A few months ago, I saw Beowulf in a movie theater. It was decent, I was entertained. Thinking I might want to see it again and still unable to get its theme music out of my head, I decided to rent it the other night. Not nearly as good.
You might think that I was simply tricked into liking it the first time around and thought better of it, but there was something else at play here. When I saw it in the theater, I saw it in 3D. At home, I didn't have that option.
Soon, maybe I will.
Several entertainment companies including Disney, Universal, Philips, Samsung, Sony, Thomson and IMAX are already working on ways to get this technology into your living, according to USA Today.
DVD sales represent a large portion of Hollywood revenue, and so it's important for the studios to recreate the full experience of seeing a film in this medium as it was intended. With an increasing slate of 3D films due to be released in the next few years, that could prove difficult without 3D technology in the home.
On the other hand, it could be argued that in a world of $10-$15 movie tickets and huge home theater screens, it's a unique experience like 3D that will keep patrons coming to movie theaters. After all, Beowulf and another recent 3D film, Meet the Robinsons, sold at least twice as many tickets for each 3D showing as compared to the standard versions.
I don't think it's unreasonable to think that quite a few people went to go see these films in theaters precisely because they were in 3D. I know I would have waited for Beowulf on DVD otherwise.
A few classic films are also said to be getting 3D makeovers. This includes a series you may have heard of: Star Wars. Seriously, who wouldn't go to a movie theater to see Star Wars in 3D? We're talking about movies that are 30 years old, which most people have not only seen, but probably own in their DVD or video collections. And yet an infusion of 3D would drive them right back to the theaters to pay to see it again.
Ideas such as this would keep people going to movie theaters even as large, thin and inexpensive home screens approach theater-size and quality. But if the same technology was in the home...
In some cases the technology for 3D in the home is already here. As many as one million homes in the U.S. may have television sets deemed 3D-ready by Mitsubishi and Samsung by the end of 2008. With the use the proper 3D glasses, (think Max Headroom shades, not the traditional blue and red variety), and the right videos discs (the first 3D Blu-rays will hit stores in August), you too could soon watch a 3D movie in your own home.
There are even television sets in the works that don't require glasses for 3D viewing.
I'm not sure how I feel about watching Casablanca in 3D in my living room one day, but it's probably coming. For now I'll have to settle for Hannah Montana in 3D.
[photo: flickr/jayceeloop and LucasFilm]