Today, blu-ray.com offers you the review of the first full-length, full-HD, non-anaglyph BD title supporting the new Blu-ray 3D specifications:
Monsters vs. Aliens 3D. This disc is not for general sale, but the managers of the site understood that its readership is starved for hands-on information about how 3D actually works at home, and spared no expense to put a copy in a reviewer's hands.
According to reviewer Martin Liebman,
Monsters vs. Aliens delivers "an intense and altogether fun 3D viewing experience." The ability of the format to offer a sense of space "makes for an all-new way to experience the environments within movies." The review singles out one long tracking shot inside a wedding chapel, which "positively places the viewer in the church, and never before for home viewing has a location appeared so real (even though it's animated) as it does here." The reviewer looks forward to seeing "something similar that's been filmed in the real world."
On the other hand, audio was "nothing short of a shocking disappointment", because the 3D edition only includes Dolby Digital soundtracks and thus misses out on the "superb lossless mix that accompanied the standard 2D release." In the reviewer's opinion, this "will certainly need to be addressed in the near future."
Regarding 2D compatibility, this disc may be viewed in either 2D or 3D modes, selectable on the player. However, when the disc was inserted into a PS3 running the latest firmware (v. 3.21), "the system simply failed to read the disc." Those issues are expected to be sorted out when a 3D-compatible firmware is released for the console. An update to support 3D gaming is expected for June; a firmware version to add playback of movies in 3D will arrive later in the year.
Note that the Blu-ray 3D specification has nothing to do with the existing (and "grossly inconsistent", according to the reviewer) anaglyph 3D viewing (using red/blue or magenta/green glasses), present in titles such as
My Bloody Valentine 3D or
Journey to the Center of the Earth. Blu-ray 3D requires a compatible player and display, and a pair of special glasses.
Monsters vs. Aliens is available only bundled with 3D-compatible hardware from Samsung. The Korean CE maker is in a global strategic alliance with Dreamworks Animation and Technicolor "for the delivery of a complete 3D home entertainment solution in 2010." Dreamworks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg has confirmed that
Monsters vs Aliens and the Blu-ray 3D edition of the
Shrek movies will be exclusive for one year.
Hence, the only way for buyers of 3D HDTVs and 3D Blu-ray players from other brands (especially the other early provider, Panasonic) to own
Monsters vs. Aliens is to purchase Samsung's $350 bundle that also includes two pairs of 3D glasses that only work with their branded gear – or to go to the secondary market and try to find someone who's bought that bundle and doesn't want to keep the movie. That limitation, according to the review, is a serious drawback.
See also Martin Liebman's review of the
2D edition of the movie and his first impressions of Panasonic's
3D Blu-ray Player and 3D HDTV.