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Product: Titanic
Company: Paramount
Review By: Darren Bisbey
Price: $29:99



Aspect Ratio Regional Information DVD Disc Details

2.35 : 1


1 : USA

NTSC

THX

CC
Closed Captioning: CC
Master format: Film
Sides: 1 (SS-RSDL)
Chapter stops: 30
Average bitrate: 5.0
Running time:194

 

 

Sound: English English French

5.1

2.0 Surround

2.0 Surround
Subtitles:

Spanish

 

Ok we all know the facts about the Titanic! An unsinkable ship that discovers very quickly it wasn't as unsinkable as the makers first thought. I'm not sure how many films have been made about that fateful night in 1911. (I haven't ruined the plot of a story this was a true and sad story about the 'ship of dreams' and the lives lost on that night.) This is a modern day remake of the events leading up to and including the demise of Titanic. The film was produced, directed and written by James Cameron (Terminator 2, Aliens and The Abyss) This remake was the most financially successful film of the decade. Utilizing the latest computer animation ever seen at the time. I saw the film at the cinema and can remember having to remind myself that the real Titanic was 2 miles underneath the ocean.

James Cameron managed to combine the computer graphics with solid acting. Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio stared and added an additional storyline. Lets be honest a film about a boat that goes to sea, hits and iceberg and sinks isn't exactly a good story, but with Titanic the facts surrounding the disaster are haunting. I'm not keen on films that have a traditional 'love story' theme but Cameron blended the magic of Titanic and the love story in such a way, I didn't feel as though I shouldn't be watching a film with a love story in it. 

The biggest point of the film for me was the computer generated ship, it looked so real it was haunting in itself. If you didn't see Titanic at the cinema then you missed out. Seeing that huge ship crawling across the huge cinema screen was awesome. 

The question is how did the big screen transpose on to DVD? Quite well actually. It was obvious that the process had been thought through. Although some people will complain that it's not anamorphic, but I didn't find that a problem. Even playing the NTSC version on a PAL setup the image was sharp and clear. I did notice some colour blending in certain scenes I may have scrutinized the film to closely.  The sound is awesome, being THX, which I have to point out that THX works equally well on a Dolby decoder. (THX and Dolby are not different standards but are there to augment each other.) 

How It Grades
  Picture Quality: 93%
Sound: 96%
Special Features: 90%
Movie Overall: 97%
DVD Overall: 94%

 

The DVD comes with some additional features but not nothing ground breaking, the usual subtitle modes, theatrical trailer and dolby language versions. I thought that they could have added directors comments or a brief documentary on the making of.. but nothing. I have to say that the film holds the DVD up and makes it a good purchase. 

If you want a good film with stunning visuals and sound then this one is for your collection. If on the other hand you are looking for the 'extras' then you will be disappointed.

 

Buy Now Button- Welcome Page

Specs & Package
Overall Score 94%
Release Date Out Now
In The Box? 1 DVD
1 booklet
Special Features Interactive Menus
2 languages (English & French)
Featurette
The Good Points Well Acted

A good classic Story
The Bad Points no directors/actors comments or making of
Memorable Scenes Death of Titanic
Reviewers DVD & PC Setup AMD Athlon 1 GHz
Windows 2000 SP1
392 Meg SD-Ram
Winfast TNT2 Ultra 32mb
DirectX 7
SoundBlaster AWE 64 Value
19" Monkya Monitor
Hollywood Plus DVD mpeg
Creative 2x DVD 
Hollywood Driver build 129 for Windows 2000.

DVD TV Player - Pioneer DV-626D
Widescreen TV - Phillips 32PW6332/05  32"

 

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