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Lion King 3D
Sep. 17th, 2011 11:34 pmWhen I first heard that Disney was going to re-release Lion King in 3D, I was a little concerned. This is one of my favorite movies and was a huge part of my childhood / adolescence, and I wasn't a big fan of the idea of it being butchered. But all the same, how could I turn down the chance to see one of my all-time favorite films in the theater again for the first time since I originally saw it in 1994, especially seeing as how I missed the IMAX release a few years back?
I'm not going to review the content of the movie. If you haven't seen it already, there's something really wrong with you. It was one of the biggest films of the 1990s.
As for the 3D version, well, I can now assure you that none of the magic was lost. This was an extremely well-done version of the film that kept everything intact while tastefully adding depth with the 3D. It was just as good as I remembered it being. Right at the beginning, during the Circle of Life scene, at one point in the film Zazu comes flying into the picture. In the 3D version, he literally seems to go flying right over your head. This earned several "oohs" from the crowd. There were only a few moments where the 3D seemed gimmicky.
In short, I was literally smiling the entire movie. It was so good. And yes, I cried when Mufasa died. If it's wrong to cry then, then I don't want to be right.
The only possibly complaint I could have about the 3D was that, in a few scenes - it was most notable in the fight scenes - the low frame rate became very noticeable. But it only lasted a couple of seconds at a time.
I know a lot of people are probably like, "why bother when you can watch it on DVD?" These are probably the same people who say "eh, I'll catch it on DVD later" for every new film that comes out. There's just something to be said for actually going to the cinema to see a movie. The whole exercise of getting a ticket, sitting in the theater and being around other people just can't be reproduced in the theater.
In this case, the crowd was half the fun! I knew this was going to be a special movie when, after the opening scenes (the Circle of Life) and the big Lion King logo shows, the crowd was already clapping and cheering. Someone in the back yelled "boo!" when Scar's paw slammed down on top of the mouse. The crowd again clapped and cheered after Rafiki convinced Simba to go back, and the film got a standing ovation at the end. I love it when that happens. That totally made the evening for me.
But I also realized what was happening when I looked around the theater. We went to the 9:20 showing at the Monaco, so there were only a few kids in the theater. Most of the people in the theater were 20 and 30-somethings like me as Sarah. People who remember seeing it as kids now getting the opportunity to see it again. For those people, it was (like me) a chance to "be a kid again." And there were some people who probably saw it in the theater as kids were now sharing that same experience with their kids. I know that had to be special.
So yeah. It was very well done. I may try to catch it again one more time before it goes out of theaters again in 2 weeks.
I'm not going to review the content of the movie. If you haven't seen it already, there's something really wrong with you. It was one of the biggest films of the 1990s.
As for the 3D version, well, I can now assure you that none of the magic was lost. This was an extremely well-done version of the film that kept everything intact while tastefully adding depth with the 3D. It was just as good as I remembered it being. Right at the beginning, during the Circle of Life scene, at one point in the film Zazu comes flying into the picture. In the 3D version, he literally seems to go flying right over your head. This earned several "oohs" from the crowd. There were only a few moments where the 3D seemed gimmicky.
In short, I was literally smiling the entire movie. It was so good. And yes, I cried when Mufasa died. If it's wrong to cry then, then I don't want to be right.
The only possibly complaint I could have about the 3D was that, in a few scenes - it was most notable in the fight scenes - the low frame rate became very noticeable. But it only lasted a couple of seconds at a time.
I know a lot of people are probably like, "why bother when you can watch it on DVD?" These are probably the same people who say "eh, I'll catch it on DVD later" for every new film that comes out. There's just something to be said for actually going to the cinema to see a movie. The whole exercise of getting a ticket, sitting in the theater and being around other people just can't be reproduced in the theater.
In this case, the crowd was half the fun! I knew this was going to be a special movie when, after the opening scenes (the Circle of Life) and the big Lion King logo shows, the crowd was already clapping and cheering. Someone in the back yelled "boo!" when Scar's paw slammed down on top of the mouse. The crowd again clapped and cheered after Rafiki convinced Simba to go back, and the film got a standing ovation at the end. I love it when that happens. That totally made the evening for me.
But I also realized what was happening when I looked around the theater. We went to the 9:20 showing at the Monaco, so there were only a few kids in the theater. Most of the people in the theater were 20 and 30-somethings like me as Sarah. People who remember seeing it as kids now getting the opportunity to see it again. For those people, it was (like me) a chance to "be a kid again." And there were some people who probably saw it in the theater as kids were now sharing that same experience with their kids. I know that had to be special.
So yeah. It was very well done. I may try to catch it again one more time before it goes out of theaters again in 2 weeks.