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Titanic

TITANIC (James Cameron). 195 minutes. Now playing. For venues and times, see Movies. Rating: NNNNN


Don’t expect any shocking alterations in James Cameron’s re-release of Titanic – which arrives, rather awkwardly, at the centenary of history’s most famous nautical disaster.

The boat still sinks, Rose still lets go, and Céline Dion still howls that awful, awful song over the end credits.

The major difference is that now it all happens in digital 3-D, so the image is about 10 per cent darker than it was in 1997, but that isn’t much of a problem. Titanic still works brilliantly it’s a grand-scale studio epic with the heart of a romance and the pulse of an action movie. It’s the only American film that rivals Gone With The Wind for both swoonery and production value.

Yes, Cameron paints his story in broad strokes, and some of the dialogue is risible. But Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet sell the hell out of it – particularly Winslet, whose fiery, spirited performance is just as strong 15 years on. (The little moment when she almost psychs herself out of disrobing for that portrait remains the best thing she’s ever done.)

The 3-D is at best unobtrusive. The image rarely blurs or strobes the way it does in certain other conversions with the word “Titan” in the title. But you’re not really going back to count Bernard Hill’s beard hairs, are you now?

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