
Meh
As someone with (according to my optician) "a very interesting prescription" and no 3D vision, I was hoping this whole 3D thing would be the usual flash in the pan but sadly it doesn't seem to be going away any time soon. Waaah!
Sony is planning to take old movies, convert them into 3D and bung them out on Blu-ray Disc, all in a bid to boost consumer interest in 3D TV technology. The move - which to many film buffs will recall media companies' past efforts to colourise black-and-white classics - could kick off as early as April. "We'll probably be …
Other titles for recalculation in better or worse 3-D...
Specs, Lies, and Video Artifacts
The Magnificent Stereograms
All Quiet on the West and Front
Tritanic
Stand Out By Me
Gone Out With the Wind
The Three-Dimensional Matrix (for maths or computation fans)
343 (likewise, being 7 cubed)
The Wizard of Ozone (and only chemists will get the joke there)
Textures of Lily (actually a single by The Who, never mind)
A Round World In 80 Days
The Titfield Tesseract (or is that 4-D? ah well, have to wait then)
Twelve Angular Men
I Spit In Your Eye
I can't see there being enough information available in a 2d image to generate believable 3d consistently. Presumably relative movement of parts of the image could work in some cases, given enough computing power, (maybe NASA's got some spare time?) but I reckon the result would be even more nauseating (literally) than 'genuine' 3d.
I've seen a couple of the better "automatic conversion" efforts, and they are fairly terrible.
Maybe people should try making some decent fking films, rather than going all Ted Turner on the stock of old ones...
First they came for Orson Welles.. but I wasn't Orson Welles, so I said nothing..
Then they came for Tarkovsky, but I wasn't...
etc. etc.
Wretched, miserable stuff.
..underwhelmed by 'The 3D revolution (tm)' ?
I mean alright it's a bit of a novelty to go and watch movies like 'Up' or 'Avatar' in 3D... But in reality it doesn't add that much to the experience. Holywood have jumped all over it because it is a USP to get people into movie theatres and prevent piracy (of 3d showings of the movies at least), but really... hand on heart I don't want all my content in 3d. It would be a pointless waste of time and money.
16:9 was not invented and brought to market for movies... It was (officially) a compromise to fit most formats used at the time (in a one-size-doesn't-fit-anybody kind of approach) and in practice just something to encourage people to replace their television and spend money on a new set, when they didn't actually need a new one.
Then it was HD ready then full HD, then full HD + 3D (shutter glasses) then probably full HD + 3D (polarising glasses)..
How many time does Sony want you to buy a new telly?
Bodging 3D onto 'classic' films merely to shift a few more BD disks is just plain stupid. Surely, if you're the kind of gal/guy that wants to see classic movies like Citizen Kane, Casablanca, The African Queen, Psycho etc - then you'll be "purist" enough to want to see them as the director intended, NOT as some marketing bozo in Tokyo/Hollywood wants.
Okay, I'd be content to see films that came out in the cinema in 3D (red/blue glasses) in the new 3D format, but for lord's sake leave the others unmolested guys! Plus - with the limited knowledge I have - I would have though these old 3D films would convert easier than a film designed for 2D.
For a perfect explanation of my feelings on this "Classics in 3D" idea see
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrjwaqZfjIY
which says it perfectly!
Namely carbon-credit-crunch-footprint-recycling schemes! As pointed out, each time the latest 'innovation' in viewing pleasure is touted in the age-old quest for cash (a.k.a. new money for old rope), the distributors should be forced to employ an exchange system for your old media (vhs, laserdisc, dvd, blu-ray, and so on), at minimal cost, given that you've already paid for the 'license'. PC makers have to offer disposal of old kit so the same should apply to physical media and the devices that they're played on. Organisations such as the MPAA seemingly want to have their cake an eat it, so let's ally ourselves in another cause for the greater good and fight obesity as well!
Cynicism as social baton?