3D Meet Bob Furmanek: HTF Golden Age 3-D Consultant (2 Viewers)

[StephenDH]

Great job on "the Maze". Of all the 3D movies I've seen, this is the most beautiful. The stunning b&w photography more than makes up more any of the movie's dramatic shortcomings.
After spending his career trying to produce depth in 2D movies, William Cameron Menzies must have been as happy as Larry to get his hands on a stereo camera system.

Something I've noticed over thee years is that when 2D movies have lots of clutter between the actors and the camera, it's a safe bet that they were directed by a former art director, e.g. Menzies, Daniel Haller, Robert Fuest.
No art director worthy of the name can resist a candelabra, spear, flower vase or stuffed owl.

 

[Bob Furmanek]

Thank you, Stephen.

It's not every day we have an opportunity to work with 4K scans of the original 35mm left/right camera negatives. Our minuscule budgets simply don't allow that luxury.

It's thanks to Martin Scorsese, The Film Foundation and the Paramount Archive that THE MAZE looks so amazingly stunning!

Look for similar results on our new 3-D restoration of REVENGE OF THE CREATURE. NBCUniversal provided 4K scans of the original 35mm elements on that one.

 

[3D Projectionist]

I've said it before, this is a wonderful time to have the opportunity to own and show these classic 3D masterpieces at home fully restored.
Thank you all involved for bringing them all back even better than was probably seen all those years ago!

 

[revgen]

Bob posted this on "the other site".

Thank you!

Everyone may have an opportunity to help us very soon with some much-needed restoration work via Kickstarter.

Standby for updates...

Hold on to your wallets.

 

[Interdimensional]

It's nice to have the opportunity to play even a small part in rescuing these films, and it's reassuring to know that there is something of a community of individuals that feel the same way. There is no good reason for the 3-D aspect of these films to be abandoned and forgotten and I'm grateful that something is being done about it. If we can do this for even the most obscure films, there can be little excuse for the continued neglect of certain sought-after gems languishing in big studio vaults.

I'll be checking in regularly in the coming days/weeks/whenever this thing is ready go ahead, and I'll be happy to contribute at the earliest opportunity. I can think of a few titles that might or might not be suitable cases for this sort of funding and can't wait to learn more.

 

[Bob Furmanek]

You'll have your Revenge in two weeks!

http://www.3dfilmarchive.com/revenge-of-the-creature

 

[StephenDH]

Bob, I think you're being a bit harsh on the anaglyph version of "Revenge of the Creature". I saw it in a London cinema in 1982/3 and it was pretty damn good, not headache-inducing at all.
Even my then-girlfriend was impressed, not an easy thing to achieve.
I suppose back then 3D was a rarity so we had nothing to compare it to and anaglyphs were the only game in town.

 

[Bob Furmanek]

If you saw it today, you'd call it headache-inducing.

I thought it looked passable (within anaglyphic limitations) until I saw the original polarized version. Night and day.

 

[Bob Furmanek]

Our 3-D restoration of Hal Wallis' CEASE FIRE (http://www.3dfilmarchive.com/cease-fire) is currently $11.99 in the big Kino sale for August!

https://www.klstudioclassics.com/product/view/id/4835

 

[SAM33]

If you don't have this, GET IT!
Some of the best location 3D ever, period!

S A M 33

 

[Matt Hough]

If you don't have this, GET IT!
Some of the best location 3D ever, period!

S A M 33

Absolutely. 3D fans will not be disappointed, and the movie held my interest throughout.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I agree! The movie on its own is entertaining enough, but the 3D really kicks it up a few notches. It really does make you feel like you’re over in Korea with the army.

 

[revgen]

Cease Fire is an interesting "out of the box" project even without the 3-D. It mixes documentary and traditional Hollywood filmmaking while paving the way to darker war films in the later 50's such as Anthony Mann's Men in War (1957). It's not he kind of project Hollywood typically produced during the studio era, but competition from TV forced the studios to try new ideas.

 

[Bob Furmanek]

In less than a week, you'll be enjoying our new restoration of REVENGE OF THE CREATURE on 3-D Blu-ray. The Gill-man will be popping out of your big screen TV!

http://www.3dfilmarchive.com/revenge-of-the-creature

 

[Malcolm R]

Legacy collection is $25.97 at bullmoose.com (cheaper than current Amazon price). Free shipping on orders over $30 (pair Creature with the Invisible Man set at the same price and shipping is free).

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

This is in reference to an upcoming release from Kino on Blu-ray 3-D; just a few words about SANGAREE:

Last night Bob showed us the final check disc for Sangaree on his Epson 5040 projection system, as far as I know it is the same as the finished product. Much like "Those Redheads from Seattle," the 3-D in this film is superb - maximum layered depth with well-rounded images. Expertly staged and blocked for maximum dimensional effect. No cardboard cutouts or "2.5-D" like modern films. A number of off-screen effects are present, but reserved for specific impact for the most part. The movie is an pretty engaging period melodrama, not a musical, so it should have a wider audience appeal. Lamas and Dahl make an excellent screen couple. The Archive team have again corrected most every 3-D alignment issue and the film has zero eyestrain and, of course, no ghosting whatsoever. The digital cleanup has removed loads of dirt and artifacts without affecting the picture quality. It's presented in the original Academy 1.37 aspect ratio with strong mono sound. An absolutely essential extra is the restoration demo, which shows just how far gone most of the film was, color-wise, and what was done to bring it back. Yes, there are some parts that are not correctable without a humongous additional investment in time and money, but the overall effort for this release is superlative. Vintage 3-D fans can pre-order with confidence!

