3D Top 30 Must Own 3D Blu-Ray Releases (4 Viewers)

[Todd J Moore]

I thought SPY KIDS 3 had a fair amount of ghosting if I'm remembering correctly (I watched it several weeks ago). I enjoyed the pop-outs, and I agree it's a million times more effective than the anaglyph version released on DVD previously.

I didn't watch the whole thing yet, but I did see some ghosting in one shot. Which is odd, since I have a passive TV and almost never see ghosting (depending on the angle of where I'm sitting, of course). I'll have to give the whole movie a watch.

I also watched a couple of minutes of Sharkboy and Lava Girl. There is some ghosting there and the movie itself just seems like it's going to be wretched. I could be wrong, but I have an instinct about it.

I was surprised to learn that Spy Kids 4 was a conversion. Again, I didn't watch the whole thing, but it looked pretty good from what I saw. I confess that some conversion actually look almost as good as the real thing. CAPTAIN AMERICA looked great, as did THE AVENGERS. THOR a little less so. GREEN LANTERN was a disappointment, but I was surprised (and impressed) by the little bit I saw of THE GREEN HORNET. I'm slowly changing my stance on conversions. Who'da thunk it?

 

[Ronald Epstein]

List updated this morning.

 

[TheBat]

ron:
you going to watch jurassic park 3d? wait until you see that one. It will be in your top 5. same people that did the conversion for titanic did Jp.

Jacob

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Jacob,

I have watched Jurassic Park 3D.

True, at times, the 3D is exceptional.

The problem is, it's all over the place. It's not consistent. This has
been a common criticism about the upconversion and I think that
there are just better titles out there that were more worthy of my
personal list.

I have been looking to expand this list to the Top 25 best titles, so
most likely, I'll Jurassic Park somewhere in there. It's just hard to
place it because it feels somewhat incomplete.

 

[pitchman]

Agree on all points, Ron, re: Jurassic Park. I'm not sure what went wrong, but something did. It's very inconsistent, IMO. It's no Titanic, that's for sure. Another upconversion I had high hopes for, only to have them dashed, is Top Gun. In the case of both films, I prefer the 2D presentation...on Blu-ray, at least.

 

[Paul Hillenbrand]

Need to watch THE HOBBIT in 3D, but with all the migration work ahead, that will take some time. So, the list is on hold for the moment until I have the opportunity to watch some films.

Noticed that "THE HOBBIT" is not on the "Must Own" list, so I was wondering what the viewing process for a BD 3D would need to be for a native authored film? This was the most effective capture of live action 3D I've experienced with realistic detail becoming exemplary in regards to the amount of scenes having actors with numerous beards and facial hair appearing in group shots and close-up captures in realistic detail. Also, I think group characteristics, dimensionally speaking, creating believable natural living representations in forest areas, and the other finely detailed surroundings.

Paul

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Hi Paul!

You know, you inspired me.

I have had THE HOBBIT sitting on my shelf in its original wrapper since its
release.

Two reasons I never got around to watching it...

1. I really disliked the film. This is coming from a huge Lord of the Rings fan
who saw The Hobbit theatrically. I thought it was a total bore-fest.

2. I believe we were in the middle of moving to our new platform at the time
of release so I never got around to reviewing it.

....but as I said, you inspired me.

I just finished watching the nearly 3 hour running length of THE HOBBIT in 3D.

It was a tough watch for me, I won't lie. However, I agree with you that the
quality of the live action 3D is quite tremendous. I just have to figure out where
on my list to place this title.

 

[hotandserious]

I think that's just a DVD, the sequel to this film is out very soon in the UK, its been censored for mild bad language in order to get a U certificate. ( the sequel not the original )

Can't delete post, i see you have put the blu ray link in now. Moderators please delete this post if you read it.

I don't know if the Sammy discussion was ever actually resolved but the first film is available in 3D from both Hong Kong and Korea in Region A.

I bought it for my mother (who is region locked) from DDDhouse:
http://www.dddhouse.com/v3/product_details.php?ProductID=12014

The sequel was just released on Blu-Ray 3D in the USA this month too.

Ron, I wanted to quickly say how much I've enjoyed the conversation here and really appreciate the participation of Bob Furmanek on these pages. I'm a long-time 3D fan and have a pretty extensive collection of 3D discs from all over the world.

