'Titanic' Movie Fan Spots Detail They Had Never Noticed Before: 'Mind Blown'

James Cameron's Titanic might be one of the most successful films of all time but it's far from perfect, as one eagle-eyed fan has pointed out.

After it was released in 1997, for 12 long years the Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet romance epic reigned supreme as the highest-grossing film of all time before being dethroned by Cameron's follow-up, Avatar, in 2009.

Even so, it remains one of the most popular films ever made with IMDB ranking it at number one on a list of the 40 most watched movies of all time.

Arriving in an era before online streaming, Titanic was subject to multiple viewings with some happy to sit through the 3-hour-and-14-minute runtime again and again—with Titanic fan site Encyclopedia Titanica claiming someone set a record at one multiplex of 130 sittings.

Despite this, social media means fans continue to find previously unnoticed Easter Eggs and other subtle touches—like the one unearthed by a Titanic superfan concerning the real-life role of J. Bruce Ismay, the chairman of White Star Line, which owned the vessel itself.

While that represents the good side of film fandom, it's not all entirely positive.

One eagle-eyed Titanic fan called Penelope Kay may have just ruined repeat enjoyment of the film forever after posting a clip to TikTok shining a light on the film's understandably dated special effects.

Posting a video under the handle littlepenn_ Kay shared a clip of herself watching a scene where the camera pans over the top of the Titanic.

Except, of course, it's not actually the Titanic but instead a computer animated version of the ship which, by today's standards, looks decidedly simplistic.

The video can be viewed here:

The clip shows a computer-animated member of the ship's crew walking across the main bridge of the ship towards the captain before the movie cuts to the two real-life actors. Whether it's the cartoonish look of the Titanic or the crew member's decidedly unnatural stroll across the deck, the scene makes for a jarring watch in a modern context.

"How have I never noticed this before?" Kay wrote in the caption. The video has been viewed 3.8 million times on TikTok with fans expressing disbelief at what they are watching.

"What in The Sims is this?" Lindsay Green asked, reference the popular video game series with highlifeweedman striking a similar chord by branding it "GTA Titanic." Sam Louis, meanwhile, compared the footage to an animated film, writing: "It's like Polar Express meets Titanic."

Others sought to point out the obvious: that the film was made in 1997 and these effects were cutting-edge for their time period. "For its days the level of CGI was unheard of," Tippy192 wrote. "It only looks bad now because technology has advanced enough to notice." Demp360 commented, sarcastically: "It's animated? You mean they didn't raise and restore it for the film? Color me shocked."

Jade Daley argued the animated scene was most likely missed by fans because it was "watched on s****y TVs that didn't have HD" in the old days. Some fans were unforgiving though with mxrgjack claiming the effects still "could have been better." Responding to the criticism of her post Kay said she just "couldn't believe how awfully done it was."

Though there were plenty of fans willing to suspend their disbelief, for others the video may have ended up ruining their enjoyment of Titanic forever. "I know this is supposed to be funny but I just noticed the cartoon lady pick up a toddler and now I'm sad," crazymama123 wrote.

Samwells181 commented: "I'll never be able to unsee this now!" while heidimariec wrote: "Omg mind blown." Tracey Crombie agreed: "Once you've seen it, you can't unsee it."

Newsweek has contacted Kay for comment.

It's not the first time a revelation concerning Titanic has shaken the film's fanbase, of course.

Back in August, another TikToker went viral after highlighting the fact that an alternate ending exists which changes the film altogether.