I finally succombed and got a copy last Monday. Video City and Odyssey at SM Sucat had one copy each as of yesterday.
Brings back some memories. This is an 8-year old film that I saw as a pirated DVD in 2002. Good thing I never had the compulsion to get the non-anamorphic first release. Another case of "good things come to those who wait." Watched it in parts over the last few days and I must say, the three DVD-9 discs are worth it. The 4-disc release is probably a better buy, but for the price, I have little to worry about. Some would say P900 would be just right. Like buying those single P299 DVDs three times. The extras on the third disc are definitely quite revealing and worth it. A lot of reviews abound out there on the Titanic, but I can't help but put down my thoughts on what I've seen on these exquisitely packaged DVD set. I especially liked the Parody section with the 30-sec bunnies. It tells the nearly 4-hour-long film precisely in 30 seconds without really missing a beat. And funny besides.
Even the Saturday Night Live parody is great. I only wished it was Cameron who got kicked and punched and not the old lady, for giving us a silly love angle that is totally unnecessary and a waste given the awesome human tragedy that is the Titanic.
After a drought of about 3 years after first watching it on pDVD (Never got to see it in the theaters.), I have to say the film is really a masterpiece of production value. If only for this, the DVD is worth owning. The story is something else. With the way things are, Titanic is really more a love story between Jack and Rose revealed thru a treasure hunting expedition centering on the Titanic. The Titanic tragedy becomes incidental and serves merely as a tragic prop to a tragic love angle essayed in a doomed treasure hunt.
This is one of the few titles I have with so many deleted scenes. For some reason, I find the alternate ending found on the 2nd disc much more satisfying. Personally, there's a few self-contradictions in Cameron's comments on those deleted scenes that I have to question much of what was put into the film. Cameron says putting more meat to the strory of Brock is out of place right after a dose of the disaster. He's right, after putting the disaster in the context of a treasure hunting expedition, Cameron realizes that the subplot is really unnecessary and goes on to abandon a satisfying end to this subplot and instead truncate the ending, trying to put poetry into a silly love story at the same time putting a pathetic cinematic close to a tragic drama whose breathtaking sweep takes the wind out of any concluding attempt at poetry. But it does nicely in the context of a contrived silly love story which unfortunately, the titanic is not about.
The 3rd disc talks about Cameron going to great lengths "separating the fact from fiction" in filming the Titanic story, and proceeding to film the disaster with the most realistic visuals at his disposal. That's commendable, but Cameron invariably wastes his noble agenda and dillutes the drama by injecting a fictional love story in a contrived attempt to engage the audience emotionally in preparation for the impending disaster. My goodness, the disaster's awesome breath is too emotionally engaging enough to bother justaposing a silly romantic tragedy in parallel with the ship's. And I agree with Cameron in taking out the supposedely suspenseful fight scene between Lovejoy and Jack, all attempts on their lives put unnecessary "jeopardy" on top of the sinking. There are just too much of the unnecessary shots in a film of this epic scope, including those that went into the final version. What's so nice in the DVD extras is that the director seems to point them out unrepentantly. Cameron promptly deletes the scene.
I just have to say that the film is definitively a visual and sonic delight about the sinking of a ship. It's one great title to add to your collection. For DiCaprio fans, what can I say. His performance, while not in the same league as Billy Zane's psycho case, or Winslet's conflicted suicidal persona, is adequate enough. With so little words, Bernard Lee as the captain speaks volumes on a man aiming to cap his career with this voyage but realizes it all ends in a matter of two hours. The other character players give meaning to the term humanity and provides some fascinating glimpses on what high society was at that time. I can't seem to have enough of it.
I wish another film will be released in the future about the Titanic from the point of view of the people who owned the liner - essaying the socio-political and business dynamics behind the creation and destruction of the ship. More in depth look about the real people who were in it. What the liner executives had to contend with creating the biggest moving object at that time and how they handled the horrors of its demise. With the same visual realism as Cameron's vision. But no love story, pls.
Just my thoughts.
