CAMERON ADDS DIMENSION TO LEGEND OF SUNKEN TITANIC.

Byline: Glenn Whipp Film Critic

'YOU LEAVE TITANIC, but it never leaves you.'' Actor Bill Paxton says the line, but it was probably written by filmmaker James Cameron, who revisits the fabled ocean liner again with ``Ghosts of the Abyss,'' a 3-D IMAX movie that marks the director's first time behind the camera since he made ``Titanic'' six years ago. Clearly, Cameron has never been able to shake his subject and, with this beautifully filmed documentary of his latest inquiry, his passion again proves contagious.

Cameron's ambitions with ``Ghosts'' are twofold: He wants to show us the Titanic before it completely erodes, and he wants to show off the cameras and other technology that he and his brother, Mike (along with many others), invented. Both goals are accomplished. The IMAX scope and the 3-D technology turn Cameron's underwater expedition into a vivid sensory experience, illuminating the history he so memorably brought to life with his Oscar-winning 1997 epic.

``Ghosts of the Abyss'' is certainly the clearest view we've ever had of the Titanic on the ocean's floor. Working with Sony and cinematographer Vince Pace, Cameron built a small camera that could film underwater for extended periods of time in any format (including, obviously, IMAX). Meanwhile, brother Mike spearheaded an effort to produce remote-controlled robotic vehicles that could explore the ship's interior, delivering precious images that no one has ever seen.

The results are fantastic. The first thing we notice as the cameras find the ocean floor is an intact china plate. Then, through the blackness, we see the Titanic. (Cameron has lost none of his great visual flair in the six-year layoff.) Cameron takes us on a tour through the ship, inside the first-class dining room where the lovely leaded-glass windows remain undamaged, into the staterooms (one passenger's bowler hat still lays on the wreckage) and around the areas where the lifeboats were jettisoned, not always to capacity.

As the cameras survey the ruins, Cameron frequently superimposes actors over the images to provide a better sense of place. It could have been a distraction, but the device works, making what we see all the more haunting. What does prove distracting is the likable Paxton's gee-whiz narration, which Cameron overplays. Paxton is supposed to be an Everyman, but we don't need him to tell us how incredible everything is when the pictures do that quite nicely.

But then, maybe I'd be babbling, too, if I were in a three-person submersible, 2 1/2 miles underwater. We saw Paxton go to the moon in ``Apollo 13'' (which was turned into an IMAX film last fall), but this is something altogether different. It's real. It's still there. And Cameron and crew have once again spectacularly captured the awesome story.

GHOSTS OF THE ABYSS - Three and one half stars

(G)

Starring: Bill Paxton.

Director: James Cameron.

Running time: 1 hr.

Playing: Universal CityWalk; Edwards Valencia Town Center; the Bridge Theaters in Los Angeles; Edwards Ontario Palace; Edwards Theaters at Irvine Spectrum.

In a nutshell: James Cameron returns to the Titanic with new technology, and the results are spectacular.