With growing complaints about the weak 3D conversion of Clash of the Titans I’m getting worried about the number of films new and old about to undergo the treatment.
Alice underwent the conversion to 3D rather than being filmed in the format and reactions were underwhelming, personally I forwent the 3D to reduce cost and discomfort. Den of Geek has collected some reviews of Titan’s 3D and they are all bad and they went so far as to say that the 3D made the film worse as “the difference was negligible and the rest of the film just looked darker and foggier as a result of the tint in the glasses.”
With 3D bringing big bucks at the box office studios are keen to convert old 2D films to 3D to milk that cash cow for all it’s worth. MTV has a list of potential contenders including Titanic, Star Wars, Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings, all of which will somehow be made into “glorious” 3D. The problem is that unless you film in 3D the effect is going to be pretty limited, probably just making some objects appear in front of others.
Of course you can always protest by seeing these films in 2D instead, that is if they are available to you. Today Cineworld tweeted me to say, “We’ll try to offer a 2D alternative if the site’s big enough to accommodate showing 2 versions of the same film.” Despite this my local cinema is only offering the 3D Clash of the Titans when I watched Alice there in 2D just a few weeks ago.
Done properly 3D can be a real draw for audience but when you stick 3D on the end of every title and don’t do the job properly people are going to catch on and spend their money elsewhere.
Mild Concern 