Titanic: 4K Collector’s Edition Review

Available now on 4K UHD and 4K UHD Collector’s Edition is James Cameron’s Titanic, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet.  The 11-time Academy Award winner gets its’ most impressive home release to date.  One of the biggest box office successes of all time, Titanic became a cinematic phenomenon that has gone on to become one of the most beloved love stories to date. It also helped make DiCaprio a movie star.

For those unfamiliar with the film, Titanic is more about the romance between Jack Dawson (DiCaprio) and Rose DeWitt Bukater (Winslet), whose paths cross when Jack talks her down from taking her own life abort the ship.  Rose is engaged to Caledon Hockley (Billy Zane), the heir to a Pittsburgh steel fortune.  Rose does not love Caledon, but her overbearing widowed mother (Frances Fisher), demands that her daughter marry someone with money, so that they can continue to live a life of privilege. Jack is a world traveler with no more than a few dollars in his pocket. He won his third-class Titanic ticket in a card game.  Despite her mother’s disapproval and her fiancés jealousy, Rose continues to spend time with Jack and the two quickly fall in love.

Clocking in at 3 hours and 14 minutes, there is a lot of ground to cover in what is actually a pretty simple story. First, time is needed to build the romance and thankfully the chemistry between the two stars is absolutely wonderful. We also need a good villain, which Zane has proven time-after-time that he can be as bad as the best of them. The 90’s were especially kind to Zane when it came to playing villains. If you don’t believe me, check out Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight.

It obviously takes awhile for Titanic to eventually hit that iceberg and even then, Cameron doesn’t try and rush through the disaster. He lets the ship sink slowly, which allows the passengers and crew dread and panic to build. All this, while Jack and Rose are not only trying to find a way off the ship, but to avoid being shot at by a scorned Caledon. There may not be a lot to the narrative, but Cameron who also wrote the film knows how to deliver character and spectacle in his films. He gives us time to care about the main players which is important. With so much going on behind the scenes, it is truly impressive that the filmmaker was able to pull off such an incredible project that has held up quite well over the last 25 years.

The new 4K restoration was sourced from the original 35mm camera negative and presented with Dolby Vision HDR. The transfer is truly a stunning one with ever shot looking near perfect. The infamous “King of the World” shot with the sunset is a knock-out in this new presentation. The detailed interiors of the Titanic are also vibrant and detailed. A perfect example would be the grand staircase with the wood carvings. You can see everything so clearly. Skin tones in close-up shots are also impressive. This is a far cry from the Blu-ray release.  The Dolby Atmos track lives up to the already vibrant visual upgrade. A trip down to the engine and coal room will give you a great feel for the sound, but once the iceberg disaster strikes, that’s when the Atmos track really kicks things in gear.

While a standard edition 4K disk is also available, the Collector’s Edition set would make for a terrific holiday gift for any fan of the movie. Note that a Blu-ray is also included for those who don’t have a 4K setup. Aside from the bonus features listed below, the set includes the following.  A hardcover coffee table book is the jewel of the set, but for those who enjoy all the cool extras, we get a blueprint of the ship, reproductions of the boarding pass, launch viewing ticket, menus, sheet music and more. Titanic is a film loved by so many and Paramount has done an amazing job with this release.

Set includes:

• A hardcover coffee table book detailing the making of the film’s most iconic scenes
• A detailed schematic inspired by the actual ship blueprint, highlighting locations of key scenes
• Movie prop reproductions of a boarding pass, launch viewing ticket, ship menus, and notes from Jack to Rose and Rose to Cal
• Sheet music for the multi-award-winning hit “My Heart Will Go On”

4K UHD Bonus Features

• Director Commentary by James Cameron
• Cast and Crew Commentary
• Historical Commentary by Don Lynch and Ken Marschall

Blu-Ray Bonus Features

• TITANIC: Stories From the Heart—NEW!
• TITANIC: 25 Years Later with James Cameron
• Behind-the Scenes presentation hosted by Jon Landau—NEW!
• Trailer Presentation hosted by Jon Landau—NEW!
• Fan Poster Art—NEW!
• Reflections on TITANIC (4 parts)
• Deleted Scenes with optional commentary by James Cameron
• Additional Behind-the-Scenes
• Deep-Dive Presentation narrated by James Cameron
• $200,000,001: A Ship’s Odyssey (The TITANIC Crew Video)
• Videomatics
• Visual Effects
• Music Video “My Heart Will Go On” by Celine Dion
• Still Galleries

By: Marc Ferman