3d blu ray suggestions, based on demo-worthy pq only

[agwhohasnolife]

Hello,

I was wondering what the best quality 3d presentations were, specifically in the speculative fiction genres: fantasy, scifi, horror, and superhero. Also wondering which low quality 3d presentations to avoid. Judgement based solely on the quality of the 3d presentation as a showpiece, not the movie itself. My list of interest so far:

Fantasy/Historical -

Swordfighting - 3 Musketeers
spellslinging - Harry Potter DH (heard it was bad 3dpq though)

Scifi -

Avatar
Tron: Legacy

Horror -

Monster - Resident Evil Afterlife, Underworld Awakening
supernatural - ?

Superhero -

Captain America
Thor (heard it was bad 3dpq though)
Green Lantern (heard it was bad 3dpq though)
Green Hornet



Did I miss anything? Any particular must-haves or must-avoids?

---

For other genres (excluding documentaries), just wondering what's out there. Heard good things about Drive Angry's 3D, as well as Hugo's.

For animated titles, I'm not sure how the 3D would be, especially with traditional vs cgi animation, but I'd like to check out one of each.

Any other suggestions in regular genres, or for animated titles?

Thanks!

Andy

[malakai]

These are just my opinions/perceptions. Everyone perceives depth differently...

Conversions: If you take the fact that green hornet, captain america, and piranha 3d are 2d-3D conversions, they are still pretty good. Piranha doesn't really have any depth to the film itself but the effects add layers between the 2D film (let's call it the background) and the foreground effects. Something like blades of grass that appear on the screen have a layer of separation from the rest of the shots. Shrek 1-3 are also great conversions. Alice in Wonderland has the appearance of depth, due to the way they shot the film, but IMO, there is very little if any 3D depth in it. IMO, watching it in 2D and 3D are the same.

Avoid gulliver's travels and Chronicles of Narnia: Dawn Treader, as well as all of the German 2D-3D conversions.

True stereoscopic 3D: Hugo probably makes the best usage of depth of all of the movies out there. Under the Sea is a great (but short) documentary, with lots of depth and a great pop-out scene where a huge grouper swims out of the screen several feet. Drive Angry starts out with great depth, but the depth quickly fades as the movie progresses for some reason. Final Destination 4 and 5 has a good amount of depth and make use of 3D popout effects.

With Tron Evolution, of which I saw in RealD and have a copy on blu-ray, I was a little underwhelmed at the depth. If it wasn't for the hellistic soundtrack and sound effects, which gives my theater a workout and pushes the experience to a whole other level, the 3D alone probably wouldn't have been worthwhile for me.

I also saw Resident Evil in RealD and on blu-ray 3D and was also a little underwhelmed with its depth. Like Tron Evolution, RE also has a good soundtrack. It's the whole experience that makes it worthwhile to me. I've tried to watch it in 2D and it just felt different, boring, but when you add 3D and a nice home theater surround system, with a high-powered subwoofer, it's pretty awesome. I found myself replaying the executioner fight scene over and over again.

Ice Age 3 was also an underwhelming experience. Pirates also had so many dark scenes that just didn't pop that it made the 3D not much more than an afterthought. If I remember correctly, pirates was filmed in 3D but was post-processed with 2D effects, because of budget restraints. I hear Fright Night suffers from the same dark scenes. Smurfs = underwhelming. Hubble 3D = underwhelming and boring. Tin Tin also had very very subtle 3D and most of it really felt like 2D.

WWII in 3D had surprisingly good depth. The short 3D video restored from WWII, which is kind of played off as why you would want to see it, doesn't really impress, but the huge amount of 3D photographs, as well as the documentary itself being shot in 3D is well worth the cheap price.

How to Train Your Dragon had great depth. I saw it in Mesquite, TX in RealD when I was on vacation and just recently got it on blu-ray. It's a movie that the whole family can enjoy.

I would say that the movie that makes the most usage of 3D, especially with gimmicky pop-out effects, is Harold and Kumar Christmas. As long as you don't have kids in the house watching it, check it out. I don't even smoke weed, but it makes me wanna get high the next time I see it! lol

[malakai]

I just got done watching Underworld Awakening 3D, and it's definitely not demo-worthy as far as depth. I've seen 2d-3d conversions with much better depth.

[i007spectre]

I finally picked up Hugo 3D, but really want to wait to watch it till I have my new set up. But I have heard that it has excellent 3D picture quality.

[FreyTheater3D]

For the absolute best 3D rendering out there on blu-ray, in both depth and pop-out, nothing beats Sammy's Adventures 3D - an animated film only available on a Region A 3D Blu-ray in English language from Hong Kong. It can be ordered from either yesasia or bbbhouse. The 3D is rendered such that most of the movie's action takes place out in front of your screen, seemingly floating in mid-room. The BD runs about $35-$38 dollars with shipping, but is well worth every penny. Behind that movie for 3D are Avatar and Hugo...

The movie itself is not bad, but does lean a little heavy on "save the planet" environmentalism...