3D Disney Does it again...No 3D Bluray announced for "Maleficent." (1 Viewer)

[Stephen_J_H]

They killed it in the 1950s with...a glut of movies with 3D effects propping up lousy scripts.

And then they brought it back in the 1980s and killed it again with...another glut of movies with anaglyph 3D propping up even lousier scripts.

Then, they brought it back in the 2000s and despite actually making 3D TV in the home a reality, they are poised to kill it yet again...with one last glut of movies with either real or fake 3D propping up the lousiest scripts yet and, worst of all, the lethal combination of bad scripts and bad 3D conversions that are literally painful to watch.

Notice the common denominator? The scripts. No one is going to pay extra if the picture is three-dimensional but the characters are not.

Only 3D on TV in the 80s was anaglyph. Theatrical releases were shown in variations of over/under single-strip polarized 3D. I will, however, concede that many of the scripts were quite awful.

 

[Ejanss]

3D TV is Dead

"The era of blood splatter on the screen and obnoxious cartoon characters throwing lollipops at your face may be over"

(That's funny, I thought that era was over in 2011...
But then, the article's from last January, about--dun, dunn!--Vizio getting out of the game, so I guess we can't reasonably expect currency.
Although, I will admit, yes, the Minions throwing lollipops at our face was one of the weaker moments of the franchise...)

 

[StephenDH]

There was a brief flirtation with anaglyph on UK TV a few years ago using the appalling ColorCode system. The movies they screened on Channel 4 were "Flesh for Frankenstein" and "Friday the 13th. III". If they wanted to put people off the idea of 3D TV they couldn't have done a better job.

 

[revgen]

The 1950's 3D craze was killed moreso by poor implementation. Reels were often run out-of-sync and breakdowns occurred.

As far as the 1950's scripts go, some were good like Hondo, Dial M for Murder, Inferno, Creature From the Black Lagoon, Miss Sadie Thompson etc...

Some were adequate like Kiss Me Kate, The Maze, House of Wax, The Moonlighter, Money From Home, The French Line, and The Glass Web.

Then there were bad ones like Robot Monster, Bwana Devil, Sangaree, Gorilla at Large, etc. And even some of the bad ones like Robot Monster and Gorilla at Large fall into the "so bad they're good" category.

 

[darkness2918]

It might be the price of the discs & them not selling. For example I have a 3D tv & BR player I got as wedding gifts but Istill only buy 2D BRs. I don't really care about 3D & just want to watch the movie so the 2D discs are fine & are cheaper. When I went to pick up the Hobbit DoS extended BR at best buy I took one of the last 2 2D BRs but they had plenty of the 3D ones just sitting there. Why print discs for 3D if they're not gonna sell well? I can understand Disney in that part.

 

[RJ992]

It might be the price of the discs & them not selling. For example I have a 3D tv & BR player I got as wedding gifts but Istill only buy 2D BRs. I don't really care about 3D & just want to watch the movie so the 2D discs are fine & are cheaper. When I went to pick up the Hobbit DoS extended BR at best buy I took one of the last 2 2D BRs but they had plenty of the 3D ones just sitting there. Why print discs for 3D if they're not gonna sell well? I can understand Disney in that part.

Don't know about The Hobbit...but in my area, the 3D seems to sell quite well. When Edge of Tomorroe came out, the 3D Editionw sold out in 2 days at the local Target, but there were dozens of the 2Ds left. Of course, I'm sure the quantity of 2D discs ordered was greater...but I've seen other titles sell as fast, such as GRAVITY. But THE HOBBIT set is a bit over-priced (MSRP $55.00!!) and might dissuade some buyers...especially if they've already bought the theatrical in 3D.
Just as one would have to pay $45.00 to get the LEGO MOVIE set just to get the 3D...well heck, people can get it cheaper (and without the toys) for less via importing. That can't help domestic sales for that title either. So yes, pricing is a deterrent in some cases. Also, sales are basically title-dependent. GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY will probably sell well in 3D.

As for Disney, they continue to demonstrate what an anti-consumer company they are:

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/topic/336068-disney-forces-vudu-to-remove-content-from-users-library/

 

[SFMike]

It might be the price of the discs & them not selling. For example I have a 3D tv & BR player I got as wedding gifts but Istill only buy 2D BRs. I don't really care about 3D & just want to watch the movie so the 2D discs are fine & are cheaper. When I went to pick up the Hobbit DoS extended BR at best buy I took one of the last 2 2D BRs but they had plenty of the 3D ones just sitting there. Why print discs for 3D if they're not gonna sell well? I can understand Disney in that part.

I found a differnt situation at Best Buy up in Northern California as all the copies of The Hobbitt DOS 3D extended version were sold out and I ended up getting it at Target which didn't even advertise that they were carrying the 3D version in their weekly ad. Our local evil Walmart had only one copy of the 3D version available for $35.96 but I was told they would match the lower price of other stores if I brought in an ad. So much for their "low" prices. Make the consumer do the work. I sure miss the days when there were more stores (CompUSA, Good Guys, ect.) that competed to keep the prices down. Retailing is forcing us to buy online while Disney Home Video is forcing us to import. It's sad.

