What's the Longevity of 3D Movies?

In the 1950s and later in the 80s a craze swept the movie industry. Now in 2010, the 3D movie phenomenon has firmly taken hold of our cinemas and is showing no signs of letting go. From children's movies to the latest sci-fi flicks; the theaters are having to order bigger and bigger shipments of those uncomfortable 3D glasses to keep up with the demand. Even classics such as Toy Story 1 & 2 and Beauty and The Beast (which will come to theaters next year) are being re-released with the 3D treatment. Now with the rising interest in at-home 3D systems and its introduction to genres other than fantasy and sci-fi, it seems that the supposed "fad" might be here to stay.



In the last three or four years there has been a steady increase in the use of 3D. The style was mostly attached to children's films such as Monster House, Meet The Robinsons, and Coraline. But in late 2009 the fascination of the reintroduction of 3D movie culminated in one massive enterprise of a film. Avatar completely revolutionized 3D movies and what they were capable of doing. Rather than just limit itself to having objects jump out of the screen, Avatar managed to use 3D in order to immerse its audience into the mind bending fictional world of Pandora.

Since the release of Avatar, we have seen several more successful 3D films like How To Train Your Dragon, Toy Story 3, Despicable Me, and most notably, Alice in Wonderland. It would seem that if one wants to have a ridiculously profitable film, 3D is the way to go.

But how much does 3D really add to a film? At the end of the day, most film critics would say that the profoundness and resonance of the story should take priority over the visual effects. Is 3D taking away from that? While no one could dispute the revolutionary imagery of Avatar, there were more than a few skeptics in regards to the originality of the story. Even so, Avatar went on to be the biggest hit of the year, and of all time. Though few films manage to utilize the power of 3D that Avatar did. Alice did a very impressive job of making the viewer feel surrounded by Tim Burton's version of Wonderland and How to Train Your Dragon did make one feel like they were on the back of a mythical creature, but how many other films are really benefiting? It would seem that many 3D films come off a bit gimmicky and instead of generating a new world, they are limited to the old tricks of throwing objects at the audience. But when done well, 3D can transform the movie viewing experience.

The 3D revolution is undoubtedly helping the film industry financially. Not only do theaters get to charge a few extra bucks for admission, but it is impossible to pirate the 3D experience. With the ease of downloading films on the Internet the moment they hit theaters, the industry is taking a massive hit in ticket sales. With 3D movies those that would normally get their movie fix by taking the illegal route have an extra incentive to cough up the thirteen or fourteen dollars it takes to get in. With the successes of the last several movies that came out in both regular and 3D format, it's easy to imagine that studio heads are eager to keep this trend going.

As of right now, the majority of movies coming out in 3D are either animated features or sci fi. Later this month, the Step Up franchise is releasing its third installment series in 3D. Is this the start of 3Ds transcendence into other genres? In two years are we going to be watching Meryl Streep offer another Oscar-nominated performance in "eye-popping 3D?" As of right now, it's difficult to say but certainly most film buffs would hope not. 3D works perfectly with the fantasy of children's films and science fiction. If 3D was to bleed into more dramatic genres, it would be on the edge of overexposed. But it's actually surprising that The Twilight Saga hasn't jumped on the 3D bandwagon.




How much more excited would tween girls be if Taylor Lautner's abs were popping out of the screen or if Robert Pattinson's messy hair appeared almost touchable?

So is it here to stay? It's hard to tell. There has been some form of 3D movies since 1922 and the medium is still growing. It has had several technological make overs and it continues to be more impressive. Now we're even seeing it come into homes with new state-of-the-art TVs that can handle the intensity of 3D graphics. It's a hard fact to ignore that the last several 3D movies have taken in huge amounts of sums at the box office. But part of the mass appeal of 3D movies is how new it still feels. The technology will have to keep advancing and getting better in order to keep the audience members fascinated enough to pay the few extra dollars for a ticket.