3-D Overkill3

by AJ Focht

The film industry has finally decided to put both feet in on the 3-D bandwagon and as a result cinemas have been overrun by glasses-required films in 2010. According to The Illustrated 3D Movie List over 40 movie titles have will be released in 3-D this year. While animated films have primarily dominated the 3-D market over the past decade, live action movies make up almost half of the 3-D films released this past year.

For most of these movies 3-D filming seems to be a gimmick to get more people in seats. Unfortunately many of the movies using 3-D effect don’t really need them. Resident Evil 3D, Saw 3D, and Jackass 3D are all examples of movies that had no good use for 3-D in their execution. I am confident that you won’t miss any gory moments or idiotic stunts if you see the movie in 2-D. Killing zombies is always good but Resident Evil has beaten its franchise to death and not even 3-D can save it.

These movies are only utilizing 3-D imaging as a sales gimmick; and we may soon see many more live action films that are shot in 3-D primarily to sell tickets rather than being motivated by more legitimate artistic reasons. Large film companies are starting to make a wholesale changeover to 3-D. Warner Bros will be releasing most of their movies in 3-D from now on; All future DC superhero movies produced by Warner Bros will be in 3-D, as will all of their tent pole movies.

With big companies like Warner Bros setting a standard for filming in 3-D, other companies will be forced to similarly comply just to compete. This means that there should be no shortage of 3-D movies in our theatres for the foreseeable future. Sadly, this means that movies that aren’t necessarily enhanced by being in 3-D (Step Up 3D), will continue to use 3-D effects purely for marketing and financial reasons.

The movie industry has been putting a lot of pressure on electronics companies to release 3-D home entertainment systems. Gaming companies are adding to the frenzy as they dive into the 3-D race. Nintendo’s 3DS is only the first step in integrating 3-D game play into an individual environment. Most parts of the entertainment industry are working toward fully integrated 3-D media.

At the rate 3-D entertainment is exploding in popularity, we will be seeing more and more movies shot (or converted) to 3-D. But at what point will the 3-D expansion have gone too far? Some people would say it already has, with Lucasfilms announcement of the re-mastering of the Star Wars saga in 3-D. While most nerds could see this coming, it still caught others off guard. Rereleasing Star Wars in 3-D will likely open up a floodgate of sci-fi classics being similarly re-mastered / or re-made in 3-D.

There are a lots of opinions flying around about 3-D movies and where the line should be drawn. In general, I’d say, 3-D has its place in animation but pulling the technology into other films should be done on a case by case basis. Producing movies that are not improved by the addition of 3-D graphics only wastes time and money, and the added distraction has the potential to harm the quality of the end product.

Re-mastering movies in 3-D is also unnecessary; No amount of 3-D action will make me like the Empire Strikes Back more than I already do. But even worse than the prospect of an endless deluge of re-mastered movies, will be the inevitable 3-D remakes of old movies. We already see enough unimaginative remakes, and I fear that 3-D will become an excuse for even more.

Films can be enhanced by the use of 3-D effects. As the technology grows we will see it used effectively in more movies and it will become a common fixture in our homes. Until then, we have to sit back and watch as they use it to market movies that have no use for it. No matter what is coming out in 3-D it won’t really matter until they get rid of the damned glasses (or at least supply better designed ones to make 3D a more universally attractive date night possibility).