new 3D version of the film, but perhaps could’ve been a perk of the collector’s edition.
Regardless of my own opinions on which version of Titanic I deem to be the “definitive” version, for the rest of the world who doesn’t have strange hyperfixations on dying film formats, this new release of Titanic proves to be nearly perfect in every way. The film looks and sounds tremendous, improving upon an already miraculous looking film, the special features included are bountiful and highly-detailed, and the collector’s edition, while exorbitantly-priced, could be a lovely Christmas gift for the Titanic fan in your life, or a lovely gift to yourself if you catch it on sale, even if the standard edition is just as impressive of a release. I love to see a film that I love as dearly as Titanic get the red carpet treatment for such a remaster, but, then again, the day Paramount (or 20th Century Studios) stops rolling out the red carpet for Titanic is the day all movies stop getting any semblance of respect from studios.
Available on 4K UHD Blu-ray, 4K UHD Limited Edition Box Set, and digital December 5th, 2023.
For more information, head to the official Paramount Pictures Titanic webpage.
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Categories: Films To Watch, Home Release, Home Video, Recommendation, Reviews, streaming
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