Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		0.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		5.0

Titanic 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Paramount has released the epic 1997 masterpiece 'Titanic,' directed by James Cameron and starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, to the UHD format. New specifications include 2160p/Dolby Vision video and Dolby Atmos audio. A new retrospective documentary is also included, but a few extras from the original 2012 Blu-ray are absent. Nevertheless, this is a comprehensive collection of extras paired with pristine video audio.

Titanic 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The included screenshots are sourced from a 1080p Blu-ray disc.

It would certainly suffice to call Titanic's 2160p/Dolby Vision UHD presentation "perfect" and "flawless" and leave the review with those words, but to do so would rob the review, and the reader, of at least a brief description of the majesty that is on display in every frame. Really, it's hard to express the excellence seen here beyond just saying "wow." This is a stellar, striking, and indeed perfect and flawless presentation, one of those images that even years after the UHD format's debut still manages to delight even the most grizzled reviewer and faithful format and film fan.

The picture holds up to the tightest scrutiny. There is not a grain element astray, not a fiber out of place, not a spot or flaw to be found. The picture is beautifully filmic and organic, with grain very fine and satisfying in every shot. It's evenly distributed and very flattering. Details are spectacular. Facial close-ups reveal a level of complexity that the old Blu-ray could not find, despite its excellence. It's a marvel to see with such clarity even the very finest hairs on Rose's face. The film is rich with tactile textures, from the spread of luxurious clothes, regal appointments, rich woods, fine China, ornate appointments, and on and on. Even down in the boiler room, viewers will see every slather of grease and bead of sweat. No detail is left improved and increased over the Blu-ray and, indeed, it's hard to imagine that even at projection upon the film's release that it could, or indeed, did, look much better than this.

The Dolby Vision grading is a revelation, yet it holds true to the film's natural color spectrum. The image holds to every lighting condition, whether bright natural sunlight or warm tones down below decks during the festive party about 67 minutes into the film. Colors are vivid and accurate, full, and wonderfully nuanced. Grading is perfect across a spectrum of clothes, woods, skins, and everything else. Rose's red hair and lipstick are a delight of depth and beauty, as is the famous purple hat. White balance is stunning, especially across various dress shirts and high-end attire. Black level depth could not be more perfect, and skin tones are the epitome of health and accuracy. What else is there to say? This image is perfect in every way.

Titanic 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Paramount's new Dolby Atmos soundtrack accompanying Titanic is, like the video counterpart, a masterpiece, if not a little less dramatic in its improvements over the old Blu-ray. The additional channel certainly offer superior immersion, with the surround-back channels offering fuller wrap and more seamless engagement, while the top layer adds intermittent fill effects for music and, especially, during more potent sonic cues, like the below-decks party and, of course, the epic action sequences in the third act that offer raging waters and chaotic din throughout the ship where the sense of fullness and richness are both widespread yet personally intimate. The listener will feel absolutely immersed into each location and practically underwater as the shot may warrant, on the deck trying to cram into a lifeboat, or out on the frigid waters in the cold dead of night. The top end is never used with overt discreteness, but the sense of completeness that these channels (and the back middles) offer is beyond question. Overall clarity holds to a high level for music, action elements, and dialogue. The subwoofer certainly works as it is needed, especially in that third act. The Atmos configuration brings out the very best in the original elements and pulls the listener into the film like never before.

Titanic 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This UHD release of Titanic includes three carryover commentaries on the UHD disc. A second Blu-ray disc is included that houses most of the legacy extras and a new documentary. There are some supplements that are missing from the previous Blu-ray, including various trailers and TV spots and MTV parodies. Some supplements are "missing" in that they are not presented identically as they were on the old Blu-ray; rather, they have been folded into a new retrospective with Jon Landau. For coverage of the carryover content, please click here. A digital copy code is included with purchase. This release ships with a non-embossed slipcover.

UHD:

• Audio Commentary: James Cameron (2005).
• Audio Commentary: Historians Don Lynch and Ken Marschall (2005).
• Audio Commentary: Cast and Crew (2005).

