ParaNorman 3D Blu-ray (2012) [Region Free]

[Zivouhr]

Thanks. It's this or Expendables 2 (though I wasn't a big fan of Expendables 1).

The 3D trailer in theaters might have been amped up and created separately from the movie.
EDIT: Yeah, that scene with the fence with Norman walking out of his house IS 2D. I hate when they do that. It's a 3D movie and we're paying to see it in 3D, but they present it in nearly flat 2D with other scenes in 3D. I think I might give this a try today even so, and hope for the best. They mention "Eye Popping" 3D so here's hoping when I saw the trailer in theaters, it'll look just as good compared to this flatter looking online 3D trailer.

One reviewer suggested this company also made "9" the movie (which should've been in 3D but isn't), which I liked. But yes, Coraline 3D was a let down for the 3D IMO. Just way too conservative.

[Paul H]

Went to see ParaNorman 3D when it started Friday. Was very impressed by the degree of the "Horror" genre the movie was emitting.

[Show spoiler]It has a scene that is intense in nature of a disturbing situation with a dead body;

Definitely not meant for children and IMO, teenagers would need an adult mentality to grasp the humor of the experience.

The 3D was very good. The movie ran quite a talented experimental gamut of different depths. Loved the beginning flow to the story and the ending had a great message IMO, comparable to the essence of Coraline, but the middle of the story really slowed down. Wasn't quite sure what was happening or where the plot was purposely going in a few scenes.

Need to see it again and wouldn't hesitate to get the Blu-ray 3D.

[Zivouhr]

Originally Posted by Paul H

Went to see ParaNorman 3D when it started Friday. Was very impressed by the degree of the "Horror" genre the movie was emitting.

[Show spoiler]It has a scene that is intense in nature of a disturbing situation with a dead body;

Definitely not meant for children and IMO, teenagers would need an adult mentality to grasp the humor of the experience.

The 3D was very good. The movie ran quite a talented experimental gamut of different depths. Loved the beginning flow to the story and the ending had a great message IMO, comparable to the essence of Coraline, but the middle of the story really slowed down. Wasn't quite sure what was happening or where the plot was purposely going in a few scenes.

Need to see it again and wouldn't hesitate to get the Blu-ray 3D.

Thanks for the review Paul.

I also just saw ParaNorman 3D today, just got back. Cinemark Theater, trailers included, to give you some perspective on how I value 3D:
"Story of Pi" (live action weak 3D) by Ang Lee (forget the exact title of preview, but interesting Tiger and Human story)
Despicable Me 2 (really good 3D but it was only the teaser trailer of the yellow pills singing and honking a party whistle).
Hotel Transylvania (bare minimum 3D, but interesting story)
Rise of the Guardians (really good 3D, interesting story)
Hobbit 3D (live action, close to strong 3D, a must see for me)

The first half of ParaNorman 3D I really enjoyed, thanks to the light humor, colorful scenery, beautiful expressive animation and the whole theme of Halloween, along with the hero and his chubby friend who provided some funny moments kind of like those in Monster House. Nice hints of ghosts, goblins and zombies with a few tributes to horror movies.

The humor was good, though from the audience reaction, the kids laughed during the previews, while the adults laughed during ParaNorman. This movie clearly doesn't cater to toddlers, and for that it really stands out. I laughed a few times, but the audience out-laughed me once I started to lose interest in the story later on. Paranorman the movie, had me intrigued during the first half, but lost me once the car chase started and his older sister took over a lot of the dialog, taking the focus off Norman and his funny friend, focusing on less likeable characters, which to me, was a big mistake for the story writer.

As far as the 3D, it was actually good for the first half and fairly consistent, average 3D (which I consider good, but not strong 3D). It wasn't weak as it was for the 2nd half onward excluding some stand out 3D shots thrown in once every few scenes. Otherwise, I was watching this and would flip up my 3D glasses to confirm, there was nearly ZERO image separation during the flat shots. I don't get it. Maybe they made the 2nd half first, and then learned how to do 3D by the first half, which had better 3D.

