While 3D has technically been around forever, having owned those fun little pairs of blue and red glasses for many years as a child, it really came into its own theatrically in a big way in the last few years. I was resistant at first, trying it with just Monsters Vs. Aliens and liking it but seeing it as little more than a gimmick at that time, though one ideally suited to kids CG movies. The obvious game changer though was when Avatar hit and became one of just a handful of movies in the last ten or so years that I saw more than once in the theater – and would go to see again. What Cameron did was something that really utilized the medium well, especially in color manipulation. As much as I like my setup and others that I’ve seen, the 2D presentations just don’t work for the movie which makes it an ideal film to go and revisit on the big screen.
But since then, Hollywood took a good thing and ran with it by doing a lot of post conversions. Taking 2D filmed movies and adding some 3D effects to it, raising the price (which they were subsidizing for the theaters to begin with when it came to the glasses) and just went all out. A lot of movies that didn’t need 3D were given the post-conversion treatment and it didn’t take long before people started to feel burned. And hauling out some older movies for re-releases in 3D just made people even warier. And I’ll even admit that the only one that would tempt me would be Titanic if only because of Cameron as I can’t be sure that he wouldn’t pull off something amazing here. That said, I did a fair number of 3D movies with my kids in the first half of 2011 and just kept feeling like I was being taken advantage of. My big point came when I decided that the release of Transformers 3 would be the telling point. If they couldn’t do a great job of selling that in 3D, I was done with it. And as much as I enjoyed the spectacle of the movie, I found the 3D to be pretty pointless when you got down to it. I haven’t been back to a 3D movie since then. And have enjoyed lower ticket prices ever since, which at a $4 premium, adds up when you take a family of four to the movies.
What’s been happening more and more though, as I still go to the movies fairly frequently, is that when the new movies are hitting in 3D and smaller 2D runs, the 2D run is getting shunted into more unwelcome places and times. When we went to see Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (yeah, yeah, leave my comic book fan ass alone), no 2D showings were matinees during the first week. If you wanted a matinee, you were stuck in 3D and the premium pricing. This weekend sees the big release of John Carter, which my kids and I have been keen on since the first trailer hit last year. There’s obviously a big 3D push, but we’re not in for that. Yet if we want a 2D showing, the earliest is at 7:20 at night in my area. So they’re going to get something of a premium out of me anyway, though at least it’ll be less ($45 for 3D for 3 people, $27 for 2D for 3 people). But it’s frustrating as I do want to take my kids to see it, but a 7:20 showing of a two and a half hour movie is pushing it.
So the choice then becomes, to 3D or not to 3D?
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