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 Paramount and 20th Century Fox's transatlantic gamble, a co-production whose scale and cost made headlines before a single ticket sold. Directed by James Cameron, it paired a historical disaster narrative with an intimate love story, and its success reshaped expectations for what a big-budget epic could achieve, both critically and commercially. The film swept the awards season and became a cultural touchstone, drawing audiences back to theaters repeatedly and cementing its place as one of the defining releases of the 1990s.
This cell carries the name "Titanic Evacuation," pointing to one of the film's pivotal sequences, the moment the ship's fate turns irreversible and its passengers face the ordered chaos of escape. For collectors, sequences tied to the evacuation hold particular weight, as they anchor the film's emotional and narrative turning point, distinct from the romance that precedes it. A 35mm cell from this stretch represents a physical fragment of that transition, a tangible piece of the reel where the story shifts from spectacle to survival.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm Dolby Digital 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 running along one edge beside the picture area, consistent with an analogue stereo print; a narrow Dolby Digital pixel block appears in the inter-perforation space on the same edge.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to quote characters reliably.
Base & colour
The base shows a slight blue-grey tint typical of modern polyester safety stock; the dye image appears neutral with no visible red shift or fading.
Projection history
Fine longitudinal lines consistent with projection are visible across the frame area; no splices or cue marks are seen.
Picture
Positive colour image; the three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single continuous shot, consistent with a release print of Titanic (1997).
Era check
The combination of polyester base, Dolby Digital inter-perforation data blocks alongside a variable-area optical track, and the positive colour 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 000062630
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
