When “Titanic” first came out, in 1997, the average price of a movie ticket was $4.59. Internet cafes were a thing. Movies in 3D, with the goofy red-and-blue cardboard glasses, were considered a relic of the 1950s. After all, the age of CGI — the future! — was upon us.
“Titanic” went on to become one of the top-grossing films of all time, unseated by director James Cameron’s next feature, “Avatar,” in 2009. That movie combined CGI with 3D effects — and now a re-release of “Titanic” is getting the same treatment, plus more.
The updated film hits theaters in February. Paramount Pictures is pulling out all the stops, too, with a reworked poster and trailer promoting the release.
If you watched the trailer you saw it: The 25th anniversary re-release comes out on Feb. 10, just in time for Valentine’s Day.
In addition to the new 3D, Cameron remastered the film, upgrading it to 4K high-definition resolution. He adjusted the film’s frame rate as well: Movies are typically shown at a speed of 24 frames-per-second. At 48 frames-per-second, images come across more realistically.
If you’re worried that Cameron tinkered with the original too much, keep in mind that he’s selective about using higher frame rate. His latest movie, “Avatar: The Way of Water,” uses HFR in certain scenes only.
“In fact, it’s actually sometimes even counter-productive because it looks a little too glassy-smooth, right?” Cameron told Yahoo! News. “So the trick to it was to figure out where to use it and where not to use it.”
Those huge shots of the sinking ship that wowed audiences 25 years ago will just be getting that much more “oomph” with the updated technology.
Tickets do not appear to be on sale just yet, so there’s still time for fans to plan their viewing.
Will you reunite the old gang who saw “Titanic” back in the day? Bring a newbie along? Or simply bask in 1990s nostalgia? Choose wisely, and don’t forget the Kleenex!
