3-D revolution on the horizon

James Cameron, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas will lead the charge.

Jan 10 2006

In the 1950s, bespectacled audiences screamed and covered their faces as giant monsters lurched out at them from the big screen. Now, half a century on, 3-D cinema is making a comeback.

In a bid to win back the thousands of viewers lost to DVD, some of the industry's most revered directors are using new technology to bring the third dimension to the masses.

Steven Spielberg and James Cameron have already pledged to make 3-D features, while George Lucas is re-mastering three-dimensional versions of all six 'Star Wars' films in time for the 30-year anniversary of the original in 2007.

Imax cinemas have been showing 3-D films for years, but soon any cinema with a digital projector will be able to join the party.

And audiences will no longer have to don ridiculous cardboard specs to enjoy the effects. Instead, the image will be split into two parts and projected at the left and right eye at slightly different angles, thus fooling the brain into thinking that the objects on the screen are 'real'.

Whether the new format will lure people out of their living rooms and back into the cinemas (which, interestingly, is the same reason that the 1950s craze was introduced) remains to be seen. But with such high-profile backing, we could well be on the verge of a cinematic revolution.

And once the stars start to jump on board, the trend could really take off. Scarlett Johansson in 3-D anyone?

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