Posted By
Mel Martin
February 13, 2012 at 7:19am
It’s been 13 years since Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace was released, and now it’s back in 3D.
Creator George Lucas says making it in 3D was not about the money, but more to give a new generation of kids the thrill of seeing a Star Wars film. Maybe, maybe not.
Reviews of this latest version, which is, of course, a conversion and not native 3D are all over the map. This is not a film with objects popping out of the screen, but rather it has been re-processed to provide a sense of depth.
Some reviewers on Fandango weighed in with their comments: “As for the 3D, it's really quite unimpressive. TPM was originally shot on film, whereas the other prequels were shot digitally. This meant that TPM had a bit more film grain than the other two prequels. Unfortunately, this has led Lucas to apply digital noise reduction to the movie, which gives it a more digital look, but regrettably scrubs away a lot of the fine detail. Thus, the movie is extremely soft, and the 3D conversion does not stand out most of the time.”
Another fan wrote: “If you are going to have 3D at least make me duck from a light saber or something. The 3D effects were in the depth of the picture only. Save your money.” Some were more positive: “Experiencing it in 3D is definitely an eye popping experience, from the galactic spaceship battles, pod races (must see) and lightsaber duels the layering to obtain the proper depth perception scene by scene was well done. If you're a diehard Star Wars fan or not, this is one your sure to enjoy.”
Rotten Tomatoes gives the film 57% (out of 100) with many critics complaining the movie is as dull as ever, but some citing the pod race as being enhanced with 3D processing.
I haven’t seen this new version of the film as yet. I didn’t care for it on its first release, and I think that Lucas has been stuck in self-inflicted Carbonite for years. Our readers will undoubtedly have their own views, and we encourage you to share them.
I do worry a bit that if these conversions do well, more directors will be encouraged to go that route, rather than film in native 3D, which is a very bad thing.