Speaking with the UK magazine Culture (via Contactmusic.com), Cameron revealed the one slight fix he made to the 1997 blockbuster: the night sky.We last went back to Titanic for the tenth anniversary of its release, but feel free to complain again about L.A. Confidential not winning Best Picture. (You're still right.)
Cameron was urged to make the fix by Neil deGrasse Tyson, an astronomer who questioned the position of the stars during "Titanic's" climatic scene.
"So I said, 'All right, you son of a bitch, send me the right stars for the exact time, 4:20 a.m. on April 15, 1912, and I'll put it in the movie,'" Cameron said. "So that's the one shot that has been changed."
added: Video of NdGT explaining his problem with the movie (Revised link). Awesome.
Sure, we're all right...but I still think it's an enjoyable if cliche-ridden movie, raised by every scene Victor Garber is in.
ReplyDeleteNdGT is awesome!
ReplyDeleteIf anyone can find the video where NdGT explains how it came about, it's kind of fun.
ReplyDeleteI am curious to revisit Titanic this weekend, since I haven't seen it since early 1998. (When I, admittedly, saw it at least 6 times.) But for me there's no argument: Titanic, for all its flaws, is a better movie than LA Confidential. Other than Spielberg, no on does technical spectacle better than James Cameron. (And I say this as someone who hated hated hated HATED Avatar.) And Titanic is a big, square, classic Hollywood epic romance movie, which people really haven't made for at least a generation. It's Leonardo DiCaprio at the apex of his appeal (he hasn't been this good since, if you ask me), and he's matched by Kate Winslet (who really should have won the Oscar over Helen Hunt, ugh). LA Confidential is a good movie with a deeply flawed (and unnecessary) final 10 minutes.
ReplyDeleteBut everybody knows that the REAL best picture of 1997 was The Sweet Hereafter, still the greatest Canadian movie ever made.
"cliche-ridden movie"
ReplyDeleteBilly Zane did everything but twirl a mustache as the villain.
I am totally doing Greatest Canadian Movie Ever as a blog post tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteStrange Brew! Strange Brew!
ReplyDeleteThe Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz
ReplyDeleteJack Bristow would have held the ship together with his bare hands while melting the ice berg with a death ray. No way Titanic sinks if he is on it. That Garber guy must be an impersonator or something.
ReplyDeleteIt's too bad Randy won't be able to see Titanic tomorrow, since they're only rereleasing some gimmicky smell-o-vision-type adaptation.
ReplyDeleteYour video was pulled see this one, starting at 35:15
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXh9RQCvxmg
Marsha -- mobilize! We need to mobilize! The Army of the Nite Owl, with our Fleur-de-Lis insignia! Randy, YOU ARE OUR ROLO TOMMASI.
ReplyDeleteCan't I just link to every rant I've ever made on this subject? I'm too tired today.
ReplyDeleteOr I could just pull an Indiana Jones and leave it thus: Randy, you're wrong. Just stand there in your wrongness and be wrong.
(I love that I am instantly associated 'round these parts with the LA-Confidential-wuz robbed argument.)
Yeah, ideally I'd just be able to see it as it was shot, but the good thing about James Cameron being a notorious perfectionist is that he'll make the 3D as good as he possibly could.
ReplyDelete<span><span>"In the 1997 film Titanic, Leonardo DiCaprio's character Jack Dawson mentions that he went ice fishing on the frozen waters of Lake Wissota as a boy. This would have been impossible, as the Titanic sank in 1912, three years before construction on the dam that formed Lake Wissota began."</span></span>
ReplyDeleteI am glad someone else remembers Jack Bristow so fondly. "What is a spork?"
ReplyDeleteYes, yes, yes... he also quotes Bob Dylan. (Wait a second - maybe Jack Dawson was a Cylon.)
ReplyDeleteOh, Danny, there is a MASSIVE SpyDaddy fan club in these parts. Paging KCosmo...
ReplyDeleteVaguely interesting sidenote to Titanic: remember how Titanic was supposed to be a summer release, initially? That year, I was doing tours at Universal in Orlando, and in March, I had Conrad Buff, his wife, daughter, and nephew on tour for a day. Since it was a comped tour, I gently nosed about until I found out HOW he got his comped tour. Turned out his friend (and boss) Jim made a call and hooked him up. His wife was very forthcoming about their plans, and talked about how they were in Orlando for a week, and then planned to sail down Florida's coast for a couple weeks, and then spend some time in Key West. We talked about what to see in Key West for a while, and they were clearly very relaxed and enjoying that vacation. His wife then told me, in confidence, that her husband had been working SO HARD lately, and there were some changes happening, so he was able to take a month off.
ReplyDeleteI like to think I was the first to know that movie wasn't coming out that summer outside of their precious inner circle! My first experience as an insider! I felt special.
"Titanic" always serves me well in a game of "I Never."
ReplyDeleteI can't think of Titanic without thinking of the "turn-of-the-century" comic from User Friendly.
ReplyDeleteMe too! But I think I could do a 70% job of describing the plot, compared to people who actually have seen it. Thank you pop culture!
ReplyDeleteLiked Paula Poundstone's quip on WWDTM this week, approximately that she was hoping that this means that in 10 years she can go see the reissue of Avatar "in flat".
Me too. Then after checking, I realized I haven't seen a lot of 1997 movies and aren't that interested in most of the ones I have seen. Sure, <span>"LA Confidential" is a very good movie, just one I've never felt the need to rewatch.</span>
ReplyDeleteFavorite movies, I'll go with these: Full Monty, Austin Powers, The Apostle, Eve's Bayou. Then there's a bunch of movies that have interesting pieces despite being mostly crap. I'll sit through parts of Absolute Power just for the scenes with Eastwood and Ed Harris. Or Steve Buscemi in ConAir.