Encounter in the Third Dimension (1999)

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

The 3-D in this film is phenomenal as is the history of stereoscopic imaging. Samples of turn-of-the-century stereocards, 1950's B movies, and recent attractions at Universal Studios and elsewhere give a tantalizingly brief overview of the art, the technical hurdles and how they have been overcome. The finale with Elvira is superb. A roller coaster ride through the center of the earth is also memorable. My only regret is that the film was not twice as long.

I saw this at Alton Towers in the 3D cinema.There were a few good moments in the film, but mostly i thought it was quite bad. In the whole film i think there was 5 moments of proper 3D image.The only good thing about this film was the apperance of Elvira, she was in all her 3D glory.If your a fan of Elvira you will like the film, if your a fan of 3D films you will not like it.For 3D images i give it 2/10 For Elvira i give it 9/10

Strictly for fans of 3-D stereo home video. Requires LCD-shutter glasses connected to a home controller driven by the composite video-out signal; there are several such systems available.I viewed this DVD in 3-D on a 35" TV with an S-video connection, using "3-D SPEX" LCD glasses I already owned, from NuVision. The picture was quite good, despite the loss of color caused by the glasses. Note that this should only be viewed in a dark room.This was transferred from the original IMAX film, and that causes major problems. It was designed to fill the enormous IMAX screen with large amounts of CGI detail, which become overly miniaturized when transferred to video. For example, at one point there is an inset showing examples of some early 3-D movies, but the inset is so tiny that they are mostly lost. In Elvira's few scenes, she mostly appears as a small doll lost in the middle of the screen (the producers are idiots for hiring her, and then making so little use of her unique talents).The script's attempts at humor are hideously bad, and appear to have been aimed at bored 6-8 year olds; adults will probably find themselves suffering. The failed tries at cuteness are very typical of this entire genre, unfortunately; its scary to think that the producers may actually find it amusing. Its like they were TRYING to drive IMAX into its eventual bankruptcy.Once you get past the many problems, there is some quite interesting 3-D history, and examples of 3-D stills and movies. Unfortunately the stereo separation is flawed, and the depth is usually badly exaggerated. On the other hand, the numerous examples of CGI stereo are impressive, particularly the "Journey to the Center of the Earth", which was presumably taken from a motion-simulator ride.

This is an exciting and informative through the history of 3D from its early beginings to the present day (including its use in Universal Studio's T2 ride in LA). Its set in a 3D lab of some proffesor of 3D, who orders his robot pal to inform (and most importnatly entertain) the audience with 3D pieces from over the years. You see early - but incredibley effective - stereoscopic pictures, corny 50s 3D movies with horrendous giant spiders and creaky wooden actors continuoisly throwing objects at the camera (to fully milk that 3D effect). It then comes up to date with some computer animations and so-real-it's-unreal filmed footage of various beaches and street scenes. The linking pieces of the proffessor in the lab are humourous and not in the slightest bit annoying (as is the case with the linking segmnets in many other imax movies - see e.g. my review of cyberworld).As a 3D imax experince Encounters is also the best i've ever seen (and i've seen many - i've even been to an imax theme park in France "Futureworld"). As every image in the film is designed to make the most of the format, you really get that in your face sensation and will continuously try and grab at the air to feel for 3D objects that of course are not really there. In essence the audience really feels like they are watching a live show with actors on a stage rather than merely a series projected images. Imax movies in general are a mixed bag, some are really aweful. Here though is a true gem that makes the most of the format. You should definetley check it out if its playing anywhere near you.