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 1997 from Paramount and Twentieth Century Fox, directed by James Cameron at a then-unprecedented budget that studios feared would sink the production before release. Instead it became a global phenomenon, sweeping eleven Academy Awards and cementing itself as a touchstone of late-nineties cinema. Its blend of historical spectacle and romance turned the doomed liner into a stage for one of the era's most enduring love stories, and the film's box office run kept it atop the charts for years, making it a fixture in film history conversations well beyond its initial theatrical window.
This cell centers on Jack Dawson and Rose DeWitt Bukater, played by Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, whose pairing became the emotional core collectors most associate with the picture. The kiss itself is the moment their story turns from social defiance into shared devotion, a beat audiences return to again and again. As a 35mm frame preserved outside any trailer or credits sequence, it represents a direct excerpt from the narrative proper, offering collectors a tangible piece of the film's most quoted romantic passage rather than promotional material.
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.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges; spacing appears even and the punched holes appear cleanly cut with no torn edges visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along the lower edge beside the picture area, appearing as a dual bilateral waveform pattern consistent with an analog stereo optical track; a row of small dense data blocks is also visible between the lower perforations, consistent with a Dolby Digital interperf data track.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to read any key numbers or manufacturer text.
Base & colour
The base shows a slight blue-violet tint typical of a modern polyester safety base; the dye image appears neutral with no obvious red shift or fading.
Projection history
No visible splices or cue marks; light surface marks consistent with a print that has passed through a projector gate are present.
Picture
Positive colour image; the three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single shot, consistent with a release print of Titanic (1997).
Era check
The combination of polyester base, Dolby Digital interperf data blocks, and dual bilateral analog 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 000062637
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
