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 from Paramount and Twentieth Century Fox in December 1997, directed by James Cameron at a scale few studios would risk. It became a cultural event as much as a film, dominating box offices worldwide and sweeping the Academy Awards, eventually tying the record for most Oscars won by a single picture. Decades later it remains a touchstone of blockbuster filmmaking, remembered as much for its craftsmanship as for its sweep and heartbreak.
This cell centers on Jack Dawson and Rose DeWitt Bukater, played by Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, the two figures whose bond anchors the entire story. As the film's central pairing, they are the most sought-after presence in any Titanic reel, representing the romance at the heart of the picture. A cell bearing their names together preserves a piece of that shared narrative, a physical fragment of celluloid tied directly to the two people audiences came to know best.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm Dolby Digital 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 visible tearing.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along the bottom edge, appearing as two bilateral variable-area waveform lines consistent with a stereo optical track; Dolby Digital pixel blocks are visible in the inter-perforation gaps on the bottom edge, indicating a Dolby Digital optical print.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to read manufacturer codes or key numbers.
Base & colour
The base appears with a slight blue-violet tint consistent with a modern polyester safety base; the dye image reads with cool-to-neutral colour balance.
Projection history
No visible splices or cue marks; faint longitudinal lines are present on at least one frame, consistent with projection wear.
Picture
Positive colour image; all 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 Dolby Digital inter-perforation data blocks alongside a bilateral variable-area 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 000062640
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
