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 (1997) arrived as one of the most ambitious productions of its decade, a Paramount and Twentieth Century Fox release directed by James Cameron that redefined the scale of modern studio filmmaking. Its blend of historical spectacle and human drama made it a cultural touchstone, dominating box offices worldwide and sweeping the Academy Awards. The film's meticulous recreation of the doomed ocean liner, paired with its sweeping romantic narrative, cemented its place as a defining cinematic event of the 1990s, one still referenced and revisited by audiences and collectors alike decades later.
This cell, marked Titanic Wreck, points to a moment tied to the ship itself rather than a single character, evoking the enduring image at the heart of the film's story. The wreck stands as the frame through which the entire narrative unfolds, anchoring both the historical tragedy and the personal memory at its core. A 35mm cell bearing this title represents a physical fragment of that visual legacy, a tangible artifact from a production whose imagery of the sunken vessel has become inseparable from the film's identity and lasting resonance with collectors.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of Titanic (1997).
Gauge
35mm, confirmed by four perforations per frame on both edges; the strip holds three frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced; punched edges appear clean with no visible tearing or distortion.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible along one edge, with what appears to be a Dolby Digital data block pattern visible in the inter-perforation gaps on the same edge, consistent with a dual-format optical release print.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to quote any text or key numbers.
Base & colour
Base appears with a slight blue-violet tint; the dye image reads as a dense, well-saturated colour positive with no visible fading or red shift.
Projection history
No splices or cue marks are visible; minor longitudinal lines are present on the image area, consistent with a print that has passed through a projector gate.
Picture
Positive colour image; the three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single continuous shot, and the subject matter is consistent with the film on record.
Era check
The combination of a variable-area optical track with Dolby Digital inter-perforation data blocks, dense colour dye image, and blue-tinted base stock is consistent with a mid-to-late 1990s theatrical release print.
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 000062597
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
