Titanic is a
1997The year 1997 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*The Star Wars original trilogy's 20th Anniversary Special Editions are released.*Production begins on Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace....
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
romanticWhile most films have some aspect of romance between characters a romance film can be loosely defined as any film in which the central plot revolves around the romantic involvement of the story's protagonists. Common themes include the characters making decisions based on a newly-found romantic...
dramaA drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, crime and corruption put the characters in conflict with themselves,...
filmFilm encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects....
directed, written, co-produced and co-edited by
James CameronJames Francis Cameron is a Canadian film director, producer and screenwriter. His writing and directing work includes The Terminator and Titanic. To date, his directorial efforts have grossed approximately US$1.1 billion domestically, unadjusted for inflation...
about the sinking of the
RMS TitanicThe RMS Titanic was an Olympic-class passenger liner owned by British shipping company White Star Line and built at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, United Kingdom...
. It stars
Leonardo DiCaprioLeonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio is an American actor and film producer whose career rose with his role in the television sit-com Growing Pains....
as Jack Dawson and
Kate WinsletKate Elizabeth Winslet is an English actress and occasional singer. Winslet made her film debut starring in Peter Jackson's Heavenly Creatures...
as Rose DeWitt Bukater, two members of different social classes who fall in love aboard the ill-fated maiden voyage of the ship. The main characters and the central love story are fictional, but some characters (such as members of the ship's passengers and crew) are based on real historical figures.
Gloria StuartGloria Frances Stewart , also known as Gloria Stuart, is an American actress. Over a Hollywood career that spans more than 70 years, Stuart appeared on stage, in television and film, and is best known as for her roles as Claude Rains' sweetheart in The Invisible Man and as the 100-year-old Rose in...
plays the elderly Rose, who narrates the film in a modern day
framing deviceThe term framing device refers to the usage of the same single action, scene, event, setting, or any element of significance at both the beginning and end of an artistic, musical, or literary work. The repeated element thus creates a ‘frame’ within which the main body of work can develop.The...
.
Production of the film began in 1995, when Cameron shot footage of the real wreck of the RMS
Titanic. He envisioned the love story as a means to engage the audience with the real-life tragedy. Shooting took place on board the
Akademik Mstislav KeldyshThe R/V Akademik Mstislav Keldysh is a 6,240 ton Russian scientific research vessel. It is best known as the support vessel of the Mir submersibles. The vessel has made over 50 voyages, is owned by the Moscow-based Shirshov Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Science and is...
- which aided Cameron in filming the real wreck – for the modern scenes, and a reconstruction of the ship was built at Playas de Rosarito, Baja California. Cameron also used
scale modelA scale model is a representation or copy of an object that is larger or smaller than the actual size of the object . Very often the scale model is smaller than the original and used as a guide to making the object in full size...
s and
computer-generated imageryComputer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
to recreate the sinking.
Titanic became at the time the
most expensive film ever made, costing approximately US$200 million with funding from
Paramount PicturesParamount Pictures Corporation is a Worldwide American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood, California. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is the world's oldest existing American film studio; it is also the last...
and
20th Century FoxTwentieth Century Fox Film Corporation , also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox, is one of the six major American film studios...
.
The film was originally to be released on July 2, 1997, but post-production delays pushed back the film's release to December 19, 1997. Upon release, the film turned out to be an enormous critical and commercial success, winning eleven
Academy AwardsThe Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are presented annually by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers. The formal ceremony at which the awards are presented is...
, including Best Picture. It became the highest-grossing film of all time, with a worldwide total of over $1.8 billion (it is the sixth-highest grossing
in North America once adjusted for inflation).
Plot
In 1996, treasure hunter Brock Lovett (
Bill PaxtonWilliam "Bill" Paxton is an American actor and film director. He gained in popularity after his starring roles in the movies Apollo 13, Twister, and True Lies...
) and his team explore the wreck of the
RMS TitanicThe RMS Titanic was an Olympic-class passenger liner owned by British shipping company White Star Line and built at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, United Kingdom...
, searching for a necklace set with a valuable blue diamond called the
Heart of the OceanThe Heart of the Ocean is the name of a fictional blue diamond featured prominently in the 1997 blockbuster film Titanic. It is based on the famous Hope Diamond...
. They believe the diamond to be in Caledon "Cal" Hockley's safe, which they recover easily. However, when searching the safe they do not find the diamond, but a sketch of a nude woman wearing the famed diamond. The drawing is dated April 14, 1912, the night the Titanic hit the iceberg. One-hundred-year-old Rose Dawson Calvert (
Gloria StuartGloria Frances Stewart , also known as Gloria Stuart, is an American actress. Over a Hollywood career that spans more than 70 years, Stuart appeared on stage, in television and film, and is best known as for her roles as Claude Rains' sweetheart in The Invisible Man and as the 100-year-old Rose in...
) learns of the drawing, and contacts Lovett to inform him that she is the woman in the drawing. She and her granddaughter Elizabeth "Lizzy" Calvert (Suzy Amis) visit Lovett and his skeptical team on his salvage ship. When asked if she knew the whereabouts of the necklace, Rose recalls her memories aboard the
Titanic, revealing for the first time that she is actually Rose DeWitt Bukater, a passenger believed to have died in the sinking.
In 1912, the
upper classIn sociology an upper class is the group of people at the top of a social hierarchy. Members of an upper class may have great power over the allocation of resources and governmental policy in their area, but only to the extent that the power of the state can intervene in free exchange or distort...
17-year-old Rose DeWitt Bukater (
Kate WinsletKate Elizabeth Winslet is an English actress and occasional singer. Winslet made her film debut starring in Peter Jackson's Heavenly Creatures...
) boards the ship in
SouthamptonSouthampton is the largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire, on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
with her fiancé Caledon "Cal" Hockley (
Billy ZaneWilliam George "Billy" Zane, Jr. is an American actor and director. He is best recognized for his role as Caledon Hockley in the 1997 blockbuster film Titanic, as the deranged psychopath Hughie Warriner in Dead Calm, John Justice Wheeler in Twin Peaks, as The Phantom in the 1996 film of the same...
), the son of a Pittsburgh steel tycoon, and her mother, Ruth DeWitt Bukater (
Frances FisherFrances Fisher is a British-born American actress who has appeared in such films as Unforgiven, Titanic, and Gone in Sixty Seconds.-Personal life:...
). Both Cal and Ruth stress the importance of Rose's engagement to Cal, since the marriage will mean the eradication of the Dewitt-Bukater debts; while they have the outward appearance of being upper-class, Rose and her mother are experiencing severe financial troubles. Distraught and frustrated by her engagement to the controlling Cal and the pressure her mother is putting on her to go through with the marriage, Rose attempts
suicideSuicide is the intentional killing of one's self. Many dictionaries also note the metaphorical sense of "willful destruction of one's self-interest"...
by jumping from the stern. Before she leaps, a drifter and artist named Jack Dawson (
Leonardo DiCaprioLeonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio is an American actor and film producer whose career rose with his role in the television sit-com Growing Pains....
) intervenes. Initially, Cal, his friends, and the sailors, overhearing Rose's screams, believe Jack attempted to
rapeRape, also referred to as sexual assault, is an assault by a person involving sexual intercourse with or without sexual penetration of another person without that person's consent....
her. She explains Jack saved her life, hiding her suicide attempt by explaining she slipped after trying to see the propellers. Jack supports the claim, although Hockley's manservant, former
PinkertonThe Pinkerton National Detective Agency, usually shortened to the Pinkertons, was a private U.S. security guard and detective agency established by Allan Pinkerton in 1850. Pinkerton had become famous when he foiled a plot to assassinate president-elect Abraham Lincoln, who later hired Pinkerton...
agent Spicer Lovejoy (
David WarnerDavid Warner is an English actor, who is known for playing sinister or villainous characters.-Early life:Warner was born in Manchester, Lancashire, England, the son of Doreen and Herbert Simon Warner, who was a nursing home proprietor...
), is unconvinced. Jack and Rose strike up a tentative friendship as she thanks him for his corroboration, and he shares stories of his adventures traveling and sketching. Their bond deepens when they leave a stuffy first-class formal dinner of the rapport-building wealthy for a much livelier gathering of
Irish danceIrish dance is a group of traditional dance forms originating in Ireland which can broadly be divided into social dance and performance dances. Irish social dances can be divided further into céilí and set dancing...
, music (provided by
Gaelic StormGaelic Storm is a highly-acclaimed Celtic band. Their music includes traditional Irish music, Scottish music, and original tunes in both the Celtic and Celtic rock genres.- History :...
) and
aleAle is a type of beer brewed from malted barley using a top-fermenting brewers' yeast. This yeast ferments the beer quickly, giving it a sweet, full bodied and fruity taste. Most ales contain hops, which impart a bitter herbal flavour that helps to balance the sweetness of the malt and preserve the...
in third-class.
Cal is informed by Lovejoy of Rose's partying in steerage and, during breakfast the following morning, flips the table in rage as he angrily forbids her to meet Jack again. However, after witnessing a woman encouraging her seven-year-old daughter to behave like a "proper lady" at tea, Rose defies him and her mother and meets Jack at the bow of the ship. It is there where they go up onto the rail and Rose finally learns to let go and open herself up to Jack, sharing a passionate kiss. The couple go to Rose's stateroom where she asks Jack to sketch her nude and wearing only the
Heart of the OceanThe Heart of the Ocean is the name of a fictional blue diamond featured prominently in the 1997 blockbuster film Titanic. It is based on the famous Hope Diamond...
