Did you still remember that when the history river rolled down to 1997, there was a movie you might have seen? You might not drop one single tear at that time, because back then, you might still do not know what love really means, you might still not be able to comprehend the feeling of engraving something into one’s heart, or you might still have no idea what happens after people die. But now, 14 years later, when the TITANIC kicks back into theater, in 3D this time, do you still feel your heart quavering? In this coming April, before the rumored 2012 termination, do you still feel romantic to cinema it with your beloved one?
Believed it or not, it really has been a hot topic among netizens, movie fans, especially the followers of the leading actors Leonardo DiCaprio starring Jack Dowson and Kate Winslet starring Rose DeWitt Bukater, whom were believed to be the best-forever lovers seen on the big screen. Yes, indeed, they have truly won millions of hearts since then and their images have thus been considered as classic that no one else seems be able to replace. Just look at the worldwide box office revenues and you will see that what I say is definitely not groundless.
But, it seems that there are also oppositions, as far as rendering it into 3D version is brought to the table. Is it necessary? Will it be just a “Yesterday Once More” or will it really be a “Great Expectation”? They argue that it would be better for James Cameron to shoot another new movie rather than just renewing an old classic. There are also skepticisms that if the rendering is far more perfect than the expectations, it would do harm to the classic. Yes, to some extent, this thought is not groundless, neither.
Well, every coin has its two sides. Sometimes, to challenge is not such a negative thing. As far as me is concerned, I would rather believe that the re-released TITANIC in 3D shall bring audiences back to theatres. I have my reasons.
First and foremost, TITANIC has millions of fans global wide. With a worldwide gross ticket receipts toping $1.8 billion, it is the first film to reach the billion dollar mark, remaining the highest-grossing film of all time for twelve years, until Cameron’s next directorial effort, AVATAR, surpasses it in 2010. Titanic is also ranked as the sixth best epic film of all time in AFI’s Top 10 by the American Film Institute. So, I think these old folks will be eager to see the classic in a different form again.
Next, 3D, a heated word, although already has a long history before Cameron’s debut show of AVATAR, is gaining unprecedented popularity and is undoubtedly to continue climbing up the ladder among theatre goers in the years to come. Think of the TRANSFORMERS 3: Dark of the Moon, which I see myself on IMAX, it is definitely an audiovisual banquet to movie fans, especially to those audiophiles and videophiles, who aim at pursuing the amazing experience brought by the DTS HD Master Audio and the delicate 1080p video quality.
Furthermore, TITANIC, a great tragedy, but at the same time, romantic love story, will certainly attract people’s attention, from a perspective of psychological standing. As human beings have the unconscious inclination to the subject of disaster, which usually nurtures a hero or some, and love, an everlasting theme on screen that never fades away. TITANIC, is the perfect coordination of the two.
Last but certainly not least, from the tech point of view, unlike AVATAR, nor TRANSFORMERS 3, which are intended to shoot as 3D Blu-ray originally, TITANIC, however, shot at a time when 3D technology is still not mature, will be converted to 3D format. In simple words, it is not possible for Cameron to invest another huge amount of money to re-shoot the movie. Reasons are obvious, actors and actresses are not young anymore, with few already gone. So, the upcoming TITANIC in 3D will be mainly done by converting. Converting Titanic won’t be the same as if the film has been shot for 3D, but the director is confident that with the amount of time they have until their targeted release, this conversion will be done right.
In conclusion, to some extent, the conversion represents the top level technology in this field, as far as 2D to 3D converting is concerned, we hope it will not be a half-assed one. It would be nice to see the Titanic release arrive to port as scheduled and show us all what a real 3D conversion should look like.