I thought 3D movies were the coolest thing ever when I was a kid. I even loved the silly paper glasses with one red lens and one blue lens and took them home to play with until they completely fell apart. I thought it was neat when popcorn looked like it was flying into the air, or arrows soared over my head, or random birds or feathers or just about anything came out of the screen at me. This was when I was a kid.
Then came a time when 3D fell by the wayside and I forgot all about it until Jaws 3D arrived on screens. I went to see this with a group of my friends, despite being terrified at the whole idea of Jaws. I couldn’t tell you much about this movie now. It was a blur of sharks, people screaming, blood in the water and a last ditch effort to save the world, but I do remember one 3D moment quite vividly. It involved a dead body and worms and that was the last I ever wanted to see of 3D.
I avoided it until Avatar, which I saw in 3D, surround sound, IMAX, blah blah blah because everyone said I absolutely had to see it that way in order to appreciate the movie. And, although it was incredibly pretty, I was unimpressed with the movie as a whole. The story was not intriguing and ridiculous things kept happening. They took out armored choppers with spears. Spears! This movie is single-handedly responsible for turning my dislike of 3D into something more akin to hatred. All of which poses a bit of a problem for me as a die hard Star Wars fan.
In just a few days, on February 10th, Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace will be hitting theaters in 3D. As a Star Wars fan but a 3D hater I have no idea how to handle this situation. I know, my first complaint should be to demand that George Lucas stop messing with the movies, but I’m actually okay with the changes. I don’t like them all but he made the movies to begin with so I figure he should be able to tweak them a bit. (Except for Han and Greedo which was a horrible mistake. Han shot first. End of Story.)
So, although I’m okay with changing things, hopefully for the better, I dread the thought of going to see a movie in 3D. I have visions of lightsabers appearing to poke my eye out or Anakin flying a ship right over my head. This won’t be cool, it’ll be hokey. But, and this is a big but, what if it’s the most awesome version of a Star Wars movie ever created and I don’t see it just because I hate 3D? What if that lightsaber duel is improved? What if JarJar is somehow less noticeable?
In the end, my love of Star Wars is going to win out, although I’m not at all convinced I’m going to walk away happy. I will pay too much for my ticket. I will buy over-priced popcorn. I will don those horribly uncomfortable glasses and sip my two-gallon soda. I will see Star Wars in 3D but, honestly, I’ve got a bad feeling about this.
We share the same sentiment. I am longing to take my boys to experience Star Wars on the big screen (albeit we have to endure the prequels first) but it will have to be in 3D to do it. Like you, I’m going to succumb to our affinity for the franchise over our disdain for most 3D attempts and just do it.
Unlike you, I REALLY enjoyed Avatar in 3D. You’re right in that the story is super hokey…but I was in awe of the “properly filmed” 3D scenes and for me Avatar is the only movie I’ve seen in 3D that was worth the extra cost. I thought it was beautifully filmed.
I agree that Avatar was pretty but I just could not get past the story, nope, couldn’t do it…and I wanted to because everyone else seems to love the film.
I was totally “meh” on Avatar. It really is gloriously pretty but I didn’t go to see a fictional nature film. If I want pretty I have David Attenborough documentaries.
Being a die hard Star Wars fan and having two kids that like it too I am sure we will go see it. My almost two year old has a Darth Vader shirt and knows his name. He even does his breathing to get a laugh. 🙂
I do wish that they would quit messing with it though. The Han/Greedo thing is a horror and yes, Han shot first. He was a scoundrel, remember? Maybe that first kiss he and Leia share will make it worthwhile or maybe the wampa getting Luke will help. But either way, we will be parked in the theater too 🙂
Oh, that whole wampa scene could be kind of fun, and has great potential to scare the daylights out of my kids. Yes, I’m going to take them anyway 😉
One of the things that George Lucas emphasized in his introduction to THE PHANTOM MENACE 3D preview Ben and I went to last weekend was that he didn’t like the ‘gimmicky’ aspects of 3D movie-making. What he was looking for in re-doing the movies in 3D was a richness of depth and background. Having that idea fresh in my head, I didn’t see too much “lightsabers coming out of the screen at me” behavior.
ON A RELATED NOTE: Personally, I’d like to see Lucas redesign the 3D glasses for geeks–even on this schnoz, two pairs of glasses just don’t work… One of the other moms on our trip said that she wished Lucas et al would design 3D film that would stick to glasses like colorforms.
I. WISH.
Yes, my hubby and I share your sentiments as well. However, getting the chance to take the kiddos to see Star Wars on the big screen wins out. The bummer thing is that I have eye problems and can not even see in 3-D so the movie era has kind of ended for me anyway. Oh well! I can always enjoy the non-3-D version at home! Nothing can replace hearing the Star Wars theme belted out at loud decibels though!
If you plan on going to the movie this weekend keep an eye out for the Empire. I have been put on alert that they will be out in full force. 😉