, an engagement present from Cal. Afterwards, the two playfully run away from Lovejoy, going below deck, into the boiler room, and into the ship's cargo hold. They enter William Carter's
RenaultRenault S.A. is a French automaker producing cars, vans, buses, tractors, and trucks. Due to its alliance with Nissan, it is currently the world's fourth largest automaker. Headquartered in Boulogne-Billancourt, Renault owns the Romanian automaker Automobile Dacia and the Korean automaker Renault...
and proceed to make love in the backseat, before moving to the ship's forward well deck. Rose decides when they arrive in
New YorkNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
, she will leave the ship with Jack. They then witness the ship's fatal collision with an iceberg. After overhearing the ship's lookouts discussing how serious the collision is, Rose tells Jack they should warn her mother and Cal. Meanwhile, Cal discovers Rose's nude drawing and her taunting note in his safe, so he frames Jack for stealing the Heart of the Ocean by having Lovejoy plant it in Jack's pocket. Jack is arrested and taken down to the
Master-at-armsA Master-at-Arms is a rating responsible for discipline aboard a naval ship.-Royal Navy:The term has the senior rating, comparable in many respects to the Regimental Sergeant Major in the Army and the Station Warrant Officer in the Royal Air Force...
's office. Cal slaps Rose across the face due to his anger. Rose runs away from him (spitting in his face as Jack taught her to earlier) and her mother (who is in a lifeboat) to rescue Jack from imprisonment. With his "cell" being at the bottom of the ship and the ship sinking, the office slowly begins to flood. Rose eventually gets to him and frees him with an axe.
Jack and Rose return to the top deck. Cal and Jack, though enemies, both want Rose safe, so they persuade her to board a lifeboat by Cal telling her that he had an arrangement with a man working the boats, and that he and Jack would get off safely. After Rose is on the boat and out of earshot, Cal admits that there was an arrangement, but he would not use it to help Jack. After realizing that she cannot leave Jack, Rose jumps back on the ship and reunites with him in the ship's first-class staircase. Infuriated, Cal takes Lovejoy's pistol and chases Jack and Rose down the decks and into the flooded first-class dining saloon. When Cal runs out of ammunition, he sarcastically wishes them well in their last moments and then realizes he left the Heart of the Ocean in Rose's overcoat. Cal abandons Lovejoy and returns to the boat deck, where he boards Collapsible A by pretending to look after an abandoned child, as the officer he had previously bribed into letting him onto a lifeboat throws the money in his face, telling him his money can't save him anymore. When Jack and Rose return to the top deck, the lifeboats have gone and they take temporary refuge on the now vertical stern, which washes them into the freezing Atlantic Ocean. Jack and Rose manage to grab hold of a carved oak door, which can only support one person. Jack suffers from severe
hypothermiaHypothermia is a condition in which an organism's temperature drops below that required for normal metabolism and body functions. In warm-blooded animals, core body temperature is maintained near a constant level through biologic homeostasis or thermoregulation...
, and dies in Rose's arms. Rose is rescued when Fifth Officer
Harold LoweCommander Harold Godfrey Lowe RD RNR was the Fifth Officer of the RMS Titanic.-Early years:Harold Lowe was born in Eglwys Rhos, Caernarfonshire, North Wales on 21 November 1882, and ran away from home to go to sea at age 14, refusing the offer of an apprenticeship from his father...
returns with Lifeboat 14 with five other survivors.
Rose is taken by the
RMS CarpathiaRMS Carpathia was a Cunard Line transatlantic passenger steamship built by Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson. Carpathia began her maiden voyage in 1903 and became famous for rescuing the survivors of RMS Titanic after she hit an iceberg and sank on 15 April 1912...
to New York, where she gives her name as Rose Dawson (adopting Jack's surname, leading everyone to believe Rose DeWitt Bukater died on the
Titanic). She also sees Cal for the last time on Carpathia's deck, looking for her (she explains he later married, then committed suicide following the
Wall Street Crash of 1929The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as the Great Crash or the Stock Market Crash of 1929, was the most devastating stock market crash in the history of the United States, taking into consideration the full extent and duration of its fallout....
, after he lost everything). Having completed her story, the elderly Rose goes to the stern of Lovett's ship. After she steps onto the railing, it is revealed she still has the Heart of the Ocean in her possession. She drops the diamond into the water, sending it to join the remains of the most important event of her life. The film ends with a shot of Rose in bed. Around her are pictures of her doing everything she said she would do with Jack throughout her life. The final shot of the film is where the young Rose is reunited with Jack at the Grand Staircase of the
Titanic, surrounded and applauded by those who perished on the ship, as they kiss passionately.
Fictional characters
- Leonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio is an American actor and film producer whose career rose with his role in the television sit-com Growing Pains....
as Jack Dawson: One of the film's protagonistA protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, video game, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to share the most empathy...
s, Jack is a penniless WisconsinWisconsin is one of the fifty U.S. states. Located in the north-central United States, Wisconsin is considered part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the...
man who has toured parts of the world, primarily ParisParis is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. At the start of the film, he wins two tickets onto the RMS Titanic in a poker game and travels as a third-class passenger with his friend, Fabrizio. He is attracted to Rose's beauty at first sight and incidentally talks to her when Rose attempts to throw herself off the back of the ship. This heroic act enables him to mix with the first-class passengers for a night. Billy CrudupWilliam Gaither "Billy" Crudup is an American Tony Award-winning actor of film and stage. He is well known for his roles as guitarist Russell Hammond in Almost Famous, Will Bloom in Big Fish, and Ashitaka in Princess Mononoke. He also starred in the 2007 romantic comedy film Dedication, alongside...
and Stephen DorffStephen Dorff is an American actor, best known for portraying Stuart Sutcliffe in Backbeat and for his roles in Blade and Cecil B. DeMented.-Early life:...
were considered for the role of Jack.
- Kate Winslet
Kate Elizabeth Winslet is an English actress and occasional singer. Winslet made her film debut starring in Peter Jackson's Heavenly Creatures...
as Rose DeWitt Bukater: Rose is the film's other protagonist. She is a seventeen-year-old woman, originally from Philadelphia, who is forced into an engagment to Caledon Hockley so she and her mother, Ruth, can maintain their high-class status following her father's death, whose debts left them a "reputated" empty shell. Along with Cal and Ruth, Rose boards the RMS Titanic as a first-class passenger, where she meets Jack, a third-class passenger.
- Billy Zane
William George "Billy" Zane, Jr. is an American actor and director. He is best recognized for his role as Caledon Hockley in the 1997 blockbuster film Titanic, as the deranged psychopath Hughie Warriner in Dead Calm, John Justice Wheeler in Twin Peaks, as The Phantom in the 1996 film of the same...
as Caledon Nathan "Cal" Hockley: The film's primary antagonist, Cal is Rose's fiancé and the quintessential arrogant and snobbish first-class gentleman. Cal is the heir to an enormous steelSteel is an alloy consisting mostly of iron, with a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most cost-effective alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
fortune in his native Pittsburgh. He becomes increasingly embarrassed, jealous, and cruel over Rose's relationship with Jack. He gives Rose the famous "Heart of the OceanThe Heart of the Ocean is the name of a fictional blue diamond featured prominently in the 1997 blockbuster film Titanic. It is based on the famous Hope Diamond...
" diamond necklace as a token of his feelings for her, and then asks her to "open her heart to him". He is among survivors in a lifeboat after pretending to have a child. The elderly Rose reveals that Cal committed suicideSuicide is the intentional killing of one's self. Many dictionaries also note the metaphorical sense of "willful destruction of one's self-interest"...
after the Wall Street Crash of 1929The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as the Great Crash or the Stock Market Crash of 1929, was the most devastating stock market crash in the history of the United States, taking into consideration the full extent and duration of its fallout....
.
- Frances Fisher
Frances Fisher is a British-born American actress who has appeared in such films as Unforgiven, Titanic, and Gone in Sixty Seconds.-Personal life:...
as Ruth DeWitt Bukater: Rose's widowed mother, who arranges her daughter's engagement to Cal to maintain her family's high-class status. She loves her daughter but believes that social position is more important than love. The epitome of the shallowness and hypocrisies of high-class society, she scorns Jack, even though he saved her daughter's life. She survives the sinking.
- Danny Nucci
-Personal Life:Nucci was born in Klagenfurt, Austria, to a French Moroccan mother and an Italian father, and was raised in Italy until the age of seven, when his family relocated to the United States. He has two sisters, Natalie and Elle. After temporarily living in Queens, New York, the family...
as Fabrizio De Rossi: Jack's ItalianThe Italian people are an ethnic group, in the sense of sharing a common Italian culture, descent, and speaking the Italian language as a mother tongue...
best friend, who comes aboard the RMS Titanic with him after Jack wins two tickets in a pokerPoker is a sport from the family of card games that share betting rules and usually hand rankings. Poker games differ in how the cards are dealt, how hands may be formed, whether the high or low hand wins the pot in a showdown , limits on bets and how many rounds of betting are allowed...
game. Fabrizio is killed during the sinking of the Titanic after one of the funnels of the ships collapses and crushes him.
- Jason Barry
Jason Barry is an Irish actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Tommy Ryan in the 1997 blockbuster Titanic. However, he has also been in such movies as The Still Life for which he has won numerous awards....
as Tommy Ryan: An IrishThe Irish people are a Western European ethnic group who originate in Ireland, in north western Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolgs, Tuatha Dé Danann and the Milesians The Irish...
third-class passenger who befriends Jack and Fabrizio. He makes a comment to Jack about the faint chance he has of getting next to Rose. Tommy is shot dead by First Officer Murdoch during the ship's sinking, after he is shoved during the chaos on deck.
