Disc 2 holds the alternate ending, mastered in the same video and audio (5.1) quality as the rest of the film. It's one of the smarter deletions James Cameron will likely ever make, but will answer questions about the present-day characters. No Titanic set would be complete with the Celine Dion music video we all know, and it's of course here too.
Moving onto the third disc in this Collector's set, the deleted scenes are wonderful. James Cameron took the time to provide commentary for all of them. One would never have worked in the film (Molly Brown asking for ice as the iceberg passes in a window behind her just after it hits), but it's still funny. Like the alternate ending, all of these are finished with brilliant video and audio, a rare treat for DVD fans.
A 45-minute promotional documentary aired on Fox around the film's release and it's included. Breaking New Ground is one of the few pieces to offer actual historical information on the ship (aside from the commentary), which is a shame. A feature called "1912 Newsreel" is misleading. It's not actual footage, but a short staged recreation of one. It's hard to tell from the start until the actors start showing up. Deep Dive Presentation isn't really about the dive Cameron took down to the real ship for research even though it sounds like it. This is some sporadic footage of the cast and crew goofing off around the set, and while some of it is funny, at 20-minutes this drags unless you were actually on the team.
The rest of the disc is made up of other various feature types, from still pictures to video press materials. The number of still pictures is incredible and they're far too numerous to count. Visual effect breakdowns are an eye-opener. It's incredible to see that some shots were actually effects in the first place. There's a nice video of the interior sets too. (****)
While it sounds like a lot, Region 1 DVD viewers do not get the extra fourth disc released in other parts of the world. There was also supposedly a full-length documentary feature ready for inclusion. That's not here either, and that would have enhanced this disc. While it's an obvious a step up from the original release (which only had a trailer), the lack of history on the actual disaster and frustratingly skipped documentary knock this one down in the special features department.
Article comments
1 - Jake Ludington
And somehow, even in the special collector's edition the boat still sinks at the end.
Oops - I just spoiled the movie.
2 - Joanie
Gawd! I still can't watch more than 30 seconds of this dreck. Thanks for enduring it for me!
3 - Ken Edwards
Matt it is clear to me that you do not "get" this movie.
By your account, you would have rather seen a documentary by James Cameron. This would have been dry and would have been a huge flop.
At the most basic level, the love story was a means to an end. Sure, some of the interactions between people did not happen, but most of them did.
As horrific as the Titanic tragedy was, the story would not have resinated with the audience. Thus the love story connects the audience with the history.
I agree, this was a long movie to get through in one sitting. I remember in 1997 it was about the longest movie ever put in theater (if memory serves) and good lord it is still hard to watch it in one sitting today.
Can you imagine how hard it would be to watch with those 29 deleted scenes!
The 61 "follow the sinking ship" features as I call them (homage to "follow the white rabbit" in The Matrix) were wonderful to watch. It was also great that the DVD developers added a scene selection menu for this.
I hadn't seen this film since I got it on VHS (!) so it was great to watch Titanic again. And the amount of special features is just spectacular.
If only more directors would give so much setup on the commentary of the deleted scenes, not to mention actually give you a chunk of theatrical footage to get you grounded in the scene.
It is a shame the 4th disc did not come to the state side release. Why is is that the US never gets the good stuff? It always seems that way. You can import it of course. You would need a DVD player to play Region 2 and PAL.
It can be had for (about, last I checked anyway) $19.33 USD from the Amazon UK site.
Definatly one of the better produced DVD box sets that have come out, both for amount of content and production value of the DVDs themslves.
4 - Matt Paprocki
I didn't want a documentary. James Cameron had the perfect opportunity to create the most amazing recreation of human tragedy EVER. The previous Titanic films (Night to Remember comes first in mind) was great, but with the effects of the era and budget, it wasn't the be all end all. That's what this should of been.
Again, why spend $200 million for accuracy and NOT make the story accurate? How would the deaths of hundereds (thousands?) of people not work on an audience? There were many "characters" on the ship to follow. He created fake ones and in the end brings with it questions of authenticity. Sure, it's impossible to be 100% right, but to do what the writers did here is unforgivable.
5 - Dax Montana
As Ken already stated, it's clear that Matt doesn't "get" this movie.
It's a MOVIE, not a recreation of factual events exactly as they happened.
Hmmm...let's watch what the real people did...that sounds interesting. Oh look, they're eating dinner and chatting about their kids. Wait, now they're lounging on the deck, chatting about their jobs and how chilly the wind is. Oh boy, this part is really terrific, they're sleeping...but WAIT, some of them are STILL AWAKE (can you believe it!) and they're playing cards up in the lounge. Fascinating stuff. Gripping.
Matt, the only way a disaster movie can have any emotional impact is if the audience actually cares about the people involved. And the only way to care about the people involved is to get to know them, and realize that they share many of the same characteristics that we do. The fear of being trapped in a life not of our choosing. The desire to win the heart of someone we feel is far out of our league. The adventure and heartache and happiness of participating in a forbidden romance. The hope and promise of making that decision to shed your former life and face the unknown for the very first time.
If you skip all that, then you just have a two-hour boat-sinking flick that holds nothing more than visceral appeal. You have no reason to care about the people who are dying. Sure, it's sad that so many people died, but it's 100 times more emotional when you actually know a handful of them.
And at the end of the day, who's to say that these events didn't happen? Perhaps the scenes in present day didn't, but who's to say that two people didn't fall in love on that ship?
The chance that it DID happen is what makes this movie special.
Anyway, there's no point in arguing. Clearly the vast majority of people who saw the movie were touched by it (the positive word of mouth on this movie surpassed any in the history of film-making).
Perhaps you should stick to reviewing Stallone flicks.