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 studio productions of its decade, a Paramount and 20th Century Fox co-production directed by James Cameron on a budget that redefined blockbuster filmmaking. Its release became a cultural event, sweeping award ceremonies and holding box office records for years afterward. The film's blend of historical spectacle and intimate human drama cemented its place in cinema history, drawing audiences back to theaters repeatedly and securing its status as a touchstone of late-century filmmaking.
This cell, drawn from 35mm stock, centers on Tommy Ryan, played by Jason Barry, a steerage passenger whose presence threads through the ship's working-class storyline. The wreck itself stands as the film's central historical anchor, the event around which the entire narrative is structured. Collectors seek frames tied to this moment because it represents the picture's gravitational core, the point where fiction and documented history meet. A cell like this offers a physical fragment of that convergence, a tangible link to the sequence audiences remember most.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm Dolby Digital theatrical release print of Titanic (1997).
Gauge
35mm, four perforations per frame visible on both edges; the strip holds three complete frames and one partial frame.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges; spacing appears even and the punched corners are rounded, consistent with KS-type perforations; no torn or deformed holes visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible along one edge, and a band of dense Dolby Digital data blocks is visible in the inter-perforation zone on the same edge, indicating a Dolby Digital / analogue optical combined soundtrack.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at a legible resolution; no key numbers or manufacturer text can be read.
Base & colour
The base shows a slight blue-violet tint consistent with a dyed rem-jet or tinted base stock; the dye image in the picture area reads as warm amber-yellow, suggesting a colour positive print with intact dye layers.
Projection history
Light horizontal abrasion lines are visible across the frame area, consistent with a print that has passed through a projector gate.
Picture
Positive colour image; the two right-hand frames appear to be consecutive frames of the same shot, consistent with a release print of Titanic (1997).
Era check
The combination of Dolby Digital data blocks between perforations and a variable-area analogue optical track on the same strip 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 000062601
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