- David Warner
David Warner is an English actor, who is known for playing sinister or villainous characters.-Early life:Warner was born in Manchester, Lancashire, England, the son of Doreen and Herbert Simon Warner, who was a nursing home proprietor...
as Spicer Lovejoy: An ex-PinkertonThe Pinkerton National Detective Agency, usually shortened to the Pinkertons, was a private U.S. security guard and detective agency established by Allan Pinkerton in 1850. Pinkerton had become famous when he foiled a plot to assassinate president-elect Abraham Lincoln, who later hired Pinkerton...
constable, Lovejoy is Cal's English valet and bodyguard, who keeps an eye on Rose and is suspicious regarding the circumstances surrounding Jack's rescue of her. According to Rose, Lovejoy was hired by Cal's father to "keep an eye on his little boy". He accompanies Cal, Rose, and Ruth on the RMS Titanic and tells the porters where to put their luggage. He dies during the sinking and is last seen clinging onto the deck rail for dear life as the ship splits apart beneath him.
- Bill Paxton
William "Bill" Paxton is an American actor and film director. He gained in popularity after his starring roles in the movies Apollo 13, Twister, and True Lies...
as Brock Lovett: A treasure hunter looking for the "Heart of the Ocean" in the wreck of the RMS Titanic in the present. Time and funding to his expedition are running out.
- Gloria Stuart
Gloria Frances Stewart , also known as Gloria Stuart, is an American actress. Over a Hollywood career that spans more than 70 years, Stuart appeared on stage, in television and film, and is best known as for her roles as Claude Rains' sweetheart in The Invisible Man and as the 100-year-old Rose in...
as Rose Dawson Calvert: The 100-year-old Rose comes to give Lovett information regarding the "Heart of the Ocean", after he discovers a nude drawing of her in the wreck of the RMS Titanic. She narrates the story of her time aboard the ship, mentioning Jack for the first time since. The final scene in the movie (where she reunites with Jack and all the people lost on the Titanic) is ambiguous – some believe her to be merely asleep (remembering her time with Jack) while others believe she died happily in her bed as Jack wished for her during the ship's sinking. Stuart herself believes her character died, whereas in his DVD audio commentary Cameron says that he prefers to leave the viewer to interpret the shot.
- Suzy Amis as Lizzy Calvert: Rose's granddaughter, who cares for her, and accompanies her when she visits Lovett on the ship.
- Lewis Abernathy as Lewis Bodine: Lovett's friend, who initially expresses doubt about whether the elderly Rose is telling the truth. He also demonstrates to Rose, with little regard for sensitivity, how the RMS Titanic sank with a 3-D computer simulation. When Rose's story concludes, he appears slightly more sympathetic.
Historical characters
- Kathy Bates
Kathleen Doyle "Kathy" Bates is an American actress and director.After several small roles in film and television, Bates rose to prominence with her performance in Misery , for which she won both the Academy Award for Best Actress and a Golden Globe...
as Margaret "Molly" BrownMargaret Brown , more widely known as Maggie Brown, Molly Brown, or Unsinkable Molly Brown, was an American socialite, philanthropist, and activist who became famous in the 1912 sinking of the RMS Titanic, after getting lifeboat 6 to return to look for survivors and as leader of the women...
: Brown is depicted as being frowned upon by other first-class women, including Ruth, as "vulgar" and "new money" due to her sudden wealth. She is friendly to Jack and lends him a tuxedo (bought for her son) when he is invited to dinner in the first-class dining saloon. She leaves the sinking ship with Ruth, aboard Lifeboat 6. She survives the sinking, scorning the other passengers of her lifeboat for not rescuing others, and is seen in a shot of the boat of survivors after Rose is rescued. And although she is a historical person, Cameron chose to not portray her real life actions. Molly Brown was dubbed "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" by historians because she took over the life boat and went to pick up survivors. In Cameron's film version, she attempts to round the women up to go back but she does not succeed, therefore portraying her real life actions.
- Victor Garber
Victor Joseph Garber is a Canadian film, stage and television actor and singer. Garber is perhaps best known for playing Jack Bristow in the television series Alias and Thomas Andrews in James Cameron's Titanic.-Personal life:...
as Thomas AndrewsThomas Andrews, Jr. was an Irish-born businessman and shipbuilder; managing director and head of the draughting department for the shipbuilding company Harland and Wolff in Belfast, Ireland. Andrews was the shipbuilder in charge of the plans for the ocean liner RMS Titanic...
: The ship's builder, Andrews is portrayed as a very kind and pleasant man who is modest about his grand achievement. After the collision, he tries to convince the others, particularly Ismay, that it is a "mathematical certainty" that the ship, being made of iron, will sink. He is depicted during the sinking of the ship as standing next to the clock in the first-class smoking room, lamenting his failure to build a strong and safe ship. He gives Rose a life jacket so she does not drown in the icy water, and is last seen looking at his watch and adjusting the clock in the same room as glasses slide from the mantel. He is most likely killed when the smoking room splits in two, however, in reality, it is unknown exactly how he died.
- Bernard Hill
Bernard Hill is a British actor of film, stage and television. In a career spanning thirty years, he is best known for playing Captain Edward John Smith in Titanic, King Théoden in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, and as the Warden of San Quentin Prison in the Clint Eastwood film True Crime...
as Captain Edward John SmithCaptain Edward John Smith, RD, RNR was an English naval officer, and ship's captain. He was the captain in command of the RMS Titanic; he died on board when it sank in 1912...
: Smith had planned to make the Titanic voyage his final one before retiring. This later influenced his decision to increase the ship's speed to make headlines. The film depicts him retiring to his quarters before the ship hits the iceberg. He retreats into the bridge as the ship sinks, dying when the icy water bursts through the windows whilst clinging to the ship's wheel. It is often disputed whether he died this way or later froze to death, as he was reported seen near the overturned Collapsible B.
- Jonathan Hyde
Jonathan Hyde is an Australian-born British actor, well known for his roles as J. Bruce Ismay, the managing director of the White Star Line in Titanic, the Egyptologist in The Mummy and Sam Parrish/Van Pelt the hunter in Jumanji. He is married to the Scottish soprano Isobel Buchanan...
as Joseph Bruce IsmayJoseph Bruce Ismay was an English businessman who served as Managing Director of the White Star Line of steamships. He traveled on the maiden voyage of his company's marquee ocean liner, the RMS Titanic. Bruce Ismay is typically remembered as a coward who saved himself as other heroes went down...
: Ismay is portrayed as an ignorant first-class rich man who does not even know who Sigmund FreudSigmund Freud , Sigismund Schlomo Freud , was an Austrian neurologist who founded the psychoanalytic school of psychology...
is. He uses his position as White Star LineThe Oceanic Steam Navigation Company or White Star Line of Boston Packets, more commonly known as the White Star Line, was a prominent British shipping company, today most famous for its ill-fated luxury flagship, the RMS Titanic, and the World War I loss of her sister ship, Britannic...
managing director to influence Captain Smith to go faster with the prospect of an earlier arrival in New York and favorable press attention. After the collision, he struggles to comprehend that his "unsinkable" ship is doomed. His infamous role in history features him taking the opportunity to get into a lifeboat as the ship sinks.
- Eric Braeden
Eric Braeden is a German-born film and television actor, best known for his role as Victor Newman on the soap opera The Young and the Restless. Braeden won a Daytime Emmy Award in 1998 for Lead Actor in a Drama Series for the role....
as Colonel John Jacob Astor IVJohn Jacob Astor IV was an American millionaire businessman, real estate builder, inventor, writer, a member of the prominent Astor family, and a lieutenant colonel in the Spanish-American War. He died in the sinking of the RMS Titanic on April 15, 1912.- Early life :John Jacob Astor IV was born...
: A first-class passenger whom Rose calls the richest man on the ship. The film depicts Astor and his 18-year-old wife MadeleineMadeleine Force Astor was the wife of millionaire John Jacob Astor IV and a survivor of RMS Titanic.-Early life:...
as being introduced to Jack by Rose in the first-class dining saloon. He is presumably drowned when the Grand Staircase glass dome implodes and water surges in. In reality, Astor died after being crushed when one of the ship's funnels collapsed and Madeleine survived in one of the last boats to leave the Titanic, but her survival is not shown on camera. Braeden was chosen for the role because of his physical resemblance to the real John Jacob Astor IV.
- Bernard Fox as Colonel Archibald Gracie IV: The film depicts Gracie making a comment to Cal that "women and machinery don't mix", and congratulating Jack for saving Rose from falling off the ship (he is unaware it was a suicide attempt). It is not mentioned whether he survives or dies, but the actual Archibald Gracie survived the sinking on the overturned Collapsible B.
- Michael Ensign
- Early life :Ensign was born in Safford, Arizona and was raised in both the United States and England. He trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and spent the first ten years of his professional career working in the theatre in Britain.- Career :...
as Benjamin GuggenheimBenjamin Guggenheim was an American businessman. He died aboard RMS Titanic when the ship sank near Cape Race, Newfoundland.- Early life :...
: A mining magnate traveling in first-class. He openly shows off his French mistress Madame Aubart to his fellow passengers while his family waits for him back home. When Jack joins the other first-class passengers for dinner after his rescue of Rose, Guggenheim refers to him as a "bohemian". Before his death, he utters the famous words, "We are dressed in our best and are prepared to go down as gentlemen", before asking for a final glass of brandy. He is last seen sitting on a chair with his glass of brandy at the base of the Grand Staircase while a huge wave bursts into the room through the A-deck cabins.
- Jonathan Evans-Jones as Wallace Hartley
Wallace Henry Hartley was an English violinist and bandleader on the RMS Titanic on its maiden voyage. He became famous for leading the eight member band as the ship sank on 15 April 1912.-Life and career:...
: The ship's bandmaster, who plays uplifting music with his colleagues on the boat deck as the ship sinks, culminating in a final, emotional performance of Nearer, My God, to Thee"Nearer, My God, to Thee" is a 19th century Christian hymn by Sarah Flower Adams, based loosely on Genesis 28:11-19, the story of Jacob's dream. Genesis 28:11-12 can be translated as follows: "So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the...
. However, it has been disputed for many years whether it was this or a waltz tune named Autumn that was played last. His final words are "Gentlemen, it has been a privilege playing with you tonight."
