Rogue One: A Star Wars Story 3D (2016) [Region Free]

[Paul H]

Scott Wilkinson's "Rogue One" Dolby Vision HDR 3D experience, combines with the prescriptions glasses annoyance of the brighter HDR experience.:

The big disappointment for me was that Rogue One is being shown in 3D at my local Dolby Cinema. As I’ve written many times before, I hate the type of 3D used in Dolby Cinemas and other theaters that employ 6P laser-illuminated projectors because the reflections between the inner surface of the 3D glasses and the outer surface of my prescription glasses cause ghost images and a milky haze around the screen.

Even worse, 3D doesn’t add much to the experience. Sure, there are a few shots looking down long tunnels and a few things fly toward the audience, but overall, it doesn’t add anything important. Stereo D did the 3D conversion, and I normally like its results, but they were nothing special in this case and certainly not worth the annoyance caused by those glasses.

Perhaps most frustrating, I’ve heard—and I’m waiting for confirmation from AMC—that only the Burbank location is presenting the movie in Dolby 3D; the other Dolby Cinemas around the US are showing it in 2D. (Apparently, the European locations show most Dolby Vision movies, including this one, in 3D.) Had I known that, I probably would have made the trek to the Dolby Cinema at the AMC Century City 15—in fact, I still might do that.

The high dynamic range (HDR) imagery seemed excellent, though it was more difficult to judge with the 3D problems. The shadow detail in dark scenes is much more visible than standard dynamic range (SDR) can manage, and bright scenes are much brighter than they would be with polarized 3D in conventional cinemas—though this also makes the ghosting worse. And like most HDR presentations I’ve seen, the black interstitials—momentary full-black screens between some scenes—were true black, not dark gray as in conventional cinemas.