Get ready for your next immersion into adventure and fun, and it’s in 3D. I love classic storytelling methods that surprise the reader, from the Victorian to modern technology, whether it’s stereoscopic images, View-Master reels, lenticular images, pop-up books, or state-of-the-art digital animation. One of my very first books as a young boy was Robert Louis Stevenson’s A Child’s Garden of Verses, with 3D diorama artwork and a lenticular cover. I’ve reviewed several 3D movies here at borg, too, from The Creature from the Black Lagoon to Jaws 3D, and Predator and Rogue One. French artist Matthias Picard’s roving young adventurer Jim Curious returns after his debut in 2014’s Jim Curious–A Voyage to the Heart of the Sea in his next book, Jim Curious and the Jungle Journey. It’s a complete 3D adventure using anaglyph 3D, that classic blue-red 3D style and includes two pairs of 3D glasses–just like the kind from 3D movies in the 1920s to the 1980s. The eye-popping images will take your breath away.
If you’re not familiar with 3D movie releases and 3D Blu-rays, one thing to be aware of is that some films are produced originally with 3D technology and others are not, but still can be “upconverted” in various ways to a form of 3D viewing. Some movie watchers dismiss the entire notion of 3D, others live for it. When done right, a film can be produced and displayed brilliantly in 3D. A film can also have a successful upconversion. One of the best we’ve seen so far is the upconversion of Predator, reviewed previously here at borg.com. Predator 3D was directed by John McTiernan, the brilliant director of films like Die Hard and The Hunt for Red October, back in 1987, long before the new renaissance of 21st century 3D entertainment.
Lucky for us, McTiernan had an eye for texture and layering, and filmed most of Predator in a jungle setting, one of the best locales to demonstrate the most effective imagery of 3D technology. So despite the original film not being shot in 3D, the Blu-ray release of the upconversion is like a different film. The result is a stunningly layered experience that, when watched on quality 3D home entertainment equipment, is as completely immersive as technology allows.
This week we learned that Terminator 2 is finally being upconverted for a 2017 release in 3D. Along with his movie Aliens, Terminator 2 is at the top of James Cameron’s best work, so it stands to reason that it is a superb candidate for the 3D treatment. To cement the project, Paramount released a new poster (above) for the 3D release, via the T2 Facebook page.
What a busy year! We took in more content this year than ever before, reading more books, watching more TV series, and reviewing more movies. Wading through all that Hollywood had to offer, we try to hone in on the genre films and TV series we think are worth our time. We went back and looked at it all and pulled together our picks for our annual “Best of the Best” list. Today we reveal the best content focusing on movies. Come back for more of our picks tomorrow. If you missed any of these films this year, check them out when they arrive on video or digital release.
Edge of Tomorrow — Best Film of the Year, Best Science Fiction Fix, Best Action Fix, Best Actress (Emily Blunt), Best Supporting Actor (Bill Paxton). The benefit of Blu-rays/DVDs is the ability to go back and verify whether a movie was as good as you remembered it in the theater. Of all the top genre films of the year, including Guardians of the Galaxy and X-Men: Days of Future Past, it was Edge of Tomorrow that became an addictive re-watch, to see all those great, funny scenes, like Tom Cruise’s demoted soldier rolling under the jeep, and Emily Blunt’s Rita Vrataski destroying all those aliens. Rita was the best character we saw this year–anywhere–and Blunt provided the best performance. Superb sci-fi components? Check. Superb action sequences? Check. With top-notch acting by Blunt and Bill Paxton. This will be the movie of 2014 that we one day will re-watch just like we re-watch Aliens and Predator today.
Guardians of the Galaxy — Best Superhero Fix,Best Actor Runner-up (Dave Bautista), Best Supporting Actress (Zoe Saldana), Best Villain (Lee Pace), Best Soundtrack, Best Rock Album. It was the perfect blend of B-level superheroes and a space fantasy like we hadn’t seen since the original Star Wars. A surprisingly fun ride. Guardians introduced the world to Dave Bautista, who will likely get more and more popular in 2015 and beyond. His serious but comedic Drax may have been the best part of a great cast of new characters. Zoe Saldana created her best genre role so far and Lee Pace’s Ronan was a perfect comic book villain. And those tunes on Starlord’s Walkman! What was more fun this year than Rocket and Groot?
If holographic television were available today, would you go right out and buy it?
We’re more than four years into the widespread availability of affordable consumer 3D television and the viewing public hasn’t embraced it yet. My best guess is simply because they haven’t seen it yet, or they are basing their lack of interest on a poor viewing experience with 3D in a public theater. At borg.com, we’ve got no skin in the game–we don’t work for or with the studios–we’re just after the best viewing experience possible. And we’re completely sold on both 3D Blu-ray and the lesser discussed 2D/3D “upconversion” technology.
