Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

Product: U23D movie experience
Price and Availability: $8.25, matinée, in theaters now
Rating: 9/10
Pros: 3D, the wave of the future?  Real enough I had to fight the urge to clap in between numbers
Cons: Sound wasn’t nearly loud enough, price was more than your regular movie
Overall: I believe studios will be making lots more of these up-market movies, audiences have shown they are willing to pay more for 3D.  The quality of the movie was great.  The 3D effects made watching fun.

Diclaimer: I am a U2 fan.  Not a superfan by any stretch of the imagination; they lost me in the Joshua Tree years.  I’ve not been to one of their concerts before and refuse to shell out the cash they demand at this point.  But what I would have given to see them at Red Rocks cutting “under a blood red sky”.

Bono, lead singer of U2, is a rock star.  From the shades to leather jackets to his intelligent persona that can’t be ignored and by himself seems oft larger than life.  The 3D movie took me to South America where stadiums normally reserved for football (er soccer) were packed to capacity, moving in unison.  Here are the highlights:

The crowd in 3D.
The camera zooms in on Bono belting out one hit after another then pulls back.  You hover over the first few rows, the lucky ones who pushed their way to the front, then pull further back.  Now hands and arms are getting in the way as the move like a dancing Cobra swaying to the pipers song.  Water and clothing intermitting being thrown temporarily obstructs your view.  You feel as if you are sweating in the South American heat, riding on the shoulders of someone below you.  It felt real.

The band.
Besides my urge to insist Larry Mullen get a hair cut (sorry Larry), being up close with the band was amazing.  From the full drum set that seemed at times you could almost help Larry out to being at the pointy end of Adam Clayton’s bass guitar watching the strings vibrate; it was impressive.  From microphones that seemed to be in the movie theater, not on the screen the effect was real enough.  I’d seen a concert from Italy and DirecTv recently and the band’s stage wraps into the crowd to great effect, this was perfect for 3D, giving us a real feeling of the band loving the crowd almost in reciprocation.

The filming.
If the previews are any guide, it is tough to resist the “wow” factor of 3D filming.  From an animated film that swings a needle out into the crowd, it is easy to focus on the tech rather than the subject matter.  The filming of U23D avoided such hubristic moves and focus on the band.  There was not a lot of repetition in impressive 3D moves, so you were not bored 15 minutes in.  The film was artful and well done in my opinion.

The message.
One of the things done very well was getting out the bands message of unity without being heavy handed.  At one point, Bono dons a bandanna emblazoned with the CoExist logo, emphasizing no matter our faith, we are all humans and our destiny is codependency.  It was emotional and the crowd seemed really into it.

Summation.
The best review comment I have is I really fought the urge to clap at the end of each song.  A guy two rows in front lifted his lighter up and several flipped their phones open during a slower piece.  We all felt closer to the action thanks the 3D tech.  I enjoyed it.  Leaving the theater, I wished for more songs from earlier records, but I am pretty sure that is the experience for many concert goers of my age; which is a testament to the 3D effects.