15 Movies that Should Be Converted to 3D

After Avatar came out back in 2009, it seems like every big movie coming out since has been released in 3D, including the like of Disney's A Christmas Carol, Alice in Wonderland, and The Amazing Spider-Man. And while it was most of the new films that were getting 3D releases, this trend also started giving us more 3D releases of old movies that weren't made with 3D in mind during production. Films affected by this trend included Jurassic Park, Finding Nemo, and The Lion King. And while converting old films to 3D may not always sound like a good idea on paper, choosing the right movie and giving the right conversion can result in a fantastic 3D experience outdoing its 2D counterpart, and even most modern 3D flicks. And while 3D conversions have slowed down in later years, they aren't entirely gone. We still got Terminator 2 3D in 2017 and we'll even be getting Jaws (1975) in 3D on September 2nd. While most of the films given these 3D conversions, including the ones above, are stunning with the third dimension added, there are plenty of other movies that I believe have plenty of potential to look great in 3D that were somehow either overlooked by the studios giving the 3D conversions or just rejected for a conversion. I'm not saying that every film deserves to be in 3D (there's a reason you won't see something like 12 Angry Men getting a conversion), but there are some that I believe the people doing these 3D conversions ought to give a second look to. So without further ado, here are 15 of them:

#15 The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1967)

Alright, when I say "films that deserve a 3D conversion," The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly is probably one of the last movies you'd think of. And this choice might anger some die hard Sergio Leone fans. But hear me out. If you think back to Sergio direction, you might realize there's a bit more 3D potential here than you might not have first noticed. GB&U is usually chock full of one of two types of shots: wide vast views of the western landscape (though in actuality, it's more like the Italian landscape) and close ups of the characters (as shown above). While this direction allows for enough feeling of space in 2D, I can imagine it leading to a much more gritty and immersive experience in 3D. The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly is one of my favorite films even without the 3D. But if this film ever got a 3D theatrical re-release, I would certainly go see it (of course, I'd see it if it got re-released at all).

#14: Charlie and Chocolate Factory (2005)

Look, I understand many of you don't really care for this movie (personally, I think it works in its own quirky way) and you're probably asking me why I didn't opt for putting the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory from 1971 up on this list instead. But this movie has an advantage over the original: it's more stylized and visually surreal. Tim Burton may have put out a few stinker in his career, but he's never put out a bad looking movie, and this one is no exception. The chocolate factory on the outside looks enormous, but once you get inside, it's a whole different world. And the 3D would help bring out every last strange creative detail of it. Sure, who'd want to be closer to Johnny Depp's often awkward Willy Wonka. But who wouldn't want to be immersed in his unusual chocolate factory?

#13: The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)

Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame is an often overlooked animated gem. It's darker and more mature than Disney's other animated outings, and its music, grand visuals, and beautiful set pieces are up there with the more memorable animated movies such as The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast. And that's exactly why it needs a 3D conversion. As The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast showed us, even if the film was drawn in 2D, the 3D can still bring out excellent details of the surrounding environment, ranging from interesting to vast and grand, just as well as it can on a natively 3D rendered movie. And if you look at Hunchback, you can see why I'd vouch for a 3D conversion on this film. It contains vast views of the town, an enormous Cathedral, and gorgeous details of everything on the frame (except the Gargoyles of course), all of which would lend themselves incredibly to the third dimension. Can you imagine how much more impactful the already intense musical number Hellfire would be in 3D? Somebody get Disney on the phone.

#12: Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

Top Gun: Maverick is the movie event of the summer. In fact, in spite of the fact it came out around 3 months ago in a post-Covid landscape, it's still out in theaters and people are still paying to see it. If you're one of the few people who haven't seen it yet, certainly go out and do so. And make sure you get the biggest screen you can with a matching immersive audio system. My only complaint with the film is that it hasn't been released in 3D. Yes, the movie is already an incredible big screen feat. But the first movie's 3D conversion proved to us that the fighter jet scenes are much more involving when 3D depth is added. Sure, the few second shot changes don't really allow much time to savor the 3D, and there's not a ton 3D can do while on the ground. But when you can see the distance between planes and the ground, you can't help but get sucked into the movie even more than its 2D counterpart. I like Top Gun: Maverick enough on it's own when I saw it in IMAX. But I couldn't help but think of how much better it would've looked had it been in IMAX 3D. And this film truly deserved it. And if this film came out on home video in a 3D double feature with the first one, that would especially be cool.

