The Phantom Menace - 3D (1 Viewer)

I had to go see it, because for the past month, my son was asking hourly what time we were going and my last atom of sanity was about to dissolve. If you care enough about this to have opened this thread, then you've already seen the movie. The 3D was OK. Pod Racing in 3D: pretty cool. Jar-Jar Binks in 3D: not so much. For the most part the 3D was rather nondescript, which isn't so surprising for a movie that wasn't made with 3D in mind. Bright Tatooine scenes looked very nice, but it was harder to focus on some of the dark scenes. Overall, it seemed a little less dim than most recent 3D films I've seen. (Come to think of it, it was the first recent non-CGI film I've seen in 3D. Well, non-entirely-CGI, anyway.) I wouldn't recommend going out of your way to catch this, but if you're in the mood to watch some Star Wars on the big screen, go for it. Shockingly, I didn't notice any content changes. I was kind of expecting something to be added that took better advantage of the 3D.

I took the kids, who were eager to see it. I sat in a theater full of dads and little kids. The little kids all seemed to enjoy it. All I could think was how bad it really was; there are some good moments, but wow a lot of bad ones. Which is sad considering that the series ended with a movie I liked quite a bit actually (ROTS).

But having just re-read Timothy Zahn's Heir to the Empire trilogy again, I'm always a bit sick at heart of how good a trilogy could have been versus what we got. *shrug*

I had read that they wanted a more subtle 3-D effect for The Phantom Meance and they sure got it. A few shots on Coruscant, Amidala's castle and the podrace look good in 3-D since the shots have some depth to them. Like most of the SW movies, those shots are few and far between though. Overall, I had a great time seeing the movie in a theater with an audience again but I would have been just as satisified seeing it in 2-D and I'd have saved $3 too. For anyone who thinks that they should have started with the OT in 3-D, if this movie didn't really do much with 3-D then there's no hope for something like Star Wars or The Empire Strikes Back where they were limited to relatively small sets and almost no shots with any depth to them. Except for the credits (where they add the people who worked on the 3-D conversion and a 2012 copyright), the movie is the same in 3-D as it was on Blu-ray. Obviously, I don't see a need to convert them to 3-D but after TPM's box office take this weekend, I know Attack Of The Clones will be out next year and I definitely look forward to it.

I noticed though during the trailers for TPM 3D and Titanic 3D, Titanic's 3D was much more noticeable even the shots from the dinner scenes. Perhaps the subtle 3D was an aesthetic choice or perhaps George didn't want to spend a ton of money on 3D before knowing it would be profitable as a re-release.

Pete-D said:

I noticed though during the trailers for TPM 3D and Titanic 3D, Titanic's 3D was much more noticeable even the shots from the dinner scenes. Perhaps the subtle 3D was an aesthetic choice or perhaps George didn't want to spend a ton of money on 3D before knowing it would be profitable as a re-release.

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Since it takes place on a ship, almost all of the sets that Titanic is shot on have something that creates depth (long corridors and hallways, the exterior shots of the ship, even lots of people or items in the fore- mid- or background of a shot, etc). There's not much in the original footage of The Phantom Menace that creates depth so they could spend all the money in the world and it isn't going to make it more suitable to 3-D.

I didn't think the 3-D was good at all and recommended to my friends not to see it unless they have a need to see it on the big screen again.

Robert Crawford said:

I didn't think the 3-D was good at all and recommended to my friends not to see it unless they have a need to see it on the big screen again.

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I'm glad to know this. I saw a preview in 3D and was not impressed.

The "Kids" trailer has to be seen to be believed! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2_J2j-Dpxg&feature=related And the parody... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDH60Spj-l8&feature=related

Shockingly, I didn't notice any content changes. I was kind of expecting something to be added that took better advantage of the 3D.

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Well, there was the new LucasFilm Logo. But what seems to be the consensus, some of the 3-D was good in certain parts, but there were many shots that seemed like no 3-D effect was applied at all. I guess overall, I don't regret checking it out though. And I guess, the quality of the movies only get better from here.

I can't watch these prequel films again under

any circumstances....


....however, I was curious to see how well the

3D conversion was. Sorry to hear, that as well,

was a disappointment.


Thanks for the comments.

