3D Another doom and gloom prediction....3-D (1 Viewer)

[Matt Hough]

Originally Posted by Douglas R
Surely the '80s 3D films were analglyph? I saw FRIDAY THE 13TH, SPACEHUNTER, COMIN' AT YA! and I'm sure I was handed red and green glasses. It's only relatively recently, when I saw BEOWULF that I saw 3D with polaroid glasses for the first time.

I still have my 3D glasses for Comin' at Ya! in my office, and they're definitely polaroid glasses, not anaglyph.

 

[Ejanss]

I still have my 3D glasses for Comin' at Ya! in my office, and they're definitely polaroid glasses, not anaglyph.

Can't find my old cardboard polarized Starchaser: Legend of Orin glasses (kept 'em just in case polarized 3D ever came back), and I'll vouch for that. Most people who remember "Wasn't Jaws in anaglyph?" tend to be either from overseas or backwater venues, where projection couldn't be upgraded to fit the studio's new system. Maybe YOU remember seeing anaglyph, but us old North American survivors don't.

Oh, without a doubt, the 80s batch was pretty abysmal. Only a couple of them even put forth any effort. The rest basically subsisted on the idea of tossing everything they could at the audience.

Amazing that we live in a post-Avatar age where "tossing stuff at the audience" is now considered a bad thing, like someone breaking taboos to do it. Just look at Journey/Center, which came out a year BEFORE Avatar's "depth" snake-oil on the industry, and see a movie made with good old-fashioned uncorrupted in-your-face 80's sensibilities. Those were simpler times.

This is especailly true of the two awful Quntano-Lupo-Anthony films, which no one has any reason to watch in 2D. Or 3D for that matter!

80's 3D was, not to mince words, slime. Not because it tossed stuff at the audience (who didn't even know what 3D was at all since the 50's, assuming they were too young to have seen "The Stewardesses"), but because it was triggered by a cheap Italian producer, and attracted other cheap producers, the way late-nite TV attracts prescription-lawsuit lawyer ads. Fun slime, yes, but I remember sitting there wishing we had a real 3D movie that didn't have to be so, well, slimy....Y''know, like that cool House of Wax revival. When Jaws and Amityville were the "big" franchise productions, Friday 13th was the "smash hit", Four Crowns was "escapism" and Spacehunter was the "fun big-budget" one, ya gotta admit, that's hurtin'. B-movies were already approaching their last hurrah throughout the mid and late-80's, but just imagine the baffled looks from both audience and industry a 3D A-picture like Hugo would have gotten in 1983. Be glad for innovation, and take nothing for granted. The big "III-D" triquel craze originally had the legitimate Star Trek producers thinking of making "The Search For Spock" , or even V: Final Frontier (remember that "Theaters with seatbelts" ad?--Yeah, that's why) as a 3D-gimmick movie, but the property value on the craze had long since plummeted out of existence by then. sigh...If only.

 

[RolandL]

Yes, the 1980's 3D films were pretty bad. The only titles I would purchase if they were released on Blu-ray 3D would be Friday the 13th Part 3 and Jaws 3D. Love those opening titles zooming out of the screen! 1981 Comin’ At Ya! 1982 Treasure of the four Crowns 1982 Parasite 1982 Friday the 13th Part 3 1982 Rottweiler 1983 The Man Who Wasn’t there 1983 Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone 1983 Metalstorm - The Destruction of Jared-Syn 1983 Jaws 3D 1983 Amityville 3 1984 Tales of the Third Dimension 1984 Chain Gang 1984 Hot Heir 1984 Venus 1984 Silent Madness 1984 Emmanuelle 1984 Hyperspace 1984 My Dear Kuttichattan 1985 Starchaser: The Legend of Orin

 

[Stephen_J_H]

I would buy some of these strictly for their kitsch value. Comin' At Ya and Treasure of the Four Crowns are fun for their sheer ridiculousness; Parasite is early Demi Moore; Friday the 13th Part 3 is no worse than any of the other sequel entries, and in some ways is actually better; I loved Spacehunter as a kid, especially since there were some great in yo' face moments; Starchaser is also great fun. Jaws 3D and Amityville 3D are so bad they're good. The rest I could take or leave. One advantage to current 3D tech is that these would be vastly improved in terms of brightness and clarity, especially Spacehunter, which was shot with 2 cameras and then optically converted to the Space Vision over/under process.