#11: Star Wars Episodes III-VI (1977-2005)

It boggles my mind why, of all the Star Wars movies they could've chose from, they decided to convert The Phantom Menace to 3D. Sure, I remember liking it in 3D when I saw it nearly 10 years ago. But why did they decide to choose the worst film of the Star Wars catalog to give a conversion to? It's not like the other ones didn't have great 3D potential. As you can see in the image above, there are plenty of things for the 3D to take advantage of in these films, including the big set pieces, the wide landscapes, and the mesmerizing space action. Would it have looked better than The Force Awakens 3D, probably not. But if they were going to give The Phantom Menace a good 3D conversion, they should've at least given the same, if not better, treatment to the other films (except Attack of the Clones. That was a stinker). And even if they wouldn't look as incredible in 3D as you'd expect, they would still at the least give us a new way of experiencing these old classic Star Wars movies.

#10: I, Robot (2004)

Now I know what most of you are probably thinking: "But 3D Dinosaur, there already is a 3D version of this movie. You can buy it here on 3D Blu-ray right now." And to that, I say you are right. But if you've seen the film for yourself, you'd know it's desperately in need of a different 3D conversion. To be fair, I haven't actually seen the film in 3D for myself, so I'm not really one to talk. But of all the reviews I've found for the movie, I have yet to find one that positive. And I know why this film's 3D gains such a bad reputation. This film wasn't converted by intelligent people with taste like all other 3D films are, but instead by machine developed by JVC that using a complex algorithm, would convert the film to 3D. It's similar to the auto 3D-conversion setting on your 3D TV or projector. But if you've ever used that setting on your 3D TV or projector, you'd probably notice that the 3D is still usually flat, layered, and sometimes non-existent. That's not the kind of 3D conversion I, Robot deserves. I've watched the film for myself in 2D and noticed lots of neat visual composition and stylized action that would've lending itself very well to a proper 3D conversion. As the ad said, I, Robot was destined for 3D. And while I'm pretty sure that the version we did get still allowed some of that to shine through, from I what I hear, it doesn't for the most part. 20th Century Fox, if you're reading this, please pick up this movie again, re-convert the film with real people behind it this time, and re-release it on Blu-ray 3D so we can watch I, Robot 3D the way it should've looked the first time.

For more in-depth detail on where I, Robot's 3D falters, check out the 3D Blu-ray Bunker's review of the film here.

#9: The Incredibles (2004)

At this point, it seems like most every Pixar movie has a 3D version out there somewhere. Every film from Pixar since Up has been made in 3D (with a few exceptions I'll mention later), Toy Story 1 and 2, Monsters Inc., and Finding Nemo got theatrical 3D re-releases, and even Cars and Ratatouille have 3D Blu-rays. But for some reason, Disney decide to drop with giving The Incredibles a 3D conversion. I don't know why because honestly, this movie seems fit for 3D in pretty much every respect, and even more so than say, Ratatouille. You have large interesting settings with jungles, cities, and big underground lairs, and plenty of superhero action. This movie is probably most "incredible" story-wise. But I would've loved it if Pixar decide to make it maximumly super from a visual standpoint as well. And just like earlier with Top Gun: Maverick, I would've loved to picked one up in a 3D double feature with the second one (I saw the second one in 3D at the theater and I enjoyed it).

#8: Soul (2020)

The jury is still out on whether or not Soul is one of Pixar's best films, but everyone can agree that it's one of Pixar's most ambitious films. The deep themes it deals with about what lies after life, before life, and the purpose of life are all touched upon carefully and creatively in this movie. And not only that, but it's one of Pixar's most detailed films yet since Wall-E. The city is beautifully animated, the Great Before is lush and creative, and the Great Beyond, as seen above, is an inventive image. But you know what would greatly enhance all of these wonderful visuals? You guessed it: 3D. There is so much detail in the universe of Soul that just the 2D experience alone is mesmerizing. But I can only imagine what kind of amazing experience the added depth and dimension would create in 3D. Sadly, I guess we'll never know. I know this film didn't get released theatrically as COVID-19 was still going on. But if it got a 4K Blu-ray release, it for sure could've gotten a 3D Blu-ray release. (They recently released Lightyear in 3D, but the other 3 Pixar films released on streaming including this film, Luca, and Turning Red apparently never got 3D versions of of them made, or at least, released on 3D Blu-ray)

#7: Interstellar (2014)

I know Christopher Nolan is dead set against 3D, passing it off as another fad. But if any of his films deserved to be in 3D, it for sure has to be Interstellar. This universe is way to big and grand for the 2D screen. Sure, Nolan uses the switching aspect ratios during the big scenes. And while I do greatly admire the technique, the 3D added onto it would greatly increase the immersive quality of the movie. The vastness of space would be greatly increased, the planets would be giant and incredible, and even the abnormal objects such as the tesseract and wormhole would be a fantastic sight to see in 3D. Unfortunately, as long as Nolan doesn't care for 3D, we'll never able to see the 3D masterpiece that could've been.

