Daily Recco, February 23: This Titanic is unsinkable

Great movies don’t die. Some don’t even fade. They have a way of firing their way back into our imagination from time to time. This time, it is Titanic that has risen from the icy depths to demand attention and debate on Twitter. A clip of an alternative ending for the movie has gone viral on the platform, sparking debate on how things could have been different had this version made it to the final cut.

The James Cameron epic was first released in 1997, and created so strong a splash that its director would wait 13 years to release another film — Avatar — to surpass it. This quintessential saga of romance and heartbreak is a love story that ends (originally) in a Shakespearean tragedy. Brilliant writing, production and acting make it a movie like no other — a guilty pleasure for even the sternest of critics. Cameron goes to great lengths to accurately portray the historical details, and Celine Dion’s classic My Heart will Go On still remains the ringtone of many from that generation. Russell Carpenter’s cinematography is stunningly captivating. The lead pair (Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet) was chosen carefully and they did full justice to the roles, making it a love story like none — a true masterpiece that is a must-watch at least once in your lifetime.

In case you were not satisfied with the 2-D version, there is a 3-D version of the film available, which was released in April 2012, to commemorate the centennial of the sinking of the iconic ship. And if even that does not satiate you, there is an alternate ending that has taken Twitter by storm in the past few days. Cameron did actually film the clip that has gone viral but chose to go with the haunting ending we are more familiar with. The alternative ending had been released as part of the additional feature on a DVD many years ago.

But it was ‘discovered’ by Twitter and in a matter of days, has created an outpouring of reaction, which has ranged from outrage to outright hilarity. Some even questioned whether the movie would have won a record 11 Oscars if it had been released with this ending. Some went so far as to say the movie would not have had the global impact it did, with the alternative ending.

Not just Twitter, the chatter on different forums has also focused on why Titanic, a disaster film of sorts, had the sort of impact it did, and whether it would have been the same if someone had actually spoken its values on-screen as happens in the alternative ending.

In any case, we are not sure if there are many people globally who have watched the film only once. So, we suggest you watch the epic again, this time with the alternative ending in mind. Did Cameron know what he was doing, just as he knew to wait to make and release Avatar? We will let you find out.

Also Read: What if Titanic was shot in India?