‘Titanic’ returns to theaters for special anniversary

>>> centennial anniversary of the titanic sinking is being remembered with auctions, exhibitions and even two cruises traveling to the spot where the ship went down. to millions around the world, the story was memorialized by the blockbuster film "titanic." director james cameron has released "titanic in 3d." just take a look.

>> she was called the ship of dreams. and it was. it really was.

>> all right. open your eyes .

>> full ahead. put your backs into it.

>> got everything i need right here with me. i figure life's a gift and i don't intend on wasting it. you never know what hand you're going to get dealt next. you learn to take life as it comes at you.

>> when the ship docks, i'm getting off with you.

>> joining us now "titanic" director james cameron . thanks for joining us. tell us about the re-release, how you made it possible to release this for 3d, what is special about it, especially for those that don't have 3d.

>> well, thanks, andrea. where it's playing in theaters across america, they're all 3d digital venues. ma made it possible is technology that allows computer artists to go in and outline every figure, every object in the frame and give it depth and give it volume. it's a very painstaking process and toog k us 14 months to do it, up to a standard we all believed "titanic" deserved.

>> what do you think is gained by doing this? the film was monumental. it was the kind of film we all remember when we first saw it, saw it the second time or more.

>> right.

>> what will be gained by putting this into 3d?

>> i think very simply it's a new business model for how to bring films that are classic films or much beloved films back to the cinema. as a director, i want people to see my movies on the big screen . i'm happy their familiar with the film from dvd and video but there's a whole generation that has never seen "titanic" on the big screen . it's a rare opportunity for a directory get to have a movie coming back into theaters 15 years later. that's the thing most exciting to me. you know, i mean, the 3d does make it a richer, more heightened kind of viewing experience. that's cool, too. but really for me, it's just about getting, you know, getting people back into theaters.

>> now, i want to ask you about your own adventures with national geographic . first, your deep sea dive , which i guess was in march. you made this historic solo dive. you went into the mariana trench and brought back these amazing images. you've done it again. let me ask you about the first dive. what motivated you and in going back to your second deep dive , what about the experience, what can you tell us about it?

>> well, it's actually the culmination of a seven-year project. we designed a recollect to go to the deepest spot in the world's ocean seven years ago. i was working on it while i was making "avatar," working on this recollect. it's just come to fruition in the last couple months. i've actually made nine dives they went progressively deeper. finally to almost 11,000 meters, which is the deepest place on the planet in the challenger deep . of course, it's a tremendously satisfying that our little tiny engineering team was able to create a submersible that can dive deeper than any of the subs by any of the government or military programs anywhere in the world. what we wanted to point out is that this -- these technological tools exist, they're within our capability and we need to open up this kind of last frontier for exploration right here on planet earth .

>> what did you see down there?

>> well,s as i went progressively deeper, you know, i was finding literally new animals that hadn't been seen before and imaging them in 3d. as i got to the deepest place, it was more much desolate and barren, as you might expect because the conditions are harsh, the pressure intense. i saw little animals flying around the sub. so, life finds a way to adapt, even to the most severe environment on the whole planet.

>> what about the feeling, your physical sensations, do you feel the pressure and and the release of pressure once you've come back to the surface? i don't know how -- quite how you pressurize that cabin.

>> you can't pressurize it. the human body would be crushed at, you know, 1,000 feet of depth let alone 36,000 feet. so, you know, what we are is a thick-walled steel sphere that withstants dst withstands the pressure. i'm feeling same pressure as i'm feeling right now. however, it's almost as cold as ice water at that depth and so that sphere cools down and so you've got the thermal issues. it's very hot when you start the dive because we're diving in the tropics and because of all the heat being dumped into the sphere by the electronics. and then by a couple of hours into the dive, you're literally freezesing and so you're layering up and putting on electrically heat clothing and that sort of thing.

>> aren't you afraid? i mean, it just -- for someone who is afraid of, you know, going under water, i'm not a diver, i'm afraid of pressure, but i'm just stunned by this and the fact you would take these risks. there is a lot of rick in this.

>> i think risk is relative. you know, part of it being a seven-year project is that we had to develop the technology. we had to prove it. everything was pressure-tested ahead of time. but, you know, there certainly is that moment you're closing the hatch and thinking, there's a lot of things that can go wrong here. to me the risk is relative to the reward. i don't believe in jumping out of a perfectly good airplane with a parachute. i don't believe in rock climbing or various other forms of risk for risk's sake. but i do believe exploration is worth the risk if it's carefully calculated and the risk is managed by good engineering and good test procedures.

>> you must feel a connection to this 100th anniversary . have you talked to any of the families of the survivors? they've been in southampton, done these memorial cruises, the auctions of some of the remnants or the artifacts from the debris field.

>> i haven't spoken to any family members recently. certainly, i'm aware of the auctioning of the artifacts, which i'm not greatly in favor of because i think there's value in raising those artifacts from the bottom of the ocean but the value is in giving the public access to them so that they can feel a sense of personal connection to the history and to the tragedy. so, i'm hoping that those artifacts remain available for public viewing.

>> james cameron , it's an iconic story you brought to all of us and that really still grips us. thank you very much. thanks for sharing your explorations with us as well today.

>> thanks, andrea. appreciate it.