Merrick here...
We've posted a number of articles regarding the impending 3D issuance of STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE, and a few Talkbackers have correctly noted that there don't seem to be a great many reviews of the release in circulation.
As such, I thought y'all might be interested in THIS piece, which originates at Gizmodo Australia. Reviewer Alex Kidman offers some details about TPM 3D - discussing his initial (before seeing it) concerns about this 3D conversion, and his impressions now that he's taken a look at the final product.
Selected observations from the piece include:
What did surprise me then, is that — for the most part — the 3D conversion of The Phantom Menace is, ultimately, pretty subtle stuff. It’s party helped by the fact that there’s not much in the original film that lends itself into bouncing out into the audience, so what Lucasfilm has had to work with is increasing depth in ordinary scenes, something that’s done with a reasonable level of skill. Naturally, it works a lot better with things that are digital effects rather than human actors.
[EDIT]
One particularly jarring scene occurs when Anakin’s saying goodbye to his mother; Pernilla August’s braided hair seen from the back has no dimensions and it makes her look like a cardboard cutout.
[EDIT]
Motion in 3D is often a problem, and this is nowhere more evident than in the Pod race sequence. Again, there’s some restraint shown here. It wouldn’t have been that hard to 'Tis a few shots and send exploding pod chunks out into the crowd, and that’s mostly been avoided. Still, some of the fast panning shots break up pretty badly because of the 3D effect.
'Tis an interesting write-up - check it out.
TPM's Three Dimensionaliziation arrives in theaters this Friday.
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