Director James Cameron, a self-proclaimed perfectionist, has made only one change in the re-release of his 1997 blockbuster, Titanic - and it's all thanks to one man.
American astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson was on Cameron's case for more than a decade trying to have a historically accurate night in the scenes after the Titanic sank.
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| That sinking feeling: Dr Tyson said the sky seen during the night of April 15, 1912, was mirrored and incorrect |
After several encounters, Dr Tyson got his wish, but first, Cameron challenged Dr Tyson to send him the exact constellation map for the sky around 4:20am on April 15, 1912.
Dr Tyson, who directs the Rose Centre for Earth and Space at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, was happy to oblige; he sent Cameron a detailed map of the stars that night, saying astronomy is an easy thing to track.
He knew something was erroneous when he first watched the film.
He told MailOnline: 'Normally, I don't concern myself with director's errors. But the film was marketed how historically accurate the film was - they observed the state rooms and the china patterns. He put the effort into making the period piece.'
Dr Tyson added: 'Clearly, you wouldn't put Leonardo DiCaprio in striped bell bottoms - and you shouldn't do that with the night sky.'
He said the star placement in the sky was the wrong sky, and used a mirror reflection to fill in the other half.
In response to the comment, Cameron told UK magazine Culture that he did, in fact, make the one change.
He said: 'Neil deGrasse Tyson sent me quite a snarky email saying that, at that time of year, in that position in the Atlantic in 1912, when Rose is lying on the piece of driftwood and staring up at the stars, that is not the star field she would have seen. '
And with my reputation as a perfectionist, I should have known that and I should have put the right star field in.' Dr Tyson said his tenacity finally paid off, saying that he was 'nipping at his heels' for ten years.
Daily Mail, London |
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