National Film RegistryLibrary of Congress · Inducted 2017
“James Cameron's epic retold the story of the great maritime disaster and made mega-stars of both its leads, Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. Their upstairs-downstairs romance transported the audience to another world and time via spectacular sweeping scenes in the bow of the ship and beyond.”
Selected for preservation as culturally, historically or aesthetically significant.
Directed by
James Cameron
Studio
Paramount Pictures · British Film Institute · 20th Century Studios · 195 min
Sources: Wikidata · Library of Congress · OpenAlex. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
Titanic arrived in December 1997 from Paramount and Twentieth Century Fox, a James Cameron production that became the highest grossing film of its time and a fixture of awards season, sweeping eleven Oscars. Its blend of period romance and disaster epic reset expectations for scale in mainstream cinema, pairing meticulous production design with a love story that carried the picture emotionally. The film's cultural footprint extended well past its theatrical run, shaping how studios approached blockbuster filmmaking for years afterward.
This cell comes from the opening credits sequence, the portion of the reel where studio and cast names appear before the story begins, setting tone and expectation for what follows. Its association with DiCaprio ties it to Jack Dawson, the male lead whose casting helped define the film's appeal to a generation of viewers and remains central to its enduring popularity. Collectors value credit sequence material for marking the picture's formal beginning, a natural anchor point in any collection built around key structural moments of the film.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of Titanic (1997).
Gauge
35mm, confirmed by four perforations per frame visible on both edges; the strip holds three frames across the visible area.
Perforations
Four per frame on both the top and bottom edges; spacing appears even and the punched holes appear cleanly cut with no torn or deformed edges visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible as a white undulating waveform band running along the bottom edge inside the perforations; a narrow blue Dolby Digital data-block strip is also visible immediately above the optical track, consistent with a dual-format optical release.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to read key numbers or stock codes; the text on the picture area reads 'Leonardo DiCAPRIO' repeated across three frames.
Base & colour
The base appears with a blue-grey tint consistent with a colour print stock; the dye image in the picture area shows a deep neutral black with no visible colour shift or fading.
Projection history
Faint horizontal running lines are visible across the picture area, consistent with light projection wear; no splices or cue marks are seen.
Picture
Positive image; the three frames appear to be consecutive title-card frames from the same shot, showing the actor credit, consistent with a release print of Titanic (1997).
Era check
The combination of Dolby Digital data blocks alongside a variable-area optical track is consistent with a mid-to-late 1990s theatrical release print, matching the 1997 release date of the film on record.
Read from the original intake capture shown below. Observations only — film is authenticated, not graded.
This original motion picture film element has been examined and authenticated by Crown Grading in partnership with National Film Vault, and encapsulated for archival preservation.
Why so little survivesRelease prints were leased to theaters, not sold. When the run ended they went back to the distributor to be destroyed, and most were. What collectors hold today came from the prints that escaped that order, and no new 35mm prints of these films are being struck.
CROWN SERIAL 000062576
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