 

[Chuck Anstey]

Our local theater only carried Friday the 13th, Jaws 3D, and Amityville 3D. Of those 3, Friday the 13th was best by far for 3D effects and plot. I remember Jaws 3D being so bad and that was as an early teen when I liked pretty much every movie ever made. Amityville 3D was just pure trash. I was so looking forward to Spacehunter and MetalStorm but they were never carried locally.

 

[RolandL]

Getting back to current films, a 20-plex here in CT has five theatres showing 3D films. Hansel & Gretel - Imax Hansel & Gretel Life of Pi Monsters Inc The Hobbit

 

[Chuck Anstey]

Getting back to current films, a 20-plex here in CT has five theatres showing 3D films. Hansel & Gretel - Imax Hansel & Gretel Life of Pi Monsters Inc The Hobbit

What is the ratio of 2D showings to 3D showings for those? I know around here that ratio can be 2 (at very bad times during the day) : 7 (all day long) 3D showings for new releases and 1 : 3 or 0 : 2 for ones that have been out a few weeks.

 

[RolandL]

What is the ratio of 2D showings to 3D showings for those? I know around here that ratio can be 2 (at very bad times during the day) : 7 (all day long) 3D showings for new releases and 1 : 3 or 0 : 2 for ones that have been out a few weeks.

Showings: Hansel & Gretel - Imax 3D 5 Hansel & Gretel 2D 2 Hansel & Gretel 3D 3 Life of PI 3D 4 - none in 2D Monsters Inc 3D 3 - none in 2D The Hobbit 3D 2 The Hobbit 2D 1

 

[Bob Furmanek]

All the features of the 1980's were shown in polarized 3-D. For the full story on what killed 3-D in 1953, this article will answer your questions: http://www.3dfilmarchive.com/what-killed-3D

 

[Chuck Anstey]

If we ignore Monsters Inc. 3D as that was only released in 3D, we have 3 2D showings and 14 3D showings with one movie not being shown in 2D at all. And some (not you RolandL) consider it "whining" to complain that 3D is being forced on moviegoers at the theater as if 2D showings are equal to 3D showings.

 

[Alan Tully]

Well I finally got to see a 3D movie. I visited some friends who had a 3D telly & were keen to show it off. They had some extra 3D glasses & Prometheus 3D (a truly dire film I'd hoped never to see again), there were some good 3D effects, but they didn't involve you in the film, quite the reverse really. So I've tried it, & it's a ...novelty! I'm sure the 50's House Of Wax will be fun, but that's it for me, some fun effects in a fun movie. The next time I see them I'm going to take my Creature From The Black Lagoon Blu, but I wouldn't put myself out to see a film in 3D.

 

[Richard--W]

What makes you assume all 3-D movies are the same?

 

[Alan Tully]

What makes you assume all 3-D movies are the same?

I dunno, I'm an idiot. I just assumed that all 3D films had 3D effects, in...3D, well movie 3D unlike real life 3D, which if we're lucky enough to have two eyes we see all the time (& dig that surround sound!). I think it takes you out of the film...wow, look at that 3D effect (& if you don't notice it, why have it?). I think, just me, I'm not making any laws, that it's a novelty, in a way that 'scope & colour & stereo isn't. But if you like it, good for you.

 

[Everett S.]

Well I finally got to see a 3D movie. I visited some friends who had a 3D telly & were keen to show it off. They had some extra 3D glasses & Prometheus 3D (a truly dire film I'd hoped never to see again), there were some good 3D effects, but they didn't involve you in the film, quite the reverse really. So I've tried it, & it's a ...novelty! I'm sure the 50's House Of Wax will be fun, but that's it for me, some fun effects in a fun movie. The next time I see them I'm going to take my Creature From The Black Lagoon Blu, but I wouldn't put myself out to see a film in 3D.[/quote Yeah, that happens when u get ooooooold!!!

 

[Everett S.]

Surely the '80s 3D films were analglyph? I saw FRIDAY THE 13TH, SPACEHUNTER, COMIN' AT YA! and I'm sure I was handed red and green glasses. It's only relatively recently, when I saw BEOWULF that I saw 3D with polaroid glasses for the first time.