- Ewan Stewart
Ewan Stewart is a Scottish actor.- Life and career :Stewart was born Andrew Ewan Stewart in Glasgow, and is the son of the late famous Scottish entertainer Andy Stewart. Ewan's mother Sheila is still alive and lives in Arbroath, Scotland. Stewart was educated at Edinburgh's Merchiston Castle...
as First Officer William MurdochLieutenant William McMaster Murdoch RNR was a Scottish sailor who died on board RMS Titanic, where he was employed by the White Star Line, serving as First Officer...
: The film's most controversial depiction. During a sudden rush for the lifeboats, Murdoch's gun discharges and kills Tommy Ryan as well as another passenger. Murdoch then commits suicideSuicide is the intentional killing of one's self. Many dictionaries also note the metaphorical sense of "willful destruction of one's self-interest"...
out of guilt. When Murdoch's nephew Scott saw the film, he objected to his uncle's portrayal as damaging to Murdoch's heroic reputation, considering that he did try to get a number of passengers off. A few months later, Fox vice-president Scott Neeson went to DalbeattieDalbeattie is a town in Dumfries and Galloway , Scotland.Dalbeattie is situated in a wooded valley on the Urr Water east of Castle Douglas and south west of Dumfries...
, ScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, where Murdoch lived, to deliver a personal apology, and also presented a £5000 donation to Dalbeattie High School to boost the school's William Murdoch Memorial Prize. Cameron apologized on the DVD commentary, but noted that there were officers who fired gunshots to follow the "women and children first" policy.
- Jonathan Phillips
Jonathan Phillips is an English actor from London, best known for his portrayal of 2nd Officer Charles Lightoller in the 1997 blockbuster film Titanic...
as Second Officer Charles LightollerCommander Charles Herbert Lightoller DSC & Bar, RD, RNR was the second mate on board the Titanic, and the most senior officer to survive the disaster...
: The ship's most senior surviving officer of the sinking. The film depicts Lightoller telling Captain Smith that it would be difficult to see the icebergs with no breaking water. He is seen brandishing a gun and threatening to use it to keep order. He can be seen on top of Collapsible B when the first funnel falls.
- Mark Lindsay Chapman
Mark Lindsay Chapman is an English film and television actor.His credits include: Max Headroom, Dallas ,Falcon Crest , Baywatch,...
as Chief Officer Henry Wilde: The ship's chief officer, who lets Cal on board a lifeboat because he had a child in his arms. Before he dies, he tries to get the boats to row back to the sinking site and rescue passengers by blowing on his whistle. After he freezes to death, Rose uses his whistle to attract the attention of Fifth Officer Lowe, which eventually leads to her being rescued. Although in the film he is shown to succumb to hypothermiaHypothermia is a condition in which an organism's temperature drops below that required for normal metabolism and body functions. In warm-blooded animals, core body temperature is maintained near a constant level through biologic homeostasis or thermoregulation...
, it is unknown how the real Henry Wilde died.
- Ioan Gruffudd
Ioan Gruffudd is a Welsh actor.Educated at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, he started off in Welsh language productions, then came to international attention as Fifth Officer Harold Lowe in the film Titanic , and as Lt. John Beales in Black Hawk Down...
as Fifth Officer Harold LoweCommander Harold Godfrey Lowe RD RNR was the Fifth Officer of the RMS Titanic.-Early years:Harold Lowe was born in Eglwys Rhos, Caernarfonshire, North Wales on 21 November 1882, and ran away from home to go to sea at age 14, refusing the offer of an apprenticeship from his father...
: The only ship's officer who led a lifeboat to retrieve survivors of the sinking on the icy waters. The film depicts Lowe rescuing Rose from freezing to death.
- Edward Fletcher as Sixth Officer James Moody
James Paul Moody was the Sixth Officer of the RMS Titanic and the only junior officer of the ship to die in the disaster.-Early life:...
: The ship's only junior officer who died in the sinking. The film depicts Moody admitting Jack and Fabrizio onto the ship only moments before it departs from Southampton, follows Mr. Murdoch'sLieutenant William McMaster Murdoch RNR was a Scottish sailor who died on board RMS Titanic, where he was employed by the White Star Line, serving as First Officer...
orders putting the ship in full speed ahead, and informs First Officer Murdoch about the iceberg.
- James Lancaster as Father Thomas Byles
Father Thomas Roussel Davids Byles was a Catholic priest who famously remained on board the RMS Titanic as she was sinking after colliding with an iceberg, hearing confessions and giving absolution....
: Father Byles, a Catholic priest from England, is portrayed praying and consoling passengers during the ship's final moments. He is last seen consoling passengers when the aft section of the ship is going vertical. He probably falls to his death in the icy waters. Though not shown, he is credited for helping Molly Brown get others into the lifeboats.
- Lew Palter and Elsa Raven as Isidor Straus
Isidor Straus —a German Jewish American — was co-owner of the Macy's department store with his brother Nathan. He also served briefly as a member of the United States House of Representatives.. He died with his wife, Ida, as a result of the sinking of the passenger ship RMS Titanic.-Early...
and Ida StrausIda Straus, née Rosalie Ida Blun was an American homemaker and wife of the co-owner of the Macy's department store. She and her husband Isidor died on board the RMS Titanic.-Early life:...
: Isidor is a former owner of R.H. Macy and Company, a former Congressman from New York, and a member of the New York and New Jersey Bridge Commission. During the sinking, his wife Ida is offered a place in a lifeboat, but she refuses, saying that she will honour her wedding pledge by staying with Isidor wherever he went. The two are last seen lying on their bed, embracing each other, as the frigid water begins to fill their stateroom.
- Martin Jarvis
Martin Jarvis OBE is an English actor.-Early life:He is the son of Denys Harry Jarvis and Margot Lillian Scottney, and grew up in South Norwood. He attended the independent Whitgift School in Croydon....
as Sir Cosmo Duff-Gordon: A Scottish baronet who is rescued in Lifeboat 1. He refuses to return to save those in the water, at the urging of his wife believing that those in the water are inferior.
- Rosalind Ayres
Rosalind Ayres is an English actress. Her most famous role was in the 1997 film Titanic, in which she played Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon. She married actor Martin Jarvis on 23 November 1974 in Ealing and she has two stepsons. She has acted in and directed numerous audio plays for L.A...
as Lady Lucile Duff-GordonLucy Christiana, Lady Duff Gordon was a leading British fashion designer in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, best known as "Lucile," her professional name...
: A world-famous fashion designer and Sir Cosmo's wife. She is rescued in Lifeboat 1 with her husband and forbids him to return to the wreck site incase they are swamped by the drowing third class.
- Rochelle Rose as Noel Leslie, Countess of Rothes
Lucy Noël Martha Leslie, Countess of Rothes was the wife of the 19th Earl of Rothes, whom she married on 19 April 1900...
: The Countess is shown to be friendly with Cal and the DeWitt Bukaters, even though she is of a higher status in society the Sir Cosmo and Lady Duff Gordon she is kind and helps row the boats and even looks after the steerage (3rd Class).
- Scott G. Anderson as Frederick Fleet
Frederick Fleet was a crewman and survivor of the sinking of the RMS Titanic after it struck an iceberg on 14 April 1912...
: The lookout who saw the IcebergAn iceberg is a large piece of ice from freshwater that has broken off from a snow-formed glacier or ice shelf and is floating in open water. It may subsequently become frozen into pack ice...
. Fleet escapes the sinking ship aboard Lifeboat 6.
- Martin East as Reginald Lee
Reginald Robinson Lee was a lookout stationed in the crow's nest of the RMS Titanic when the ship collided with an iceberg at 11:40 p.m. on April 14, 1912.-Biography:...
: The other lookout in the Crow's nestA crow's nest is a structure in the upper part of the mainmast of a ship or structure, that is used as a lookout point.This position ensured the best view of the approaching hazards, other ships or land. It was the best device for this purpose until the invention of radar.In early ships it was...
.
- Simon Crane
Simon Crane is a British stuntman, stunt co-ordinator, second unit director and director.- Biography :...
as Fourth Officer Joseph BoxhallCommander Joseph Groves Boxhall RD RNR was the Fourth Officer on the Titanic, and later served as a naval officer in World War I.-Early life:...
: The officer in charge of firing flares and manning Lifeboat 2 during the sinking. He is shown on the bridge wings helping the seamen firing the flares. His only line in the film is, while the ship is rising out of the water and he is in the lifeboat: "Bloody pull faster, and pull!"
- Gregory Cooke as Jack Phillips: Senior wireless operator on board the Titanic that Captain Smith ordered to send out the distress signal.
- Liam Tuohy
Liam Tuohy, born in Dublin, Ireland, is a Irish stage, television and film actor who had a small role in James Cameron's 1997 blockbuster film Titanic as Chief Baker Charles Joughin...
as Chief Baker Charles JoughinCharles John Joughin was the chief baker on the RMS Titanic. Joughin was born in Birkenhead, Wirral, England on 3 August 1878. He survived in the freezing water for an exceptionally long time, due to the brandy he was drinking. After hours in the water, he was found by Collapsible B and pulled...
: The baker appears in the film on top of the railing with Jack and Rose as the ship went down for the final plunge. According to the real Joughin's testimony he rode the ship down and stepped into the water without getting his hair wet, most likely thanks to alcohol.
- Terry Forrestal
Terence Julian Forrestal was born on May 13, 1948, in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England. He was the son of Irish emigrants and attended Finchley Catholic Grammar School in England. He served in the British Armed Forces in Northern Ireland, among other places....
as Chief Engineer Joseph G. Bell: Bell and his men worked til the last minute to keep the lights on the ship and power for distress signals to get out. Bell and most of the engineers died trapped in the bowels of the Titanic. Their bodies have not been recovered. He (or an unnamed engineer) dies by being electrocuted when a machine discharges its energy: his electrocution caused the whole ship's lights to flicker and ultimately cease.
