The pinnacle of Hollywood gimmickry. Regardless of your stance on the format, 3D is somewhat difficult to avoid in the modern era, with basically any blockbuster worth its salt released with a tacked-on 3D upgrade. For some it may present a welcome new level of immersion and spectacle, but for many others it proves little more than an awful garish gloss, distracting from the story and over-awing more established cinematic elements such as cinematography, direction, and editing. For every Avatar, How to Train Your Dragon, or Life of Pi, which all approach 3D film with an inherent integrity and beauty, there is sadly far too many The Last Airbenders, Clash of the Titans, and Green Lanterns; cheap 3D conversions that do little to enhance the narrative integrity of the extra dimension. Even after six or seven years of 3D film saturation, it seems to the case that cinemagoers are still just not that in love with it. So why do it? Well, like a lot of things on this list it boils down to finances. Regardless of how well received a 3D film is, the relatively inexpensive conversion cost is covered several times over by those that do part with extra cash for the upgrade. With cinemas somewhat bullied by distributors into reserving peak viewing slots of the biggest films for their 3D versions, many spectators are forced over a barrel in this regard. If theres a blockbuster film that just has to be seen, the studio will do its utmost to get you to see it in three dimensions. Repetitive, frustrating, and mostly ugly the consensus is that 3D should be less of an established trend, and more of a rare novelty in films that genuinely benefit from its unique visuals. The disappointing truth though, is that this is probably one trend Hollywood wont let die without a fight. Recent Examples: Basically everything.
Full-time cinema manager come film writer. Learnt his trade repeatedly watching Fight Club whilst studying Film at the University of Portsmouth. Margot Robbie enthusiast.