Hey, I just had the young man in my building swear he saw Hobbit with green & red glasses @ the local IMAX 3D!?! I told him it was impossible.

 

[GregK]

Regarding the occasional confusion of those who incorrectly remember seeing a title in anaglyph, I think a lot it stems from the various anaglyph re-releases. Enough where one could associate 3-D with "colored" anaglyph glasses. For example, CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON back in 1954 was originally shown exclusively in polarized 3-D. But in the 1970's Universal struck anaglyphic 35mm, 16mm, and 8mm prints, followed in 1980 by an anaglyphic video release. If I had only a passing interest in 3-D and saw CFBL in 3-D once as a kid in it's original run, I can easily see where this could inadvertently lead to some confusion. Ditto for some of the even recent mainstream titles which (before the new 3DTV standard were in place) were sometimes released on video first in anaglyph 3-D. Anaglyph 3-D on video had a long life span for one simple reason: One just needed a color TV and cardboard colored glasses, with no special 3D display or gear needed. The trade-off?.. Poor color quality, reduced resolution, and worst of all - baked in ghosting. Overall, I don't think anaglyph helped 3-D's public reputation either. In the 1980's, many people's first experience to 3-D sadly were the broadcast anaglyph conversions.

 

[DaveF]

It's all us 80 s kids that grew up with anaglyph TV broadcasts, and Red/Green shows of Jaws 3D at Boy Scout lock-ins. The only "real " 3D I recall seeing was Captain EO and Honey I Shrunk the Audience at Disney

 

[Todd J Moore]

Funny enough, when I was 11, I thought anaglyph 3D TV worked fine. I remember beng thrilled by an anaglyph broadcast of GORILLA AT LARGE in the summer of 1982. Now, of course, I look back and realize how little that worked. Still, at 11 it captured my imagination and led to my love of 3D. Now if I could just get a 3D Blu Ray of GORILLA AT LARGE to relive the thrill of watching it that July night in 82!

 

[Ejanss]

Funny enough, when I was 11, I thought anaglyph 3D TV worked fine. I remember beng thrilled by an anaglyph broadcast of GORILLA AT LARGE in the summer of 1982. Now, of course, I look back and realize how little that worked. Still, at 11 it captured my imagination and led to my love of 3D. Now if I could just get a 3D Blu Ray of GORILLA AT LARGE to relive the thrill of watching it that July night in 82!

I remember that little intro, where they asked you to adjust the blue tint on your own TV screen, so the anaglyph colors would come off correctly. And even then, it rarely did. (That, and never being able to find the glasses, since 7-Elevens seemed to exist everywhere but our neighborhood.) I don't remember much about the story itself, apart from the fairground setting--and when they showed the anaglyph Inferno a few months later, my preteen self thought "It's just about the desert, that's lame!"--but it would be nice to see either one again with the proper colors, now that I'm a big, grown-up vintage-3D fan.

 

[Todd J Moore]

I lived in South Jersey. We had cable, which in 1982 meant we got the Philly stations and the New York indie stations (5, 9, and 11). Channel 48 in Philly ran REVENGE OF THE CREATURE in May of 82. I remember watching it and not being exactly bowled over by it. But in July of 82, Channel 9 in New York ran GORILLA AT LARGE. I remember loving it. By the late 1980s, I had seen anaglyph broadcasts of those two, DYNASTY, THE MAD MAGICIAN, and THE MASK (with the Harry Blackstone, Jr. intros). I managed to tape the last three and eventually acquired copies of the first two in anaglyph. I also found the anaglyph VHS releases of IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE and CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON. I watched all of them constantly. I even eventually got a copy of INFERNO off of ebay (and the Devo 3D concert--anyone remember that?) I managed to finally see GORILLA AT LARGE in dual strip polarized in 2004 at the LaFayette theatre in Suffern (as well as CREATURE and IT). One helluva difference. You truly haven't seen these movies until you've seen them the way they were originally intended. I consider myself lucky actually. Back in the 80s, I didn't think I'd get to see most ofthe 50s movies in 3D, let alone in the theater. But so far I've maanged 37 of the 42 that have ready made 3D prints and seen another three on field sequential. I hope to eventually see the ones I haven't. So...Pete...any chance of the LaFayette showing ARENA, CATWOMEN OF THE MOON, DANGEROUS MISSION, and HANNAH LEE anytime?