Cameos
Several crew members of the
Akademik Mstislav KeldyshThe R/V Akademik Mstislav Keldysh is a 6,240 ton Russian scientific research vessel. It is best known as the support vessel of the Mir submersibles. The vessel has made over 50 voyages, is owned by the Moscow-based Shirshov Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Science and is...
appear in the film, including
Anatoly SagalevichAnatoly Mikhailovich Sagalevich is a Russian explorer, who works at the Shirshov Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences since 1965....
, creator and pilot of the
MirMir is a self-propelled Deep Submergence Vehicle. The project was initially developed by the USSR Academy of Sciences along with Design Bureau Lazurith. Later two vehicles were ordered from Finland...
submersibles. Anders Falk, who filmed a documentary about the film's sets for the
Titanic Historical SocietyThe Titanic Historical Society, Inc. is a non-profit organization founded in 1963, whose purpose is the preservation of the history of the famous ocean liner RMS Titanic, which sank on April 15, 1912, in one of the greatest maritime disasters in history.Headquartered in Indian Orchard,...
, cameoed in the film as a Swedish immigrant who Jack Dawson meets when he enters his cabin, and Ed and Karen Kamuda, then President and Vice President of the Society, were extras on the film.
Production
| "The story could not have been written better...The juxtaposition of rich and poor, the gender roles played out unto death (women first), the stoicism and nobility of a bygone age, the magnificence of the great ship matched in scale only by the folly of the men who drove her hell-bent through the darkness. And above all the lesson: that life is uncertain, the future unknowable . . . the unthinkable possible." |
| — James Cameron |
James CameronJames Francis Cameron is a Canadian film director, producer and screenwriter. His writing and directing work includes The Terminator and Titanic. To date, his directorial efforts have grossed approximately US$1.1 billion domestically, unadjusted for inflation...
was fascinated by
shipwreckA shipwreck is the remains of a ship that has wrecked, it having either been sunk or beached. A shipwreck can refer to a wrecked ship or to the event that caused the wreck, such as the striking of something that causes the ship to sink, the stranding of the ship on rocks, land or shoal, or the...
s, including the
RMS TitanicThe RMS Titanic was an Olympic-class passenger liner owned by British shipping company White Star Line and built at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, United Kingdom...
, and wrote a
treatmentA film treatment is a piece of prose, typically the step between scene cards and the first draft of a screenplay for a motion picture, television program, or radio play...
for a film. He described the sinking of the
Titanic as "like a great novel that really happened". Yet, over time he felt that the event had become a mere
morality taleThe Morality play is a genre of Medieval and early Tudor theatrical entertainment. In their own time, these plays were known as "interludes," a broader term given to dramas with or without a moral theme. Morality plays are a type of allegory in which the protagonist is met by personifications of...
, and described making the film as putting the audience in an experience of living history. Cameron described a
love storyThe romance novel is a literary genre developed in Western culture, mainly in English-speaking countries. Novels in this genre place their primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people, and must have an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending." Through the late...
as the most engaging part of a story. As the likable Jack and Rose had their love blossom and eventually destroyed, the audience would mourn the loss. Lastly, Cameron created a modern framing of the romance with an elderly Rose, making the history palpable and poignant. The treasure hunter Brock Lovett is meant to represent those who never connected with the human element of the tragedy. Cameron wanted to honor the people who died during the sinking, and he spent six months fully researching what happened, creating a timeline of all the
Titanics crew and passengers.
He met with 20th Century FoxTwentieth Century Fox Film Corporation , also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox, is one of the six major American film studios...
, and convinced them to make a film based on the publicity afforded by shooting the wreck itself and organized a dive to the wreck of the Titanic
over two years. The crew shot in the Atlantic OceanThe Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about 106.4 million square kilometres , it covers approximately one-fifth of the Earth's surface and about one-quarter of its water surface area. The first part of its name refers to the Atlas of Greek...
twelve times in 1995, shooting during eleven of those occasions, and actually spent more time with the ship than its passengers. Afterwards, Cameron began writing a screenplay. Harland and WolffHarland and Wolff Heavy Industries is a British diversified heavy industrial company specialising in shipbuilding, ship breaking, offshore construction, modular construction, civil and marine engineering, renewables and associated project management, located in Belfast, Northern Ireland.The...
, the RMS Titanics builders, opened their private archives to the crew, sharing blueprints that were thought lost. For the ship's interiors, production designer
Peter LamontPeter Lamont is a noted set decorator, script editor, art director, and production designer most famous for working on eighteen James Bond films. The only four Bonds that he didn't work on are Dr...
's team looked for artifacts from the era, though the newness of the ship meant every prop had to be made from scratch. Fox acquired of waterfront south of
Playas de RosaritoPlayas de Rosarito is a city in the Mexican state of Baja California located approximately 35 minutes south of the U.S. border in Tijuana. Its beaches and dance clubs are a popular destination for young people from the United States during the Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends. Playas de...
in
MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, and began building a new studio on May 31, 1996. A seventeen-million-gallon tank was built for the exterior of the reconstructed ship, providing 270 degrees of ocean view. The ship was built to full scale, but Lamont removed redundant sections on the
superstructureA superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied both to physical structures like buildings, bridges or ships and to conceptual structures as well...
and forward well deck for the ship to fit in the tank, with the remaining sections filled with digital models. The lifeboats and funnels were shrunk by ten percent. The boat deck and A-deck were working sets, but the rest of the ship was just steel plating. Within was a fifty-foot lifting platform for the ship to tilt during the sinking sequences. Towering above was a tall tower crane on of
railtrackRailtrack was a group of companies that owned the track, signalling, tunnels, bridges, level crossings and all but a handful of the stations of the British railway system from its formation in April 1994 until 2002...
, acting as a combined construction, lighting, and camera platform. After shooting the sinking scenes, the ship was then dismantled and sold for scrap metal to cover budgetary costs.
Filming
The modern day scenes were shot on the
Akademik Mstislav KeldyshThe R/V Akademik Mstislav Keldysh is a 6,240 ton Russian scientific research vessel. It is best known as the support vessel of the Mir submersibles. The vessel has made over 50 voyages, is owned by the Moscow-based Shirshov Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Science and is...
in July 1996. It was during this shoot that someone sprinkled
phencyclidinePhencyclidine , also known as angel dust and other street names, is a recreational, dissociative drug formerly used as an anaesthetic agent, exhibiting hallucinogenic and neurotoxic effects...
(PCP) into the crew's dinner, affecting many including Cameron, and sending several dozen of them to the hospital. The person behind the prank was never caught. Principal photography for
Titanic began in September 1996 at the newly-built Fox Baja Studios. The scenes on the
poop deckIn naval architecture, a poop deck is a deck that constitutes the roof of a cabin built in the aft part of the superstructure of a ship....
were built on a hinge which could rise from zero to ninety degrees in a few seconds as the ship's stern rose during sinking. For the safety of the stuntmen, many props were made of foam rubber. By November 15, they were shooting the boarding scenes. Cameron chose to build his RMS
Titanic on the
starboardStarboard is the nautical term that refers to the right side of a vessel as perceived by a person on board a vessel and facing the bow . The equivalent for the left-hand side is port. The starboard side of a vessel is indicated with a
green navigation light at...
side as a study of weather data showed prevailing north-to-south wind that blew the funnel smoke
aftAft, in naval terminology, is an adjective or adverb meaning, towards the stern of the ship, when the frame of reference is within the ship. Example: "Able Seaman Smith; lay aft!". Or; "What's happening aft?"...
. This posed a problem for shooting the ship's departure from
SouthamptonSouthampton is the largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire, on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
, as it was docked on its
portPort is the nautical term that refers to the left side of a ship, as perceived by a person on board the ship and facing towards the bow . The port side of a vessel is indicated with a red navigation light at night.The term is also used on aircraft, spacecraft, and analogous...
side. Writing on props and costumes had to be reversed, and if someone walked to their right in the script, they had to walk left. In post-production, the film was flipped to the correct direction.
Filming
Titanic was an arduous experience for all involved. The schedule was intended to last 138 days but grew to 160. Many cast members came down with colds,
fluInfluenza, commonly referred to as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by RNA viruses of the family Orthomyxoviridae , that affects birds and mammals. The name influenza is Italian and means "influence"...
, or kidney infections after spending hours in cold water, including
Kate WinsletKate Elizabeth Winslet is an English actress and occasional singer. Winslet made her film debut starring in Peter Jackson's Heavenly Creatures...
. Several left and three stuntmen broke their bones, but the
Screen Actors GuildThe Screen Actors Guild is an American labor union representing over 200,000 film and television principal performers and background performers worldwide...
decided, following an investigation, that nothing was inherently unsafe about the set. Cameron never apologized for running his sets like a military campaign, although he admitted:
"I'm demanding, and I'm demanding on my crew. In terms of being kind of militaresque, I think there's an element of that in dealing with thousands of extras and big logistics and keeping people safe. I think you have to have a fairly strict methodology in dealing with a large number of people."
After almost drowning, chipping an elbow bone, and getting the flu, Winslet decided she would not work with Cameron again unless she earned "a lot of money".
Effects
An enclosed tank was used for sinking interiors, in which the entire set could be tilted into the water. To sink the Grand Staircase, of water were dumped into the set as it was lowered into the tank. Unexpectedly, the waterfall ripped the staircase from its steel-reinforced foundations, though no one was hurt. The long exterior of the RMS
Titanic had its first half lowered into the tank, but being the heaviest part of the ship meant it acted as a
shock absorberA shock absorber in common parlance is a mechanical device designed to smooth out or damp shock impulse, and dissipate kinetic energy.- Explanation :...
against the water. To get the set into the water, Cameron had much of the set emptied and even smashed some of the promenade windows himself. After submerging the Dining Saloon, three days were spent shooting Lovett's
ROVA remotely operated vehicle is a tethered underwater robot. They are common in deepwater industries such as offshore hydrocarbon extraction. An ROV may sometimes be called a remotely operated underwater vehicle to distinguish it from remote control vehicles operating on land or in the air. ROVs...
traversing the wreck in the present. The post-sinking scenes in the freezing Atlantic were shot in a tank, where the frozen corpses were created by applying a powder on actors that crystallized when exposed to water, and wax was coated on hair and clothes.