I made a short video showing how I've squeezed 6000+ Blus & DVDs into my apartment with the intent of helping folks who may be facing storage issues - and did a quick spin through my 3D Blu-rays right at the top.

It might be of interest to some here. It's a little shaky and the audio could be louder, so apologies...



I posted the video and a bunch of general collection photos (focused on space saving solutions) here:
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/topic/325377-hotandserious-6000-brddvd-storage-solution-gallery/

All The Best -

hotandserious

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Mark,

I made some welcoming comments in another thread of yours.

Very impressed by your collection.

We are quite proud to have Bob Furmanek here with us. I have
Mr. Furmanek know on several occasions how much on an asset
I feel he is to us, and I am very happy to hear these kind of remarks
from our readers.

I really need to update this Top 3D List. It's getting somewhat harder
to stay on top of everything that is getting released these days to 3D,
but I still feel the titles I have included here are among the best there are.
I do have to add THE HOBBIT to the list as I viewed it recently and really
thought the 3D was quite good --- certainly worthy of being on this list.

...and then House of Wax is coming...


Thank you again, Mark.

 

[hotandserious]

Thanks again Ron. Mr. Furmanek is a real treasure and his participation has been wonderful to follow. I occasionally have written up some of the less common Blu-ray 3D discs I've come across, usually just confirming whether titles are actually region locked or not for importers. Sometimes I write a bit more about the films if I've actually had an opportunity to watch them - though I'm not too terribly harsh of a reviewer on 3D stuff, except for the "German auto conversions".

Here are a few:

Dracula 3D Blu-ray (Italy)
is Region ABC and has an English audio track. I'm clearly in the minority, but I loved this. I have lots of respect for Dario's classics, but like most everyone else, have been disappointed in his work over the last two decades or so. "Giallo" was an absolute chore to sit through, but I thought Dracula 3D was a hoot! It's not in the style of the films he's renowned for, but rather a throwback to the gothic horror quickies made in the 50's, 60's and 70's, especially the vampire movies from Hammer Films.

The Dario "color" is back thanks to Luciano "Suspiria" Tovoli's cinematography. The 3D greatly benefits from this, as unlike most of the 3D horror films out there now, the image is never too dark. The FX are "bad to not-great" in places, but certainly passable in others. Dario hits all of the beats you'd expect from a Hammer-era vampire film. Gothic atmosphere, goony-looking villagers with a secret to hide, and lots of blood and boobs (Miriam Giovanelli conjures memories of Madeline Smith in the Vampire Lovers with her heaving, corseted - and uncorseted - breasts). Dario goes Hammer one further by going in absolutely bizarre directions - I love the much maligned praying mantis scene.

The script is bare bones and the acting is generally not that good (neither were ever Dario's strong points anyway). I did like Thomas Kretschmann's Count Dracula, but Unax Ugalde's Johnathan Harker recalls Keanu Reeves at his worst. I can't help but enjoy Asia in anything she's in, but she's not showing off any acting chops here. Claudio Simonetti's soundtrack is totally appropriate - it's uber-meodramatic and the heavy-use of the theremin amps up the fun factor.

Special Features are all presented in 3D - though most are 2D interview segements with post production titles & windows presented in 3D. Most of the interviews are in the speaker's native language - but one of the crew members as well as Kretschmann and Hauer are interviewed in English. Simonetti's 3D "Kiss Me Dracula" music video had us rolling on the floor, recalling the cheesiest bits of Evanescence - LOL.

There is one 3D issue that needs to corrected - the opening credits are inverted on the disc. I can invert the left and right eye on my projector, so it's not a deal breaker for me, but opening the film with an eye-straining inverted credit sequence is not the way to kick off a movie. Has anyone else experienced this? I don't know if this can be addressed with a software update, but hopefully Sony is aware of the issue.

I think Dario was dealt a tough blow when the preview sales reel with unfinished special effects went viral on the internet - and Dracula 3D became a laughing-stock months before its release. This movie is undeniably silly and is not the Dario that people have been pining for, but I get the sense that he had fun making this and it comes across. I'm not a "True Blood" fan, but if that crowd set their eyes on it, this movie could really find an audience.

