3-D Movies Turn 50 ... Sort Of

jonerik writes "The Associated Press has this article on the 50th anniversary of the release of 'Bwana Devil.' Released on November 26th, 1952, the film would be largely forgotten today if not for the fact that it's generally regarded as the first full-length 3-D movie, kicking off a burst of 3-D filmmaking which lasted into the mid-'50s and which still takes place today, particularly in the adult film industry and on the IMAX circuit where this year's 43-minute 'Space Station 3-D' has brought in about $33 million so far. 'Bwana Devil' utilized the Polaroid method, which used two lenses filming, and involved lightwaves passing in perpendicular planes to the other lens. However, considering that a long string of 3-D films were made as far back as 1922 using more primitive processes, the claim that 'Bwana Devil' was first can be regarded as open to question. Either way, Robert Stack, who starred in 'Bwana Devil,' is somewhat ambivalent about his small part in movie history, saying 'I'm not sure it was anything to be proud of. It's an honor like being the world's tallest midget.'"

Comments

Stack has a short memory

[efedora]

"Robert Stack, who starred in 'Bwana Devil,' is somewhat ambivalent about his small part in movie history, saying 'I'm not sure it was anything to be proud of."
As opposed to his stellar performance in 'Airplane' (which WAS something to be proud of).

IMAX 3D works, the fifties movies didn't...

[dpbsmith]

A couple of years ago I was attending an Apple Computer conference and managed to spend an evening at the Palo Alto Theatre, which was having a 3D festival. I saw "Miss Sadie Thompson" and "Kiss Me, Kate." They were newly struck prints, the projection was good, I had a very good seat--I am sure what I experienced was as good as it would have been when the films were released.

And it seemed gimmicky, like looking into a Viewmaster.

Oh, it had its moments. In "Kiss Me, Kate" you had such a sense of the living presence of the performers that the audience applauded after each musical number. (The 3D process was VERY unflattering to actresses; in 2D, makeup can smooth the contours of the face but in 3D you see the actual contours, makeup or not). It was nice--but it was a gimmick.

In IMAX 3D, the screen looks perfeclty sharp, but it is SO BIG that the edges of the screen are almost out of your field of view. This is very important because ugly things happen at the screen edges in stereoscopic viewing, particularly if the objects you are viewing are "in front of" the screen.

I've now seen four movies in IMAX 3D--"Across the Sea of Time," "Space Station 3D," "Cirque Du Soleil: The Journey of Man," and "Into the Deep." They're fabulous. They give you more of a "you-are-there" feeling than anything else I've ever seen in a movie theatre (and I saw "This Is Cinerama" on its first run). The 3D feels natural. Objects closer than the screen seem comfortable.

Actually, the part of "Space Station 3D" I liked the very best were the scenes filmed on the earth at the Russian Cosmodrome. I was RIGHT there on the gritty pavement, on that walk where they planted a tree for every cosmonaut who had flown in space.

No eyestrain, no motion sickness, just this incredible sense of "really being there."

At least two of the films, "Across the Sea of Time" and "Cirque du Soleil" went beyond a simple travelogue. They weren't exactly narratives, but they were a genuine creative use of the medium.

I hope we see a lot more IMAX 3D. (I hope it isn't going to get killed off by cheap IMAX blowups of 2D 35mm films...)

3-D still lives on somewhat

[Samir Gupta]

In Disneyland in Tokyo, they have 3-D "Alladin", and in Florida, they have the movie "Captain EO" staring Michael Jackson.

In the games world, 3-D hasn't caught on that much yet, but back in the 80s, SQUARE actually experiented with 3-D for the NES/Famicom, using red-blue glasses. There were at least 2 titles I remember, 3-D Worldrunner and Rad Racer which used this (albeit primitive) 3-D technology.

There seems to be some use of 3-D in the scientific world. SGI and several other companies have LCD glasses which are synchrnoized to a monitor/projector, displaying alternating left-right eye images. I've been in SGI's RealityCenters which are basically rooms surrounded by wall-sized screens on all sides, and are used for visualizing extremely large data sets, such as large molecules in the pharmaceutical industry or geologic data in the petroleum industry. With 3-D glasses used, the experience in one of those places can literally cause some people to vomit (and I've seen it happen)!

Re:3-D still lives on somewhat

[kingrat]

Actually in Epcot (Florida) theyve thankfully got rid of Captain EO and replaced it with a much better "Honey I Shrunk The Audience" 3d flick with all the cast members from the movies, as well as Eric Idle. Well worth seeing.

And who can forget the best 3d show in the world? The 3d Muppet movie at MGM is hilarious.

Also Disney is working on a new 3d attraction for the Magic Kingdom, opening next year I think.

At least the Imagineers have kept 3d alive.

Oh, and if your'e in Florida, check out the Terminator 3d movie at Universal. :)

Re:3D Adult Films

[Sensitive_Clod]

A few years ago at the local indy theatre in my home town of Albany NY (the spectrum) they ran a 3d film series. One night they had a 3d porn. Yeah I went, and let me tell you /., the line for this flick ran out the door and around the block! Men, women, freeks and geeks, everyone loves the 3d porn. It was like opening night for episode I. Maybe some albanian can back me up on this.

You can still rent 50s/60s 3D-movies for cheap!

[Hanno]

Three years ago, I wanted to do something special for my birthday party, so I tried to find a genuine anaglyphic 3D movie to show during the party.

To my surprise, it's easy to find one, at least here in Germany (so I guess it will be just as easy in the US). Most movie distributors offer a 16 mm rental service mostly used by University film clubs and by tiny home-run community cinemas. They also have the classics and you can rent these movies very cheap for non-commercial showings.

In the end, renting a copy of "Creature from the Black Lagoon" over the weekend, a couple of red/green glasses, a 16 mm projector and a small silverscreen was cheaper than renting a video projector and a DVD player. (Ok, that was three years ago and video projectors are much cheaper now. But still.)

They also had "It came from Outer Space" on rental. And the folks at the movie distributor were extremely helpful and really nice folks to deal with.

If you want a special movie evening, I can only recommend you to ask the 16 mm rental service of the large movie distributors to help you out with a classic, be it 3D or not.