THIS MONTH'S SPECIAL EDITION DVD 9/4/06

(REGION 2) (DCE) 4-Disc Deluxe Collector's Edition: Let's face it this is the version you want to get and it's the true definitive edition. DISC 1: Commentary by James Cameron (same Disc 2), Cast Commentary and Crew Commentary (same Disc 2), Historical Commentary (same Disc 2), Branching Footage (Which can be watched seperately or selected individually or automatic option which branches you out to related video "pods" about the making of the movie while watching the feature) (same Disc 2), Audio Options English 5.1. Surround EX, English 6.1. DTS ES & English 2.0. Dolby Surround (same Disc 2), Subtitles: Main Feature - English, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish, Icelandic, Greek, Portuguese with Commentaries Subtitles - Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, Finnish (same Disc 2).The first half of the film is on this disc. DISC 2: Features the same as Disc 1 with the second half of the film and additional Special Features of the 9 Minute Never-Before Seen New Alternate Ending "Brock's Epiphany" (with optional James Cameron Commentary) and the Celine Dion Music Video "My Heart Will Go On". DISC 3: Has 29 Never-Before Seen Deleted Scenes which are very extensive with optional Commentary. Also three Titanic Parodies which personally I found sad to include on this Edition or really any at all - But did notice that of all the parodies available the "French & Saunders" one was missing, probably because it was openly critical of James Cameron and his work ethics and methods? DISC 4: Is in three sections - SPECIAL FEATURES: 1912 Newsreel (Commentary by Ed Marsh), Construction Timelapse (Commentary by Ed Marsh), Deep Dive Presentation (Narrated by James Cameron), Titanic Crew Video, Titanic Ship's Tour (Commentary by Anders Falk), Videomatics, Visual Effects and DVD Credits. MARKETING: TV Specials - HBO First Look: The Heart Of The Ocean & Fox Special: Breaking New Ground. Seven Press Kit Featurettes, seven Trailers, eight TV Spots and Concept Posters & One Sheets. STILL GALLERIES: These are very extensive and for anyone interested in the real story of the Titanic the Bibliography Gallery give's an excellent list of further reading material. Also galleries of the Titanic Script, Storyboard Sequences, Production Artwork, Photographs, Ken Marschall's Painting and By The Numbers (An actual breakdown of just how much the film grossed and where and a list of the awards won and where). Approx film runtime 186 minutes/ Colour/ Certificate 12/THX/ Pal/ Letterbox Version 16:9/Aspect Ratio 2.30:1/Over 5 Hours additional footage/Twentieth Century Fox, Paramount Pictures & Lightstorm Entertainment/ISBN 5039036022927>

This month's Special Edition DVD is the Region 2 4-Disc Deluxe Collector's Edition of James Cameron's "Titanic". I have chosen to illustrate it with example's from the real Titanic; one of the worst maritime disaster's ever, so although this is a DVD Review bear in mind it was based on real life tragedy. Cameron's $200 million plus has transformed a story from the real world into fantasy and a lot of people complained about the lack of detail to actual historical events, people and places - But you have to remember Hollywood deal's in fantasy not facts - So push all that aside and you have a love story on the wrong side of the tracks against an accident of fate as a backdrop. It's a long film but crafted skillfully, by just looking at the Special Features you can see the amount of cash went exactly where it should and show's just how much care and time went into creating this work of art. If you can step around the plot holes you have three hours of pure entertainment which rightly deserved all it's awards and kudos. In the real world many other tragic events took place on the boat and although some get covered in the film other's were missed completely. The band on board the Titanic did play right until the ship went down and all eight member's lost their lives; five Postal Clerks in charge of the Mail onboard ship all perished attempting to rescue the mail before it was lost and although some cowardly incidents were reported many people faced their own personal death's with great bravery and humility come the end. Cameron's initial shooting schedule ran over budget and time which immediately got the film studios in a panic - But he had the last laugh grossing a pile of cash and awards worldwide which were both richly deserved. Not only does this film manage to comment on early 20th. Century social reality it also evokes another period in time of a bygone age involving social strata and class. Having brought together a superb cast (even the side characters are well-fleshed out) we get Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet riffing off a dastardly Billy Zane and his henchman David Warner; Gloria Stuart and Bill Paxton in the modern day setting against Bernard Hill, Victor Garber, Jonathan Hyde and Kathy Bates. Every time I watch this the tear's roll down my face as the ship goes down and by the end when Rose finally meet's Jack again I'm bawling.

(REGION 1) (SCE) 3-Disc Special Collector's Edition: As per normal; for year's "Titanic" was only available as a bare-bones vanilla release, until they decided on a Special Edition and then of course in 3 different versions - below is the USA release.

The USA release was exactly the same as the Region 2 except for a handful of featurettes and TV Segments.

(REGION 2) (SE) 2-Disc Special Edition:

In the 2-Disc Special Edition we lose most of the Special Features and only contain a minimum of what is on offer from the Deluxe Set.