The first 3D movie I saw was actually a Michael Jackson movie at Disneyland. It was a traditional 3D movie which was shameless in its ability to use the third dimension with objects you felt you could touch or something protruding right at you. It was a gimmick but that has its time and place.
These days, all manner of kids' animated movies are 3D. I had skilfully avoided them until today when we saw Ice Age 3 in 3D. 3D movies like this are the big hope of cinemas because they are a reason to go to the cinema rather than wait until the movie comes out on DVD or what have you. I'm not sure of that but, let's go with the idea that you have to be in a cinema. Will it work?
Well, for starters, it is a disaster for younger kids. My 4 year old just didn't want to wear the bulky glasses let alone be scared by the third dimension. They didn't provide smaller ones so she watched a movie in blurred vision; which wasn't much fun. For myself, I have glasses on already and so a full length movie in 3D doubles the smug impact or glare or any number of annoyances. For that I want the 3D to be doing something. In Ice Age, it just didn't and I was just annoyed at the whole experience. The remaining children seemed non-fussed about it all but felt it was hardly any difference. Certainly not worth the bump in ticket price.
So I guess the recommendation is the shun the 3D cinemas and find normal 2D ones. From the look of the opening weekend crowd in our cinema, other parents had already decided that and it was only 10 percent full. Contrast this with a full house for the non-3D Hannah Montana.
As for the movie itself, it isn't awful but doesn't come anywhere near the original. All the more reason to wait for DVD or broadcast television on this one.
These days, all manner of kids' animated movies are 3D. I had skilfully avoided them until today when we saw Ice Age 3 in 3D. 3D movies like this are the big hope of cinemas because they are a reason to go to the cinema rather than wait until the movie comes out on DVD or what have you. I'm not sure of that but, let's go with the idea that you have to be in a cinema. Will it work?
Well, for starters, it is a disaster for younger kids. My 4 year old just didn't want to wear the bulky glasses let alone be scared by the third dimension. They didn't provide smaller ones so she watched a movie in blurred vision; which wasn't much fun. For myself, I have glasses on already and so a full length movie in 3D doubles the smug impact or glare or any number of annoyances. For that I want the 3D to be doing something. In Ice Age, it just didn't and I was just annoyed at the whole experience. The remaining children seemed non-fussed about it all but felt it was hardly any difference. Certainly not worth the bump in ticket price.
So I guess the recommendation is the shun the 3D cinemas and find normal 2D ones. From the look of the opening weekend crowd in our cinema, other parents had already decided that and it was only 10 percent full. Contrast this with a full house for the non-3D Hannah Montana.
As for the movie itself, it isn't awful but doesn't come anywhere near the original. All the more reason to wait for DVD or broadcast television on this one.
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4 comments:
Maybe it's the movie you saw. I saw UP in 3D with my 5 year old son and I thought it was absolutely amazing! He loved it, too, however I did have to trade glasses with him early on because he got popcorn grease all over them. But I couldn't help thinking to myself, this is SOOO COOOL. When is the technology coming to DVD?! It was amazing how it really made the characters on the screen pop right out. I loved it!
Tom - San Diego
I agree with Tom, it depends on the movie. I went to see Coraline in 3D and it was breathtaking... I'm sure the 2D version will be good, but it can't compete with what I saw in the theater. Then it got kicked out after a week for a 3D Jonas Bros concert. Huh?
I think the issue is that studios are TREATING a tool which could re-define the movie art AS a gimick. Some movies make full use of the 3D, others treat it like smell-o-vision. I think it's a bad move to put all the new kids movies in 3D, because they aren't taking the time to work with the new medium, and they're going to make people think 3D is overrated, when actually it's just being ill used.
I hadn't considered the badly fitting glasses, and it's a shame the theater people didn't either. Seems like kind of a big deal when most viewers will be kids.
I think that a fair amount of the motivation behind 3D is to provide an experience that cannot easily end up on thepiratebay.org. IMAX is another such approach that tends to provide a better experience, at least for films that have been shot at the higher resolution. (I have yet to test it on my 3yo)
"I saw [Up] in 3D, which I’d highly recommend to anyone who hasn’t seen it yet. Not because the 3D was particularly great — it was perfectly well-done, adding depth to every scene without overwhelming anything — but because it’s nice wearing big glasses if you’re at all self-conscious about crying in public." --SpectreCollie
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