It is Friday night and Drew Purcell and his friends are heading to Neshaminy Mall Movie Theatre to watch “Priest” in 3D.
After Purcell and his friends gather into the theatre and the clicking of the projector begins to sound, the movie has an unexpected disappointment.
“The movie was all hyped up, but when we got there it turned out to be in post 3D mode and it hurt everyone’s eyes,” Purcell said. Post 3D mode is when film makers make a movie and then try to throw the 3D effects in late.
This has been a reoccurring theme for many movie goers.
The overall popularity of these types of movies can be argued, but the 2011 Theatrical Market Statistics Report from the Motion Picture Association of America revealed a 4 percent decrease in ticket sales. Studios originally implemented 3D in order to boost the box office, but that tactic has seemingly backfired and audiences are seemingly fighting back.
Matthew Schuler, business administration major from Levittown said, “I feel like 3D movies are ruining the film industry. I think it’s great that Hollywood is bringing back old favorites for a new audience, but doing it in 3D is saying the old way of showing a movie was not good enough.”
The most popular thing about 3D movies is that images on the screen seem to come out at you and make you feel like you are a part of the action. This works well for some movies, but others you are often left with a feeling of, “What did I just pay for?”
Brendan Kerr, a liberal arts major from Hilltown, was asked about 3D movies and said, “I don’t really like them, because I feel Hollywood is just trying to sell cheap thrills.”
Too many studios have tried to make 3D movies by shooting them in 2D and then trying to make it look good afterwards.
While 3D movies can be enjoyable, many filmgoers complain of negative side effects. Dave Lindennan a Bensalem student at Bucks is undecided on his major, but said, “I don’t really like 3D movies, because they give me motion sickness.”
A report on found in the “Journal of Vision” on CNN.com, stated, “Certain kinds of 3D displays cause extra eye fatigue.”
3D movies are extremely expensive to make and that in turn means that the ticket prices rise dramatically. The average cost is around $13 and could increase with last year’s box office revenue dropping four percent. This is not obviously good news for college students.
One also has to wonder if Hollywood is running out of ideas as it is reformatting old favorites from the past into 3D such as “Star Wars,” “The Lion King” and “Beauty and the Beast.”
Alyssa McKendrick, a cinema video major from Warrington said, “I think originally when it was used, it was used it was good, but now I think it is overused with just remaking some old movies.”
American film critic and screenwriter Roger Ebert’s distaste for 3D movies has been well documented. In a 2010 edition of Newsweek he wrote, “3D is a waste of a perfectly good dimension. Hollywood’s current crazy stampede toward it is suicidal. It adds nothing essential to the movie going experience. For some, it is an annoying distraction. For others, it creates nausea and headaches,” Ebert says.
3D movies are not without their supporters. Dan Wilks, a business administration major from Levittown, said, “I just like how the stuff pops out at you. They are pretty expensive so I cannot afford to go all the time, but I have seen Jaws and Jackass in 3D that was pretty awesome.”
Even Purcell had positive things to say about 3D movies, despite his bad experience. “I do like 3D movies because it makes the movies more interactive and adds a different component to the movie,” Purcell said.
In the Chicago Sun-Times, film editor Walter Murch calls 3D technology “dark, small, stroby, headache inducing, alienating, and expensive.” Murch then asks the question, “How long will it take people to realize and get fed up?”