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Author Topic: Titanic: Looking Back Tom Petrov Five Guys Lover Posts: 1121 From: El Paso, TX Registered: Jan 2003 posted 01-16-2010 01:33 AM                    With all the recent success of James Cameron's I can't help but look back at the Titanic Phenomenon. I had not seen Titanic for over 12 years since it was released and with the recent release of Avatar I couldn't help but watch it. Well, I have to say it really was "amazing" looking back at it now that I am a lot older and much more mature. I was a teenage working at the theatre when it opened, I can still remember summer delay (for its release), the hype, the sellout crowds...I even remember Sherway Cinemas getting a second print of Christmas day because it was so busy. Looking back now. It really deserved all the Oscars it received, the score is simply outstanding. Kate Winslet did the Oscar for best female. Special effects, acting, direction, sound, score were simply incredible. Before it was released, who would of thought that James Cameron would so skillfully blend the real story of Titanic with the fictional stories of Jack and Rose I still just remember the overall "Awe" of the movie that no movie has yet duplicated... Simply amazing ***** What do others think of Titanic looking back?  |  IP: Logged Monte L Fullmer Film God Posts: 8367 From: Nampa, Idaho, USA Registered: Nov 2004 posted 01-16-2010 02:50 AM                     I remember that summer of 1997 with that big "Titanic" standee in cinema lobbies. My first impression was "Oh great, another remake of the 1951 version (not thinking of "A Night to Remember" of 1958) and this boat will sink again." That late fall, I then begin to help construct and open a 21 plex in our area and that is what we opened up with is James Cameron's "Titanic" and was totally shocked on how good this film was with the 197 minutes disappearing so quickly. In the Oscars that following spring, it was kinda neat that it tied "Ben-Hur" for the quantity of awards won. Attendance at our plex was a continual stream of people and sold out performances. Never have I've seen so many people arrive to see a movie. That was totally fun to witness. -Monte  |  IP: Logged Victor Liorentas Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 800 From: london ontario canada Registered: May 2009 posted 01-16-2010 10:40 AM                     Some of greatest memories as a projectionist! I worked at an 8 plex with state of the art everything at the time and before the run ended it played on every screen many times. We only ever had 1 print. I was in awe of the film,i also ran it at 2 other decent plexs.I think it's far better than detracters give it credit for including the dialogue. Brilliant for it's ability to connect with so many people around the world!  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 01-16-2010 11:12 AM                     I have a huge Titanic banner rolled up in one of my bedroom closets. It's one with the "Summer 1997" date on it, obviously printed before the movie's release date was pushed back to December. It was pretty amazing to see the number of viewers Titanic pulled. The movie generated a lot of repeat business. Our local Carmike theater was selling out shows on a steady basis from December to April of 1998.  |  IP: Logged Claude S. Ayakawa Film God Posts: 2738 From: Waipahu, Hawaii, USA Registered: Aug 2002 posted 01-16-2010 12:45 PM                        I love TITANIC And saw it many times on home video but only once at the Waikiki #3 with DTS sound. Although the theatre was set up for 70mm, it only played the movie in 35mm. I would have loved to have seen the movie in 70mm in a theatre if I had the opportunity. TITANIC is one of those films I had bought many times when it came out in video. The first time was the full screen edition in VHS because I was interested to see how James Cameron would structure the original Super 35mm film elments and create a pleasing looking FS version. I must admit, it was not bad. The 2nd version I bought was the laserdisc in scope. Not too long after that, I bought the movie again on laserdisc but this time, it was the full bit rate DTS version. When it was released on DVD, I bought both the bare bone and the four disc special edition with both Dolby 5.1 and DTS 6.1 sound. I also have a DTS demo DVD with the movie trailer in full bit rate and it sounds great. -Claude  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 01-16-2010 01:25 PM                     ...and soon you will purchase the Blu-Ray version, then after that the X-treme blu-ray version (which will be the same as the blu-ray version but will fix some transfer issue from the first release), then after that the 10 disc collector's edition blu-ray version, then will come the 3D version, etc. It will go on and on. That is how the studios make so much money.  |  IP: Logged Claude S. Ayakawa Film God Posts: 2738 From: Waipahu, Hawaii, USA Registered: Aug 2002 posted 01-16-2010 04:04 PM                        No, Brad I probably buy the Blu-ray when it is released but I doubt I will purchase any future updated video versions of TITANIC in another video format like 3-D Blu Ray. I am getting too old to play the game anymore. I have alway been an early adapter and was one of the first in Hawaii to buy prerecorded video tapes, laserdiscs, CDs and DVDS but is has been over three years before I bought a HDTV and only bought a Blu-Ray player last February. At first I was not planning to go with Blu-Ray because I was happy with DVD and still is but exclusive special features only on Blu-Ray had lured me into buying a BD harware and softwares. -Claude  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 01-16-2010 04:30 PM                        I really liked the movie and it drew amazing crowds for us too. I have not seen it since we played it in April of '98. Like Bobby, I have a couple of promo items that say "Summer 1997" o them -- a teaser onesheet and a banner, I think. I've been tempted to buy the video but I just know there's NO WAY it's going to look as good or as awesome at home as it did on the theatre screen. The sound was great too. I still remember the sound at the moment when the ship split in half and sank...it was incredible. It was deafening, but we got absolutely zero complaints about the volume, even though a good share of the crowd was people who had never experience digital theatre sound before. They were too amazed to gripe.  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 01-16-2010 04:53 PM                     I have two versions of Titanic on DVD (the original single disc version with non-anamorphic video and the 3-disc set with 16X9 anamorphic enhanced video, DTS/DD). I liked Titanic well enough that I have no problem buying it again once it is released on Blu-ray, but I'll only do so if Paramount does a good job with the video transfer. I really liked Gladiator, but I refuse to buy that movie on Blu-ray until the current, botched version is replaced with a new version sporting a brand new video transfer. Until then I'll stick with the old DVD. It's simply not enough for a movie studio to dust off a 10 year old HD telecine transfer and use it as a source for Blu-ray. Lots of people are turned off to the idea of buying a movie they already own on DVD. So if the studio expects to get a lot of owners to upgrade a movie from DVD to BD the deal has to be worth it. The disc needs very good or excellent video quality and the studio probably has to sweeten the deal with $10 coupons and such that have been offered on BDs of Braveheart, Forrest Gump and others. BTW, while having Titanic on Blu-ray will be nice (especially when watching it on a big HDTV screen) nothing can match the experience of having seen it in 70mm DTS at the big General Cinemas Northpark #1 theater in Dallas. That was pretty bad-ass.  |  IP: Logged Bruce McGee Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1776 From: Asheville, NC USA... Nowhere in Particular. Registered: Aug 1999 posted 01-16-2010 05:37 PM                     I've got this on letterboxed VHS. Thats enough for me. I much prefer the 1958 version, then the 1951 film. I didnt get to see it first run, obviously.  |  IP: Logged John Wilson Film God Posts: 5438 From: Sydney, Australia. Registered: Dec 1999 posted 01-16-2010 05:58 PM                     We watched TITANIC on the wall last night. I have had the letterboxed VHS since it came out but to this date have still never been able to bring myself to watch it. This movie just needs a big screen, so when I saw it the 2 disc 16x9 version the other day at the store fo $12 I bought it. This is simply an amazing movie. So many people will tell you now they hated it and it's a pile of junk. If you've never seen it then simply do not believe these people. It's one of the best times I've ever had at the movies...in summer of '98 and now summer of 2010. I too remember the crowds for this film when we first opened it in December of '97...it played at that same theatre in 35mm through June '98 when it switched to the 70mm version until it played out in July. We were still filling (750 seat auditorium) in April! A worthy winner of all its oscars...how rarely does THAT happen? all the way.  |  IP: Logged Tom Petrov Five Guys Lover Posts: 1121 From: El Paso, TX Registered: Jan 2003 posted 01-16-2010 11:27 PM                    quote: John Wilson This is simply an amazing movie. So many people will tell you now they hated it and it's a pile of junk. If you've never seen it then simply do not believe these people. It's one of the best times I've ever had at the movies...in summer of '98 and now summer of 2010. I too remember the crowds for this film when we first opened it in December of '97...it played at that same theatre in 35mm through June '98 when it switched to the 70mm version until it played out in July. We were still filling (750 seat auditorium) in April! A worthy winner of all its oscars...how rarely does THAT happen? Well said. That is why I started this thread. Titanic was simply a spectacle that didn't change the movie industry but simply stamped itself as such a massive event that touched so many people...even those who don't ordinarily watch films. Plus it really was out nowhere...nobody in their right mind could of predicted the success Titanic had the night before it opened... And I brought it up because Avatar is having a similar appeal...not the same, but similar.  