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The Force Awakens 3D vs. 2D

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I was just going to reserve my seat for TFA premiere, when it struck me that I had not considered if i wanted to watch it in 3D or 2D. Can i get an outside perspective on which i should watch?

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If you can see it in 2D, I would say go with 2D. The movie was shot that way, on film in CinemaScope (just like the OT and TPM) with a DI finish. The 3D is a post-conversion, and while yes I’m sure they probably did a fine job with it and yes all of the cgi would’ve been natively rendered in 3D, seeing the movie that way isn’t really a “pure” experience IMO.

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That was what I was thinking as well, thank you for helping me clear that up.

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I figured I’d see it both ways. I’m going with 3D for the first viewing, mostly because that was the only version I could reserve seats for, as far as I’m aware.

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Personally, I always go for the 3D showing if I can. 3D has always appealed to me and it adds depth to the experience.

I don’t own a 3D television so in the theater is likely the only time I’ll ever get the experience as well.

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I’m a big proponent of seeing a movie the way it was shot. So, when it’s a movie that was actually shot in 3D, I’ll always see it in 3D.

I’ve made exceptions to that rule, of course. Pacific Rim was probably the first time I intentionally got a 3D ticket knowing full well the movie wasn’t shot that way. I ended up seeing Gravity in 3D about a month after it opened and was somewhat disappointed with the luminance of the image. More often than not, I’ve found that to be the case with 3D movies. Unless you see it in IMAX 3D, where there’s a certain amount of quality control, it’s a total roll of the dice as to what kind of 3D experience you’re gonna get. I just saw The Martian in 3D last month in AMC’s own “premium large format” and still found the light levels to be seriously lacking.

TFA, like Star Trek Into Darkness before it, is an interesting beast. Abrams shot some of the movie in IMAX even knowing it would be post-converted into 3D. Disney is at the very least striking several 15/70 2D prints and listing their locations, which is more than Paramount could say for itself with STID.

I will say this. When I saw the opening scene of STID in digital IMAX 3D (in front of The Hobbit), I was very impressed with what I saw. The anamorphic 35mm and IMAX 65mm footage all looked very nice converted into 3D and shown in digital IMAX 3D. Several months later, I saw a press screening of Man of Steel in 3D. I’m guessing they optimized the projector luminance just for that screening simply so we’d come out raving to our friends about how good the 3D looked. But I can’t lie, they actually did a pretty good job with the post-conversion. They managed to make the anamorphic 35mm footage look like natural 3D. I’m starting to think that might be the ideal source format for 3D if you’re not going to actually shoot in stereo.

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I’m seeing the 3D version as well, only for the sake of seeing it theatrically, but I will be checking out the 2D version sometime later. Still sucks that there’s only one IMAX theatre in NZ and it’s not in my area. 😦

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I’ve got 2D tickets for the first showing. I do want to see it in IMAX eventually, and unless there’s plans for a 2D IMAX version that I haven’t heard about, I guess I don’t have a choice but to go with 3D there. I avoid 3D whenever I can; I don’t like the effect enough to offset the pain in the ass factor inherent in wearing 3D glasses over my actual glasses.

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2D first for me simply because, to me, Star Wars is 2D. But I will be seeing it in 3D IMAX at a later date. Should be good too, I don’t have a big problem with 3D like some people.

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joefavs said:

and unless there’s plans for a 2D IMAX version that I haven’t heard about

I was already considering starting a thread about this, and your post might’ve just convinced me.

There will be actual 70mm IMAX 2D screenings, but as of now there will only be 15 locations in the world showing it that way. There will probably be a few more locations added by the time December rolls around. I say that only because TFA will have a much bigger box office draw than something like, say, Interstellar, and there were at least 30 IMAX prints made for that one. Apples and Oranges maybe, since at least half of Interstellar was actually shot in IMAX compared to (allegedly) just one scene in TFA.

Not unlike what happened with STID, the studio is more focused on squeezing the extra dollars out of the several thousand 3D-capable screens than they are about showing off the only several hundred IMAX screens.

