I’ve never been on the 3D bandwagon. While I thought there were some interesting applications for which 3D would be useful and revolutionary (gaming, digital signage if/when glasses-free 3D becomes viable, medical imaging), I was not that excited for the inevitable flood of 3D movies from Hollywood.

Movie studios love 3D. They can charge a significant price premium and 3D movies are much harder to pirate. Nevermind that most 3D content is terribly done, with little thought to its artistic necessity and application. Suddenly otherwise good movies, and worse, perfectly mediocre ones, had ridiculous scenes designed around things flying out at your face (bubbles, pirhanas, swords, snakes, bunnies, whatever). Even if you forego the 3D and see the movie in 2D, you can tell what scenes have been left in for the cheesy 3D effect. In addition, the 3D is often added after filming, leaving me with a headache and not significantly more entertained. Blargh. I did enjoy Avatar’s beautiful 3D graphics, one of the few films I’ve seen that put significant time and skill and money into making it a stunningly beautiful 3D experience. I wish the plot had been a bit more original, but I guess you can’t get everything you want.

I don’t meant to totally rip on 3D. Four or five CEDIAs ago, when the idea of 3D in the home was but a mere prototype, I saw a demo in the Digital Projection booth of Star Wars (Episode 4 or 5, I believe) in a 3D battle scene that blew my mind. In fact, I’ve seen many amazing 3D demos at shows (many of which were in the Digital Projection booth, such as their ridiculous four-projector command and control dome set-up from the last few years, although Da-Lite’s 3D surgery demos also left an um, lasting impression). Anyway, the Star Wars battle demo was one of the first 3D demos I remember getting and it was amazing.

So when our office went last week to see Episode 1 of Star Wars in 3D, I was the skeptic in the group. But ultimately I found myself pretty engrossed in the story, despite having seen it several times before, and even liked the addition of the 3D. As I told Gary after the show, if you’re going to see a movie in 3D, it might as well be one-third battle scene. 3D for the sake of 3D is irritating. But a light saber in your face? Now that’s entertainment.