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 01-16-2010 11:43 PM                     While Titanic can be classified as Hollywood spectacle, it's still a significantly better movie than Avatar. Let's also remember a LOT of people in the mainstream media and rivals in the movie industry were rooting for Titanic to fail. The movie had crossed uncharted boundaries of budgetary excess. There were stories of scene re-shoots. James Cameron was making effects people redo expensive shots to get frost coming out of actors mouths just right. The roughly six month delay gave the media even more time to talk about what a gigantic flop Titanic could turn out to be and that the massive failure would finally pave the way for independent film to take over Hollywood. Titanic turned out to be a great movie that broke box office records, turned a profit and hauled in a bunch of Oscars. The media was proved wrong. The vultures pretty much scattered once Titanic bulldozed through December of 1997. Avatar didn't have to deal with any of the gloom and doom watch even though it cost even more money to make and market than Titanic.  |  IP: Logged Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 01-17-2010 01:28 AM                        I really liked Titanic. A lot of people love to bag on it for whatever reason. Although we were equipped for 70mm in 3 of our 12 auditoriums, we only ever got a 35mm print of it. Come to think of it, I don't even remember getting more than one print. We played it in SDDS which is a digital format which nobody has any animosity towards. I like the movie so much during the prescreening that I decided that the movie had to be played at the level I watched it at. That meant turning the SDDS unit down to -5.0 or something like that during the trailers and then turning it up to 0.0 for the movie. Those numbers could be off since it has been so long, but I do remember we usually played the SDDS at -3.0. It was at this time that United Artists Theaters was starting to turn to dog shit. I had been promised a raise and could not get one (I made less than $8). The manager of the theater got tired of me complaining about it and said something to the effect of the constant nagging making her not want to give me a raise (I do not remember exact words). We both got frustrated with the conversation and I told the manager that I needed to go start Titanic, which I did. I waited until the trailers were over, increased the volume, clocked out and left for good. Even though I was angry with the company, I still wanted to make sure the customers got a good show as I left. So I went over to Mann Theaters and we were building a really nice 16-plex for a while and finally opened in late January. We got two used prints of Titanic. I think we even had to replace one of them. But we did crazy business for a very long time. It was also the first time I had ever seen a Dolby Digital unit track a ZERO before. I have that print hitting zero somewhere on Hi8 video tape. What is even more amazing is that this was on a Christie basement reader. Too bad the other units didn't work this well. I saw it once in 70mm and it looked OK, nothing special. Perhaps a bit dim. It was at the UA Colorado Center. I think Bevan ran the show, I don't know. But what I did notice about the 70mm print was that it was the ONLY time the super ugly color shift didn't happen on a reel change (forget which reels, maybe 3 to 4... it happens when the guy asks the captain to increase the speed, Cap is hesitant but compliant, and the reel change hits right before the guy says "Good man." or some such) outside of home video. Every 35mm print I've ever seen without exception of Titanic becomes green at that reel change which is in the middle of a scene. That reel change should have been done a few seconds later where any color shift would have not been as noticeable. I have only ever owned Titanic as a DTS LaserDisc and the anamorphic DVD. I still have both. I will get a Blu-ray one when it comes out alongside Avatar (probably).  |  IP: Logged Frank Angel Film God Posts: 5305 From: Brooklyn NY USA Registered: Dec 1999 posted 01-17-2010 06:00 AM                        I saw lots of flaws in TITANIC, but even piling them all up together, they couldn't bring me to not love it. Sure it's got a lot of sentimentality, sure dialogue is forced in some places and stilted in others, but in the end, if a story like this doesn't pull at your heart, you need to check your pulse and figure out if you are still alive. As I said, I have some reservations about a few aspects, mostly in dialogue but in the end, I just look at my library and realize the proof is in the pudding, and the pudding is the fact that I've got it right there under T and on two shelves in the film storage room. A nice chunk of $$$ on this title has already flown out of my wallet and I am sure I will open it again for the BluRay. And you know what? I won't apologize for liking what the hoity-toity film critics panned. And at the last fade-out, I didn't apologize for the lump in my throat and the wet salty lines showing on my face. Yah, it's a tear-jerker, but not in a bad way. The emotions it evokes are not done with cheap tricks or false notes. In the end, what makes it so universal is that it is able to genuinely connect to the basic human emotions in us all. AVATAR on the other hand, for all its technical advances and very impressive spectacle, didn't connect with me on that raw level; so of the two, I think TITANIC is the more powerful work.  |  IP: Logged

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