The Nightmare Before Christmas 30th Anniversary RealD 3D Review

MOVIE REVIEW

Well, it seems like 2023 has been quite the year for theatrical re-releases. We've gotten Jurassic Park, Titanic, Beetlejuice, and soon we'll be getting the Monty Python and the Holy Grail 48 1/2 anniversary. And joining that list is none other than the Tim Burton classic The Nightmare Before Christmas (technically, Tim Burton had less of a part in making the film than you think. But who really cares?). I know I'm probably a little late to the party and I know those who were planning to see this movie most likely already saw it at this point. But being as I saw this movie in 3D and I am the 3D Dinosaur, I figured it'd only be fair to throw my own 2 cents in how I feel about the film and whether or not you should see it for yourself.

I covered the plot synopsis over my review of the 3D Blu-ray of this film. So if you want a run-down of the plot, I suggest you check it out here. Anyways though, this movie review isn't so much going to be an exhaustive list of all the great things The Nightmare Before Christmas has to offer as once again, I pretty much said all I had to say in my other review. So in terms of content, I guess what I'll have to talk about is whether or not my opinion of the film viewed theatrically differed from the film at home. I faced a similar situation about a year back with the Avatar IMAX 3D re-release. In that case, the theatrical experience actually improved the overall quality of the movie. As for The Nightmare Before Christmas, the film you saw at home is still the same film in the theater. But I think unlike Avatar, that's a pretty good thing.

Objectively, there's a lot to appreciate here. The film is short and simple, but rich in creativity and fun. The visuals are of course one of the main draws to the film, but the music is also equally as incredible with catchy songs and a brilliant score by Danny Elfman. Those two elements are what make the big screen experience well worth the price of admission. And they both are a tour de force in showing how meticulous, delicate crafting paired with surreal imagination can result in a product that truly stands the test of time.

The plot itself is the backbone to the film of course. And while it's not entirely perfect, it flows with ingenuity and fun. The characters are all very likable. Jack and Sally's story arcs aren't difficult at all to get invested in, and it's helped greatly by the expressive character designs that once again, go back to the excellence found in the animation department. Sometimes, the characters can be downright iconic. Oogie Boogie does more with his 7 or so minutes of screen time than most main characters do throughout the entirety of their own movies. The pattern of events all play out in a well-paced fashion and never seem to clash with anyone's personality, making it all very believable.

I'm sorry I don't really have much more to say about The Nightmare Before Christmas in terms of a film. My opinion on the the character development, the story, the pacing, and the delivery of its message about the desire to spread joy even if you don't have the means to do so remain about the same as when I watched just about a year ago for my 3D Blu-ray review. But that's honestly not really an insult. It already has an admirable and creative plot. And it's overall craftsmanship still remains awe-inspiring and captivating on the small screen. Unlike Avatar, this is a film that holds up no matter how you watch it. That, I think, is one of the marks of a great movie. It was a remarkable and enjoyable time then and it's still a remarkable and enjoyable time now. But that doesn't discredit the big screen experience by any stretch. Nightmare is quite a spectacle of colors, lights, and imagination and it truly deserves to be witnessed in all its glory. This might be a personal thing, but I'm a little bummed out that they didn't give it a brief IMAX or even IMAX 3D run. The 1.66:1 aspect ratio would've filled up most of the screen and the sound system would do wonders for the music, immersing you even more into the mesmerizing world of Jack Skellington and Halloweentown. But alas, those regular-sized screens will have to do.

P.S. Fun fact: According to Tim Burton, the primary idea for the film was concocted when he noticed a strange juxtaposition that occurred in stores right after Halloween where the Christmas decorations were getting put up, but the Halloween decorations hadn't fully been taken down. That's a little something I hope you'll keep in mind next time you watch the film.

