Good morning (or afternoon on the East Coast) everyone! Coming to you from my first full day visiting Los Angeles, it is nice to simply have the FREEDOM of TIME to write when the mood strikes me! Ah, the beauty of vacation! A subject that is prevalent in major motion pictures is the whole concept of 3D….is it a good or bad thing. So, I give you MY thoughts on this.
For me, the modern era of 3D TRULY took off to new heights with the 2009 James Cameron-directed MEGA hit, “Avatar“.
Now, having come up through the years with the good old fashioned cardboard, multi-colored 3D glasses and the associated “special” effects we viewed through them, I mean…wow. I know it was a limited technology, but still!
I pretty much had given up on 3D and was used to not seeing or expecting it, BUT then to see what MODERN technology could do was never on better display with the debut of “Avatar”. Combined with the absolute wonder of current, cutting edge CGI effects, the sheer visual depth and presence the 3D brought to this film was AWESOME. I had never seen ANYTHING like it (and frankly, haven’t seen its match since!) I was COMPLETELY transported to the world of Pandora and its characters, and the 3D made it seem even MORE real…I honestly thought at times we really WERE seeing footage of a REAL place. TO be SO immersed like that was a testament to how far 3D had come and it SEEMED to promise even MORE incredible visuals on the horizon for other films like it. Unfortunately, this was NOT to be the OVERALL case.
Now, don’t get me wrong, there have been other theatrical films that have been presented in 3D which WERE solid, albeit nowhere CLOSE to as immersive visually as “Avatar”, visually ie: “Thor” (which was actually re-rendered), “How To Train Your Dragon“, “Despicable Me 1&2″, “Tangled“, “Underworld: Awakening“, “Brave“, “Star Trek: Into Darkness” (which was also re-rendered), “Frozen“, “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug“, among some others…but you notice a general trend…MOST are ANIMATED films that were actually CREATED IN 3D and have are visually beautiful in the format. SO many of the live-action films were RE-RENDERED INTO 3D, and for me, almost EVERY time, it just does NOT improve or enhance the experience because you can TELL the film wasn’t SHOT in 3D. So I just think studios need to realize that not EVERY film NEEDS to be presented in the format and when they DO decide to do it, PLEASE ensure the WHOLE film is actually MADE from the beginning IN 3D! The immensely gifted director, Christopher Nolan, refuses to shoot in 3D, as he feels it simply isn’t necessary, has most certainly proven this with the EPIC offerings like “Inception“, his “Dark Knight” trilogy, and the upcoming “Interstellar“. So, I think I am going to just sit and PINE for the upcoming “Avatar” sequels and other animated offerings to get my 3D fix. Otherwise, studios, let’s give it a break!
As always, this is all for YOUR consideration and comment. Until next time, thank you for reading!
