3D MOVIE RATINGS

Star ratings one to five for "modern" (90's+) 3D movies.
THEME PARK 3D - IMAX 3D - REALD

THEME PARK 3D

PHILHARMAGIC Four and a half stars

DisneyWorld Magic Kingdom

Dual 5p 70mm film 30x150 screen. 6k xenon lamp Projectors at 90 degrees.

The theatre features a beautiful gold procenium embossed with dimensional musical instruments. As we don our "opera glasses", the curtain opens. Shortly after the film begins, Donald Duck loses control of the musical instruments- suddenly all goes to black: Big eyes open and a 3D match lights, and we are treated to a Beauty and the Beast rendition of "Be Our Guest" in PANORAMIC 3D! (Actually, the wide center of the screen is stereo, the extreme sides are 2D... the film seams show, but not terribly). The procenium has discretely disappeared as have the side curtains. This clever format eliminates the stereo window problem (at least on the edges, where it really matters)! The entire film is computer-generated in flawless Disney fashion. When an apple pie flies into the audience, we also SMELL the pie! (This is the only olfactory effect I know of at any 3D film). There is a lovely underwater scene with Ariel, a Lion King sequence featuring some imaginative 3d animated design, and a flying carpet scene with Donald jettisoning through the villas. There are the usual spritzings, which people seem to like, but I can do without them! I was surprised that they went with film for this very new attraction... there were already several sections that exhibited extreme wear. I'm a sucker for good cg, and the 3D is used very effectively in this film.

HONEY I SHRUNK THE AUDIENCE Three and a half stars

DisneyWorld Epcot Center

This film tries to make it appear as though the 3D image is a real stage set up for an Inventor of the Year award presentation- everything appears as life size. They even go so far as to have a "video assist" tv monitor off to the left side for close ups (2D, of course) of the primary actors. The glasses are our "safety goggles"- we need them, since the crazy inventor (Rick Moranis) crashes his flying machine into the neon sign above and 3D shards fall into the audience. A ray gun that is supposed to shrink luggage inadvertently points at the audience- now suddenly we are looking at people on the stage as giants... all we see are their feet and ankles. The impression is that we, the audience, have become tiny! This notion is reinforced by what appears to be a child's fingers holding the edges of the screen, supposedly the exterior of the box that the audience is sitting in! The child gently puts us down, and the "giant" actors have to get down on the floor to speak to us. Finally, we are enlarged to "normal size', but the coup de gras is that the dog has also become enlarged- unfortunately the 3d composite is poorly done. Otherwise, a very clever idea for 3D. There are some cg effects used to good effect, but they do look old. I wonder how they shot the huge stage set- everything looked perfectly straight, no wide angle distortion was noticeable. Also starring Eric Idle.

SHREK 4D Four stars

Universal Studios CA and FL

Digital Projection

This is the first theme park digital stereo projection, and the format was extremely impressive! They call it 4D because of the special seat effects (wind and water) but it should be because they use four digital projectors! Apparently, the use of two projectors for each eye is not only brighter, but smoothes out pixelization (aliasing). The image was spectacular! Bright, crisp, clean, and rock steady! Without glasses it was clear that alignment was perfect throughout, something I don't think I have ever seen in film 3D. Of course, the animation was all digitally generated, and as such they are able to control 3d effects very well. However, at the CA park the water effect left big 3D droplets on my 3D glasses! The storyline wasn't particularly fun or funny, but the 3D was phenomenal.

IT'S TOUGH TO BE A BUG Three stars

DisneyWorld Animal Kingdom

The highlight of this 3D film is the opening: the curtain has a pattern of butterflies on it, and as the film begins they surprisingly spring to life and fly off the curtain! (Sorry if I spoiled it for you~). We meet all the regular computer generated characters from A Bug's Life, including a large animatronic model of the evil grasshopper. Cute enough, but nothing exrtaordinary (except for the bug shaped glasses).

THE AMAZING SPIDERMAN Five stars

Universal Studios Islands of Adventure

This is the only 3D ride film I've been on (I know there are others), but it absolutely HAS to be the best. We're talking about 13 different 3D screens and plenty of effects. Right off the bat the computer generated Spiderman hops out of the screen ONTO the front of the ride car- you see, hear and feel it. The screens are virtually invisible, as they so seamlessly mesh with the physical environment which appears to be New York City. A bridge along the wall merges with the screen bridge, we are later in a huge sewer pipe looking into the 3d sewer pipe with Spiderman as a giant water villian comes up behind him and reaches for us- naturally we get a little wet. A pipe is hurled at us and we are knocked along... Another villian tries to torch us with a heat gun, and we feel it! An awesome effect happens when we appear to be rising between skyscrapers, we see it in 3d in front of us, aided by the lit building windows on either side of us slinging quickly downward... it appears that we are tipped over the edge of a skyscraper- all the buildings are sideways! Suddenly we are in a freefall toward the ground- thank goodness Spiderman's web catches us just in time and all is well. Incredible 3d, great effects and total interaction makes this a MUST SEE. The engineering is a marvel... this is as good as it gets.

