100 Years of 3D Movies featuring The Man from M.A.R.S. 3D Blu-ray (2022) [Region TBC]

[Deciazulado]

100 Years of 3D Movies featuring The Man from M.A.R.S. Blu-ray



I just saw this added to the database

[the13thman]

If this wasn't an AI conversion I'd be more excited but the special features sound interesting. I assume it's a BD-R as well...

[Ferretferret]

Yeah, was just gonna open a thread on it, too.

Glad to see some unexpected 3D content! Sounds like it has great bonuses, too, potentially. If the 3D version has been lost, this is probably the best we'll ever see of the main feature.

BD vs BD-R is my only real fear.

[Farai]

I thought it sounded interesting too, unfortunately the seller doesn't ship to the UK.

[trialobite]

As soon as I saw the cover I figured this was from Varoety Films. The previous releases from this guy have all been BD-R. He has a Youtube channel with some 3D content, seems like a nice guy. https://youtube.com/channel/UCmvKqcK3AHRVlLcdjem6LXA .

[emailking]

So is this basically a bunch of short silent films in 3D?

[Farai]

Had a reply from Jonathan, producer of the films, he has an Etsey store that interested UK buyers can purchase from. His other discs are available on there too.
As pointed out earlier, they are BD-R discs and some content is AI converted. Some interesting items though and I'm glad people still have a passion for 3D.
**After checking, postage comes to more than the disc itself. **

[BluBonnet]

Sounds pretty intriguing

[Elsinore]

Jonathan Sabin, owner of Variety Films, is a nice guy! I have this one from his Etsy store:



Etsy description of the disc:

“Volume 1: Including several historic shorts for the first time in discreet digital 3D, plus bonus material. Includes Arrival d'un train, Max pedicure, parts of Robinzon Kruzo, some stereo cards, Cat Women of the Moon, and two manual conversions: highlights from Superman cartoons and highlights from The Photo Drama of Creation, a 1914 religious film.

Volume 2: Stills spanning multiple decades and formats such as stereo cards, color stereo film cameras and stereo reels, culminating in manual conversions of classic artwork and a Christian slide show, newly restored in 4K and now in 3D!

Volume 3: This latest volume includes more stereo cards, a short film about stereo cards as seen at 2022's Stereo Displays and Applications conference, real vintage stereo footage from the UK featuring Queen Elizabeth II and a computer-powered AI conversion of the classic The Lost World.

Manufactured on BD-R media
Apx. 4 hours 9 minutes”

My Etsy review of the disc:

“Great seller! Very nice, promptly answered all my questions. Fast shipping. Some great vintage 3D stereo cards and ViewMaster slides. Very nice conversions of an old religious slide show (anti-evolution and racist, but historically interesting), Superman cartoon stills, clips of Robinzon Kruzo (Robinson Crusoe) a 1947 Soviet 3D film, and some excellent color stereo film camera stills. The rest is pixelated and pretty unwatchable, but those items mentioned are worth the cost.”

Unfortunately, Cat Women of the Moon and The Lost World were really awful autoconversions. I’m afraid I couldn’t even watch them. They were described as “computer-powered AI conversions,” the same as the new The Man From M.A.R.S., so I’m not encouraged this will be any better.

But Jonathan is not a scammer. He’s a 3d fan doing his best with lost source material. The autoconverted stuff was bad. But the other stuff mentioned in my review was good 3d of very obscure, vintage content originally shot in 3d.

[Variety Films 3D]

Thanks for the review Elsinore and the kind words! To be clear, Cat Woman of the Moon is true 3D sourced from an old field sequential format. Also the auto converts of Lost World and Man from M.A.R.S. are nothing like German auto-converts that are just pushed or slanted back, they offer layer separation in many scenes and do especially well in simple scenes of people, with the background appearing to be truly separated, and the depth is dialed back in more complex shots, so there's no real glaring inaccuracies that mar the experience, just enhancement.

