Are 3D Movies a fad or will they be the future in 2012 and beyond?

A little bit of background nonsense

Before I go into this post too far I had better come clean and admit that my only experiences with 3D has been (1) watching a few movies in the ‘80s using the cardboard glasses with the green and red lenses which was from what I remember kind of cool and (2) watching a few minutes of a modern 3D cartoon in an electronics shop on a massive 50” 3D screen.   The more modern version looked great but left me with what I can only assume to be the beginnings of a mild headache and sore eyes.  Maybe I am being too harsh and should at least watch a full movie before being critical of this re-emerging technology?

I have never been one to embrace new gimmicks as the first generation of new tech is nearly always flawed in some manner; this includes Mobile Phones, Plasma TVs, Blu Ray Players and many more… I have recently started to leave DVD behind and move over to Blu Ray as the more preferred viewing experience and I have been mostly satisfied by movies that I have bought (after already buying the DVD versions).  It now annoys the hell out of me that the movie industry is pushing the 3D experience so soon after Blu Ray coming out on top of the HD market.

Why I can make these comments

I have been collecting movies since VHS times and this I believe qualifies me to have an opinion here. I have been known to replace my favourite films a while after each new technology is released; my reason being that each version offers new picture quality and sound production.  This theory has been sound as we moved from VHS to DVD and then Blu Ray.  So what can 3D offer that Blu Ray cannot I ask you?  I don’t wear glasses and the idea that I would have to use glasses to watch TV at home is absurd at least to me. 

One of my favourite genres (Star Wars) is coming out soon on 3D soon, only a few months after I bought the box set on Blu Ray.  I knew that it would happen when I bought the set and it didn’t worry me too much at the time and still doesn’t.  I wouldn’t mind viewing it once to see what all the fuss is about but I don’t think I would like to watch it at home on 3D.

Public Opinion Poll

 Excerpt from a UK Poll in September 2011: Responding to a YouGov poll, 41% of people called it a gimmick with just 19% agreeing that 3D improves a film.

Just under half of those polled said it made no difference at all.

Price does not appear to be an issue for more than a third of cinema goers who said that even if the more expensive 3D films tickets were the same price as their 2D counterparts, they would rather see a film in the traditional two dimensional format.

This is just one of many articles and Polls that I could quote here but I am going to assume that you have already read pieces about 3D technology. Indeed Google is full of negative articles written by those who believe that it's just a passing fad.

What do you think?
It would appear that I am not alone in my view that 3D is just a gimmick and may just be a prelude to the next technology upgrade which may be holographic TV. Don’t laugh, it may yet happen.

Movie companies are certainly pushing this technology as their current cash cow and this may be here to stay for the immediate future whether the movie going public want it or not.

What do you think?