Speaking of which, all of the full-sized IMAX theaters that have upgraded to the new digital laser-illuminated system will be showing TFA, but only in 3D unfortunately (same with the smaller “lie max” screens). They’re not bothering to fit in even one 2D screening a day like Man of Steel did (and as I certainly hope Batman v Superman will do, since that will actually feature native IMAX footage just like TFA).

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I was actually aware of the 70mm screenings, but as it stands I’m still several states away from the nearest theater listed as having it. Let’s hope they end up expanding that after all. But yeah, I meant apart from the 70mm. There’s a theater reasonably close to me listed for screenings in the new Laser system, but I believe that’s 3D as well.

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joefavs said:

I was actually aware of the 70mm screenings, but as it stands I’m still several states away from the nearest theater listed as having it. Let’s hope they end up expanding that after all. But yeah, I meant apart from the 70mm. There’s a theater reasonably close to me listed for screenings in the new Laser system, but I believe that’s 3D as well.

If it makes any difference, they’ve added several locations since tickets went on sale a couple weeks ago.

Here’s the list:

http://www.imax.com/community/blog/star-wars-the-force-awakens-imax-tickets-on-sale-now/

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joefavs said:

I’ve got 2D tickets for the first showing. I do want to see it in IMAX eventually, and unless there’s plans for a 2D IMAX version that I haven’t heard about, I guess I don’t have a choice but to go with 3D there. I avoid 3D whenever I can; I don’t like the effect enough to offset the pain in the ass factor inherent in wearing 3D glasses over my actual glasses.

As soon as I can afford it, I’m having 3D-compatible laser eye surgery.

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celboy said:

I am seeing it in 4k DolbyVision 2D on thursday. I hope this is a really amazing experience that is better than the others. I hope it lives to its potential.
https://elcapitantheatre.com/event/1344/showtimes/2015-12-17
On Friday, I am seeing it in 2k Liemax 3d & sunday is regular 2D digital.

That should be amazing. I guess this means TFA was / is being graded for HDR? Disney owns the El Cap, so they’d be showing the movie there regardless. AVS Forum will most likely have a write up about this next month.

You should totally let us know your impressions of the three formats after you’ve seen them.

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Doesn’t seem I have much of a choice. So far, my local cinema only has 3D screenings scheduled and the only 2D show in the next city is at the premiere on a thursday in the middle of the night.
It isn’t even that 3D gives me headaches or something, I just don’t see why I should pay extra to have to wear a pair of uncomfortable glasses while looking at a dimmer version of a movie that doesn’t gain any merit by the addition of a 3D effect, especially if it’s only converted.

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I’m gonna see The Force Awakens in 2D. I don’t support 3D if it the movie was shot in 2D and then converted to 3D in Post-Production.

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The people who will want to see this movie with me won’t give me the choice to see The Force Awakens in 2D. Not that I mind it. Doubt I will make repeat viewings in the theater.

Since its a 3D conversion I would only buy the 2D version on home video. That would depend on if I actually like the movie though.

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I will go to see it in 3D even though I would’ve liked 2D more, but they show 2D only in smaller screens and they were pretty much sold out on the premiere day unless you wanted to sit alone or in the front row. But I won’t be watching it in 3D on home video anyways, so it doesn’t bother me that much to see it on the biggest screen in the nation in 3D as I lucked out with the seats when someone didn’t take their reservation. The first screening is on Dec. 16th like 10 a.m. but I will go to see it after work, 6 p.m.

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My biggest complaint with this whole release is that it appears all marathon showings are 1-6 in 2D with 7 in 3D. I just want to see all 7 in 2D 😦

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Really? All marathon viewings I’ve seen are 1-3 in 3D, 4-6 in 2D, and 7 in 3D

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There is allegedly a test the eye doctor can do to check if your eyes are attuned to the 3D experience. I suspect my eyes struggle more than others but maybe I just don’t enjoy it.

The blue elephant in the room.