Sector 7 3D Blu-ray (2011) [Region A Locked]

[BleedOrange11]

I watched Sector 7 tonight. The only thing that looks good in its 3D presentation is the CGI. Note that all of the underwater scenes are CGI. Everything shot real live-action and converted is weak parallax, flat-ish cardboard cutout-looking, and not entirely in the correct depth plane (including the human face in the underwater diving suit), which is a terrible way to produce a 3D movie. It's the same story as all the other early conversions that gave 3D (and conversions) a bad reputation circa 2010-12. I think Titanic in April 2012 and Avengers in May 2012 were the first decent-looking ones that started changing people's mind about the technology.

The script and direction are bad and take a lot of conveniences with the audience--lots of eye-roll and WTF moments. The monster's intelligence and physical capabilities are variable and dependent on what the plot needs them to be at the time. It's more like a TV Syfy-channel movie than the quality of something you'd find in a cinema. It is sort of fun anyway because watching a CGI monster chase people around an offshore oil rig is fun. It seemed like the filmmakers were fans of Resident Evil 5 (the video game) and took the oil rig setting from the later levels and combined it with the black goo monster boss that you have to incinerate and some motorcycle driving from the cutscenes and smashed it all together with any classic "Monster in the House" film plot and the characters of Deep Blue Sea (1999), which... is actually not that bad of a concept. The acting, setting, and VFX are fine but let down by the execution of the story. The relation of the script to real-life political Korean/Japanese events in text at the end was a revelation but too little, too late and not tied enough to the plot to carry any weight.

I'm glad I've had the opportunity to watch it but can't recommend it to anyone but completionists. Check out The Host (2006) for a great Korean monster movie and this film's greatest influence. (The Host was converted to 3D by Studio Raon for an exclusive release at the 2011 Busan International Film Festival. Around the same time, there were plans for a 3D sequel to The Host, and I suppose Sector 7 could even be it.) Check out Mr. Go (2013) for great Korean native 3D by Dexter Studios (on out-of-print HK Blu-ray 3D). Maybe see Resident Evil: Afterlife, or the more obscure Legendary (2013), for a similar 3D thing but done better. Bait (2012) and Amphibious (2010) would also be apt comparisons for the sort of entertainment this offers, but I was less fond of those.

Movie - 2/5
3D - 1.5/5

[WaverBoy]

I haven’t seen AMPHIBIOUS but I thought BAIT was a first-rate sharksploitation thriller with excellent native 3D.

[cdx47]

Originally Posted by BleedOrange11

I watched Sector 7 tonight.

I think like @Telegram Sam your 3D viewing is pretty technical but I do think some of the most awful dialogue drags and that removing 10 minutes of it meant that I got to see the better CGI 3D scenes quicker and more frequently (I can't imagine why they were talking about body oil ). Also I thought the 3D for the oil rig was pretty decent. Put those two things together I thought this was passable.

.

[BleedOrange11]

Originally Posted by WaverBoy

I haven’t seen AMPHIBIOUS but I thought BAIT was a first-rate sharksploitation thriller with excellent native 3D.

Bait is okay 3D. I thought it had poor roundness. It's converted sequences, the ones with lots of CGI, like the actual hurricane, look really really bad. It was dumb fun and entertaining enough. 3D is similar for Amphibious--opens with an awful auto-converted sequence, then all native 3D, but it is a much worse movie. Legendary with Keith Collea as stereoscopic supervisor is better 3D than either and slightly better film for me until they run out of budget at the end. Scott Adkins and Dolph Lundgren help.

[Telegram Sam]

Originally Posted by BleedOrange11

Bait is okay 3D. I thought it had poor roundness. It's converted sequences, the ones with lots of CGI, like the actual hurricane, look really really bad. It was dumb fun and entertaining enough. 3D is similar for Amphibious--opens with an awful auto-converted sequence, then all native 3D, but it is a much worse movie. Legendary with Keith Collea as stereoscopic supervisor is better 3D than either and slightly better film for me until they run out of budget at the end. Scott Adkins and Dolph Lundgren help.

It's been about a decade since I watched Amphibious. Back then I'm slightly ashamed to say I was (stupidly) a "Native Only!" guy, so that's why I bought it (plus, I'm still fond of old Michael Paré because of Streets of Fire): I still remember that opening home video sequence and thinking, "I've been duped! This is about the same quality as a TV's real-time 2D to 3D conversion!". A textbook terrible way to begin a 3D movie! I also remember being unimpressed with the native 3D that followed. Maybe its 3D is better than I remember. Like you say though, not a good movie.

Anyway, in terms of how I see the quality of the movie and the quality of the 3D, I reckon Amphibious might make for a suitable double-bill with Sector 7. But it's not a double-bill I ever plan to do..!

[Just_Discovered_3D]

Originally Posted by Telegram Sam

It's been about a decade since I watched Amphibious. Back then I'm slightly ashamed to say I was (stupidly) a "Native Only!" guy, so that's why I bought it (plus, I'm still fond of old Michael Paré because of Streets of Fire): I still remember that opening home video sequence and thinking, "I've been duped! This is about the same quality as a TV's real-time 2D to 3D conversion!". A textbook terrible way to begin a 3D movie! I also remember being unimpressed with the native 3D that followed. Maybe its 3D is better than I remember. Like you say though, not a good movie.

Anyway, in terms of how I see the quality of the movie and the quality of the 3D, I reckon Amphibious might make for a suitable double-bill with Sector 7. But it's not a double-bill I ever plan to do..!

I'm growing more towards the idea that native is the only way to go. Theoretically there is nothing wrong with conversions, but converting a film that was made for 2D has irreconcilable issues that I am finally starting to understand.

If only we could get the framing of shots that we see for today's conversions mated with native 3D.

[Telegram Sam]

Originally Posted by Just_Discovered_3D

I'm growing more towards the idea that native is the only way to go. Theoretically there is nothing wrong with conversions, but converting a film that was made for 2D has irreconcilable issues that I am finally starting to understand.

If only we could get the framing of shots that we see for today's conversions mated with native 3D.

I'm hoping the news that I've just seen here today about another sea-based film, but this time a masterpiece, Jaws* will be another example, like Jurassic Park, of a legacy post-conversion of a movie that was shot with zero thought for 3D working beautifully. Sometimes a combination of skill and luck has really paid dividends.

*Thats, "Jaws", not "Jaws 1". Just a little pet hate of mine.

[WaverBoy]

Originally Posted by Telegram Sam

I'm hoping the news that I've just seen here today about another sea-based film, but this time a masterpiece, Jaws* will be another example, like Jurassic Park, of a legacy post-conversion of a movie that was shot with zero thought for 3D working beautifully. Sometimes a combination of skill and luck has really paid dividends.

*Thats, "Jaws", not "Jaws 1". Just a little pet hate of mine.

I was really impressed with the conversion of THE WIZARD OF OZ. My fave legacy 3D conversion job. Can’t wait for JAWS!