- davidahallnum5
Shrek 3-D (Shrek 4D) DVD Review
MOVIE REVIEW
Not to be confused with Shrek 3D, Shrek 3-D (or known by some as Shrek 4D) is a 15 minute short following Shrek and Fiona's journey to their honeymoon right after the the events of the first movie. When their carriage breaks down in the middle of the forest though, Thelonious comes along and steals Fiona, prompting Shrek and Donkey to immediately set out after her. But it isn't too long before things takes a dark turn when they discover Lord Farquad has come back in the form of a ghost and plans to get back Fiona any ways he can. Not is the question can Shrek and Donkey rescue Fiona in time and get to the honeymoon suite, but also can they survive the ordeal.
Shrek 3-D is more than just a 15 minute DVD short created to show off its use of 3D. It was first presented as an amusement park ride in 2003 called Shrek 4D in order to build up hype for the upcoming Shrek 2 scheduled to hit theaters next year. The film played in a theater that not only supported 3D, but also had a wide range of effects to make the film more immersive, not unlike the 4DX experience I had with Avatar: The Way of Water last year. Effects included moving seats, water effects, fog effects, flashing lights, the whole shebang. Audiences ate it up at places like Universal Studios. And eventually, the film luckily got a release onto 3D DVD in 2007, allowing everyone to take in the wild 3D effects Shrek 4D had to offer, if not the experience of a 4D cinema.
It's a little bit hard to judge Shrek 3-D as a film because, well, it's pretty much exempt from all the rules a film has to abide by. It's just there to give out a couple of good thrills with the charm that only Shrek can bring. I suppose I can be a bit hard and point to how little this film adds in terms of plot to the overall Shrek universe and how there are a few continuity errors that can become a bit distracting if you think on them for too long. But at a runtime of 15 minutes, what would even be the point? It brings you exactly what you're looking for: a fun time full of great action, great 3D, sharp wit, and of course, Shrek. That's all a 4D Shrek flick really needs, isn't it?
And as 4D rides go, this has plenty of creativity and clever direction. As par with the Shrek films, there's an abundance of jokes lampooning fairy tales and referencing pop culture. None of them are quite as memorable as you've seen Shrek movies 1 or 2. But they still land well enough. And there's even a couple surprising nods to The Blues Brothers and The Sixth Sense I quite enjoyed. The original voice cast is back and they slip right back into their characters like nothing ever happened. That of course not only helps the comedy to work better, but also allows the charm of the characters to take full stage. The action is fun and inventive, though I'll dive deeper on that in the 3D review. Lord Farquad's ghostly return, though does raise a few questions, is still an interesting one. Would Shrek 3-D maybe have been slightly more functional had they chosen a different villain? Maybe. But then again, we wouldn't have as many neat callbacks to the first Shrek. And Lord Farquad's always a joy to have around.
And yeah, that's all there is to it. Of course, the main reason you'll probably be looking to buy this in the first place is due to the fact it's essentially a 3D theme park ride and it stands as an oddball in the line of Shrek side content. But still, if you're looking for something that'll provide some brief, if forgettable, fun that adds more to the Shrek universe than it takes away, Shrek 3-D might be the onion you're looking for.
OVERALL FILM RATING: 3.5/5
3D RATING
The good news: Shrek 3-D wasn't only created with 3D in mind, but pretty much created exclusively for 3D. That means you can bet it'll take every opportunity to use the third dimension to its advantage. The bad news: the only way you can watch this film in 3D outside of a 4D theater is on 3D DVD. This isn't the first time I've dealt with 3D DVD before (Santa vs. The Snowman), but plenty of the same problems I've experienced back then still make their way onto this release, those of course consisting of: red-cyan glasses which ruin the color palette, the glasses's resistance to work in parts of the film, the greater prone to eye strain, and the constant ghosting. Not to mention if you sit at the typical distance at which you'd watch a film on 3D Blu-ray, the 3D would straight up not work most of the time. I combat this by either watching the film on a TV (you don't need a specialized 3D TV for 3D DVD's, just the red-cyan glasses) or sitting farther away from the projector screen. But my point still stands: 3D DVD is usually not the preferred way to watch a 3D film.
That being said, the 3D goods Shrek 3-D brings do make this version of the film well worth watching despite the issues mentioned above. What are those goods? How about a stream of never ending pop outs? The film is only 15 minutes long. But it packs so much in so many pop outs, I'm afraid I'll forget to list off some great noteworthy ones. Though that might make it all the better if you decide to watch the film for yourself. The movie starts off with a red curtain that stands right on the screen as the opening credits appear, though both of those elements stay right on the screen and have virtually no depth to them. But then a fairy comes in and flies right out of the TV and sprinkles the room with pixie dust, and it only gets better from there. We get everything from frog legs to pixie dust to Fiona's leg in a Matrix-parody bullet time shot (almost reminiscent of a similar shot in Shrek (2001) 3D) to ropes to icing to a giant hook to horses to sparks to a stone dragon reaching out to eat us.
