Avatar
Karin and I saw Avatar on an IMAX screen in 3D this weekend, and I have to say I was more than a bit impressed by the whole thing. The last time I saw a 3D movie was in the 80′s, sitting in front of a television, wearing a pair of the retro red lens / blue lens cardboard glasses. Ah, but technology has changed a bit since those days. When we purchased our tickets at the theater yesterday we were handed two sealed plastic bags, each containing a pair of sturdy plastic Buddy Holly-esque tinted glasses (and yes, when we left the theater I kept mine 
). No more paper cuts behind the ears. Nice.
Let me tell you, when people say that “3D is the future of Hollywood”, they aren’t kidding. Gone are the days of cheesy “poke a stick at the audience” effects. James Cameron has shown the world how to make a 3-D movie that works. It doesn’t pander to the audience with traditional gimmicky 3-D shots. Rather, it seamlessly incorporates three dimensions into the story. It does the job so well that you soon begin to forget that it’s a 3D film, and instead accept it as an natural, essential part of the story. Your brain quickly conditions itself to embrace this film like none other before.
It’s hard to explain, but when you’re thrown into the world of Pandora you actually feel that you’re witnessing something firsthand…that you’re a part of something. It’s almost as if the 4th wall has been broken, and you, the audience, are in the briefing room with the Colonel Quaritch as he sternly tells you that you’re about to go on the offensive against the Na’vi, circling the great floating islands on the back of a Banshee, and jumping off a cliff as you attempt to run away from a sharp-fanged Thanator.
I can understand why some people are watching this movie multiple times. I hope that when this flick is released on blu-ray that it a 3D version is available.
Oh, and if you haven’t seen this movie yet, please do so before it leaves the theaters. Watching this film on anything less than on an IMAX screen in 3D would be criminal.
I have seen it twice. Both times in 3D but not at the iMax. I have not seen a 3D movie since the 80′s as well. I saw Avatar once with my son then I took my wife. I wife doesn’t like jumping movement like first person shooters or movies that are shot with a handheld camera. Gets her sick. She was okay in Avatar but had to take the glasses off a few times. My son loved it just as much as I did. The 3D does really bring you into the movie. Can’t wait to see more.
The one thing I wondered about is seeing a non-action movie in 3D. Not sure what my wife would think when she watches the latest Julia Roberts or Huge Grant movie in 3D.