Presented in high-quality digital 3-D, all films have been stunningly restored and mastered direct from archival materials by 3-D Film Archive Technical Director Greg Kintz. Meticulously aligned shot by shot for precise registration of the original left/right elements, these historic 3-D motion pictures have never looked this good. Selections include Kelley's Plasticon Pictures, the earliest extant 3-D demonstration film from 1922 with incredible footage of Washington and New York City; Lumière's L'Arrivée d'un Train, first shown at the Academie des Sciences in Paris; New Dimensions, the first domestic full color 3-D film originally shown at the World's Fair in 1940; Thrills for You, a promotional film for the Pennsylvania Railroad; Around is Around, a 3-D animated gem by Norman McLaren; Rocky Marciano vs. Jersey Joe Walcott, the only 3-D newsreel; Stardust in Your Eyes, a hilarious standup routine by Slick Slavin; trailer for The Maze, with fantastic production design by William Cameron Menzies; Doom Town, a controversial anti-atomic testing film mysteriously pulled from release; puppet cartoon The Adventures of Sam Space, presented in widescreen; I'll Sell My Shirt, a burlesque comedy unseen in 3-D for over 60 years; Boo Moon, an excellent example of color stereoscopic animation... and more!
R**E
A Veritable Array of Three Dimensions!
The quality of the disk is excellent and the 3-D convergence is tops. Anaglyph to Polarized is wonderful on the anaglyph movies and comic book samples.Some of the twenties scenes seem as though they were layered: Washington DC footage keeps trees in the foreground and buildings in the background which gives the 3-D effect but I sense roundness may be missing. I wonder if this is due to how far apart the lenses were and why NaturalVision went to such great lengths on their camera system design (which is pictured) to put the lenses together as the eyes see.The Technicolor Chrysler 1940 World’s Fair short NEW DIMENSIONS is a full-scale stop motion animation of the making of a Plymouth and is an achievement taking many weeks to film.Lloyd Nolan’s historic introduction to BWANA DEVIL is choice.The Bolex 3-D DEMO Short is outstandingly interesting and the quality is a surprise.IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE Preview is fascinating 3-D, being the first preview shot in 3-D for a 3-D movie.THE MAZE is a good 3-D PreviewHANNAH LEE is a lesser preview that is part missing some of the 2nd view (18 seconds), a theatrical flop with tennis match law suits following.SADIE THOMPSON Preview like the film shows off good 3-D but is a bit red in the complexion of Rita.The complete Casper Cartoon is a great example of a 3-D cartoon but 3-D can’t save the oft repeated Casper story.Historical coverage is represented well by two shortsTHE ROCKY MARCIANO VS JOE WOLCOTT FIGHT (shot with multiple angles)DOOM TOWN (Anti-Atomic bomb testing in Nevada short that quickly disappeared from the public eye-not politically correct, perhaps!)The low note of the disc is I’LL SELL MY SHIRT- low not for 3-D but for content. If it weren’t 3-D it would be just as well that it hadn’t been seen for 60 years and hadn’t been saved from vinegar and shrinkage but it does point out how 3-D was used to exploit Women and Sex.All in all this disk, though expensive, is a veritable delightful sampling of three D history.Time to get out the $1100 Bolex system and raise another $1100 to shoot a roll of film in 3-D. But I guess it would be less expensive to get a second GoPro and their 3-D housing and shoot in 4K 3-D.Alas! Cut to the scene from THE BIRTH OF A NATION and Lillian Gish’s admiring soldier leaning on his rifle.FADERIH
R**N
A Fabulous Journey Through the Early History of Filmed 3-D
I don't know what I expected from this collection of vintage curio shorts, but I know now I was crazy to wait so long to take the plunge. It's sensational. Pop-out after experimental pop-out - uninterrupted sequences of them - stabs, jabs, squirts, projectiles - all intended to show the fun potential of breaking the fourth wall. This is what drew audiences to 3-D in the first place, and what was used to demo 3-D TVs in stores, and what has been sadly scoffed at by Hollywood filmmakers.But the fun's all here, and it is fun, every kind of pop-out you can think of. Yes, they're often cheesy and gimmicky and not all of them work, but these are the moments people remember from 3-D movies, the ones they expected to be served at least *some* of the time in cinemas, the ones they've been frustratingly deprived of for the most part.There's also plenty of impressive depth stereography in the various segments. My favourite of these is the Pennsylvania railroad promo, which is stunning. It's a pity the boxing match wasn't longer, because that was a real novelty for me. The pre-fight sequences are nice as well. I must admit the animated squiggle shorts wore thin, and the car assembly sequence, while ingenious, went on a bit too long.But there's wonderful variety here. Golden Age movie trailers (for titles which have mostly now been restored and released on blu-ray); an entertaining stand-up impressionist; a Casper The Friendly Ghost cartoon (amazing 3-D on that); some really early footage of Washington D.C.; the first underwater 3-D footage, taken by a camera available commercially!: it's an endlessly fascinating journey through the history of this remarkable medium.I wish I'd have bought this years ago. It's an absolute gem. And now I can't wait for the sequel!
D**H
3D history lesson
It is amazing and an interesting history lesson. 3D is around for a long time and it is just fun to see old images of New York and Washington. I liked the stop motion animation and a nice 3D episode of Casper the friendly ghost. For those who want to know or this is worth the money. If you expect something like a 3D Transformer film from Michael Bay, then stay away. If you are on the other hand interested in 3D and its history, then this is something for you.Also it's not the most perfect 3D. Some films were just safed in time, so there are some ghosting issues. The booklet inside is informative and gives all the necessary information. There is one thing I really hate though, It's not fair to have a few very nice 3D trailers included without the films. Now I really want to see these films and of course the're not available anywhere ! Maybe another project for the 3D film archives ;-)And for everyone out there who wants to know or they can see this outside region A? Yes, you can. The disc is region free and can be seen in every region.
1**Y
Lacks length of good stuff
I was expecting to see a disc full of actual 3-D movement. What this disc shows is a lot of very old film footage that was shot in 3-D, but only very short snippets. Most of the things shown are explanations of how and when 3-D was used. Actual footage of movement coming out of the screen and into your face is very disappointing. There are lots of "commercials" shot in 3-D, which you can tell are in that format, but are limited in length. There were some good promos for films shot in 3-D, but no film, only the short promos. There may have been 5 minutes total of an image coming out of the tv and into the space in front of you. I would like to have seen at least 20 minutes or more of the kind of footage the 3-D format was intended to portray. At least ONE old short movie or documentary would have been nice. I understand that those things are probably copywritten, but, for the money, couldn't the producer of this material have gotten a little more than a few commercials? Left me disappointed.