Best pop outs were the bugs flying out in his uncle's house. Best 3D was the first half of the movie in daylight.

For me, and this is just one opinion of someone who really enjoyed Monster House 3D and prefers the strong 3D of Avatar, ParaNorman was great for the first half of the movie, but like a balloon running out of air, the 3D and the story seemed to deflate as things progressed.

It's still a well made, very stylized movie with some very creative and enjoyable moments, but I'll be passing this one up as I did with Coraline Blu Ray 3D.

I need much stronger 3D to be satisfied and this movie never took that chance. Very conservative (3/10) 3D in the 2nd half (almost 2D in some shots). Good 7/10 3D in the first half. = 3D.

I hate to be harsh on the 3D, but that's what I saw as a fan of strong 3D.

[mseeley]

Originally Posted by Zivouhr

Thanks. It's this or Expendables 2 (though I wasn't a big fan of Expendables 1).

The 3D trailer in theaters might have been amped up and created separately from the movie.
EDIT: Yeah, that scene with the fence with Norman walking out of his house IS 2D. I hate when they do that. It's a 3D movie and we're paying to see it in 3D, but they present it in nearly flat 2D with other scenes in 3D. I think I might give this a try today even so, and hope for the best. They mention "Eye Popping" 3D so here's hoping when I saw the trailer in theaters, it'll look just as good compared to this flatter looking online 3D trailer.

One reviewer suggested this company also made "9" the movie (which should've been in 3D but isn't), which I liked. But yes, Coraline 3D was a let down for the 3D IMO. Just way too conservative.

Yeah those 3D trailers online were kind've weak, and I remember the ones in theater at times looked stronger. Wonky encodes perhaps? :shrug*

But I have to disagree on Coraline. I thought that movie for alot of the time had very strong 3d. But then again, it's been years since I've seen that in 3d, so I'll have to rewatch it to be sure. But I remember alot of it being strong I think

[Zivouhr]

Originally Posted by mseeley

Yeah those 3D trailers online were kind've weak, and I remember the ones in theater at times looked stronger. Wonky encodes perhaps? :shrug*

But I have to disagree on Coraline. I thought that movie for alot of the time had very strong 3d. But then again, it's been years since I've seen that in 3d, so I'll have to rewatch it to be sure. But I remember alot of it being strong I think

Definitely check it out when it's on sale and feel free to write a short review of the 3D if you can. Yes, I also saw Coraline 3D in theaters.

I tend to compare everything to Avatar 3D or the strongest 3D I remember seeing, and then determine how it falls on the 3D strength scale from weak to strong.

[BleedOrange11]

Thanks for the reviews, Paul and Zivouhr. I'm probably most disappointed hearing that Life of Pi has a weak 3D trailer. That is one I am really looking forward to. Hopefully, it gets uploaded to YouTube soon.

[Carboooon]

I saw a Life of Pi preview a while ago and thought it was pretty good. The 3d seemed relatively strong to me with some nice depth and a fair amount of pop out.

[BleedOrange11]

Good to hear! Thanks. I'll have to see it for myself now.

[mseeley]

Originally Posted by Carboooon

I saw a Life of Pi preview a while ago and thought it was pretty good. The 3d seemed relatively strong to me with some nice depth and a fair amount of pop out.

I thought so too. I got a special preview in 3d attached with Prometheus and it showed a big scene involving this crazy-flying fish. Annoyingly though, the image was cropped in a full-screen ratio( big black bars on the left and right side of the image), which made the 3D a bit uncomfortable to view. Then again, I also thought the 3d image wasn't fully stabilized and it created the uncomfortable effect of the 3d being their, but the image being out of focus. I'm guessing it was a faulty and unfinished encode of the footage they had exclusively attached to Prometheus previews

[Gae]

Thanks for the reviews guys.

With regards the 3D, I really wish studios would either do the 3D properly (and get a proper stereographer involved in the shoot) or else just shoot the film in 2D.

