IMAX 3D helps Man of Steel fly high

Published 9:00 pm Monday, July 3, 2006

T his is not a movie review of the “Superman Returns” IMAX 3D experience.

Do you want to know why?

Because any self-respecting, real movie critic wouldn’t allow himself to say this: It’s totally freakin’ cool.

“Superman Returns” is breaking new ground as the first live-action, feature film to be released in IMAX 3D. You can experience it at the Pacific Science Center in Seattle through August.

The Man of Steel and the sweeping scenes of Metropolis fill the massive 60-by-82-foot screen, but the icing on the gargantuan cake comes in the form of four parts of the film that are viewed in 3D.

A cue on screen tells you when to put on and take off the special glasses. The four parts total about 20 minutes of the film presented in 3D, and they’re a real treat.

“Superman Returns” director Bryan Singer selected the portions of the film that would transcend the traditional two-dimensional constrains of the movies, including some beautiful shots of Superman flying through the air as if he were hovering in the middle of the theater.

“The magic of IMAX 3D will envelop audiences in this story,” Singer said in a press release, “enabling them to feel the emotion, drama and suspense in a completely new and unique way.”

I don’t know about all that. But it’s pretty freakin’ cool.

The first 3D sequence comes early as we see Clark Kent remembering his youth on the farm and an adolescent version of him makes huge leaps across the landscape.

A couple of other scenes are pretty intense, action-packed moments when our hero is saving the world, and it all comes together with a final, almost tranquil moment of flight.

Movie fans should watch the film in regular form first and make room in their summer schedule for a trip to the really big screen.

“Superman Returns” is so much about the visual effects that it is a natural fit for an IMAX 3D screening. But it was filmed entirely in the standard two dimensions, which made for one heck of a race to transform it into the IMAX and 3D formats.

It took 80 digital graphic artists to convert the portions of the film and get it done in time to open the 3D version on the same day as the standard version that was released in movie theaters nationwide last week.

It’s a very clear, crisp 3D experience, better than what we’re used to, and it could signal a new trend in blockbuster movie making.

The technology used to convert films from 2D to 3D is advancing so quickly that moviemakers expect they’ll soon be able release selected films entirely in 3D on a more regular basis, and have them open the same day as the standard format.

That’s good news for IMAX theaters, which have traditionally been associated with big, sweeping, scenic documentary films. They generally see a bump in attendance when a mainstream film such as “The Matrix,” “Batman Begins” or anything with “Harry Potter” comes around, and the added 3D element should only be a bigger draw.

“I hope so,” said Diane Carlson, vice president of public programs for the Pacific Science Center. “Because of the customer satisfaction and interest, there is an increasing number of (mainstream films) in production.”

That’s good news.

Because this stuff is totally freakin’ cool.

Columnist Victor Balta: 425-339-3455 or vbalta@heraldnet.com.

For screening times check the science center’s Web site, www.pacsci.org.