Titanic Special Edition DVD Available October 2005
From IMDB:
Well... we're just back from Paramount and 20th Century Fox's special press event this afternoon in Beverly Hills. Director James Cameron and producer Jon Landau were on hand (as were Paramount CEO Rob Friedman and Fox chairman Jim Gianopulos) to announce the DVD release of the long awaited Titanic: Special Collector's Edition. As we first reported here at The Bits in February, there will be two versions... a 2-disc release and a 4-disc release, both of which will street on the same day in October. The exact street date and SRP are both still TBA (Paramount will release the discs in the U.S. and Fox will release them internationally on the same day). Just so you all can relax, the 2-disc version will basically be identical to the first two discs of the 4-disc release, so there's no need to buy both. If you buy the 4-disc release, you'll get ALL the extras and supplemental content available. Longtime readers of The Bits will be pleased to know that Van Ling, a regular collaborator with Cameron on his past DVD releases, has been tasked with supervising the production of this new edition.
Cameron and Landau revealed some details about the DVDs during the press conference, and I was able to get additional information during the Q&A session that followed their presentation. Both versions will feature the original theatrical cut of the film, which Cameron considers to be his 'director's cut'. He's just supervised and approved a new high-definition transfer of the film, so you can expect it to be presented (at long last) in anamorphic widescreen on the DVDs. Both DVDs will feature Dolby Digital 5.1 EX audio (DTS MAY be included as well, but this has yet to be decided - it's an issue of how much content needs to be included on the discs, and how much room will be available once all the extras are finalized). As with the recent 4-disc Lord of the Rings DVDs, the film itself will be split over the first two discs to allow for the highest possible video and audio quality. I was also able to learn that the film discs will likely include multiple audio commentary tracks - certainly one with Cameron, but also separate tracks with various crew members and possible a cast commentary as well.
In terms of bonus features, the film discs will offer a special 'branching' option (similar to what Fox has used on its complete season sets of The X-Files) that allows you to jump out of the film at various points (when an icon appears on screen) to view footage that was deleted from that particular point in the film. Some 58 minutes of deleted scenes will be available in all. Keep in mind, this will NOT be edited back into the film. The deleted scenes will be offered separately on the discs (in addition to their accessibility via the branching feature while viewing the film). The deleted scenes will reportedly have special video lead-ins and optional Cameron commentary that explains why the footage was cut. The deleted material is reportedly fairly substantial and will include a number of nice character moments with Jack and Rose, as well as additional less important (but historically accurate) footage. Cameron is currently making the creative decisions necessary to 'finish' this footage in order to bring it up to release quality (including any visual effects that might need to be completed, as well as supervising sound mixes and scoring the material).
Other extras you can expect on the new DVDs include a wealth of rare behind-the-scenes footage from the Lightstorm vaults - 2 full discs worth. This will include time-lapse footage of the massive set and studio construction, new and vintage cast and crew interviews and other never-before-seen material. Nearly 400 hours of behind-the-scenes footage was shot during the production of Titanic in all. Another long-time Cameron collaborator, Ed Marsh (who shot much of this footage originally), is culling through it all to produce a definitive feature-length documentary on the making of the film, taking you from the very beginnings of the idea with Cameron pitching the concept to the studio, through all of the stress, angst and criticism generated by the production, to the film's eventual release and massive worldwide success. Along the way, you'll hear from literally everyone involved in the production, including all of the major cast and crew. Both Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio have agreed to participate in the DVD production, for interviews and possibly commentary if schedules permit. By the way, you should already be familiar with Ed Marsh's work - he's the man who created the outstanding Under Pressure: Making The Abyss documentary on Fox's previous The Abyss: Special Edition (both the laserdisc and later DVD).
After the press conference, I had the chance to speak with Cameron directly for a few minutes. Asked about his take on the looming format war between HD-DVD and Blu-ray Disc, Cameron said that he'd seen demonstrations of both formats, and has looked at each critically with an eye toward spotting artifacts and other quality related issues. He's impressed with both HD-DVD and Blu-ray, and feels that it's a bit of a wash in terms of which format has the technical edge. Although Cameron is looking forward to a future high-definition release of Titanic (and the new transfer of the film was done in HD), he's not planning an HD release anytime soon. This new SCE will be standard DVD only. When asked if he has a preference for either HD-DVD or Blu-ray, he wisely noted that he's letting the industry and the market decide which format will prevail, although he does hope that a single format will quickly be adopted by the industry as a whole.
Interestingly, Cameron also said that there were two main reasons why it took so long for a special edition DVD of Titanic to happen. The first is that the previous movie-only version is still selling quite well (meaning there was no urgent economic pressure to get a more elaborate version done before this). The other is that the process of making the film was such a grueling experience that most involved needed to leave the project behind for a few years in order to feel the desire to revisit it again for a worthy special edition. That said, Cameron and Landau have been planning this new edition for nearly two years, and have put a great deal of thought into what they want to include for the film's many fans.
On an interesting side note, Cameron also spoke about his passion for 3-D film presentation. He and fellow filmmaker George Lucas are spearheading a major effort to get movie theaters around the world to upgrade not only to digital projection, but also to add the capability to exhibit films in 3-D format. In fact, Cameron and Lucas are hosting a demonstration of the 3-D process for theater owners at the ShoWest convention in Las Vegas this week (in addition to CG-animated 3-D films, Lucas's people have reportedly developed a way to render 3-D versions of existing 2-D films). Cameron says that this is the main reason he's waited so long to begin pre-production on his next major theatrical film - a live action version of the Japanese anime Battle Angel Alita. Cameron plans to shoot the film digitally in 3-D format. What's more, he says that Lucas and other filmmakers (like Robert Zemeckis and possibly Peter Jackson too) are also planning to shoot 3-D films in the future. They expect that the availability of good 3-D film content will drive interest in the 3-D experience theatrically, and that in turn could fuel demand for bringing the 3-D process into the home as well. Cameron noted that both HD-DVD and Blu-ray Disc (and current DVD as well) could be adapted to deliver 3-D footage, but that the main obstacle to high-quality 3-D at home is the low refresh rate of current TV monitors. Displays offering much higher rates will be needed in the future to show flicker-free 3-D images in your living rooms.
So there you have it. All the available details regarding the forthcoming Titanic: Special Collector's Edition and some other interesting stuff too, all straight from The Man himself. I have to tell you, I really enjoyed the opportunity to speak with Cameron in person. He's clearly very thoughtful, intelligent and savvy in terms of the latest developments in film and video technology, and I found him to be very genuine and personable. I look forward to having the chance to speak with him at greater length in the future.
Just so you know, there's no cover art available yet for these forthcoming DVDs, and all of the specific disc specs are still being worked out. You can be sure that we'll get them to you as soon as they're finalized by the studio. I'll try to post a few pictures from today's event in the next day or two for those of you who might be interested. In the meantime, I hope you've all enjoyed my report.
Until tomorrow... stay tuned, DVD faithful!
Bill Hunt, Editor The Digital Bits
[email protected]
Alot of people are afraid to admit that they actually liked it *gasp*, and, heaven forbid, went to see it in the theatres more than once! 
The fact is, it is the highest grossing film of all time, and if it sucked that bad...well something's wrong with that picture. I personally like it still, and I know a dozen more people who do too (but are too embarrassed to admit it 