Titanic [DVD] [1997]

** How good is this Blu-ray technically? The image on my modest 32-inch widescreen is clear but not huge. However, the quality of the rendering in this blockbuster is so good that it is due to the rendering possessing a much wider palette of colours, brightness, and contrast levels, and topped off with great sound mixes. In fact, I thought, at the time, there was a fault with the Blu-Ray device, as it was like comparing chalk and cheese in quality terms when comparing this Blu-ray to the DVD and DVD player I previously used. This film was my first encounter with the Blu-ray format on a second-hand Sony player. This idea that the DVD quality was the reference continued until I realised how superior and different this Blu-ray copy is by possessing these attributes, and how really good it looks even on my standard quality, wide-screen, typical telly. The quality of the Blu-ray is held back a bit by my ordinary telly. I have seen my sister's TV, and it is of much better quality, and these disks would be much improved with a better set. ** Errors in story settings I have met casual viewers of this movie who say that its recreation of the event is full of inaccuracies. And that 'A Night to Remember' is more accurate. They are, i.m.h.o. both mostly accurate up to each other and to several points. At the time I saw it first, I bought seven books from Amazon about the Titanic and read each at least twice. Overall, its retelling is accurate. The major possible big error is that the ship would not have been beyond 23 degrees from the horizontal, as its keel would break. This was tested and proved by a TV station that paid the $4k to have the shipyard designers accurately create the Titanic parameters in CAD and test its performance on a computer. The only other error is when Jack wins the card game, he boards the R.M.S. Titanic at noon. The last time a person could, in reality, board the ship was actually 11:15. Another small part, some people suggest, is another error, about the film's depiction of the film is when the sailor is instructed to turn the ship. He's instructed to turn the ship to the starboard (right), but turns the wheel to the port (left). All ships before 1928 had this somewhat counterintuitive way of steering. Another error is when Officer Will Murdock shoots two people and himself. This wasn't true, although it was due to its sources being bogus. Being based on the then anti-English propaganda from the then Irish in Eire. Another fact that is accurately shot, but others say is not true, is that the sinking in the ocean around the ship has no waves. Amazingly, the earlier part of the sinking was so gradual that it allowed plates to float off tables. The lack of waves was unique in the calm of the ocean. The crew even said they had '...never seen such a flat calm. Like a mill pond.' Jack says he was ice-fishing close to Chippewa Falls, (Wisconsin). This was only built in 1917. The Titanic sank in 1912 The flares of ships were not standardised. The colours meant different things, depending on the line of the ship it belonged to. ** Brief background facts not mentioned in the film, but have a bearing on the sinking of R.M.S.Titanic The ships in the White Star line had names ending in 'ic'. Such as Britannic, Olympic, and of course, the Titanic. The R.M.S. is 'Royal Mail Ship', as it involved taking post both to and from the U.S.A. for $50k a year. Titanic's home port was Liverpool, UK and not London, as seen on some items on sale. It was also granted a tax break by the U.K. government, which stipulated that, in the event of a war or conflict, it would be commandeered by the armed forces and used as a troop ship. There was a coal strike, and the Titanic needed to buy coal from several ships around it. This ship was the last major ship to use coal. All later ships following this used crude oil. The radio wouldn't work. So it was stripped down and rebuilt in 24 hours. The radio was tested and was powerful enough to both reach and receive to and from Cairo, Egypt. If it had not been fixed, then the wreck would have been a total loss of crew and passengers, with no records of what went on. The reason why the radio was promoted so heavily as a security measure by White Star is that, before this incident and a few years prior, the ship S.S. Miami was crossing the Atlantic when it struck an iceberg. This time was head-on. Crunching the bow by 17 feet. But their radio called other ships. This saved all the crew and passengers, and no fatalities. This was a reason why the 'unsinkable' ship myth was strengthened. R.M.S. Titanic no longer required more lifeboats. The Titanic was the last ship to use manually powered methods to lower lifeboats. All major ships after this used electric motors to lower lifeboats into the ocean. However, the remaining main catalyst, not mentioned in the film, of the sinking is that a coal bunker was spontaneously burning and superheating the side of the ship. This extreme heat and very cold ocean water really stressed the ship hull, made with Siemens-Martin formula steel. The stokers let others know of this. But this was common, as coal can spontaneously start burning. Photographs taken of the exterior of the ship while in Northern Ireland show this in the discolouration of the hull on the outside of the related coal hopper. This, retrospectively, is the major reason for the weakened hull to fail in the collision with this ship and the iceberg. Under examination by the ship investigators of the Titanic hull, the actual summation area of the damaged plates spread along the side of the hull, which allowed the ocean water inside the ship to be a total area of only 12 square feet. It's stripped rivets and buckled plates, spread over 300 feet of the ship's skin and not a big gaping hole as previously thought. When the R.M.S. Titanic's engines started at exactly noon, off in Southampton Harbour, they had so much force that it almost caused the S.S. New York to hit the Titanic. There was a comment that the third-class passengers were locked below by White Star, stopping their progression to the lifeboats. These were actually policies instigated by Ellis Island immigration in New York for the control of the spread of any contagion. And not an inhumanity crime carried out by White Star workers. The film, overall, was the best they could do at its time of creation. The sailor in the crow's nest of the Titanic, Fredrick Fleet, was the first to see the iceberg and said exactly as seen on the screen, "Iceberg right ahead." He survived. And helped with the inquiry into the disaster.. Then had a long career in shipping. He became suicidal in 1961 as he blamed himself for not seeing the iceberge obstacle sooner. This is the so-called curse of the Titanic. ** There are features on the other disk in this set. The two big ones feature a diagnosis of what happened to the ship and how it sank. These were very interesting to view on their own. ** Seeing the movie in the theatre I saw this movie in the cinema at its original showing three or four times. The audience was upset at the scenes, and I heard people, both men and women, around me crying. The people who see it now will not admit to this ever taking place! And its effect doesn't make me cry now. I am less moved by this movie now, too. On the hundredth anniversary of the sinking in 2012, I saw the 3D version of Titanic on the big screen. I was the only attendee! The 3D version is good stuff. It's used heavily up to the middle of the film, and less towards the latter parts. I would have thought and expected the sinking in 3D would be spectacular. But it was not applied at this point in the movie. ** Is it worth seeing the recovered artefacts from the wreck of the Titanic? If you like or love this movie, and if you ever have the time to view the artefacts retrieved from the wreck of the R.M.S. Titanic, I recommend you go. My brother wasn't going to see it, but his friends said it's once in a lifetime. So he drove both of us, and I paid for myself and my brother at £17.50 each. To see the retrieved ruins is a privilege and an honour. As it turned out, my brother, who's not keen on the film, touched the 'Big Piece', a 15-ton piece of the hull, for over a minute and was still as if spellbound.

