3-D's Second Coming

September 2007

3-D’s Second Coming
Or is it 3-D’s 3rd Coming?



Tell me I don’t have way too much time on my hands! I’m worried about summer 2009. I’m worried about the assault of 3-D! With Jim Cameron’s Avatar and Dreamwork’s Monsters vs. Aliens slated to hit theaters Memorial Day 2009, the final iteration of 3-D may become a reality in the very near future, some time in my lifetime.
I’ve been keeping up with the ins and outs of it. I have read at least one article that said using this new technology it may be possible to present an old film in a whole new format. The film mentioned was Star Wars. I’m such a geek. I would kill to see Star Wars in 3-D. I’m such a geek, I would camp out to be first in line to see Star Wars in 3-D. But there’s a lot I would not care to see in 3-D. And that’s the problem. Do we need to watch every film in the future in 3-D? What is this new format, what is this new 3-D really going to be able to do for a film like Superbad, or L.A. Confidential? Do you get where I’m going with this? There are plenty of great movies that are all about dialogue and not much else. Great stories to be sure, but not a lot of action, not a lot of stuff blowing up, not a lot of chases. Not much action! So what kind of dimension would 3-D add to a film like that?
My biggest fear is 3-D porn. Do I really need a 3-D money shot? How long before or after 2009 till it’s not even an option. How long before you’ll have to duck for fear of um…getting some on you? I guess with those 3-D glasses on at least you won’t have to worry about getting any in your eye.
I’ve seen 3-D done well, but only once. And I’ve seen 3-D done the same way everyone else has with those silly red and blue glasses. The 3-D that I watched that was done well was somewhere in Orlando. It would have been a film called Captain Eo, but
Walt Disney pulled it after the star Michael Jackson was accused of being naughty. So what I saw was a really generic flick with no plot but stunning 3-D effects. I remember a brief scene with kites flying shot from up above the kites looking down at the people flying them. I actually put my hands up to reach out and touch the kites.
What’s to be said about the cheesy red blue 3-D? Not much.
…until summer 2009?

KGD
09-21-2007