• Documentaries
  
  
  • NEW! TITANIC: Stories from the Heart (1080p, 35:58): Cast and crew reflect on the production, the film's legacy, the film's scope and scale, the narrative, cast and performances, costumes and production design elements, historical accuracy, making key scenes, visual effects, and more.
  • Reflections on TITANIC
  • TITANIC: The Final Word with James Cameron
• Deleted Scenes

• NEW! Behind-the-Scenes Presentation Hosted by Jon Landau (1080p, 34:13): This supplement is new but it folds in a number of previous one-off extras from the old Blu-ray, including Southampton Flop, View from the Pub VFX, Leaving Port VFX, The Millionaire's Suite, The Engine Room, Titanic at Sea, Digital People, The Million Dollar Shot, The Big Exterior Ship Set, Rose Suicide, Big Ship Set VFX, Tux Story, The Grand Staircase, Costume Design, First Class Dining Shot, The Dinner Shoot, Third Class Party, A Womans Place, The Etiquette Kid, The Boiler Room, Flooding Hold Miniature, Iceberg/Deck VFX, Boiler Room Flooding, and First Class Longue Miniature.
• Additional Behind the Scenes
  
  
  • Deep Dive
  • Upside-Down Wreck Miniature
  • Escondido Underwater Set
  • Two Roses
  • Sinking Simulation
  • 1912 Morph Transition VFX
  • Melting Pot
• Deep-Dive Presentation Narrated by James Cameron
• $200,000,001: A Ship's Odyssey (The TITANIC Crew Video
• Videomatics
  
  
  • Videomatics Introduction
  • Sinking Sequence
  • Deep Dive
• Visual Effects:
  
  
  • VFX Shot Breakdown: "Engine Room"
  • VFX How-To for "Im Flying"
  • VFX How-To for "First-Class Lounge"
  • Titanic Sinking Simulation

• NEW! Trailer Presentation Hosted by Jon Landau (1080p, 8:16); Landau discusses the film's advertising as it was a quarter-century ago: one trailer that didn't necessarily reflect the film, and one that did (and which was longer than the standard-length trailer).
• Music Video
• Still Galleries
  
  
  • TITANIC Scriptment by James Cameron
  • Storyboard Sequences
  • Production Artwork
  • Photographs
  • Ken Marschall's Painting Gallery
  • Concept Posters and One Sheets
• Credits (2005)

Titanic 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Titanic is as complete as a movie can be, a beautifully crafted epic that dazzles with its pure cinema perfection -- technical, dramatic, and thematic -- in every single scene, enough to maybe even move some cinephiles to tears merely at the sight of its splendor, never mind the romance and the heartbreak and tragedy that hang over the first half and define the second. Perhaps the film suffers from overexposure -- the box office, the Leo craze, and the Celine Dion song being the key "culprits" -- but perhaps it's also a hair underrated, if the number-four box-office grosser and winner of eleven Oscars can be called such. Truly, this is a remarkable film in every single regard. Sit back and watch it for the craftsmanship if for nothing else and prepare to be startled all over again. It holds up remarkably well, not just dramatically but technically, too. And for those who haven't seen it in a while, maybe since the days of VHS or LaserDisc or even in 1997 cinemas, get ready to be dazzled watching it through more mature eyes, as a total masterpiece of filmmaking, almost like seeing it for the first time. This is a movie that has everything working for it and everything working for it in perfect harmony. There's nary a thread out of place, and it looks every penny its gargantuan budget. This is a real treat for the senses and an emotional roller coaster quite unlike anything else, a movie that will not only dazzle but move and inspire its audiences, too. The only problem? The movie almost demands to be experienced on the largest screen possible, and now with Paramount's first-class 2160p/Dolby Vision UHD release, seeing it big is a breeze. The UHD is positively stunning in every regard, as much a masterpiece as the movie. With breathtaking video, totally immersive Atmos sound, and enough supplements to fill a day or two, Titanic shoots towards the top of the heap of 2023 UHD releases, and it also stands proudly, even from the bottom of the ocean, as one of the format's top overall releases. Titanic on the UHD format earns my highest recommendation.