In answer to emailking's question:
The disc includes the movie with wraparound documentary, a full stereo card story (a few minutes long, tells a comedic narrative with captions), the Captain 3-D comics collection which has been restored from it's original anaglyph format into true discrete 3D, and has several stories that last about half an hour I believe, showcases of different 3D sources and formats like Pulfrich, computer graphics and manual conversion, a trailer for a new film Maine Seasons etc.

[Elsinore]

I was too harsh saying The Lost World was awful and unwatchable. I did find Cat Women rough, but I just rescanned through The Lost World and it is different from Cat Women. The picture is clear and definitely watchable. To me it looks like a nice autoconversion done with the 2d>3d setting on my LG tv. Maybe a bit better. Since The Man from M.A.R.S. was originally in 3d and I’ve never seen it, I’m definitely interested. After revisiting The Lost World, which seems to use the same type of conversion, I’m much more optimistic about The Man from M.A.R.S. (and I didn’t know you were on this forum - oops)

[Variety Films 3D]

No, please be honest, it's all good Yes, Cat Women while it does have good 3D throughout is definitely the roughest like you said, being from analog sub-SD resolution, although I did align it where possible.

[Camps]

Originally Posted by Variety Films 3D

Yes, Cat Women while it does have good 3D throughout is definitely the roughest like you said, being from analog sub-SD resolution, although I did align it where possible.

Jonathan, are you able to post teasers to your YouTube channel of any of your content from the two vintage-3D discs -- maybe brief clips of Robinson Kruzo, Cat Women, Man From M.A.R.S -- so we can get a better idea, maybe help us make a decision to pull the trigger?

[Variety Films 3D]

Thanks for the idea, I never made teasers for all of them but that would be good. When I do I'll do it in SBS format.

[Variety Films 3D]

Due to request here is a playlist of five Variety Films trailers in SBS 3D:

3D Town / New Hampshire Seasons SBS 3D previews - YouTube

[Reg Hartt]

Anyone who loves 3D has me in his corner. After receiving this yesterday I ran it on my projector. I was prepared for a less than exciting RADIO MANIA because the AI conversions I have done pale next to True 3D and this is no exception. What I was not prepared for was how small it looked on my screen. The music chosen left a lot to be desired. It was what sounded like period piano roll typical of what is used in many comedy silent films. After seeing the film I did a web search. I located a 2D DVD source for RADIO MANIA in England. I ordered it. The version used here runs under a hour. The version I ordered has a running time of 93 minutes. I was pleased to find THE 3D MOVIE offered on his site. Ordered that plus VINTAGE 3D Vols. 1, 2, 3. I don't know if that is the title referenced on 3D RARITIES 2. Asked but got no reply. I have a field sequential 3D version of CAT WOMEN which I used 3D Combine to convert to above/below Blu-ray format. Picture quality on the original leaves a lot to be desired. I have several different 2D to 3D conversions systems. 3D Combine will also convert 2D to 3D. Am going to do my own conversion of RADIO MANIA when it arrives.

[Variety Films 3D]

Hi Reg, there is only one DVD being sold of this film, so you will be getting the same copy the Blu-ray used. (Which they are selling for between $30-40 on a bare-bones DVD, as opposed to $20 from my site for a better looking Blu-ray with lots of extras.) Their listed runtime is inaccurate and is not longer as stated. This source DVD also uses similar generic piano silent film music (you may not want to search out other public domain silents on DVD as this is quite common where no soundtrack or sheet music survives) and it is sourced from an NTSC recording taped off of a screen, (the only known copy) which results in blended frames being baked in & general lack of clarity. The choice to both pillarbox & letterbox within a scope ratio was to give a more pleasing experience as opposed to blowing up a very poor copy. Besides this though, improvements were made to the contrast, shape distortion & to smooth out the pixelation. Also good luck using 3D Combine as it's easy to use and the algorithm is capable of stronger 3D but with jarring errors and instability, so I've never used that for my projects.
So to summarize:
The Blu-ray edition is far cheaper, and superior.