TERMINATOR 3D Five stars

Universal Studios

This is the only 3d film I know of to integrate live action and animatronics along with the 3d film... they did a spectacular job! The original cast is utilized, and James Cameron is co-director. Film production is top notch, and cg integration works seamlessly. The film starts out on the center screen, and later envelops us as two side screens open up for surround 3d! One of the highlights is when Arnold rides his motorcycle right through the screen and literally into the audience! Of course, it's now another actor playing the Terminator, but it works surprisingly well. Lots of live action sequences in the audience make this 3d attraction another MUST SEE. (note: on the Terminator Special Collector's DVD set, there is a whole chapter on the making of Terminator 3D. Highly recommended!)

HAUNTED LIGHTHOUSE 4D Two stars

Sea World CA

Mostly live action, with a few cg sequences when the ghost kids turn into wacky gremlins that spice up this otherwise fairly dull offering. In this showing there was even a section around five minutes long that reverted to 2D! No one at the venue could tell me whether this was a permanent or temporary phenomenon. The best part of the film is the opening sequence which effectively brings to 3d life the illustrations which I assume accompany the book by R L Stine.

MUPPETVISION 3D Three and a half stars

DisneyWorld MGM

Early live action of the popular Jim Henson creations... some "in" 3D jokes makes it fun. The highlight of this presentation is a Miss Piggy sequence where she blows bubbles into the audience, and 3d bubbles mix with real bubbles in the audience space. Great effect! Otherwise, the usual cornball, cute Muppet hi-jinks.

IMAX 3D

BUGS! Four stars - 2003 SK Films

Incredible macro stereo makes these tiny creatures seem gargantuan! There is an incredible sequence showing hundreds of baby praying mantises being born... they come down little strings hanging from a huge leaf. Absolutely fascinating! Apparently the spider coming down the web at the audience is a little much for small kids... my 6 year old niece and nephew hardly wanted to put their glasses back on after that!

GHOSTS OF THE ABYSS Three stars - 2003 Disney

Disappointment from James Cameron after the incredible Terminator 3D offering. There are some high points- they are all digitally enhanced or generated. Some of the cg room recreations are fantastic, as are the 3D conversions of the old black and white photos (apparently intricate depth maps were created from 3d models made to simulate each scene). Unfortunately, some of the interior scenes of the sub were hard on the eyeballs due to extreme window violations. I know there are some restrictions for a 3d camera in tight quarters, but this was too much.

SPACE STATION Three and a half stars - 2002 IMAX/NASA

Some extreme parallax, but it's amazing how much they were able to pull off in the IMAX format out in space! Shots of crew members floating in front of you in 3D made you really feel like you're inside the shuttle along with them. The closest we'll ever be to being up there.

CIRQUE de SOLIEL Three and a half stars - 2000 Sony Classics

An excellent subject for 3d, this was not a documentary of regular performances but a narrative specifically written for the IMAX 3D vehicle. The narrative was a vague and somewhat corny story that provided an excuse for various scenes in which the troupe could show their costumes and aerobatics. Some highlights include a beatiful underwater sequence (a natural for through the window effects) and a scene of "living statues" that were floating on a giant leaf on a pond. One overhead shot was particularly effective, as the screen became the water surface and the statues jutted out into the room. I also liked the scene deep in the woods with very colorful characters in the misty rays of the sun. Unfortunately some scenes dragged, but it could be that European circus style~

CYBERWORLD Four and a half stars - 2000 Wireframe Films

This is what I want to see in 3D! The computer has allowed incredible freedom for fertile minds, and stereo is a natural by-product of 3d animation. Showcases of short films like this are the perfect outlet for creative pieces that might never otherwise be seen. In this grouping there is a wide variety of styles, highlighted by a sequence from the cg animation ANTS (by PDI, the same people who did SHREK) with Woody Allen and Sylvester Stallone re-rendered in 3D, and the absolute BEST 3D animated sequence ever (also by PDI): HOMER SIMPSON goes from the 2D cartoon world to the 3D cg world! It was originally done for the television show, but was re-rendered in high resolution and stunning stereo 3d! Not only is it one of the funniest Simpsons sequences ever, but the transition from 2D to 3D is a sight to behold. And when the 2D Professor Frink tries to explain what happended to Homer and speaks of "the hypothetical z-axis", it's the zenith of 3D hilarity. A MUST SEE.