Cameron wanted to push the boundary of special effects with his film, and enlisted
Digital DomainDigital Domain is a visual effects and animation company based in Venice, Los Angeles, California. The company is known for creating state-of-the-art digital imagery for feature films, television advertising, interactive visual media and the video game industry...
to continue the breakthroughs on digital technology the director pioneered on
The AbyssThe Abyss is a 1989 science fiction film written and directed by James Cameron. It stars Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, and Michael Biehn. The original musical score was composed by Alan Silvestri...
and
Terminator 2: Judgment DayTerminator 2: Judgment Day, commonly abbreviated as T2, is a 1991 science fiction action film directed, co-written and co-produced by James Cameron and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Edward Furlong, and Robert Patrick...
. Previous films about the RMS
Titanic shot water in
slow motionSlow motion or slowmo is an effect in film-making whereby time appears to be slowed down. It was invented by Austrian August Musger. Typically this style is achieved when each film frame is captured at a rate much faster than it will be played back. When replayed at normal speed, time appears to be...
, which did not look wholly convincing. He encouraged them to shoot their long
miniatureA scale model is a representation or copy of an object that is larger or smaller than the actual size of the object . Very often the scale model is smaller than the original and used as a guide to making the object in full size...
of the ship as if "we're making a commercial for the
White Star LineThe Oceanic Steam Navigation Company or White Star Line of Boston Packets, more commonly known as the White Star Line, was a prominent British shipping company, today most famous for its ill-fated luxury flagship, the RMS Titanic, and the World War I loss of her sister ship, Britannic...
". Afterward, digital water and smoke were added, as were extras captured on a
motion captureMotion capture, motion tracking, or mocap are terms used to describe the process of recording movement and translating that movement onto a digital model. Initially invented in Scotland, it is used in military, entertainment, sports, and medical applications...
stage. Visual effects supervisor Rob Legato scanned the faces of many actors, including himself and his children, for the digital extras and stuntmen. There was also a long model of the ship's stern that could break in two repeatedly, the only miniature to be used in water. For scenes set in the ship's engines, footage of the
SS Jeremiah O'BrienSS Jeremiah O'Brien, also known as Jeremiah O'Brien , is a Liberty ship built during World War II and named for American Revolutionary War ship captain Jeremiah O'Brien...
's engines were composited with miniature support frames and actors shot against
greenscreenChroma key is a technique for mixing two images or frames together, in which a color from one image is removed , revealing another image behind it. This technique is also referred to as color keying, colour-separation overlay , greenscreen, and bluescreen...
. To save money, the First Class Lounge was a miniature set incorporated into a greenscreen backdrop.
Editing
During the first assembly cut, Cameron altered the planned ending, which had given resolution to Brock Lovett's story. In the original version of the ending, Brock and Lizzy see Old Rose at the stern of the boat, and fear she is going to jump. Rose then reveals that she had the Heart of the Ocean diamond all along, but never sold it, as it reminded her of Cal too much. She tells Brock that life is priceless and throws the diamond into the ocean, after allowing him to hold it. Accepting that treasure is worthless, Brock laughs at his stupidity. Rose goes back to sleep, whereupon the film ends in the same way as the final version. In the editing room, Cameron decided that by this point the audience would no longer be interested in Brock Lovett and cut the resolution to his story, so that Rose is alone when she drops the diamond. He also did not want to disrupt the audience's melancholy after the Titanics sinking.
The version used for the first
test screeningA test screening is a preview screening of a movie or television show before its general release in order to gauge audience reaction. Preview audiences are selected from a cross-section of the population, and are usually asked to complete a questionnaire or provide feedback in some form...
featured a fight between Jack and Lovejoy which took place after Jack and Rose escape into the flooded dining saloon, but the test audiences disliked it. The scene was written to give the film more suspense, and featured Cal (falsely) offering to give Lovejoy, his valet, the Heart of the Ocean if he can get it from Jack and Rose. Lovejoy goes after the pair in the sinking First Class dining room. Just as they are about to escape him, Lovejoy notices Rose's hand slap the water as it slips off the table behind which she is hiding. In revenge for framing him for the "theft" of the necklace, Jack attacks him and smashes his head against a glass window (this explains the gash on Lovejoy's head that can be seen when he dies in the completed version of the film). The test audiences disliked this scene, saying it would be unrealistic to risk one's life for wealth, and Cameron cut it for this reason, as well as for timing and pacing reasons. Many other scenes were cut for similar reasons.
Release
Paramount PicturesParamount Pictures Corporation is a Worldwide American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood, California. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is the world's oldest existing American film studio; it is also the last...
and
20th Century FoxTwentieth Century Fox Film Corporation , also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox, is one of the six major American film studios...
financed Titanic
, and expected James CameronJames Francis Cameron is a Canadian film director, producer and screenwriter. His writing and directing work includes The Terminator and Titanic. To date, his directorial efforts have grossed approximately US$1.1 billion domestically, unadjusted for inflation...
to complete the film for a release on July 2, 1997. With production delays, Paramount pushed back the release date to December 19, 1997. The film premiered on November 1, 1997, at the Tokyo International Film FestivalTokyo International Film Festival is a film festival established in 1985. The event was held bi-annually from 1985 to 1991 and annually thereafter...
, where reaction was described as "tepid" by the New York Times.
Box office
The film received steady attendance after opening in North America on Friday, December 19, 1997. By the end that same weekend, theaters were beginning to sell out. The film debuted with $8,658,814 on its opening day and $28,638,131 over the opening weekend from 2,674 theaters, averaging to about $10,710 per venue, and ranking #1 at the box office, ahead of the 18th James Bond film,
Tomorrow Never DiesTomorrow Never Dies is the eighteenth spy film in the James Bond series, and the second to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Bruce Feirstein wrote the screenplay, and it was directed by Roger Spottiswoode. It follows Bond as he tries to stop a media mogul from engineering...
. By New Year's Day, Titanic had made over $120 million, had increased in popularity and theaters continued selling out. Its biggest single day took place on Saturday February 14 (
Valentine's DayValentine's Day or Saint Valentine's Day is a holiday celebrated on February 14 by many people throughout the world. In the English-speaking countries, it is the traditional day on which lovers express their love for each other by sending Valentine's cards, presenting flowers, or offering...
) 1998, making $13,048,711, more than six weeks after it debuted in North America. After it was released, it stayed at #1 for 15 consecutive weeks in the U.S. and Canada box office, which was at the time (and still remains today) a record for any film. By March 1998, it was the first film to earn more than $1 billion worldwide. The movie stayed in theaters in North America for almost ten months before finally closing on Thursday October 1, 1998 with a final domestic gross of $600,788,188, and making double that amount overseas with an international gross of $1,248,025,607. The film accumulated a grand total of $1,848,813,795 worldwide, and to this day Titanic retains the record as the
highest-grossing film in history.
Critical reaction
The film garnered mostly positive reviews from critics. It is a "Certified Fresh" film on
Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films. The name derives from the historical cliché of throwing tomatoes and other produce at stage performers if a performance was particularly bad.- History :...
, with 82% overall approval from critics. The film currently has a 74/100 metascore on
MetacriticMetacritic is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, classified as a generally favorable reviewed film.
Roger EbertRoger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter.He is known for his film review column and for two television programs Sneak Previews and Siskel & Ebert at the Movies, which he co-hosted for a combined 23 years with Gene Siskel...
wrote, "It is flawlessly crafted, intelligently constructed, strongly acted, and spellbinding...Movies like this are not merely difficult to make at all, but almost impossible to make well. The technical difficulties are so daunting that it's a wonder when the filmmakers are also able to bring the drama and history into proportion. I found myself convinced by both the story and the sad saga." It was his ninth best film of 1997. On the television program Siskel & Ebert
, the film received "two thumbs up"; Ebert describing it as "a glorious Hollywood epic, well-crafted and well worth the wait" and Gene SiskelEugene "Gene" Kal Siskel was an American film critic. Alongside colleague Roger Ebert, he pioneered the classic review show Siskel & Ebert at the Movies.-Early life and career:...
found Leonardo DiCaprio "captivating". James BerardinelliJames Berardinelli is an American online film critic.-Biography:Berardinelli was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and spent his early childhood in Morristown. At the age of nine, he moved to Cherry Hill. He attended the University of Pennsylvania from 1985 through 1990, obtaining both a BS and...
explains, "Meticulous in detail, yet vast in scope and intent, Titanic
is the kind of epic motion picture event that has become a rarity. You don't just watch Titanic, you experience it." It was his second best movie of 1997. Almar Haflidason of the
BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation, usually referred to by its abbreviation as the "BBC", is the longest established and largest broadcaster in the world...
wrote "The sinking of the great ship is no secret, yet for many exceeded expectations in sheer scale and tragedy. And when you consider that it tops a bum-numbing three-hour running time, then you have a truly impressive feat of entertainment achieved by Cameron."
Some reviewers felt that the story and dialogue were weak, while the visuals were spectacular.
Richard CorlissRichard Nelson Corliss is a writer for Time magazine who focuses on movies, with the occasional article on music or sports. Corliss is the former editor-in-chief of Film Comment...
of
TimeTime is an American newsmagazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong. As of 2009, Time no longer publishes a Canadian advertiser edition...
magazine wrote a mostly negative review, criticizing the lack of interesting emotional elements. Kenneth TuranKenneth Turan is an American film critic and Lecturer in the Master of Professional Writing Program at the University of Southern California.-Background:...
