Are you kidding? The 3D in Up was magical. I was really sad when I lost it in home viewing.
Agreed. I avoid 3D when possible but I always list Up in my very short list of movies that didn’t make me regret wearing those stupid glasses. I just remember feeling like I was watching a living diorama and missing that when I watched it at home.
I bought a new TV recently and it’s pretty much impossible to not get one with 3D at this point. I don’t expect to be using that feature much but I went and got the 3D blu ray of Gravity. I saw it twice in the theater, once with the fancy Atmos sound and once on the fancy 3D IMAX screen. Both were incredible experiences and I can’t wait to show off my new entertainment center by showing this movie to a few friends who haven’t seen it yet.
Most of it looked fine, but those few times things leaped out of the screen really pulled me out of the movie. Plus I had already seen the 2D version, so I knew how much color I was missing out on.
Well, that explains why you have a point of comparison on the colors, I suppose. I almost never see movies in the theater more than once, and I’ve never once noted color problems with a 3D film. If I have complaints, it’s usually because the actual 3D process was applied after filming and it doesn’t work particularly well when they do that. For quite a while I wouldn’t see live action movies in 3D because that was the technique I expected them to use. Now I think they usually shoot in 3D if they’re going to do it at all.
For me, the best example I can give of the color problem happened when I went to see Toy Story 3. I was so frustrated with how dull the colors looked through the glasses, and how vibrant they were when I peeked out from under them. I mean, I can do the math. Putting dark lenses over my eyes is going to mean a trade-off. I just found that so frustrating, and I simply don’t get it. Certainly krayzkrok has illuminated the situation somewhat, but movie theaters projecting at lower levels in order to extend bulb life (or whatever) has long been a problem, so I’m not sure how much stock to put in that. I want to believe what those folks were telling him, but I’m just not sure how much it contributes. I think the problem with the technology is the glasses, plain and simple.
My review of TS3 was ultimately negative, as many podcast listeners know; although I made clear that I loved the movie it ultimately did not work for me. I don’t think the disappointment of 3D was part of that though. I was just struck by how clear the difference was when it came to color degradation.
-xtien
Maybe I’ve just been lucky enough to see movies in a couple of theaters that know how to calibrate the tech, then? I dunno.
Yeah, I doubt the majority of cinemas re-calibrate and adjust brightness and saturation to compensate for the glasses. I don’t think I have ever witnessed 3D in a cinema where that has been the case, though I can count that on one hand.
Maybe it is just the ones in my area.
Incidentally, can you actually get decent 3rd party glasses that work at the cinemas? Something more comfortable and with better clarity?
You could buy your own pair of passive 3D glasses if you’re going to a theater that uses passive 3D. I doubt you’ll see much of an improvement in picture quality since there’s not much to those things to begin with but you may find a pair that is more comfortable and you might feel better knowing you’re the only person who has worn them. I don’t know about active glasses, I believe the kind they use in theaters are different from the kind that TVs use but I’d bet you could find some if you searched Amazon for a while.
Also, I’m such a hypocrite. I wanted to try out the 3D on my new TV so I popped Gravity in just so I could watch a few minutes; ended up watching the whole movie. Granted it’s only a 90 minute movie but at the end I considered watching it again. Holy balls, Batman, I think that was the best experience I’ve ever had with a 3D movie. At one point was like holy shit, space is inside my TV. This is really the perfect movie to show off a new home theater system. I hate to talk about movies like they are consumer electronics products, but the picture and sound quality are amazing. Also Sandra Bullock.
But I hate 3D you guys. Now if you don’t mind I have to get back to buying every 3D blu ray on Amazon. Shit, do I have to watch Prometheus again?
I’ve done the exact same thing. I actually like 3D if the movies are legitimately filmed in 3D, but other than IMAX documentaries and animated films (which use a different process) there have only EVER been about 10 truly 3D movies — Avatar, Beowulf, Resident Evil Afterlife, Jackass 3D, Tron Legacy, Transformer Dark Side of the Moon, Final Destination 5, Life of Pi, Walking with Dinosaurs — largely terrible movies, but they were enhanced by their 3D effects.
Every other “3D” movie has been a 2D movie with some post-processing effects tacked on to them, and doesn’t offer anything close to the same experience. I despise the results - the screen is darker, washed out, and the 3D effects are barely visible and largely inconsequential, and the ticket price is a few dollars more for a shittier experience — yet you can no longer see a 2D version of movies like Godzilla or any other blockbuster in reserved seating AVX theatres – you’re forced into the crappiest, smallest, non-reserve seating theatres in the movie complex. So, as a result, instead of going to 1-2 movies a week, I end up seeing 1-2 a season and just happily wait until they come out on TV where I can enjoy a better experience. It’s absurd.
Google Play is giving away the HD version of this movie free today with an email code. Pretty cool and looks great on my Nexus 9. Code that came to me was like 25 characters, so no reposting by me from my tablet.
Watching Gravity on a tablet. C’mon, son.
Wait, so how do you get this email code?
Edit: Internet search says it’s being given out at Google’s whim to certain users. So I guess I’ll check my email.
Agreed, but I saw it in IMAX 3D the first time and I think it will be pretty cool for my flight to Oregon in two weeks.
Scott Kelly, an astronaut on the ISS, watched Gravity in space. The best part is the picture he tweeted:
Ha! He wishes Sandra Bullock was up there!
I so love that.
-xtien
Turns out that one of Sandra Bullock’s lines was prophetic.
A version of the station appeared in the 2013 movie “Gravity,” in which it suffered a similar fate.
“You’re losing altitude, Tiangong,” Ryan Stone, the movie’s protagonist, portrayed by Sandra Bullock, said to herself in a climactic scene. “You keep dropping and you’re going to kiss the atmosphere.”
It’s only 19,000 pounds? Whoa.
This movie is shockingly terrible and I regret the $5 I spent on a Target black friday blu-ray however many years ago and never watching it until inexplicably tonight.