Yesterday in the US The Great Gatsby finally opens in cinema a film shot in 3D opening in the UK is Star Trek into Darkness a film that was retro-fitted into 3D. Having not seen either of the films yet I can only go by comments made by critics and people who have seen the two films.
What is interesting to note is that I was expecting that a film shot in 3D should be better than a film convert into 3D. But that doesn’t seem to be the case here. Paramount asked director JJ Abrams to convert Star Trek into Darkness after completing shooting so many films these days are being retrofitted into 3D but as the films weren’t made to be 3D the 3D feel wrong and it’s like the way Hollywood would colour black & white movies to try and make them more accessible. But almost everyone who has seen the 3D version of Star Trek into Darkness has been impressed with the 3D and it feels like it belongs as part of the plot. Similar to how the 3D for The Life of Pi and Avatar made those films.
I was surprised to read that the 3D for The Great Gatsby doesn’t have the same impact. One of the reasons Baz Luhrmann said that he wanted to make the 3D was to immerse the cinemagoer into the film to make them feel that they are part of the film. There is an important scene in the film where he is trying to bring you into the room while a major event happens using the 3D. The issue is that 3D with the glasses instead of bringing you closer you feel further away.
I’m a huge Baz Luhrmann fan was lucky to see his Romeo & Juliet months before it came out not having any idea of the way it was shot using Shakespearean text was blown away by it Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes are just incredible as the two leads they look like they are truly living the their characters I obviously knew what was going to happen at the end but you didn’t want it to be.
Moulin Rouge is another fantastic Baz Luhrmann film again I was very lucky to see the film 9 months before it came out as I was working for 20th Century Fox at the time. I went into the screening just hearing that I had been rejected for a job that I really wanted feeling really fed up. But as soon as the film started that was quickly forgotten as the film blew me away.
Over the months up to release I was fortunate to go to Glasgow with the film for a screening for Ewan McGregor’s lovely parents was in attendance for several screenings that Baz Luhrmann & Jim Broadbent attended and was lucky to go to the amazing premiere and party. Over the months before release I screened the film so many times as well as attended countless screenings of it I literally knew the film by heart.
I will bypass his film Australia while looking stunning it just didn’t have the feel that his previously films had.
With that I have been very interested in seeing The Great Gatsby it was due to be made at Fox then put into turnaround Sony were going to make it but eventually Warner Bros decided to make it.
Last weekend the first reviews came out which were mixed. It’s interesting to know that not that many good books make good movies and obviously this is a book that everyone has read and knows and will be wanting to see how well it matches up to the book. On that level from the reviews I have read so far it doesn’t match up. But neither did the two other movie versions or the TV mini-series.
What reviews have said it does look incredible and feels very much like Moulin Rouge does Gatsby. Moulin Rouge didn’t need 3D to get into your face and explode your eye balls.
The problem with 3D is that it darkens the screen image so you don’t get the brightness or vibrancy from the screen.
It’s weird to think that Star Trek into Darkness a film not shot in 3D is a better 3D film than a film shot in 3D