I saw episode 1 in 3d. it was certainly better 3d then harry potter, clash of the titans, and conan the barbarian remake. I know somewhat how its suppsoe to work. it was more in the background and stuff that you could see. like for instance how big the underwater city was. I would certainly recommend it. Jacob

Originally Posted by Ronald Epstein

I can't watch these prequel films again under

any circumstances....


....however, I was curious to see how well the

3D conversion was. Sorry to hear, that as well,

was a disappointment.


Thanks for the comments.

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Ronbo,


For me, it wasn't that good, but others will disagree with me so it depends on what your expectations are and your subjective opinion.








Crawdaddy

I actually thought the 3D was really good for a movie that was not shot in 3D. My expectations were low, so I was pleasantly surprised. I don't consider myself a big fan of 3D, but I would be interested in seeing the rest of the movies (maybe not AotC) in 3D.

I think the second half of AotC has the potential for some good 3D. When's it supposed to come out? Ron, I don't know that "disappointment" is the right word -- I doubt that anyone's expectations were particularly high, considering that the movie wasn't made with 3D in mind. There weren't a lot of cool 3D effects, but what there were were decent.

Aaron Silverman said:

I think the second half of AotC has the potential for some good 3D. When's it supposed to come out?

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They haven't set a specific date (beyond saying that they plan to do one a year) but I'd guess it'll be February every year. I think February works pretty well because the Oscar movies have been out & slowed down and it's before the competition from summer movies.

when episode 1 first came out. there was so much to see in the visual world of star wars. this is same case with the 3d version. I certainly notice more stuff in the background then before. for those it might be interesting to revisit star wars. I would certainly recommend it on that level. Jacob

I don't like Episode I, but still went to see it this past weekend just to check out the 3D. I hadn't seen a non-3D movie converted to 3D, so I was anxious to see how well the process worked. For me, it was very hit and miss. In some scenes, the effect was fantastic, but in other scenes, there appeared to be no 3D affect at all. Then there were the many scenes that fell somewhere in between. Will I see the others in 3D. Probably. But I'm certainly not chomping at the bit. We went on a Sunday around noon, and I was surprised that the theater was 3/4 full. I kind of expected the theater to be mostly empty. There were definately a lot of 10 and unders with their parents.

I took my kids to see it last Saturday. The Phantom Menace is the kind of movie that I swear gets worse with every viewing. It was the first time the girls saw it, they've seen the Original Trilogy and we watch the Clone Wars, but I've avoided showing them the PT. Quite frankly, the PT is too violent for them. Not so much Phantom Menace, but definitely AOTC and ROTS. The Clone Wars can be violent too, but the story is just so good at times that I'm able to work with it. (I always watch it w/them.) I thought the 3D was awful. The picture had a steady haze and the volume mix was poor considering I was in a "premier" RPX showing at our Regal Cinema. The kids still enjoyed it, so it was worth the afternoon out. Even better was having my dad with us, since he took me to all 6 in the theaters. I wrote up a quick post on it for my blog too -- http://peanutsandcrackerjack.webs.com/apps/blog/show/12315737-the-circle-is-now-complete Doug

Bryan, we went to the 1:30 show on Sunday and it was quite packed (about 100 empty seats according to the person at the BO, in a fairly large room). Lots of kids. Remember that these kids know the movies from TV and discs, but this is their first opportunity to see them on the big screen. Doug, I wonder how much of the poor presentation was related to the theater you were in -- as I mentioned, there were some scenes that seemed a bit out of focus, but others were razor-sharp. I didn't notice any haze. I didn't notice anything unusual about the sound mix, either. My son, who lives, eats, and breathes Star Wars, still hasn't worked up the gumption to watch the second half of Revenge of the Sith, because he knows what's coming (from talking to friends) and is a little scared. I think he's getting the itch to finish it, though. (The ironic thing is that General Grievous is his favorite character, so he's really into the first part of the movie.) I agree with you that the Clone Wars TV show is great. In the entire Star Wars pantheon, IMO only the first two movies are better (granted, I haven't read every book or played every game).

It's really nice to see stories about people enjoying Star Wars on a multi-generational level. I remember seeing The Empire Strikes Back (probably on a re-release) and Return Of The Jedi with my parents in the theater and they got me the toys when I was young so it's cool to know that kids are having the same fun that I had.

Aaron Silverman said:

I agree with you that the Clone Wars TV show is great. In the entire Star Wars pantheon, IMO only the first two movies are better (granted, I haven't read every book or played every game).

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I haven't read everything but I've read way more than enough to say that you're right.