All time classic. Brilliant movie

Good FILMS for the Kids

Okay, I admit I am a fan of Titanic. Why? Well let me explain while trying to be fair. The story is set around the voyage of the real ship RMS Titanic in 1912. We all know how that ends. I will begin by saying that I am a fan of James Camerons work. He has a good idea of big budget blockbuster movies that appeal to me in many ways. Titanic is the only one that until 2016 (Yeah, I know a little late, nearly 20 years right?) that I had been putting off. Why? The negative feedback has a lot to do with it. Eventually I figured why not try to watch it as some of the themes appealed to me. Am I happy to have finally bit the bullet? Yeah I am in most ways. The period costumes and set designs are cool and hold up well even today, the CGI still looks fine for a late 90s movie as well. The casting of the movie sparked mixed feelings from viewers but I don't really mind most of the actors here as they are considerably talented in the chosen roles and play the parts well. Another positive is the soundtrack by James Horner. I love this score. It blends the themes of the movie together well while keeping the pace steady. From Character development and back story scenes to the tension of the disaster in full swing it's a stellar performance from a fine composer. Add Celine Dionn to the mix and you are on to a winner. There is of course a problem here though. It's the Romance between the two lead stars. I have nothing against a young couple falling in love while being totally different, that's natural. Inserting something like that into a movie based on a true disaster on a huge scale however? That literally makes a warning bell go off in my head. Titanic is not a romantic story. It's a tale of class difference and how bad decisions lead to a tragic loss of life in one of histories worst maritime episodes. This aspect of the story is handled well, but the biggest let-down here actually isn't the romantic elements or the cast. It's the writing and Dialogue. Oh My God it's corny. Some of the lines make me grin in embarrassment for the actors and I feel sorry for them on several occasions due to this. I will say it. If the writing had been better even the love story could have been saved. It's a shame as everything else about the movie even after such a long time still holds up to a decent standard. Cheesy lines and cliches set in the background of a real life event as bad as Titanic hitting the Iceberg is something in my opinion you just should not do and that's the reason for the four stars in this review. I do like most aspects of the movie including the history behind the actual event but yeah... I can't get away from the fact that I cringe at the writing of some of the major scenes. Titanic then is a fun movie, if a little long, three hours is pushing the boat out (pun not intended at all) Personally I give it 7/10 because of the soundtrack, historical accuracy that holds up to a decent standard and the effects. The things letting the score down are as I mentioned above. Fictional Romance during a true disaster story, silly lines and predictable outcomes keep the movie from being a masterpiece for me. Try it out on a Rainy day and see how you feel afterwards. I am in the middle, keeping the positive ideas afloat while trying not to let it go down like a sinking ship. Literally walking between the decks to try and keep it equally stable. Puns aside I say don't let negative feedback put you off. Just take the plunge and try the movie. I for one felt like I missed a decent flick that could have been brilliant.

Wow - just seen this movie on a rented DVD and thought that it was so good that I had to buy it from amazon - and then I just happen to stumble across some of the many reviews and couldn't believe some of the comments in here: "Thank goodness that the Titanic sank and gave us such a wonderful tragedy" or "Insensitive to the dead passengers & their families"... and many people, for some reason, is also turned off by the love story - and some for the reason that Kate Winslet is too old looking for a 17-year old...etc. etc. I can't believe my eyes! OK - here is what I think - this film is amazingly well made and directed - what a fantastic work - thumbs up for James Cameron... also the acting and casting is outstanding - not a single one let us down and the two in the lead roles are marvellous. This film really touched me, not just because of the love story, which I saw more as a thing that could had happen anywhere and do happen all the time - also on a ship - although it of course is very moving (there were actually four couples on their honeymoon on the ship) - but most important as a sort of "documentary" of the terrible horror that the 2.227 passengers had to face. Because this REALLY HAPPENED!!! Out of the 2.227 passengers, only 705 survived, which meant that 1.522 died a most horrible death. That some people can get offended by a director, who out of his imagination, creates a love story to go along with the story - I don't understand - and I don't believe for one minute that it distracts you from its true mission, because I for one, was really seized and moved by the realism the film - showing how a gigantic "unsinkable" ship tragically hits an iceberg and slowly sinks into the ocean along with all the people on board, whose lives stops in their tracks right there and then. It is so well made that it makes you feel you are on board and it is a great relief that the film avoids the typical hysteria and heroism - a trap that most disaster films falls into. This film not only provides you with a gripping story, but will most certainly also stand the test of time as a true classic - keeping the memory of this tragic occurrence alive for generations to come.

Good film

Bring back the magic of titanic on Blu ray, lots of interesting features to enjoy. The quality is excellent on Blu ray so worth while updating your copy of this classic

Good