Okay, here's a couple of thoughts I wanted to post here, while I've got a little time...
A few days ago, I picked up the 3-disc standard dvd release of the AVATAR 'Extended Collector's Edition' which was finally released last week, and watched it over the weekend. (I even managed to pick it up for far less than the bare-bones, 'Theatrical'-only version...so I'm glad I held off for this. Bargain.)
Anyway, this was the first time I'd re-watched it again, since seeing the original 'Theatrical' version twice on the big-screen in 3D at the end of last year.
So I duly put on the even-longer 'Extended Collector's Edition' cut to see how things now looked in 2D...
Firstly, as someone who was very keen to see the originally-omitted 'Future Earth' scenes incorporated into the start of the movie, I'm delighted with how this new opening looks now. It's just a short sequence overall, and although we only get a very small glimpse of the crowded, grimy world that Jake's character lives in...it's more than enough to give a really interesting contrast to the wonders of Pandora that come afterwards. I reckon it fleshes out our initial introduction to Jake much, much better now, and these new scenes make for a far stronger beginning. Considering there was talk of this sequence just ending up in the dvd's 'deleted scenes' at one point, I'm relieved that it finally got integrated into this cut. I just wish it had been there to begin with, when AVATAR was first released.
On top of that, there's a handful of other small but very worthy additional scenes along the way now too, which definately makes this even-longer cut the definitive version for me from now on, without a doubt. No matter what's in amongst the 'unfinished' deleted scenes, I'm very satisfied with the movie as it stands now.
Apart from the new visuals on offer, watching AVATAR in 2D this time around seemed a very different experience compared to when I'd originally seen it. Things still looked great overall, but the lack of 'dimensionalization' was pretty jarring at times, especially in certain moments where I remembered being especially 'wowed' by the 3D 'immersion' at the time. I really wish I'd gone to see it in it's 'Theatrical' 2D showing too, at one point...as my 'memory' of how the movie *should* look is now firmly fixed as being 3D in my mind, if you see what I mean. Even if I was to re-watch it in 2D a couple of times over the next few months, I reckon it won't ever seem *correct* to me, except in it's 3D Blu-ray incarnation eventually, lol. (just an aside, but the standard dvd's 'Theatrical'/'Special Edition'/'Extended Collected Edition' cuts are split mid-way across disc 1 and disc 2, effectively turning it into a 'flipper' disc like the 'Lord of the Rings:Extended Edition's dvds were... However, the cuts are thankfully all on disc 1 only, on the Blu-ray release)
Another reason why I wish I'd gone to see it's 2D cinema showing now, is because I'd have liked to have seen how it came across in a 'cinemascope' aspect ratio, compared to the 16:9 ratio that the 3D version was presented. Thing is, Cameron has previously stated that while he prefers a 16:9 ratio for 3D presentations, he still thinks that the wider 'cinemascope' ratio suits 2D movies better...except the 2D dvd releases have not been formatted in 'cinemascope' after all, it turns out, which contradicts what he'd previously said in the past on that point. Personally, I think I'd have preferred the 2D releases to have been in 'cinemascope', and now regret not going to check out how it looked in that 'Theatrical' format. Just out of curiosity, did anyone here happen to see both 2D and 3D versions of AVATAR on the big screen?
Onto the little matter of something else now...
I had an interesting experience yesterday, because I got my first ever look at some genuine 'psuedo'-3D 'converted' footage of STAR WARS...
No, not the upcoming 3D 'conversion' of GL's 'Special Editions' that may be years away from release yet, after his Prequels...but something else...
You see, I'd recently been reading about how some of the latest 3D-enabled tvs are supposedly capable of 'converting' a 2D source into a 3D picture of sorts, without the need for 3D Blu-rays or 3D programming...but because proper info. seemed a little vague to come by, I decided to investigate a little. So I popped into my local 'Panasonic' dealership to see what I could find out. Well, it seems that some manufacturers have indeed managed to incorporate this particular feature into some of their latest models, including 'Panasonic' now...even though they had originally opted out of including this feature, as they didn't think it was viable technology at the time, and would distract from the forthcoming actual 3D content... However, they had ended up changing their minds, probably because they didn't want others stealing a march on them in this area.
Anyway, the manager was a friendly guy who had just happened to have set-up a particular 42" demonstration model earlier, that incorporated this feature...but although he knew it worked with the standard, non-3D Blu-rays he had in-store, he didn't know if it worked with standard dvds or not, but was interested to try it. So just as well I'd happened to take one along with me to find out... I put it in the Blu-ray player as he turned the surround-sound up a tad, and dimmed the nearby lights, as we both put our demo glasses on...and lo and behold...there was adywan's 'STAR WARS:Revisited' looking as I'd never seen it before! :)
The in-built '2D to 3D' mode had given the movie a kind of 'seeing into a window' look which gave things a 'layered'-3D look to everything, and managed a subtle, 'immersive' depth that I liked.
Now, I only had time to flick through a couple of quick sample scenes - the scroll and opening sequence up to when Vader appears/the Death Star escape TIE Battle/and a good part of the End Battle...but it certainly had a decent amount of 'dimensionalized' impact to it that I wasn't expecting, and I was quite gutted that I couldn't stand and watch the whole movie that way, there and then, lol!
The manager (Mike, a guy in his 30's) thought adywan's edit looked amazing of course, and was as engrossed as I was with the effect of it in the 'conversion' mode, so I said I'd organise a spare copy for him.
Considering I wasn't sure this 'psuedo'-3D effect would even work with the dvd in the first place, it was a blast. As a 'stop-gap' to fill the lack of 3D material at the moment, this is feature that plenty of people will be keen to play about with in the meantime, till more 3D programming appears. I guess it comes down to how much you personally like the novelty value of this 3D-'style' effect when you see it, as it won't be for everyone. But I found it fascinating, and I'd certainly re-watch most of my dvds using this setting, to get a whole new fresh perspective out of them...albeit one that I wouldn't expect to match the quality of an actual 3D Blu-ray.
But there's more to consider if any of you are wanting to, and in the position to get one of these currently expensive sets sometime - after my good experience with the 'Panasonic' set, I decided to quickly pop into my local 'Sony' dealership to compare one of their's too... Well, it turned out that the one I was shown gave a far less impressive 'depth' effect than the 'Panasonic' model. But of course, it could just have been that the dealership's settings weren't tweaked effectively when I tried it. Or it might mean that some manufacturer's really do have much less effective '2D to 3D' trickery built-into their products than others...
Bottom line, is that it's possible to watch 'a kind of' 3D STAR WARS (or anything else) right now...and I would love to get my hands on the 42" 'Panasonic' I demo'd, just for this feature alone...even though it's smaller than my current 50" screen. But judging by this small sampling alone, I'll certainly be taking my time to rigorously compare the quality of this feature between various manufacturer's sets, whenever I'm in the position to upgrade again in the future.
And lastly...'Mike the manager' had a copy of 'Panasonic's exclusive 3D Blu-ray of AVATAR playing on another demonstration model yesterday, but I didn't have enough time to check it out. I take it that it's only the 'Theatrical' cut, but I'm intending to go back and see how good the effect is, as it will be the first actual 3D Blu-ray that I will have watched properly. And I'm going to pop my standard dvd of AVATAR into the tv set I tested yesterday, so that I can get a rough idea of just how different the quality is between the 'proper'-3D effect, and the 'psuedo'-3D effect, between the two.
I'll mention my thoughts about that, at some point in the future.
