Titanic Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

Titanic Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov April 29, 2012

Winner of Oscar Award for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay, Jean Negulesco's "Titanic" (1953) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Fox-UK. The supplemental features on the disc include two audio commentaries, one by film critic Richard Schickel, and another by cinematographer Michael D. Lonzo, actors Audrey Dalton and Robert Wagner, and historian Sylvia Stoddard; original theatrical trailer; audio essay by historian Sylvia Stoddard; collection of stills from the shooting of the film; and more. In English, with optional English SDH, French, Spanish, German, Italian, and Dutch subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

I had a different plan...

Julia (Barbara Stanwyck, Sorry, Wrong Number, Double Indemnity) is heading back to America together with her daughter Annette (Audrey Dalton, The Monster That Challenged the World) and son Norman (Harper Carter) because she has had enough of her snobbish husband Richard (Clifton Webb, Laura, The Razor's Edge). She stills loves him, but he has changed, and for a while now he has also been trying to change their children. Julia is convinced that in America Annette and Norman will have simpler but more satisfying lives.

Having discovered Julia’s plan, Richard has managed to purchase a ticket to get on the Titanic. The ticket has the name of a man who would have traveled third class.

Also heading to America is a man of the cloth (Richard Basehart, Moby Dick), who for the last couple of years has lived in Italy. He is bringing bad news to his family and relatives and even though the journey back home hasn’t even started yet he already feels incredibly nervous. The man has started drinking.

Once on the Titanic, Richard quickly locates and confronts Julia. He lets her know that he is enormously disappointed to see her run away from him and angry because she is taking Annette and Norman with her. He attempts to explain her decision only further upsets him and he vows to keep both with him. When Annette appears she is shocked to learn about her mother’s plan and quickly announces that her home will always be Paris, not Michigan, where her mother is taking her and Norman.

Meanwhile, the wealthy guests of the Titanic gather in the ball room to entertain each other – they eat, drink, dance and play cards.

While wandering around the Titanic, Annette is approached by a young and handsome man, Giff (Robert Wagner, The Mountain), who later on invites her to dance with him. Annette enjoys his attention, but she cannot stop thinking about her mother’s plan.

Norman, who has been hoping that his father will keep his promise and participate with him in an important competition, is enormously disappointed when Richard suddenly changes his mind and instead chooses to join a group of poker players.

Jean Negulesco’s Titanic has little in common with Roy Ward Baker’s A Night to Remember. The two films chronicle the same tragedy, but view the events leading to it from entirely different points of view.

In A Night to Remember there are no stars. The film relies on well documented facts and follows various characters whose decisions determined the fate of the ship and its passengers. The film is completely free of melodrama, often reminding about a well researched documentary feature.

Titanic is a good character-driven drama which aims to entertain as much, if not more, as it aims to educate. In it, there are imaginary conflicts, triumphs and failures that are effectively merged with the legendary tragedy. Naturally, the focus of attention is on the actions of the stars.

Stanwyck and Webb are excellent in their respective roles. The latter’s transformation halfway through the film, in particular, is outstanding, though his actions are obviously impossible to justify. It is worth mentioning that even though his relationship with Stanwyck becomes very tense he never goes overboard with the angry statements. The young Wagner and Dalton also look great together.

Titanic was lensed by acclaimed cinematographer Joseph MacDonald, who during the same year also collaborated with Negulesco on his How to Marry a Millionaire, with Marilyn Monroe, Betty Grable and Lauren Bacall.

Note: In 1953, Titanic won Oscar Award for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay (Charles Brackett, Walter Reisch, and Richard L. Breen).

Titanic Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.34:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Jean Negulesco's Titanic arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Fox-UK.

The presentation does not match the impressive quality of the recently restored A Night to Remember, but it is nevertheless enormously pleasing. In fact, I think that a lot of people will be surprised to see how convincing the film's transition to Blu-ray is because there are various dramatic improvements. Clarity, in particular, is vastly superior, even during the nighttime sequences, some of which are very problematic on the R1 DVD release of the film (screencapture #10 is from one such problematic sequence, where the 'fog' on the DVD looks like strong video noise). Detail is also very good, especially during close-ups (see screencapture #13). Colors are stable and natural, while contrast levels are unmanipulated. There are no traces of problematic denoising. Naturally, a light layer of grain is visible throughout the entire film. There are, however, selected sequences where some softness is present - mostly shortly before or after specific transitions (see screencapture #12) - but the softness is not a byproduct of post-production lab tinkeing. In this case, age and the condition of the elements used to produce the high-definition transfer are responsible for it. Finally, there are no serious stability issues to report in this review. To sum it all up, this is a competent presentation that should please viewers who like high-definition transfers with strong organic qualities. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your PS3 or SA regardless of your geographical location. For the record, there is no PAL or 1080/50i content preceding the disc's main menu).

Titanic Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are five audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: English DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0, Spanish: Dolby Digital 1.0, French: Dolby Digital 1.0, German: Dolby Digital 1.0, and Italian: Dolby Digital 1.0. For the record, 20th Century Fox-UK have provided optional English SDH, Spanish, French, Dutch, German, and Italian.

Generally speaking, the lossless audio track serves the film well - the dialog is crisp, stable, and easy to follow, while Sol Kaplan's score comes alive as intended. Its dynamic amplitude, however, is fairly limited. Additionally, there is very light background hiss which tends to creep in from time to time. It is most definitely not distracting, but it is certainly present. There are no serious distortions or audio dropouts to report in this review.

Titanic Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Note: All of the supplemental features on this Blu-ray disc are perfectly playable on North American Blu-ray players, including the PS3.

• Commentary - an audio commentary by film critic Richard Schickel. I liked the commentary quite a lot. Mr. Schickel provides plenty of factual information not only about Jean Negulesco's film and its production history, but also about other films dealing with the same subject. There are also interesting comments about James Cameron's film. Mr. Schickel also has plenty to say about the careers and legacy of some of the principal actors.

• Commentary - a second audio commentary by cinematographer Michael D. Lonzo, actors Audrey Dalton and Robert Wagner, and historian Sylvia Stoddard. This is the same, also very informative, commentary that appeared on the R1 DVD release of Titanic, part of 20th Century Fox's Studio Classics Collection.

• Movietone News -
  
  -- "Titanic" Premiere Thrills South. In English, not subtitled (2 min, 480/60i).
  -- Cinemascope and "The Robe" Win Oscars. In English, not subtitled. (2 min, 480/60i).

• Titanic Aftermath - an audio essay by historian Sylvia Stoddard. In English, not subtitled. (12 min).

• Theatrical Trailer - original theatrical trailer for Titanic. In English, not subtitled. (3min, 480/60i).

• Still Gallery - a collection of stills from the shooting of the film. (1080p).

Titanic Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

In my opinion, Roy Ward Baker's A Night to Remember remains the best film about the Titanic disaster, but Jean Negulesco's Titanic is arguably one of the most entertaining ones. I think that as far as structure and character development are concerned, it has plenty in common with James Cameron's mega-blockbuster. In the latter, everything is simply done on the grandest scale imaginable. The Blu-ray disc herein reviewed, courtesy of 20th Century Fox-UK, looks and sounds very good. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.