Guest Blogger Post: Star Wars 3-D

 

Guest Blogger Post: Star Wars 3-D

As I've done early in the season, I've opened my blog up to guest bloggers. Writer Jillian Interlichia from My Dog Ate My Blog has an interesting take on the upcoming Star Wars 3-D conversions re-releases.

Star Wars 3-D: Coming Soon to a Galaxy Near You

George Lucas recently announced that he will be rereleasing his Star Wars saga in 3-D, coming to a theater near you in 2012.  This has resulted in a mixed-bag of reactions, from “this is the end of the world the Aztecs predicted” to “well, Avatar was pretty awesome in 3-D…”

Given Lucas’s previous track record of ruining childhood memories with unnecessary digitalization and fiddling, the rerelease may not bode well for the saga.  Factor in the snooze-fest of the three “prequels” and we could have a giant Hollywood turkey of Gigli proportions on our hands. 

Bear in mind that to film a movie in 3-D, filmmakers must position two cameras on both sides of the action in order to mimic the way human eyes see in 3-D.  Because the Star Wars movies have already been filmed, and there is little to no chance of gathering the entire cast for a reshoot, this means the movies must be rendered in 3-D by computers.  Skeptics think this is going to result in the same kind of “fiddling” that they feel ruined the rerelease of the original trilogy in the lead up to the prequels. 

On a positive note, recreating 3-D in previously-filmed movies is not completely unheard of.  After the success of Avatar, many film companies scrambled to turn their own impending releases into 3-D, just to compete in the box office (cough, Clash of the Titans, cough cough).  This means that the technology for creating the 3-D effects has come a long way, and might actually blend seamlessly into the movie. 

And let’s face it – who doesn’t want to see one of the intergalactic battles in 3-D?  TIE Fighters zooming around on screen, the explosion of the Death Star, it’s like these scenes were created with 3-D in mind.  Even the prequels have enough action to warrant the update, and they might actually make the movies better. 

The prequels, are of course, the fly in the ointment of this news item.  We’re all going to have to sit through The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith before we get to the good stuff.  Galactic senate meetings in 3-D?  The embodiment of all that is wrong with the prequels – Jar Jar Binks – in all his annoying glory?  Hopefully by 2015, when A New Hope appears, audiences haven’t given up on the franchise altogether. 

Of course, what will really get people in those theater seats is the chance to see George Lucas’s ever-creative universe on the big screen again.  Whether you’re a fan of 3-D, the Star Wars universe, or just a movie buff, chances are you’ll find yourself inexplicably drawn to the theaters come 2012, like it or not.