#Titanic25thAnniversary

As Titanic completes its 25th anniversary this year, the makers decided tore-release the romantic saga once again on big screens around the time of valentine’s day. Although this time, people got to watch the epic remastered in 4k format and in 3D version. A whole generation was present today who had only witnessed this masterpiece on their handheld devices or on television. For the general audience and for movie enthusiasts too, this was a golden opportunity. The mob rushed to theatres to witness this cinematic brilliance of James Cameroon as most of them never got a chance for the same before.

The beauty of Titanic is that, even though it was made in 1997, even today it looks as fresh as it did on the day it was released for the first time. One can only watch the movie with awe, wondering how James managed to pull off such an amazing movie. Most of the scenes still feel impossible to shoot considering the period in which they were shot. All of this points to one thing – why James Cameron is considered a legendary filmmaker.

Jack and Rose

Titanic is considered one of the best romantic tragedies ever to be made. One can’t watch it without feeling at least a tiny presence of wetness in their eyes. The way Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet portrayed the characters of Jack and Rose can only be termed “perfect”. Jack and Rose were written in such a beautiful way that they’ll remain with you forever as the end credits roll up with a soulful presentation of Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On”.

Leonard was initially skeptical about playing Jack in Titanic. If not for James’s efforts, we wouldn’t have witnessed the actor etch his way into our hearts as Jack.

The story with Kate Winslet was also similar. The actress was in no way interested in leaving such a character, and she was hell-bent on being James’s Rose. She later admitted in an interview that she sent Cameron letters stating how she was perfect for the role after the auditions. She recalled how she ended her letters by writing, “Your Rose.” Well, thanks for all her efforts, because now we can’t even imagine someone else portraying Rose. In fact, neither Leonardo nor Kate wasn’t the first choice to play their respective characters. The makers later shed light on this fact, saying that others were James’s first priority to portray the leads in Titanic.

The Wreck of Titanic

Do you know that the footage shown at the very start of the movie was actually of the real Titanic’s wreck? For the movie, James actually watched the wreck of the Titanic and managed to capture footage of the ocean liner using special cameras that could sustain the ocean’s pressure. James added this footage to his movie along with recreated ones to add originality. If you felt an eeriness while looking at the wreck shown in the movie, it is because you were looking at the real interiors of the actual wreck.

James, to construct the giant set of Titanic, adapted the blueprint of the original Titanic and recreated the massive ship’s structures similar to the original one. While constructing the famous “Grand Staircase”, James took the liberty to make the area before the staircase looks more expansive than the actual one. This was done for creating a cinematic impact while shooting and to set shots in such a way as to showcase the grandeur of the staircase.

Titanic: Reel v/s Real

Even though the story of Jack and Rose was injected into the actual happenings surrounding the Ocean Liner, there were a couple of characters shown onscreen that were inspired by actual people who were on board back then. For example, the old couple embraces each other on a bed just when water erupts into their room as the ship sinks. These two characters were inspired by the real-life couple Ida and Isidor Straus from New York. They were invited to board the very first set of rescue boards. Isidor voluntarily gave away his place to a much younger woman and Ida didn’t want to go without her husband. They were giving away their seats to their maid who later recollected what Ida said to her, “We had forty wonderful years together, if you don’t want to get in that boat, I don’t want to get in it either.”

James decided to pay homage to the couple by including their part in Titanic, thereby immortalizing their love story.

Titanic: 4K – 3D

After 25 long years, when the makers announced the re-release of Titanic after mastering it into 4K – A whole new generation awaited to watch it. Not that they never watched this romantic epic by one of the mastermind directors but to watch it on the big screen was something they never experienced. 2022-23 was a time of remastered re-releases and sometimes remastering really tampered with the movie in an adverse way. However, it never happened with Titanic. With 3D added to the 4K version, people watched the epic as if it had just been released for the very first time.

The remastered version was a treat to watch. On the big screen, even if you are watching this masterpiece for the hundredth time, the visuals will still make your jaw drop. The question will linger in your mind – “How did this man create something as impossible as this during the 90s?!”. Such was James’s vision! He was so fascinated by shipwrecks and he knew this is what he should make. As he approached the producers with the one-liner about Titanic, they were super-impressed with the subject and gave a green signal.

Though the 3D didn’t do much impact on the movie, all the emotions portrayed were as fresh as they could be and while James Horner’s “My Heart Will Go On” plays after the end credits of the movie, you still won’t move from your seats. The audience was silent as if paying homage to all the lives lost in the wreck and to the brilliant mastermind James Cameron who pulled off such an epic movie.