The Titanic is sinking again, but this time some of the audience members will be prepared.
Chris Allsup, history freshman, organized a Facebook event with fellow “Titanic” buffs to see the 1997 classic rereleased in 3-D, and the group is planning to bring life jackets in preparation for the big wreck.
“Our idea was to fashion some makeshift life jackets, write ‘Titanic’ on them and wear semi-formal attire underneath,” Allsup said. “The idea is to give the impression that we are passengers from the ship preparing to board life boats.”
Allsup is one of many fans of the 11-time Academy Award-winning epic who is eager to see the reformatted 3-D version of the film, which premieres in theaters today.
The release date for “Titanic 3D” was not set in motion by a floating iceberg, but was set for this April in concordance with the centenary anniversary of the real Titanic’s demise. The RMS Titanic carried more than 1,500 passengers to their frigid, watery graves 100 years ago as of this April.
Allsup described “Titanic” as his “borderline obsession” because of the relevance the movie holds to him personally and historically. Allsup said the movie sparked his interest in travel, boats and his eventual major discipline, history.
“The Titanic sinking was a pivotal moment in history where class tension was high and man became a victim of the cult of technology in a major way,” Allsup said.
Historical merit is just one reason Susie LeJeune, English senior, is a fan of James Cameron’s $1.8 billion-grossing blockbuster.
“Titanic has suspense, romance, action and history,” LeJeune said. “A little bit of everything.”
LeJeune helped Allsup coordinate the life jacket-wearing group of moviegoers and said she is thrilled to see the film in theaters.
“I was little when the movie first came out, so I think it’s really cool that I get to see it in theaters for the first time,” LeJeune said.
LeJeune is not the only “Titanic” fan anxious for the movie’s rerelease in theaters. According to local Rave Motion Pictures manager James Jordan, the theater sold an excess of 60 tickets in advance for today’s inaugural screenings of “Titanic 3D.”
LeJeune said another reason for the movie’s high anticipation may be the plot’s renewed sense of plausibility, brought on by a recent commercial ship sinking.
On Jan. 14, the Costa Concordia cruise ship capsized after running ashore on the Italian coast. The tragic event proved to be an eerie reminder that an event similar to the Titanic sinking can still occur, even in today’s state of heightened technological prowess, LeJeune said.
Amy Beecher, kinesiology junior, said she plans to see the 3-D movie in theaters for sentimental reasons. Beecher said she has seen the movie more than 20 times, and it still takes her on an emotional roller coaster.
“It’s the first movie I ever saw and really understood to be very sad,” Beecher said. “I cry every time.”
Beecher said buzz over “Titanic 3D” has extended to people outside the antiquated, romantic realm of the film’s fandom. She said she has overheard chatter among male students as to their thoughts on the movie’s most alluring quality – 3-D breasts.
Beecher is referring to the famous scene in which Leonardo DiCaprio sketches Kate Winslet wearing nothing but a blue diamond necklace.
Allsup and LeJeune’s group may have chosen to mirror life-boat survivors’ attire rather than that of Rose, Kate Winslet’s character, but that doesn’t diminish the group’s admiration of the curly-haired star.
“Rose is caught in the middle,” Allsup said. “She’s a rebel because she is willing to forsake a snobby, upper-class life in favor of a chance at love.”
 
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Contact Josh Naquin at [email protected]