 

[darkness2918]

I found a differnt situation at Best Buy up in Northern California as all the copies of The Hobbitt DOS 3D extended version were sold out and I ended up getting it at Target which didn't even advertise that they were carrying the 3D version in their weekly ad. Our local evil Walmart had only one copy of the 3D version available for $35.96 but I was told they would match the lower price of other stores if I brought in an ad. So much for their "low" prices. Make the consumer do the work. I sure miss the days when there were more stores (CompUSA, Good Guys, ect.) that competed to keep the prices down. Retailing is forcing us to buy online while Disney Home Video is forcing us to import. It's sad.

Yea the best buy I went to is in NYC, we don't have a Wal-Mart here lol. I also remember picking up ASM2 a few weeks back at Target, again there were only a hand full of 2D discs but 2 rows full of 3D. It may just be the area though.

 

[ABaglivi]

All those folks not buying the 3D versions are missing out on a thrilling home theater experience!

 

[Towergrove]

3D sells well in my area Best Buy and Walmart stores carry stock and the newer releases are available.

 

[bruceames]

My local Costco refuses to carry 3D. Been that way for almost a year. The Target store nearby only stocks the 2D version but will sell the 3D if a new release comes out. But they reduced the discount and sell it for $34.95 instead of $29.95, as if they want it to sell bad enough to not have to carry 3D anymore.

Retailers aren't crazy about carrying duplicate SKUs of a title, but they don't mind if they pull their own weight. 3D SKUs have not done that in general, so that's why it's being phased out.

 

[[email protected]]

3D had a rough start in the US in part by how the media presented it. It was instantly labeled a dumb gimmick to get more money out of us. Do you know how many people form their opinion by what they hear on TV?. In America its cool to own an iphone an ipad and hate 3D.

 

[RJ992]

3D had a rough start in the US in part by how the media presented it. It was instantly labeled a dumb gimmick to get more money out of us. Do you know how many people form their opinion by what they hear on TV?. In America its cool to own an iphone an ipad and hate 3D.

Ironically, there's nothing cool about iphones/pads!

 

[SFMike]

3D had a rough start in the US in part by how the media presented it. It was instantly labeled a dumb gimmick to get more money out of us. Do you know how many people form their opinion by what they hear on TV?. In America its cool to own an iphone an ipad and hate 3D.

You are correct. Right after the popularity of Avatar, and probably somewhat because of its huge sucess, it became the "cool" thing to dismiss 3D. It's disparagement usually was linked to having to wear the glasses and you still constantly hear it today. At about the same time a number of film critics, notably Roger Ebert, went to great lengths to bad mouth 3D as often as possible. (http://www.newsweek.com/roger-ebert-why-i-hate-3d-movies-70247 AND http://www.rogerebert.com/rogers-journal/why-3d-doesnt-work-and-never-will-case-closed) No one in the film industry really came boldly to its defense. The end result being pretty early on 3D lost the "cool" factor and it became the fashionable thing to turn you nose up at even the possibility of viewing a 3D film because "it's just a gimmick." Even a few directors got in on it such as Christopher Nolan. Here is a director that says 3D is a gimmick but doesn't feel it's a gimmick to film 1/4 of a film in IMAX and then change the screen ratio every few minutes. I don't mind it but hey....it's a gimmick!

Anyway 3D quickley lost the "cool" war here in the US and right now I think if asian film goers were not enjoying 3D so profitability right now we would be seeing an end to it here. Have you tried buying a 3D blu-ray of Frozen or Step Up All In? The 3D TV rollout was a textbook example of how not to introduce a new product and all the corporations involved in hardware and software only care about massive quarterly profits so cutting 3D promotion is a no brainer fo them. 4K TV will save the industry.......yeah...right....

And you are also right that there is a strange cult of Apple that has the "cool" people still excited about each minor change to the overpriced iphone/pads while the Android products have become the real driver in innovation and at a lower price. It seems we all have to follow the lead of the "cool" crowd who love Apple and hates 3D everything even though we aren't in high school anymore.

 

[bujaki]

Watched Maleficent in 3D last night. Very good depth. As far as pop-outs, missed opportunities galore. Very disappointing in that respect imo.

 

[RolandL]

Watched Maleficent in 3D last night. Very good depth. As far as pop-outs, missed opportunities galore. Very disappointing in that respect imo.

I have not purchased any of the recent Disney 3D blu-ray titles because of this. I wait till they are on Starz On Demand 3D channel and watch for free.

 

[Jesse Skeen]

3D could still be "cool" if the studios and manufacturers cared to PUSH it enough. Seems like they expected it to be "the next big thing" right out of the gate, and didn't know what to do when that didn't happen. (I have no idea what's cool about an iPad, I've played with them and see no reason to get one.)

Got my Maleficent 3D from the UK this week, will watch this weekend. Disney can bite me.

 

[[email protected]]

3D could still be "cool" if the studios and manufacturers cared to PUSH it enough. Seems like they expected it to be "the next big thing" right out of the gate, and didn't know what to do when that didn't happen. (I have no idea what's cool about an iPad, I've played with them and see no reason to get one.)

Got my Maleficent 3D from the UK this week, will watch this weekend. Disney can bite me.

It was my impression that all the negative 3D vibe coming from the media was something the studios were trying separate themselves from, at least in the US. It was almost like they were embarrassed to say "this movie is in 3D".

 

[JeremyLG]

What I don't understand is why not make one version of the product they are selling, and make it all the same around the globe with maybe the exception of language tracks.

 

[MatthewA]

Why do I feel like we'll be having this conversation again over Big Hero 6?