Gae

[keb33509]

Look up the process on how they shot ParaNorman. It was a long process. They used Canon DSLRs and they had a mount that would swivel back and forth between each shot to take the left and right eye captures. Stop animation is not easy to work with. I think their 3D in both Coraline and this is extraordinary for the technological boundaries they had to go around.

[Trogdor2010]

Originally Posted by Carboooon

I saw a Life of Pi preview a while ago and thought it was pretty good. The 3d seemed relatively strong to me with some nice depth and a fair amount of pop out.

You know I was at a screening last friday (terrific film) and never seen a trailer for it. I have recalled Hotel Transylvania and Frankenweenie trailers though.

[Tshoffie]

i still wanna see this movie

[Zivouhr]

The Zombies in this one could talk, but they mostly shambled slowly around, instead of running thankfully. Kind of like the zombies in Land of the Dead by Romero. The nods to the horror genre were plentiful also.

I wonder how the movie would end if the source of the evil power wasn't revealed, as it is in most horror movies?

Kubrick's version of the The Shining, didn't clearly reveal the source of the evil in the Resort, and it remained scary.
On the other hand, Stir of Echoes revealed the ghost source, but for some reason, the scares totally deflate at that point for the sake of telling a story.

I wouldn't say the same thing about ParaNorman though, as its visuals are cartoony, so it's not trying to be truly scary, and so the revealing of the evil's source pays off in this story. I still wish the focus remained on the two friends, but the story seemed to focus on the sister and older brother by half way on, something I learned is not always the best approach; diluting the focus on the hero.

[goldie1970]

How was the sound at the theaters you have seen it in? I saw it, 2d, last weekend and enjoyed it...not nearly as much as Coraline, I,probably won't buy the blu....but, the sound....was pretty flat most of the movie. Seemed to be amost non existent at some points. I wonder if the theater I saw it in (a lower end place) just couldn't handle the way it was recorded. Will try to walk in on it at another theater for a few minutes to give it a listen

I took 3 kids, had nomissue at all with the subject matter, although I could have done without some character revelation at the end! Unnecessary IMO

[Zivouhr]

Originally Posted by goldie1970

How was the sound at the theaters you have seen it in? I saw it, 2d, last weekend and enjoyed it...not nearly as much as Coraline, I,probably won't buy the blu....but, the sound....was pretty flat most of the movie. Seemed to be amost non existent at some points. I wonder if the theater I saw it in (a lower end place) just couldn't handle the way it was recorded. Will try to walk in on it at another theater for a few minutes to give it a listen

I took 3 kids, had nomissue at all with the subject matter, although I could have done without some character revelation at the end! Unnecessary IMO

Yeah, this movie wasn't afraid to go off track, even away from the focus on the main character Norman.

The sound was good at cinemark. No problems. The 3D on the other hand just didn't cut it for the 2nd half.

[laughingoctopus]

Originally Posted by goldie1970

I could have done without some character revelation at the end! Unnecessary IMO

And why is that? There was a "character revelation" that Norman's sister

[Show spoiler]was straight

, how is this different?

[Jbug]

Originally Posted by Zivouhr

Thanks. It's this or Expendables 2 (though I wasn't a big fan of Expendables 1).

The 3D trailer in theaters might have been amped up and created separately from the movie.
EDIT: Yeah, that scene with the fence with Norman walking out of his house IS 2D. I hate when they do that. It's a 3D movie and we're paying to see it in 3D, but they present it in nearly flat 2D with other scenes in 3D. I think I might give this a try today even so, and hope for the best. They mention "Eye Popping" 3D so here's hoping when I saw the trailer in theaters, it'll look just as good compared to this flatter looking online 3D trailer.

One reviewer suggested this company also made "9" the movie (which should've been in 3D but isn't), which I liked. But yes, Coraline 3D was a let down for the 3D IMO. Just way too conservative.

I was going to see Paranorman but decided on Expendables 2. I too wasn't a big fan of the first one. E2 was just ok but it was great to see the aging action stars back on the big screen. Some are aging better than others but they all are reminders of the passage of time aren't they?