Titanic Still Inspires Chills, Tears

My friend Kiehl and I went to the opening of Titanic 3-D last night. I was a huge fan of James Cameron's masterpiece during its initial release and subsequent VHS offering. I believe I stopped counting after two dozen viewings, an embarrassingly large number in crowded theaters. Titanic brought me to tears every time.

Last night was no less cathartic. Cameron has been talking up his 3-D conversion in the media and I figured the man who created Avatar should know a thing or three about it. I wasn't wrong. Some of the ship vistas were breathtaking. The conversion was particularly effective in perspective shots. When Rose climbed over the rail, intent on jumping, the shot down to the ocean from her perspective was dizzying. The added depth was very noticeable in dialogue scenes. Unlike most 3-D movies marketed currently, this film was definitely enhanced by the conversion.

Having said that, I was a bit disappointed by the "modern day" underwater scenes. Perhaps because of the low light levels, these scenes seemed to benefit very little from the conversion to 3-D, which is a pity because they were so groundbreaking when the film was released.

Still, everything I loved about Titanic was back on the big screen. I had forgotten how cute Leo was and how stunning Kate could be. I'd forgotten what a marvelous villain Billy Zane could be. And I had forgotten how much I enjoyed the actors in smaller roles, notably Irishman Jason Barry as Tommy Ryan and Bill Paxton as Brock Lovett and Danny Nucci as Fabrizio.

My love affair with Titanic continues unabated. And yes, I cried again. Not abject weeping, like I did back in the day, especially when Jack's lifeless body slipped into the Atlantic's cold embrace. No, just a welling of tears in the last scene, when Rose, who, as Jack predicted, dies, "...an old lady, warm in her bed," rejoins the lost souls on the doomed ship and is reunited with her first true love.

"He saved me, you see," Rose explained, "in every way that a person can be saved."