One pretty neat shot early on occurs when Donkey gets hit by pixie dust and begins to fly away before Shrek grabs him preventing him from doing so. Donkey comes way out of the screen while Shrek goes into it. At a tense story moment, Shrek points his finger out into the audience while saying "Quick, to the carriage." Eventually, Shrek and Donkey run right into the Gingerbread Man's house, causing candy corn to spray out of the chimney and into your living room. The chase scene with the stone dragon lends its way to some neat shots of fireballs and the dragon poking his head out of the screen in a menacing manner. At one point, Shrek holds a spider by his spider web, and Donkey blows on it trying to get it away from him. But of course, in a 4D film, that means blowing it into our face. And it's not two seconds after the spider disappears when a whole army of spiders lower their way into view, and onto your lap. It's funny because during this scene, Shrek is taunting Donkey because of how easy he is to scare. Shrek later does that again to Donkey in a graveyard, but this time, holding his hands way out of the screen in a zombie-like fashion. Later, when Fiona is seen on a wooden raft right over an enormous waterfall, she knocks her (not main) captor Thelonious off by hitting him in the groin with a wood plank, which off course, comes close to hitting us in the eyes. There's a pretty great shot that occurs near the end when SPOILER WARING the dragon lets loose a fireball that blows Farquad's ghost into a dozen or so small ghost heads that slightly protrude the screen. END SPOILERS And what do you know, the fairy from the beginning comes back at the end to get knocked off the screen by a cork, ending the film (in the 4D cinema, there's actually a speaker on the side of the auditorium that'll light up, indicating the fairy hit that speaker).
As for the depth in-screen, it's nothing to really ride on about. But it works well enough to get the job done. Some shots do appear quite flat. But other times, you can look off into the forest or into the horizon from the top of the honeymoon suite. What makes the film very immersive, though, is the slick direction it often takes, moving from one thing to the other smoothly without sudden or jarring changing shots. It's a lot like the direction you see in films like The Polar Express and A Christmas Carol. Since the movie plays like almost one big action sequence, the 3D works well in this area. We get shots of people flying through the sky, though trenches, and even a tunnel at one point. The scene where Shrek and Fiona chase Thelonious early on feels pretty engaging in 3D. There's one scene involving a waterfall that gives off some 3D choreography that's not just good, but also slightly intense. So while the image doesn't move too far back into the picture, it makes up for that by utilizing the depth it does have in demo-worthy ways.
For all the good I've said about the 3D thus far, there's unfortunately a few areas that need addressing. The pop outs all impress, for sure. But there a couple times when the parallax becomes so extreme, the eyes simply can't pair the two images together. This occurs in a couple of scenes such as in shots with ghost Lord Farquad, two shots involving a spear, and a couple shots involving Pinocchio's nose. Sometimes, objects like flying fireballs and rocks that appear as if they should pop out at you come off as flat and for some reason, have a double image of itself in the red. Another huge issue with the transfer is the persistent ghosting. For those unaware, this is the phenomenon that occurs when image that is meant to be received by one eye accidentally also makes its way to the other eye. This gives the impression that whatever is being ghosted has another, more transparent, version of them sitting right besides them. This occurs a lot in forest shots, the honeymoon suite, or other such related places, though much of the ghosting takes place in parts where you're not really expected to focus on. But the biggest offender, of all people, happens to be the ghost of Lord Farquad. Virtually every scene he's in has two versions of him on-screen. While he's not present throughout the entire picture, it's certainly a distraction. I don't know if most of these issues boil down to the red-cyan 3D format the DVD uses as I've seen 3D movies like The Polar Express which also have ample ghosting even on the 3D Blu-ray. But none the less, they prevented the film from becoming a 3D must-buy.
Still, I think in spite of its flaws, Shrek 3-D is a pretty darn good 3D presentation. From beginning to end, it's full of thrills, stick outs, and fun that not only are destined for 3D, but seem like 3D was destined for. Granted, the red-cyan glasses do drain out the color and ghosting does seem almost pervasive. But at 15 minutes, these issues don't stick around long enough to ultimately ruin the experience or give any long-term health problems. As long as you don't mind using the cardboard red-cyan glasses and are sure to stand far enough from the screen, this is still the second best way to experience Shrek 4D outside the attraction at Universal Studios. Still, just like with Santa vs. the Snowman, I do hope it gets a 3D Blu-ray one day so I can get all the 3D goodness along with the intended color palette.
3D RATING: GREAT
OTHER SOURCES THAT REVIEW THIS MOVIE'S 3D:
None. That's a second.
FINAL THOUGHTS
While it isn't quite as impressive as it is in a 4D cinema, Shrek 3-D still delivers a good time for anyone looking for more Shrek content. It's charming, it's got enough good jokes, and while nothing plays into the overarching storyline of the Shrek franchise, it plays as a nice precursor to Shrek 2, or epilogue to Shrek 1, depending on how you view it. While it's nothing groundbreaking, it's still an enjoyable ride for kids and adults. It's clearly made more for the experience than the actual plot. And because of that, the 3D is strongly recommended, in spite of several distracting caveats. I was originally considering giving the 3D a rating of "good" just like with Santa vs. the Snowman. But then I figured it's short enough not to cause problems and it has a lot more fun with its 3D than SvtS. So why not give it a higher score? I can certainly see some people not getting into the 3D on here simply due to the red-cyan glasses required and the ample ghosting that comes with it. I understand that. But personally, I believe the payoff is too great. And in a 15 minute runtime, there's not much to be lost. If you want to own this movie, you'll have the buy the 3D DVD anyway, which also comes with the 2D version. If you're just buying it for the 2D version, that's understandable. But it wouldn't hurt to give the 3D version a watch while you have it. And if you're planning to buy this film just for the 3D alone, well, you won't be too disappointing. Just be aware it'll naturally be a notch or two below your average 3D Blu-ray in terms of picture quality due to those glasses.
BUY IT HERE
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