's review in the Los Angeles TimesThe Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California since 1881. It is distributed throughout the Western United States. It is the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in the United States and the fourth-most widely distributed newspaper in the United States...
was particularly scathing. Dismissing the emotive elements, he says, "What really brings on the tears is Cameron's insistence that writing this kind of movie is within his abilities. Not only is it not, it is not even close." Barbara Shulgasser of San Francisco Examiner
gave Titanic
one star out of four, citing a friend as saying, "The number of times in this unbelievably badly-written script that the two [lead characters] refer to each other by name was an indication of just how dramatically the script lacked anything more interesting for the actors to say." Filmmaker Robert AltmanRobert Bernard Altman was an American film director known for making films that are highly naturalistic, but with a stylized perspective...
called it "the most dreadful piece of work I've ever seen in my entire life".
Titanic
suffered backlash from many after its release. In 2003, the film topped a poll of "Best Film Endings", and yet it also topped a poll by The Film programmeFilm 2009 is a weekly film review show on BBC television, presented by Jonathan Ross. The series was first broadcast in November 1971 under the title Film '71. The title changes to match the year of broadcast. When referring to all the series, the BBC calls it 'the Film programme'...
as "the worst movie of all time". The British film magazine EmpireEmpire is a British film magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media. From the first issue in July 1989, the magazine was edited by Barry McIlheney and published by Emap. Bauer purchased Emap Consumer Media in early 2008...
reduced their rating of the film from the maximum five stars and an enthusiastic review, to four stars with a less positive review in a later edition, to accommodate its readers’ tastes, who wanted to disassociate themselves from the hype surrounding the film, and the reported activities of its fans (such as those attending multiple screenings). Parodies and spoofs abounded and were circulated around the Internet, often inspiring passionate responses from fans of various opinions of the film.
Since its release, Titanic has appeared on the
AFIThe American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
's award-winning
100 Years...The AFI's 100 Years… series is a series of television specials featuring the American Film Institute celebrating 100 years of the greatest films in America.The specials are:* 1998: AFI's 100 Years…100 Movies* 1999: AFI's 100 Years…100 Stars...
. So far, it has ranked on the following six lists:
| AFI's 100 Years... 100 |
Rank |
Notes |
| Thrills Part of the AFI 100 Years… series, AFI's 100 Years…100 Thrills is a list of the top 100 thrilling movies in American cinema. The list was unveiled by the American Film Institute on June 12, 2001 during a CBS special hosted by Harrison Ford.-The List:...
|
25 |
A list of the top 100 thrilling movies in American cinema compiled in 2001. |
| Passions Part of the AFI 100 Years… series, AFI's 100 Years…100 Passions is a list of the top 100 love stories in American cinema. The list was unveiled by the American Film Institute on June 11, 2002 in a CBS television special hosted by American film and TV actress Candice Bergen.-The...
|
37 |
A list of the top 100 love stories in American cinema, compiled in 2002. |
| Songs |Part of the AFI 100 Years… series, AFI's 100 Years…100 Songs is a list of the top 100 songs in American cinema. The list was unveiled by the American Film Institute June 22, 2004 in a CBS special hosted by John Travolta, who appeared in two films honored by the list, Saturday Night Fever and...
|
14 |
A list of the top 100 songs in American cinema, compiled in 2004. Titanic ranked 14th for Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On "My Heart Will Go On" is the theme song of the 1997 blockbuster film Titanic. With music by James Horner, lyrics by Will Jennings, and production by Walter Afanasieff, it was recorded by Céline Dion. Originally released in 1997 on Dion's album Let's Talk About Love, it went to number 1 all over the...
". |
| Movie quotes Part of the AFI 100 Years... series, AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes is a list of the top 100 movie quotations in American cinema. The American Film Institute revealed the list in June of 2005 in a three-hour television program on CBS...
|
100 |
A list of the top 100 movie quotations in American cinema, compiled in 2005. Titanic ranked 100th for Jack Dawson's (Leonardo DiCaprio) yell of, "I'm the king of the world!" |
| Movies AFI's 100 Years…100 Movies — 10th Anniversary Edition was the 2007 updated version of 100 Years… 100 Movies. The original list was first unveiled in 1998....
|
83 |
A 2007 (10th anniversary) edition of 1997's list of the 100 best movies of the past century. Titanic was not eligible when the original list was released. |
| AFI's 10 Top 10 AFI's 10 Top 10 honors the ten greatest American films in ten classic film genres. Presented by the American Film Institute , the lists were unveiled on a television special broadcast by CBS on June 17, 2008....
|
6 |
The 2008 poll consisted of the top ten films in ten different genres. Titanic ranked as the sixth best epic film An epic is a genre of film which places emphasis on human drama on a grand scale. They are more ambitious in scope than other genres which helps to differentiate them from similar genres such as the period piece or adventure film...
. |
Awards
Titanic began its awards sweep starting with the Golden Globes, winning four, namely Best Motion Picture (Drama), Best Director, Best Original Score, and Best Song.
Leonardo DiCaprioLeonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio is an American actor and film producer whose career rose with his role in the television sit-com Growing Pains....
,
Kate WinsletKate Elizabeth Winslet is an English actress and occasional singer. Winslet made her film debut starring in Peter Jackson's Heavenly Creatures...
,
Gloria StuartGloria Frances Stewart , also known as Gloria Stuart, is an American actress. Over a Hollywood career that spans more than 70 years, Stuart appeared on stage, in television and film, and is best known as for her roles as Claude Rains' sweetheart in The Invisible Man and as the 100-year-old Rose in...
, and
James CameronJames Francis Cameron is a Canadian film director, producer and screenwriter. His writing and directing work includes The Terminator and Titanic. To date, his directorial efforts have grossed approximately US$1.1 billion domestically, unadjusted for inflation...
's screenplay were also nominees but lost. It won the
ACE "Eddie" AwardFounded in 1950, American Cinema Editors is an honorary society of film editors that are voted in based on the qualities of professional achievements, their education of others, and their dedication to editing itself. The society is not to be confused with an industry union, such as the I.A.T.S.E...
,
ASC AwardThe American Society of Cinematographers is an educational, cultural, and professional organization. It is not a labor union, and it is not a guild. Membership is by invitation and is extended only to directors of photography and special effects experts with distinguished credits in the film...
,
Art Directors Guild AwardThe The Art Directors Guild is a local union of the International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees representing approximately 2,000 motion picture and television professions based in the Western United States...
, Cinema Audio Society Award,
Screen Actors Guild AwardsThe Screen Actors Guild Awards are an annual award given by the Screen Actors Guild to recognize outstanding performances by members.SAG Awards have been one of the major awards events in Hollywood since 1995. Nominations for the awards come from 4200 randomly selected members of the union, with...
, (Best Supporting Actress Gloria Stuart), The Directors Guild of America Award, and
Broadcast Film Critics Association AwardThe Broadcast Film Critics Association is the largest film critics organization in the U.S. and Canada, representing 199 television, radio and online critics....
(Best Director James Cameron), and The
Producer Guild of America AwardsProducers Guild of America is a trade organization representing television producers, film producers and New Media producers in the United States. The PGA's membership includes over 3,500 members of the producing establishment worldwide...
. It was also nominated for ten
BAFTA awardsThe British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a British charity that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation...
, including Best Film and Director.
It was nominated for a record-tying 14
Academy AwardsThe Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are presented annually by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers. The formal ceremony at which the awards are presented is...
and won 11, including the
Best PictureThe Academy Award for Best Motion Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible...
and
Best DirectorThe Academy Award for Achievement in Directing is one of the Awards of Merit presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to directors working in the motion picture industry...
. It also picked up
Best CinematographyThe Academy Award for Best Cinematography is an Academy Award awarded each year to a cinematographer for work in one particular motion picture....
,
Best Costume DesignThis Academy Award was first given for movies made in 1948 when separate awards were given for black-and-white and color movies.- 1940s :Black-and-White*1948: Roger K. Furse – Hamlet** Irene Lentz – B...
,
Best Visual EffectsThe Academy Award for Visual Effects is an Oscar given to one film each year that shows highest achievement in visual effects.The category was called Best Special Effects when it was created in 1939. In 1963, the category was split into two: Best Special Visual Effects and Best Sound Effects...
,
Best Sound MixingThe Academy Award for Sound Mixing is an Academy Award that recognizes the finest or most euphonic sound mixing or recording, and is generally awarded to the production sound mixers and re-recording mixers of the winning film. Compare this award to the Academy Award for Sound Editing...
, Best Sound Editing,
Best Original ScoreThe Academy Award for Original Music Score is presented to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer.-Winners with multiple nominations:...
,
Best Film EditingThe Academy Award for Film Editing is one of the annual awards of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; it was first given for films released in 1934. The name of this award is occasionally changed; in 2008, it was listed as the Academy Award for Achievement in Film Editing. The New York...
,
Best Original SongThe Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . It is presented to the songwriters who have composed the best original song written specifically for a film...
, and
Best Art DirectionThe Academy Awards are the oldest awards ceremony for achievements in motion pictures. The Academy Award for Best Art Direction recognizes achievement in art direction on a film. The films below are listed with their production year, so the Oscar 2000 for best art direction went to a film from 1999...
awards. Kate Winslet, Gloria Stuart and the make-up artists were the three nominees that did not win. James Cameron's original screenplay and Leonardo DiCaprio were not nominees. It was the second movie to win eleven Academy Awards, after
Ben-HurBen-Hur is a 1959 epic film directed by William Wyler, and is the third film version of Lew Wallace's 1880 novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. It premiered at Loew's State Theatre in New York City on November 18, 1959...
. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King would also match this record in 2004, with its 11 wins from 11 nominations.
