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 theaters in December 1997 from Paramount and Twentieth Century Fox, a Cameron production of unprecedented scale for its time. It went on to dominate the box office worldwide and swept the Academy Awards, becoming a defining cinematic event of the decade. Its blend of historical spectacle and romance turned it into a cultural touchstone, one that brought a new generation into revival houses and archival collecting circles, eager to hold a physical piece of a film that reshaped what a blockbuster could be.
This cell centers on Jack Dawson, the free spirited artist played by Leonardo DiCaprio whose journey aboard the doomed liner became the emotional core of the picture. Collectors seek him out because his image anchors the film's romantic mythology, the everyman whose story made the ship's tragedy personal. A 35mm strip bearing his likeness represents a tangible fragment of that narrative thread, a keepsake from the character who carried much of the film's heart through its opening acts and beyond.
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; spacing appears even and the punched edges look clean with no torn or missing perforations visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible along one edge, with what appears to be a Dolby Digital data-block strip in the inter-perforation zone on the same edge, consistent with a dual-format optical release print.
Edge print
Not fully legible at this capture resolution; partial characters resembling 'R' and 'B' are visible in the lower perforation margin but cannot be quoted with certainty.
Base & colour
The base shows a slight blue-cyan tint typical of modern safety stock; the dye image appears warm and well-saturated with no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
No visible splices; faint longitudinal lines are present across the frames, consistent with projection wear.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single shot, and the subject and setting are consistent with the film on record.
Era check
The combination of Dolby Digital data blocks alongside a variable-area optical track, blue-tinted polyester safety base, and dense colour dye image 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 000062617
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