#6: 300 (2007)

We all remember 300, the big, grand, bloody, stylized war movie that was epic in every sense of the word. I don't even think I need to explain how a great 3D conversion would strongly enhance this already fantastic movie. Just look at it and imagine how much better it could be with all the potentially amazing use of depth.

#5: The Prince of Egypt (1998)

Just like The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Prince of Egypt is a highly underrated animated film. It's visuals, music, story, and characters are up there with some of the greatest Disney movies, and yet nobody talks talks about this film. And just like Hunchback, even more so in fact, this movie's scope is simply too grand for two dimensions. Just look at the parting of the Red Sea above. That's not all of the impressive imagery this movie has to offer. The detail of the close up shots to the amazing wide shots of everything from the giant Egyptian buildings, the Egyptian cityscapes, the desert, and even the parting of the Red Sea, all offer ample opportunity for 3D to really bring this movie to incredible life. In fact, I'd even go as far to say that this movie deserves to be shown in IMAX 3D. Not only to fully absorb the enormous grand visuals, but also the film's epic score, fantastic music, and immersive sound. I'm disappointed that even Dreamwork's themselves seem to have forgotten about The Prince of Egypt. But maybe if the film gains a big enough fanbase, maybe we can get this film the tasteful 3D conversion is desperately needs, and maybe even a full on theatrical re-release.

#4: 1917 (2019)

1917 is one of my favorite war movies of all time, up there with Saving Private Ryan, and it's not even three years old yet. Many films in the past have used long continuous shots to draw you into the movie experience. But only 1917 has ever used this technique at its full capacity and made the whole film one continuous shot. This created an experience unlike anything I've ever seen, where after sitting and watching the film for five minutes, you feel as if you're right there with the two main characters as they go throughout the terrifying and perilous war zone, all to accomplish something as simplistic as delivering a message. The film is about as immersive as a movie as you can get (especially if watching on an IMAX screen). But convert this movie to 3D, the experience will turn into something entirely different. Yes, we'd get lots of interesting depth, especially in the trenches, the abandoned city, and the torn up battlefield. But it's the one shot technique that would be the icing on the cake, making the film as a whole not just a film, but a horrifying and intense journey right along our main characters. That is what the film was trying to go for. And while it certainly hits the nail on the head with that, the 3D would've only made it that much better.

#3: The Matrix (1999)

The Matrix was a groundbreaking visual spectacle that not only provided us with lots of stylized action and imagery, but also invented "bullet time." With all that on the movie's record, how did it not count to the studio as worthy for a 3D conversion? The composition is absolutely perfect for it. Sure, the image above would look great in 3D. But like they say, there's more where that came from. The bullet time would've looked incredible with the extra depth and dimension. And there's even a scene with bullets falling to the ground and onto the camera that would've made a great pop out moment. There's also lots of opportunity for incredible depth from the top of buildings, the post-apocalyptic landscape, and plenty of more surreal places. Just watch the film and witness why this film is ripe for 3D.

#2: WALL-E (2008)

Remember all I said about The Incredibles not getting a 3D conversion? Well, I would've taken it all back if Pixar had at least decided to convert WALL-E to 3D. Seriously, if any animated movie deserves to experienced in three dimensions, it's this movie. Just like Soul, the animation is extremely detailed, probably the best an animated film has been for years. But unlike Soul, the scope of this film is enormous, which leads to plenty of vast scenery that would absolutely stun in 3D. As you can see, the image above clearly displays a lot of 3D potential. But with wide views the film contains of space, the Axiom, the earthly wasteland, and lots of other deep locations, this movie would've certainly been 3D greatness, with a tastefully done conversion of course.

#1: The Lord of the Rings movies (2001-2003)

How on earth did Warner Bros. not convert the Lord of the Rings movies to 3D yet? Of course, considered how Titanic's 3D conversion cost 18 million dollars, they might've decided good conversions for them were too expensive. But man, would they have been worth it. The scale of these movies is gigantic, too much for any normal screen (I saw Return of the King in IMAX and it was nothing short of magnificent). That's why in 3D, these films would absolutely shine. I can't explain all the ways the cinematography, the vast landscapes, the battle scenes, and all the ginormous locations would make excellent use of 3D, but you can get a glimpse of it in the image above. Warner Bros., if you're reading this, please give these films a 3D conversion (NOT with the JVC machine they used on I, Robot). They deserve it the most of any of the films on this list.

Anyway, those are 15 films that I believe should have gotten 3D conversions. I hope you found these choices interesting. Let me know if you feel that I missed anything or if you disagree with my choices in the YouTube comments for this video. Thanks for reading and have a nice day.