"
My Heart Will Go On"My Heart Will Go On" is the theme song of the 1997 blockbuster film Titanic. With music by James Horner, lyrics by Will Jennings, and production by Walter Afanasieff, it was recorded by Céline Dion. Originally released in 1997 on Dion's album Let's Talk About Love, it went to number 1 all over the...
" won the Grammy Awards for Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or for Television. The film also won Best Male Performance for Leonardo DiCaprio and Best Movie at the
MTV Movie AwardsThe MTV Movie Awards is a film awards show presented annually on MTV . It also contains movie parodies that used official movie footage with hosts and other celebrities and music performances. The nominees are decided by a special panel at Tenth Planet Productions, the production company headed by...
, Best Film at the
People's Choice AwardsThe People's Choice Awards is an awards show recognizing the people and the work of popular culture. The show has been held annually since 1975 and is voted on by the general public. The People's Choice Awards air on CBS and are produced by Procter & Gamble....
, and Favorite Movie at the
1998 Kids' Choice AwardsThe 1998 Kids' Choice Awards occurred on April 4, 1998. The award show was held at Pauley Pavilion at UCLA in Los Angeles, California.-Favorite Movie Actor:*Men in Black - Will Smith*Flubber - Robin Williams*Jungle 2 Jungle - Tim Allen...
. It won various awards outside the United States, including the Awards of the Japanese Academy as the Best Foreign Film of the Year. Titanic
eventually won nearly 90 awards and had an additional 47 nominations from various award-giving bodies around the world.
Home video
Titanic was released worldwide in
widescreenA widescreen image is a film, computer or television image with a wider and shorter aspect ratio than the standard Academy frame developed during the classical Hollywood cinema era. Silent film was projected at a ratio of four units wide to three units tall, often expressed as 4:3 or 1.33:1...
and
pan and scanPan and scan is one method of adjusting widescreen film images so that they can be shown within the proportions of a standard definition 4:3 aspect ratio television screen, often cropping off the sides of the original widescreen image to focus on the composition's most important aspects...
formats on
VHSVideo Home System, better known by its abbreviation VHS, was a video tape recording standard developed during the 1970s. It was released to the public during the latter half of the decade. During the late part of the 1970s and the early 1980s it formed one-half of the VHS vs Betamax war, which it...
and
laserdiscThe Laserdisc is an obsolete home video disc format, and was the first commercial optical disc storage medium. Initially marketed as Discovision in 1978, the technology was licensed and sold as Reflective Optical Videodisc, Laser Videodisc, Laservision, Disco-Vision, DiscoVision, and MCA...
on September 1, 1998. The VHS was also made available in a deluxe boxed gift set with a mounted filmstrip and a color booklet. A DVD version was released on July 31, 1999 in a widescreen-only (non-
anamorphicAnamorphic format is a term that can be used either for the cinematography technique of capturing a widescreen picture on standard 35 mm film, or other visual recording media, with a non-widescreen native aspect ratio, or a photographic projection format in which the original image requires an...
) single disc edition with no special features other than a theatrical trailer. Cameron stated at the time that he intended to release a special edition with extra features later. This release became the best-selling DVD of 1999 and early 2000, becoming the first DVD ever to sell 1 million copies.
An international two- and four-disc set followed on November 7, 2005. The two-disc edition was marketed as the Special Edition
, and featured the first two discs of the three-disc set, only PALPAL, short for Phase Alternating Line, is an analogue television encoding system used in broadcast television systems in large parts of the world. Other common analogue television systems are SECAM and NTSC. This page primarily discusses the colour encoding system...
enabled. A four-disc edition, marketed as the Deluxe Collector's Edition
, was also released on November 7, 2005.
Available only in the UK, a limited five-disc set of the film, under the title Deluxe Limited Edition
, was released with only 10,000 copies manufactured. The fifth disc contains James CameronJames Francis Cameron is a Canadian film director, producer and screenwriter. His writing and directing work includes The Terminator and Titanic. To date, his directorial efforts have grossed approximately US$1.1 billion domestically, unadjusted for inflation...
's documentary Ghosts of the AbyssGhosts of the Abyss is a 2003 documentary film released by Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media. It was Disney's first film produced in 3-D and was directed by Academy Award winning filmmaker James Cameron after his Oscar winning film Titanic...
, which was distributed by Walt Disney PicturesWalt Disney Pictures refers to several different entities associated with The Walt Disney Company:Walt Disney Pictures, the film banner, was established as a designation in 1983, prior to which Disney films since 1954 were released under the name of the parent company, then named Walt Disney...
. Unlike the individual release of Ghosts of the Abyss, which contained two discs, only the first disc was included in the set.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack album for Titanic was composed by
James HornerJames Roy Horner is an American composer, orchestrator and conductor of orchestral and film music. He is noted for the integration of choral and electronic elements in many of his film scores, and for frequent use of Celtic musical elements...
and became the best selling primarily orchestral soundtrack of all time. The soundtrack includes performances from Norwegian singer
Sissel KyrkjebøSissel Kyrkjebø , also simply known as Sissel, is a Norwegian soprano. She is best known for singing the Olympic Hymn at the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the 1994 Winter Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway, for duets with Plácido Domingo, Charles Aznavour, José Carreras, Neil Sedaka, Warren...
, and Canadian singer
Celine DionCéline Marie Claudette Dion , CC, OQ is a Canadian singer, occasional songwriter, actress, and entrepreneur. Born to a large, impoverished family in Charlemagne, Quebec, Dion emerged as a teen star in the French-speaking world after her manager and future husband René Angélil mortgaged his home to...
. It became a worldwide success, spending 16 weeks at #1 in the United States and was certified diamond for over 11 million copies sold in the United States, alone. The soundtrack also became best selling album of 1998 in the U.S. It also led to the release of a second volume (
Back to TitanicBack to Titanic is the second soundtrack album released for the film, which contains a mixture of previously unreleased recordings and newly-recorded performances of the songs in the film....
) that contained a mixture of previously unreleased soundtrack recordings with newly-recorded performances of some of the songs in the film, including one track recorded by EnyaEithne Patricia Ní Bhraonáin , better known as Enya, is an Irish vocalist, instrumentalist and composer. Her name is sometimes presented in the media as Enya Brennan; Enya is an approximate transliteration of how Eithne is pronounced in her native Irish.She began her musical career in 1980, when...
's sister, Máire BrennanMáire Philomena Ní Bhraonáin , better known as Máire Brennan or Moya Brennan , is a Grammy Award-nominated Celtic folksinger, songwriter, harpist and philanthropist...
of the Irish band ClannadClannad are a Grammy Award-winning Irish musical group, from Gaoth Dobhair, County Donegal. Their music has been variously described as bordering on folk and folk rock, Irish, Celtic and New Age...
. "Hymn to the Sea" features Bad HaggisBad Haggis is a Celtic band with roots in Scottish music. The American group is led by piper Eric Rigler, who has played on dozens of movie soundtracks...
's Eric RiglerEric Rigler is an American player of the Uilleann pipes, Great Highland Bagpipes, and tin whistle. He plays on his own and with the band Bad Haggis, and has been featured on a number of movie soundtracks. He has been described as "the most recorded bagpiper of all time"...
on the uilleann pipesThe uilleann pipes , originally known as the Union pipes, are the characteristic national bagpipe of Ireland. The uilleann pipes bag is inflated by means of a small set of bellows strapped around the waist and the right arm...
and whistles. Back to Titanic was also a sizeable hit, reaching #2 in the U.S. and selling over a million copies.
James HornerJames Roy Horner is an American composer, orchestrator and conductor of orchestral and film music. He is noted for the integration of choral and electronic elements in many of his film scores, and for frequent use of Celtic musical elements...
wrote the song "
My Heart Will Go On"My Heart Will Go On" is the theme song of the 1997 blockbuster film Titanic. With music by James Horner, lyrics by Will Jennings, and production by Walter Afanasieff, it was recorded by Céline Dion. Originally released in 1997 on Dion's album Let's Talk About Love, it went to number 1 all over the...
" in secret with
Will JenningsWilbur "Will" Jennings is an American songwriter. He attended school just outside Tyler, TX, in the nearby Chapel Hill Independent School District...
because Cameron did not want any songs with singing in the film. Dion agreed to record a demo with the persuasion of her husband
René AngélilRené Angélil, OQ is a Canadian singer and manager. He is the husband and manager of singer Céline Dion.-Career:Angelil started out as a pop singer in the 1960s in Montréal, Angélil formed a pop rock group, "The Baronets", with childhood friend Pierre Labelle and Jean Beaulne. They were known as...
. Horner waited until Cameron was in an appropriate mood before presenting him with the song. After playing it several times, Cameron declared its approval, although worried that he would have been criticized for "going commercial at the end of the movie". It eventually won the
1997The 70th Academy Awards were noted for their high ratings and the 11 wins racked up by the Best Picture, Titanic. Billy Crystal hosted the ceremony for the sixth time, and received an Emmy award for his performance....
Academy Award for Best Original SongThe Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . It is presented to the songwriters who have composed the best original song written specifically for a film...
.
3D Conversion
During the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con, director James Cameron announced that Titanic was in the process of being converted into
3-DIn film, the term 3-D is used to describe any visual presentation system that attempts to maintain or recreate moving images of the third dimension, the illusion of depth as seen by the viewer....
and re-released at some point in 2011. Speaking at the convention, Cameron said:
We can't call it dimensionalisation, we have to call it conversion. That's the same thing, we're going to turn it into high quality 3D. It takes about a year to 18 months to do it depending on the complexity. We've been told somewhere around a year, maybe 14 months. We've tested it, seen a couple of minutes converted. It looks spectacular. But it really requires the filmmaker to be involved to make sure that the Stereo Space decisions are made correctly.
External links
- Official site
- Titanic at The Numbers
The Numbers is a website that tracks box office revenue. Bruce Nash started the site in October 1997. It also covers international territories, DVD sales and market analysis.-Audience:...