Caffeinated Clint
By Clint Morris
Having grown up in a time when being poked and prodded by things jumping off the screen just wasn’t at all stimulating, I’ve never been that much of an advocate for 3D.
In ”Jaws 3D”, we were suppose to believe the killer fish was heading straight for our seats (what a joke that was!), in “Freddy’s Dead”, the filmmaker wanted us to wriggle and worm in an effort to escape Freddy Krueger’s razor-sharp glove as it reached past the screen, and in ”Friday the 13th Part III”, it was supposed to seem as if Jason’s knife was coming terrifyingly close to our own skulls – as well as Crispin Glover’s. Thing is, nobody believed any of it – let alone believed there was any benefit to 3D. If anything, all those red-and-blue glasses did was evoke ear chafing and headaches!
When James Cameron announced he’d be bringing back 3D, you could hear the groans of those that grew up in the 80s echoed around the globe – the last thing we needed was for filmmakers to reintroduce the gimmick! 3D had never worked, why would it work now? And wasn’t it going to give filmmakers an excuse to be lazy again? After all, they wouldn’t need to try to make a good movie if the third-dimension was a feature’s key marketing point, right!?
Unfortunately, that’s exactly what has happened. 3D has been reinstated as a medium for filmmakers that haven’t a clue how to structure or direct a film but can run some new-fangled film stock through a camera, thus cheating themselves into a hit movie. And one could list a dozen or so 3D films that have been released, or are about to be, that are destined to be stinkers for the pure reason that they’re all style (or are they?), no substance.
James Cameron’s ”Avatar” wasn’t one of them. In fact, it’s the best 3D film ever made. The Oscar Winning filmmaker, who’s always at the forefront of technological innovation, crafted a film that used 3D as merely a supplement to the story – not as a replacement.
Cameron used it because he felt it would make the film better. And he was right, it did. The 3D effects in ”Avatar” are outstanding – they’re immersive, they add depth, and they really make you feel like you’re, in that film’s case, jumping about on an alien planet with a newly-discovered race.
Unfortunately, ”Avatar” did such big business that every man and his dog are now utilizing the technology – for better or… worse. You see, what some of these filmmakers/studios are doing is they’re adding 3D to a picture after it’s filmed, which, as Cameron will attest to, isn’t the way to do it. Anyone that saw the recent ”Alice in Wonderland” would have felt it was a far less impressive a 3D movie experience than ”Avatar” for simply that reason – The Mad Hatter was three-dimenionalised in post, not in the lens. And it doesn’t work – at all.
3D can look amazing if it’s done right -it has to both complement the story and more so, be used from the get-go, not added in later in a post-production facility – and both ”Avatar”, and Dreamworks’ Animation’s newie, ”How to Train Your Dragon”, are perfect examples of a tool used to its full and proper effect.
Like ”Avatar”, ”How to Train Your Dragon” has utilized the advances in 3D technology only in an effort to aid its already-strong story.
The computer-animated film, directed by Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders , is based on a 2003 children’s novel about a young Viking (a skinny red-head with courage issues, he’s unlike any other Viking) who for eons has been begging his macho dragon-slaying father to teach him how to kill the fire-breathing enemy.
Hiccup (voiced by Jay Baruchel in the film) shoots a dragon down from the sky. When he rushes to the forest to see the dragon’s immobile frame, he discovers a not-so-evil creature that’s more Hooch than Cujo.
Needless to say, young Hiccup ultimately decides that he’s not going to be doing any dragon-slaying and instead, befriend the race – in particular, the only mildly-wounded ‘Toothless’.
When Hiccup’s father (voiced by Gerard Butler), and his countrymen, discover that the youngster has not only befriended a dragon but has a way into the dragon’s nest, they fuel their fury into an industrious mission that’ll thwart the dragons forever – unless, of course, Hiccup and Toothless can stop them.
This, like ”Avatar”, looks amazing! The 3D makes you feel you feel like you’re riding a dragon through the clouds, having fire blown at you from a prehistoric monster’s nostrils, and, at times, worryingly falling from the sky. This is exactly how it’s done! The visuals here are quite simply, beautiful!
As I mentioned earlier though, 3D can’t be a substitute for a good story and thankfully, this one has a bonza one. Laughs, adventure, thrills and a gorgeous message – this is family entertainment at its best. And like ”Shrek”, don’t be surprised if ”How to Train Your Dragon” is a film both kids and parents return to time and time again – it’s got a timeless feel about it; there’s something special about this one. It’s running on fire!
If only all 3D movies could be as visually stunning and emotionally stirring (as the same time) as ”How to Train Your Dragon” cinema screens wouldn’t have been stained by such deceptive fare as ”The Final Destination”.
Blu-Ray/DVD Combo Pack Details and Extras
Firstly, it ain’t in 3D.
But don’t fret!
Never thought “How to Train” would look as good on Blu as it did in the theatre, by by golly, does it ever! The colours are vibrant, detail is sharp, the sound smacks the lounge room walls around like they were still soft putty, and the blemishes are, as far as I could tell, non-existent.
Extras-wise, there’s some really engrossing stuff on here – numerous featurettes on the movie’s execution, source material (a book) and animation techniques, a pop-up trivia track, some games that the kids will enjoy, and a few deleted scenes.
Oh, and being a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack you’re not only getting the amazing-looking 1080p/5.1 Blu-ray disc, but also a copy of the DVD to boot!
