http://www.newsweek.com/id/237110

Why I Hate 3-D (And You Should Too)

I'm not opposed to 3-D as an option. I'm opposed to it as a way of life.

3-D is a waste of a perfectly good dimension. Hollywood's current crazy stampede toward it is suicidal. It adds nothing essential to the moviegoing experience. For some, it is an annoying distraction. For others, it creates nausea and headaches. It is driven largely to sell expensive projection equipment and add a $5 to $7.50 surcharge on already expensive movie tickets. Its image is noticeably darker than standard 2-D. It is unsuitable for grown-up films of any seriousness. It limits the freedom of directors to make films as they choose. For moviegoers in the PG-13 and R ranges, it only rarely provides an experience worth paying a premium for.

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I find myself to be in general agreement with his views on this subject.

Now, I respect ebert. I think he's a good man. But quite frankly, I agree with everything he just said.

Hmm.. personally I will always go for the 3D version if it's available for a movie I want to see, because the better immersion is worth paying the premium for in my opinion. I'm not a regular at cinemas, so if I go it's because I really want to watch that movie in the best possible way (recent exception is Avatar, which I wanted to watch because it's 3D and not because I was interested in the movie, which turned out to be quite entertaining, but just as "flat" as I thought it'd be), which for me is 3D right now.

As he says there are some technical difficulties directors run into when making a 3D movie, but I think they will manage to handle these in the end. That won't destroy "serious, mature" movies, just like color or sound didn't destroy them.

Absolutely agree.

Depends how the 3D is done and how it's utilised. It's still early days so movie makers are still figuring out how and when to use it. Just compare the 3D in Avatar where it's done well and makes good use of 3D, to the "3D" in Clash of the Titans where it was added as an after thought and did nothing but make the viewing experience worse. I'm sure the 3D movie experience will improve drastically over the next few years.

He does say something smart every now and again.

Its awesome in computer generated movies. Since I love animated movies, im happy with 3D.

Totally agree its just a gimmick by Hollywood to boost revenues for the most part. The new Clash of the Titans is a perfect example of this they just added 3D after the movie was finished to boost its box office revenue.

As people's home theaters become better and better, and video distribution gets easier and cheaper, 3D is a desperate bid to differentiate the movie theater experience from the home theater experience. That's why studios are rushing to this technology, to keep movie watchers paying big bucks for a theater seat instead of peanuts for a Netflix download. If doesn't matter if it's better, what matters is that it's different and it's an experience which few people can duplicate at home.

I think it's really only going to add anything beyond prettiness to animated movies, and I still think we need a few years before it's going to get really good.