At 72, I think it's admirable the guy is still out there making movies - this is the first one I've enjoyed in a long time. I hope he's got more in him!

http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Dracula-3D-Blu-ray/64219/

Angkor Wat 3D: Land Of The Gods (Germany)
plays on both Regions A & B so it is probably Region Free. This has English audio and is a native 3D production - divided into two episodes. The subject matter is interesting and the production values are pretty high - however some (many) entire scenes appear to stutter - and are apparently filmed at a very low frame rate. I actually tried using frame interpolation to smooth it out, but it only had a minimal effect. There is a UK release and I'm wondering if that one has the same issue?
http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Angkor-Wat-3D-Land-Der-Gotter-Blu-ray/64679/

World Natural Heritage: Costa Rica 3D Blu-ray (Germany)
This plays on both Regions A & B so it is probably Region Free. It has English audio and is a native 3D production. Germany has been flooded with 3D content and there are many, many nature docs out there - but I'd rate this one higher than most. It's not at the level of an IMAX production, but the photography is good, the 3d is strong and the narration is interesting. This is part of a series of releases titled "World Natural Heritage" and I'm keen to see if the rest are up to this standard. It will also be released in the UK later this year.
http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Weltnaturerbe-Costa-Rica-3D-Blu-ray/65244/

 

[hotandserious]

BTW - I wouldn't nominate any of the three reviewed above for "Top 23" status.

 

[Chuck Anstey]

I wonder if this thread needs to evolve into "3D blu-rays worth owning" now that there are so many 3D movies out. Basically set a very high bar for 3D usage and every movie that meets or exceeds it gets on the list. We still have your overall rating to order them and the bar can be raised if the usage of 3D ever takes a real step forward given how under utilized it is now. Maybe even have 2 tiers of high quality 3D movies where Tier 1 is the best examples of 3D usage and Tier 2 is excellent usage but not quite Tier 1.

Obviously this is all subjective even if there are some specific measurable requirements but this thread has been quite invaluable to myself and I'm sure many others. Just having someone who generally feels the same way I do about how 3D should be used to enhance a movie evaluate any 3D movie on the basis of its use of 3D is extremely helpful.

 

[fxrh]

I'm kind surprised to note that the double feature of SPY KIDS 3-D: GAME OVER and THE ADVENTURES OF SHARKBOY AND LAVA GIRL are not on this list. For pure pop-out effect, SPY KIDS 3-D has to rank up there.

I decided to pick this up on the basis of your comments and I'm glad I did! This double-feature is a great buy; I watched all of SPY KIDS 3-D and the pop-outs were sensational! I even liked the movie itself; it had a giddy quality, like TRON on steroids, that I enjoyed, and I even laughed out loud at several points. I started to watch SHARKBOY et al. but found it a letdown after about half an hour, but I thought the 3D looked impressive. One thing that threw me was that this movie reverts to 2D for about fifteen minutes during the initial classroom scene and (unlike SPY KIDS) there's no "glasses off" warning when the switch occurs. Oddly, there is a "glasses on" warning later when the kids don goggles within the spaceship. I fiddled with my active-3D glasses for a while until it dawned on me that the switch was deliberate: rather annoying, to say the least!

 

[Paul Hillenbrand]

FYI: When choosing the best native-3D visual reference quality BD 3D disc, The Great Gatsby has just become my latest disc of choice.

 

[TonyD]

I would like to watch Gatsby but not for $30.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Tony,

Though it has no pop-out effects, I think GATSBY looks really cool
in 3D. Try to make it a point to pick it up in upcoming months when
there is a decent sale, or it is available for rental.

 

[TonyD]

That's the plan. No hurry since I still need to get a pass through receiver to replace my 6 year old Denon.I have a lot of BB RZ many so I would be good for for $25 and use RZ dollars to lower it. Bought Coraline today for $15 after using RZ dollars.

 

[Tino]

I would like to watch Gatsby but not for $30.

I spent $30Should have waited for a sale.

 

[FoxyMulder]

Forget The Great Gatsby and all these films which don't have pop out, for me they might as well be watched in 2D, they are not utilizing the technology, A Turtles Tale, Open Season, Madagascar 3 and for live action the martial arts flick, The Flying Swords Of Dragon Gate, these are the type of titles that really use depth and pop out to fully show 3D at it's best.

 

[Tino]

Just curious Malcolm, but are pop out effects all that matter to you in 3D? Depth isn't a consideration? I believe the technology should be a combination of both, don't you?I love pop out effects too but if a film has great depth, that's just as good IMO.