A spectacular new large-format 3-D film, "Encounter in the Third Dimension" has the deserved distinction of opening Friday in all three local Imax theaters (Edwards' Imax 3-D Theatres in Irvine and Ontario, Calif., and the California Science Center in Los Angeles), a first in this increasingly well-attended and adventuresome form of moviegoing.
Produced and distributed by independent nWave Pictures (1997's 2-D "Thrill ride: The Science of Fun"), the 40-minute sci-fi extravaganza is destined to enjoy long runs and worldwide success.
"Encounter" is ostensibly a demonstration film, packed with seat belt-required sequences that showcase the thrills of large-format 3-D, which is best known to audiences through Sony Pictures Classics' "Wings of Courage". It's wildly imaginative, silly and breathtaking, zipping through the history of 3-D in art, photography and movies with an irreverent attitude.
With a 1950s-meets-the-21st-century premise and visual scheme, the "docucoaster" centers on a goofy Professor (Stuart Pankin) at the fanciful Institute of 3-D Technology who keeps promising the audience a demonstration of his Real-O-Vision contraption, with a virtual performance of Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, singing "Haunted House". But the Real-O-Vision generator keeps malfunctioning, and it's up to the professor's winged robot M.A.X. (voice by Pankin) to keep the audience occupied while the Professor fusses.
The main set -- a huge laboratory with countless mechanical things -- is a wondrous, digitally created introduction to the format, with the crowd-pleasing title sequence involving a mounted ray gun shooting the explosive letters onto the screen. But that's only the start of a mind-blowing, occasionally incomprehensible rush of sensational encounters with dinosaurs, a bully re-creation of the Lumiere Brothers' 1903 "L'Arrivee du Train", a rollercoaster-like journey through the Earth's interior and the astounding finale with Elvira topping all that's come before.
Using excerpts from Universal Studios' Terminator 2: 3-D ride, historical stereo photographs and scenes from such vintage 3-D flicks as "Flight to Tangier" and the Dean Martin-Jerry Lewis gangster comedy "Money From Home", "Encounter" is always an eye-popping experience as it charges through many a complicated detail about optics. Alas, many viewers will give up trying to grasp the finer points of such issues as increasing or decreasing interocular distance. "Encounter" also doesn't always hit its marks humor-wise, but Harry Shearer's mock-pompous narration in several scenes is a hoot.
nWave co-founder Ben Stassen, a Belgian, directs "Encounter" with more than the usual attention to every detail -- scenes with the Professor, M.A.X. and Elvira have 37 layers of images, for instance. A team of 14 CGI animators worked for a year on the film, while such sequences as Iwerks' Journey Through the Center of the Earth and excerpts from Dino Island II-3D are unforgettable on the big big screen.
ENCOUNTER IN THE THIRD DIMENSION
nWave Pictures Distribution
nWave Pictures in association with Iwerks Entertainment, Movida, Luminair
Director/executive producer: Ben Stassen
Producer: Charlotte Clay Huggins
Screenwriters: Kurt Frey, Ben Stassen
Co-producer: Kim Nelson-Frey
Co-producer/director of photography: Sean MacLeod Phillips
Production designer: Anthony Huerta
CGI producer: Caroline Van Iseghem
Music: Louis Vyncke
Casting: Judy Taylor
Color/stereo
Cast:
The Professor/Voice of M.A.X.: Stuart Pankin
Elvira: Herself
Narrator: Harry Shearer
Ruth in the Booth: Andrea Thompson
Running time -- 40 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Produced and distributed by independent nWave Pictures (1997's 2-D "Thrill ride: The Science of Fun"), the 40-minute sci-fi extravaganza is destined to enjoy long runs and worldwide success.
"Encounter" is ostensibly a demonstration film, packed with seat belt-required sequences that showcase the thrills of large-format 3-D, which is best known to audiences through Sony Pictures Classics' "Wings of Courage". It's wildly imaginative, silly and breathtaking, zipping through the history of 3-D in art, photography and movies with an irreverent attitude.
With a 1950s-meets-the-21st-century premise and visual scheme, the "docucoaster" centers on a goofy Professor (Stuart Pankin) at the fanciful Institute of 3-D Technology who keeps promising the audience a demonstration of his Real-O-Vision contraption, with a virtual performance of Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, singing "Haunted House". But the Real-O-Vision generator keeps malfunctioning, and it's up to the professor's winged robot M.A.X. (voice by Pankin) to keep the audience occupied while the Professor fusses.
The main set -- a huge laboratory with countless mechanical things -- is a wondrous, digitally created introduction to the format, with the crowd-pleasing title sequence involving a mounted ray gun shooting the explosive letters onto the screen. But that's only the start of a mind-blowing, occasionally incomprehensible rush of sensational encounters with dinosaurs, a bully re-creation of the Lumiere Brothers' 1903 "L'Arrivee du Train", a rollercoaster-like journey through the Earth's interior and the astounding finale with Elvira topping all that's come before.
Using excerpts from Universal Studios' Terminator 2: 3-D ride, historical stereo photographs and scenes from such vintage 3-D flicks as "Flight to Tangier" and the Dean Martin-Jerry Lewis gangster comedy "Money From Home", "Encounter" is always an eye-popping experience as it charges through many a complicated detail about optics. Alas, many viewers will give up trying to grasp the finer points of such issues as increasing or decreasing interocular distance. "Encounter" also doesn't always hit its marks humor-wise, but Harry Shearer's mock-pompous narration in several scenes is a hoot.
nWave co-founder Ben Stassen, a Belgian, directs "Encounter" with more than the usual attention to every detail -- scenes with the Professor, M.A.X. and Elvira have 37 layers of images, for instance. A team of 14 CGI animators worked for a year on the film, while such sequences as Iwerks' Journey Through the Center of the Earth and excerpts from Dino Island II-3D are unforgettable on the big big screen.
ENCOUNTER IN THE THIRD DIMENSION
nWave Pictures Distribution
nWave Pictures in association with Iwerks Entertainment, Movida, Luminair
Director/executive producer: Ben Stassen
Producer: Charlotte Clay Huggins
Screenwriters: Kurt Frey, Ben Stassen
Co-producer: Kim Nelson-Frey
Co-producer/director of photography: Sean MacLeod Phillips
Production designer: Anthony Huerta
CGI producer: Caroline Van Iseghem
Music: Louis Vyncke
Casting: Judy Taylor
Color/stereo
Cast:
The Professor/Voice of M.A.X.: Stuart Pankin
Elvira: Herself
Narrator: Harry Shearer
Ruth in the Booth: Andrea Thompson
Running time -- 40 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 2/25/1999
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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