Distributors have been relatively slow at releasing 3D Blu-rays, the current standard for 3D home viewing. Many films actually produced in 3D, like Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit series, are very quickly released now in a 3D Blu-ray. Other films are converted to 3D in post-production, like Star Trek Into Darkness, and they are also released on 3D Blu-ray. Both films look far superior to standard films–you can’t even compare the quality. The distinctions between a true 3D film and a conversion are probably not all that noticeable to the average moviegoer with normal vision. But what we’re focusing on today is something different.
A different category of conversion, called 2D/3D conversion, is available on certain affordable 3D televisions today. This is a technology available to anyone with a 3D television that includes the upconvert technology and compatible 3D glasses. For films, TV series, or even real-time live or pre-recorded television, this technology manipulates the images to create a real 3D experience for the viewer. Sounds like a gimmick? It’s not. To test it, we tried 2D/3D upconverting on an episode of each of Star Trek, the original series, and Star Trek: The Next Generation. The result? We were blown away. We think if you try it, you too will ask: Why don’t we watch everything now in 3D, and why isn’t everyone talking about it?
If you’re waiting around for holographic TV, that’s pretty much what you’re getting here, too. You can even get up and walk around without the 3D image going away. The only thing you can’t do is walk completely around a floating object, which is what a true holographic TV experience should be. But this is the next best thing. We watched two acclaimed, classic Star Trek episodes, the original series episode “The Naked Time” and the NextGen series episode “Darmok” using a 3D television, a Blu-ray/DVD player and, for “The Naked Time” a remastered DVD version, and for “Darmok,” a remastered Blu-ray version. We then applied the 3D television’s upconvert and easily adjusted the various 3D settings, such as “Standard” or “Cinema” or “Extreme,” tint, and brightness/backlighting, to create the best picture possible for the room lighting.
Who is my favorite Universal Studios classic movie monster? I have always answered The Creature from the Black Lagoon. I first watched the web-footed and web-handed fellow with gills in 3D on local network television on one Friday night many years ago. I am not sure cable TV was yet making its headway across the country, but the “creature feature” was something marketed for a few weeks over the summer. The local CBS affiliate, if I recall correctly, teamed up with the local Hy-Vee grocery store to hand out those cardboard and vellum 3D glasses. I knew early on that The Creature was the first and only one of the classic monsters filmed and shown in theaters in 3D back in 1954. My trusty World Almanac told me it wasn’t the first 3D film released–that went to the African lion film Bwana Devil in 1952.
As part of my current quest to sample the best of 3D movies on Blu-ray, finding The Creature from the Black Lagoon on the very short list of released 3D films was a big win. Back in 1997 in Seattle where basic DVDs were first released in a major U.S. market, I remember digging through a short box at the big Suncoast store but feeling similarly dismayed, until I noticed A Boy and His Dog among the early conversions to digital video. The Creature is a great starting point for modern 3D, giving the current technology some historical context.
Thanks in large part to make-up guru Bud Westport’s incredible creature suit and mask, the film holds up as well as any modern classic. In fact, viewing The Creature back to back with Predator 3D (reviewed here earlier this month), it’s surprising how similar the films are. Take away the sci-fi intro to Predator and you have a jungle adventure with another otherworldly creature. As with Predator 3D, the multi-layered jungle comes alive in The Creature, and the careful placement of actors onscreen gives a crystal clear dimensional image that doesn’t waver. Better yet, you have to look hard to see The Creature’s air bubbles–mostly he swims for seemingly long stints underwater with no apparent breathing going on. And let’s not forget both of these films are part of the horror genre–each character gets picked off one by one by the monster until only a few are left for a final life-or-death showdown.
As one of the top 10 science fiction movies of all time, Predator is one of those movies you’ve likely watched over and over. Directed by John McTiernan, who would go on to perfect the action movie genre with Die Hard and The Hunt for Red October,Predator is equal parts action and horror highlighted by an incredible science fiction villain as realized by the great Stan Winston. But if you haven’t seen Predator since its theatrical release in 1987 or watched it only on video or DVD, then it’s time to watch it again.
Although it wasn’t originally filmed or released in 3D, Predator is now available in 3D as Predator 3D. Remastered and converted to 3D using the same methods to up-convert movies like those used for I, Robot 3D and Top Gun 3D, McTiernan’s direction and Donald McAlpine’s cinematography just happened to be perfect for a Predator upgrade. Who could have thought the 75% of Predator that is primarily jungle chases and little alien presence could still be so incredibly suspenseful?
, a 
and, for “The Naked Time” a 
version, and for “Darmok,” a 
version. We then applied the 3D television’s upconvert and easily adjusted the various 3D settings, such as “Standard” or “Cinema” or “Extreme,” tint, and brightness/backlighting, to create the best picture possible for the room lighting.
