Titanic (3-Disc Collector's Edition) (DVD)

Looking back I was a bit surprised the original Titanic DVD had no special features to name, but then again it was released before the DVD boom. Now, Paramount Pictures along with James Cameron have turned out what I believe to be their first real trip into special edition DVDs. Until now the only DVDs released out of Paramount Home Entertainment that could really be deemed "special" were there "Star Trek" series DVDs. Titanic comes encased in a 3-disc digipak DVD package with a leather feeling slipcase that really gives it some stature on your shelf and when in your hands. Combine that with what is inside and you really do have the best DVD Paramount has turned out for one of their features to date.

Getting the obvious things out of the way, the movie looks and sounds fantastic. Originally Titanic was released in a single-disc edition, this time around the movie has been split onto two discs and while some of you may find that to be a pain, trust me it is worth it.

The reason for the split is two-fold. First off along with the traditional Dolby Digital 5.1 audio soundtrack this one also comes equipped with a 6.1 DTS track, a la The Lord of the Rings Special Editions. Yeah, this one packs some rivet popping punch. As the Titanic hits the glacier, as the engine turns and as the ship cracks in half your living room will be enveloped by all the sounds available. It is fantastic!

The second reason the movie spans two discs is because it comes with not one, not two, but three audio commentaries. Now this is a TON of talking, but believe it or not, it is all worth it. One track is writer/director James Cameron on his own, another is a VERY GOOD historical commentary with Titanic historians Don Lynch and Ken Marschall and the third is a seamless mixture of cast and crew including Kate Winslet, Gloria Stuart, Lewis Abernathy, Jon Landau and Rae Sanchini.

Sure, you're looking around for DiCaprio's name, but you aren't going to find it, as a matter of fact, you aren't going to find it on any of the special features with this set. Trust me, it is no big loss. While you aren't going to be able to listen to all of these commentaries immediately I will tell you they are all great .Especially the cast and crew commentary and the historical commentary, much to my surprise. Just be sure to be tuned in to the cast and crew commentary as it comes time for Kate's nude scene with Leo. She has a lot to share about that one as she tells us it was actually the first scene she shot with Leo. Also, before that, you will hear a story how someone spiked the cast and crew's chowder with PCP sending about 50 percent of them to the hospital, and this is just a taste of what you are going to hear.

As for the third disc, this is where you get the meat of the goodies, and Paramount has gone the Warner Bros. route where less is more. They aren't giving you any needless crap, they give you what is good and they give it to you quickly. Additionally, almost every feature comes with some sort of commentary or narration giving it a really good flow.

The 45 minutes of deleted scenes are really more like 30 minutes, but don't complain. James Cameron is along with a commentary on each scene and each scene is also introduced with footage from the film to give you a sense of where it would have fit. Honestly I wish this was a five disc set and they included an "uncut" edition of the film with these scenes back in there, making it exactly like the Lord of the Rings special editions, but oh well.

The rest of the features include a cool time-lapse feature, which previews the creation of the Titanic set, which is astonishing. You also get some old school featurettes and a Fox Special on Titanic, which holds the best quote of the whole thing as James Cameron says, "If you're not breaking new ground what's the point?" Thank you sire for saying that! Now if only more filmmakers took that much pride in their work!

The features continue with a mock-up 1912 news reel and some deep dive goodies showing you how they went about getting the actual Titanic footage from over 2 miles beneath the Atlantic Ocean.

Finally you get some videomatics, not animatics, videomatics. Remember, this was made back in the early '90s before animatics. I think this DVD would have had far more features had Titanic been made in the 21st Century, but it wasn't so you just get a few glimpses at "old school" filmmaking with these features. Next comes the best of the third disc features, the "Visual Effects Breakdown." These looks are short, but you will be surprised at some of the scenes that were actually visual effects shots, just wait and see.

At this point I must say Paramount has done it, finally a special edition DVD they can be proud of. It isn't filled with fluff, they didn't just grab things and throw them on here and they made damn sure the biggest feature was the movie itself. I whole-heartedly recommend this to people that already own the original DVD release or are thinking about buying it, you won't be sorry.