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Mr Sausage wrote: Wed Sep 04, 2019 2:32 pm I normally skip 3D when I can, so I'm wondering: should I see this in 3D or is it OK to skip?

2D screenings are more plentiful where I am, it seems, so I'm just wondering if I should make the extra effort.

It's still worth watching in 2D but if I had the option I would definitely want to see it in 3D at least once

The 3D section is a stunt, but it's an amazing stunt that you should see if you can. That sequence will be pretty remarkable in 2D as well, but there's good reason for the added dimension, and some elements are all about the depth effect (e.g. a long, slow descent). Parts of it inhabit a world of interconnected semi-open spaces and up and down staircases that becomes almost Escherian in its navigation, and who wouldn't want to experience Escher in 3D?

I also think that while it would work in 2D, like Godard's Goodbye to Language a lot of the uniqueness of the film is the 3D section. It loses a lot of its power when the character puts on his 3D glasses cueing the audience, who won't be able to do so as well.
Definitely worth it in my opinion (even though a lot of people walked out, even before the 3D section)

Well, there's no point in watching the Godard in 2D whereas this still works wonderfully without it

I only ever saw Goodbye to Language in 2D. It never came to the cinemas in the city I lived at that time. But I still loved it. I don't have a 3D TV so I can't watch it on Blu Ray in 3D either.

Nasir007 wrote: Wed Sep 04, 2019 11:29 pm I only ever saw Goodbye to Language in 2D. It never came to the cinemas in the city I lived at that time. But I still loved it. I don't have a 3D TV so I can't watch it on Blu Ray in 3D either.

Man, you missed out on most of the jokes!

Another vote to try and see this in 3D if possible

Nasir007 wrote: Wed Sep 04, 2019 11:29 pm I only ever saw Goodbye to Language in 2D. It never came to the cinemas in the city I lived at that time. But I still loved it. I don't have a 3D TV so I can't watch it on Blu Ray in 3D either.

I watched it on my 3D TV, but without subtitles, so I have no idea what actually was going on narratively, but holy cow, it made me realize how no one understood the possibilities of 3D.

There’s only about 5-10 movies that actually use the technology beyond a gimmick level IMHO.

Dumb question, but why is a gimmick considered a negative attribute?

When it's only virtue is in its gimmickness, I would say it's negative. It's definitely a gimmick here, but in my opinion it serves the film and experiet Gan wanted to take the viewer through, which raises it above being a mere gimmick.

Yes I agree, when it’s just a gimmick and adds nothing more to the experience apart from the odd moment that takes you out the movie, it’s a negative. Here, it is a gimmick but it actually adds to the experience because of what the last hour is supposed to be and it adds to the dreamlike atmosphere.

I agree with several people that the influences from other filmmmakers are a bit apparent, but I'm positive about it and welcome talents like Bi Gan in today's cinema. He still manages to do something own and unique. It's still the best film from 2018 I've seen so far. I even liked it more than Kaili Blues (2015), where the influences seemed more toned down. It's hard to not talk about his films and not mentioning the long takes that are around 40 to 60 minutes, but they are a big part of his style and the films themselves. Yes, the long take in the second part is glorious and something special. One certain segment of it that has stuck with me is the one when we hear a Kelly Chen song. I don't know why, but it reminds me of other great scenes, like the one in The Seventh Continent (1989) with Jennifer Rush and the dance scene in The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (1972) with The Platters. Maybe it's just something about the way diegetic music used in these longer scenes and what kind of music it is. Not necessarily good music to my taste, but hard to not notice.

Long Day's Journey into Night (2018) evokes some kind of dream state that I don't often see in films in general (particularly newer ones), at least not done as delicate and poignant as here. It really feels like a dream. Not overly full on clear fantasy elements, but that kind of dream that is more grounded in reality and still having that distinct perplexity, which works fine together with the themes, especially the one about memories. It's also why it pays off for me, because there's no clear/linear narrative to follow and the whole mystery part isn't obvious. It may be confusing at first, but dreams often are.

I wish I could see the film in a theater, 3D or not and not having to travel several hours, but it is what it is. I'm glad to have seen it at all. At least can I look forward to rewatching it on Blu-ray. A little more than two months left now! With that said, I am super curious to see what Bi Gan will cook up for us in the future.

This is being released on Blu Ray soon in 3D. Does anybody know if 3D discs also have the option to watch them in 2D as I don't have a 3D player?

Aunt Peg wrote: Tue Oct 01, 2019 12:51 pm This is being released on Blu Ray soon in 3D. Does anybody know if 3D discs also have the option to watch them in 2D as I don't have a 3D player?

This is from the previous page in this thread:

The Fanciful Norwegian wrote: Thu Jul 25, 2019 2:28 pm Blu-ray 3D uses a separate video stream for each eye, and the spec's default is that the left-eye stream will play back in isolation on 2D equipment. But a common practice is to lock the 3D streams to 3D equipment only and use a completely separate encode for 2D viewing—possibly because the 3D streams are supposed to be brighter (to compensate for the light lost to the glasses) and using the same encode for both formats means it'll either be too dark in 3D or too bright in 2D.

Home video releases of mainstream 3D films have usually been issued with a standard 2D Blu-ray version included. I have no idea what the plan is for this title. Given that only part of the film is in 3D would seem to complicate how the home video edition is handled. As the quote above notes, common practice is to encode 3D discs to only play on 3D players.

Thanks for the information. I'll have to wait closer to the day to see if they include two seperate Blu Ray discs. If not it will have to be a DVD purchase.

swo17 wrote: Tue Oct 01, 2019 2:08 pm Blu-ray.com lists it as coming with both a 3D Blu-ray and a standard Blu-ray

Great.

tenia wrote: Thu Jul 25, 2019 9:29 pmHaving a separate 2D encode also allows for a lesser compressed AVC stream and more greedy soundtracks. Typically, the 3D disc would be 20Mbps AVC + 13Mbps MVC + DTS HD MA 5.1 and the 2D disc 30Mbps AVC + Dolby TrueHD Atmos.

It seems that Kino chose to include no less than 3 DTS HD MA choices, so I'm now very curious about how the encode fares.