 

[Joel Arndt]

This is in reference to an upcoming release from Kino on Blu-ray 3-D; just a few words about SANGAREE:

Last night Bob showed us the final check disc for Sangaree on his Epson 5040 projection system, as far as I know it is the same as the finished product. Much like "Those Redheads from Seattle," the 3-D in this film is superb - maximum layered depth with well-rounded images. Expertly staged and blocked for maximum dimensional effect. No cardboard cutouts or "2.5-D" like modern films. A number of off-screen effects are present, but reserved for specific impact for the most part. The movie is an pretty engaging period melodrama, not a musical, so it should have a wider audience appeal. Lamas and Dahl make an excellent screen couple. The Archive team have again corrected most every 3-D alignment issue and the film has zero eyestrain and, of course, no ghosting whatsoever. The digital cleanup has removed loads of dirt and artifacts without affecting the picture quality. It's presented in the original Academy 1.37 aspect ratio with strong mono sound. An absolutely essential extra is the restoration demo, which shows just how far gone most of the film was, color-wise, and what was done to bring it back. Yes, there are some parts that are not correctable without a humongous additional investment in time and money, but the overall effort for this release is superlative. Vintage 3-D fans can pre-order with confidence!

Thank God it's not a musical! Only kidding, of course. A little sarcasm perhaps. Appreciate the heads up on what appears to be another superb job by the 3-D Film Archive.

 

[3D Projectionist]

ITS ALIVE!! Sorry I meant to say its arrived the creature is here and just preparing for its first UK 3D screening in years. Probably..

Tonight The Creature will have its 3D revenge here and boy are we looking forward to it. Triple yay and break out the popcorn.

 

[Bob Furmanek]

Someone broke street date. You're seeing it before we are!

We look forward to your review...

 

[Interdimensional]

Came across the following in reference to a 3D festival at a Canadian theater chain with screenings including Dial M and Creature from the Black Lagoon along with more modern fare like Life of Pi and a lot of conversions. I always hope opportunities like this will enable Golden Age 3-D films to reach a new audience.

http://exclaim.ca/film/article/five_3d_movie_gimmicks_we_endured_before_reald

Although they acknowledge the existence of 3-D cinema in the 20th century, the sneering attitude towards vintage 3-D is fairly typical:

Five 3D Movie Gimmicks We Endured Before RealD

By Exclaim! Staff
Published Aug 22, 2018
Promotional consideration provided by Cineplex.

Since its founding in 2003, RealD Inc. has changed the way we view 3D movies. Rather than squinting through a haze of red and blue, we've been able to immerse ourselves in three-dimensional movie environments that don't distract from the movie at hand.

The technology has also allowed movie houses to fix the mistakes of the past by offering updated RealD cuts of classic flicks. That's precisely what Cineplex will do with the latest edition of their RealD 3D Fest, which takes place on August 31.

At select Cineplex locations across the country, fans will be able to enter the third dimension of a wide array of choices, include prestigious award winners like Gravity, The Life of Pi and Titanic, popcorn fare like Piranha 3D, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and Top Gun and stone-cold classics like The Wizard of Oz, Dial M for Murder, Creature from the Black Lagoon and, of course, Terminator 2: Judgement Day.

In order to truly appreciate today's 3D technology, however, we must remember precisely how gimmicky the technology of yesteryear really was. As such, please dig into the three-dimensional horrors of the past below.


L'Arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat (1896)



Brothers Auguste and Louis Lumière initially conceived their now-legendary short as a three-dimensional image, later reshooting it with a stereoscopic film image for maximum 3D effect in 1935. Even as a flat, two-dimensional image, however, their original piece was still too immersive for audiences in 1896. As urban legend has it, audience members screamed and panicked as a train barrelled towards them in the cinema.

House of Wax (1953)



House of Wax is not a particularly bad film, particularly for those who love Vincent Price. But its release was not entirely successful. Inspired by the film Bwana Devil, Wax was released to much fanfare, but its three-dimensional look was delivered with a double projector system that delivered two sets of film — one for the left eye and another for the right. Aside from the endless technical difficulties, this also meant the film's 3D effects only worked if you had the best seats in the house.

Andy Warhol's Frankenstein (1973)



Of course, things don't get much more gimmicky than Andy Warhol's Frankenstein. The film, directed by Paul Morrissey and originally titled Flesh for Frankenstein, got its title because Warhol visited the set once and also popped by the studio during the editing period. The film was rated X for its extreme sex scenes and gory disembowelments, which were shot in 3D. Naturally, it was critically panned upon its release but has since developed a cult following for its oddball sensibilities.

Friday the 13th Part III (1982)



The shameless filth of Andy Warhol's Frankenstein is far preferred over the desperate gimmickry of Friday the 13th Part III. This instalment in the Jason series returned to camp with, well, plenty of camp as characters inexplicably indulged in the film's corny 3D theatrics. There are slow-moving pitchforks that feel like they're going to poke your eyes out, and one character is inexplicably obsessed with dangling his yo-yo into the lens for long periods of time. That said, it didn't stop the filmmakers from raking it in at the box office.

Jaws 3-D (1983)



Few films are associated with 3D gimmickry quite like Jaws 3-D. The second sequel to Steven Spielberg's beloved shark flick was met with extreme derision thanks to its terrible script, poor direction and reliance on 3D gimmickry to try and justify its existence. Of course, considering home 3D technology didn't even exist at the time of its release, the film was rendered pointless after it left cinemas. Jaws 3-D was nominated for five Golden Raspberry Awards, but couldn't even win any of those — it's not even bad in a fun way.

Of course none of the 'gimmicky' movies listed in the article are part of the festival. Too bad