OVERALL FILM RATING: 4.5/5

3D REVIEW

The Nightmare Before Christmas's 3D presentation has a actually had somewhat of an interesting history, being Disney's, or anyone's for that matter, first array into 3D post-conversions. Once again, I went into more detail on this matter in my review of the 3D Blu-ray, so I will spare you the story here. Now in my previous review of this film's 3D conversion, I came to the conclusion that the transfer had some great 3D moments, but it was also full of technical errors, ultimately bringing the 3D's final grade to a competent, but somewhat flawed "good." I didn't say this in my other review, but I'd personally advocate for Disney to go back and correct some of these errors now that 3D technology has advanced a lot since then. I'm usually not one for going back and changing the past. But I think as long as we keep the original conversion on the market, a re-conversion might be welcome. Like the movie itself, the 3D version we got on the big screen is the same version we have at home. Unlike the movie itself though, the theatrical experience does actually leave me with plenty to talk about, with the big screen enhancing all of the 3D's best aspects, and also its worst ones.

Now this is a 2006 conversion, back when 3D conversions were basically in infancy. So the fact that we got the 3D presentation as good as we did was kind of a miracle in and of itself. Still, if you're coming in looking for errors to nitpick, you're going to find them. They don't drag the film down entirely, but they're enough of a distraction to warrant a caution. And because they're on the giant screen, they're a little difficult to hide from. The main ones I can remember include things be put on the wrong place on the z-axis (this happens mainly with characters' fingers and various moving objects, but probably the most glaring instance of this occurs in a scene where Sally hides behind a fountain), and ghosting, so much ghosting in fact it almost rivals The Polar Express. It was probably the projector equipment resulting in most of the latter issue because I hardly remember much ghosting on the 3D Blu-ray. But then again, maybe I'm wrong.

The biggest issue I got, though, actually had nothing to do with the encoded 3D presentation itself. Instead, it was an error regarding the projector at my showing. When the 3D video started, both the left and right eye views were being projected onto the screen, but they were both going through the same filtered lens. So there was a double image whether or not you had the glasses on. This wasn't exclusive to the movie though. It occurred during the 3D trailers for Wish and Migration. Luckily, I got a theater assistant to come and he was able to get the problem sorted out. He then restarted the film and everything continued as planned. Still, take this as a bit of warning: make sure your theater handles its 3D projector equipment properly. What made the situation all the more funny was this 20 or so year old woman sitting on the same row as us. Right before the previews, they played a brief video about theater safety and etiquette like always. And in it, they told us to report any suspicious behavior. Apparently, that prompted the lady a couple seats away from me to look over to me and say she was keeping an eye on me in case I did anything suspicious. I played along and it became a recurring joke up until the film started. Right after we got the issue fixed and the film restarted, she turned over to me one last time and said she'd still be keeping an eye on me, to which I replied "You've already seen my doing." That had nothing to do with the 3D. I just thought it was a funny story.

Ok, so the 3D presentation isn't flawless. Is there anything about that holds up? Thankfully yes. I will try to keep this description brief because quite frankly, I'm just repeating myself mainly. But I'll be informative enough to let you know what you're in for. Put simply, The Nightmare Before Christmas is a movie that just works in 3D. The surreal characters and odd structures we're introduced to give us some very unique 3D views. It's one thing to watch Jack Skellington, but it's another thing to see the full round 3D shape of his head, and also get to see him move his long, slender arms around the screen. And the amount of depth on display compliments the environment perfectly. Aside from the 2D opening shot, this is never a flat movie. If anything, it's about as deep as the 3D features we get today. The buildings, especially Dr. Finkelstein's lab, look large and well spaced out. The same could also be said for hills, graves, and trees. And the enormous moon in the graveyard looks genuinely far away.

But of course, what makes a 3D presentation truly memorable is how it uses its extra dimension. And on that front, The Nightmare Before Christmas quite succeeds. The opening number "This is Halloween" offers up some sweeping camera shots of Halloweentown featuring floating ghosts, gates, crowds of people, and even a burning straw man that briefly flings out at us. There's one shot where Jack Skellington falls into a snowy vortex as he enters Christmastown. Oogie Boogie's lair is another 3D highlight with bright lights, skeletons, a giant roulette wheel, and blue creatures coming out of Oogie's mouth. The climax of the movie where Jack starts delivering presents offers up some entertaining shots and very deep shots looking into the night sky full of stars and down upon the neighborhood. Soon, the military enters in and there are some pretty well-composed views of missile-firing guns, missiles flying through the sky, and even a few shots of clouds. SPOILER WARNING When Jack eventually gets shot and falls to the ground, the camera remains stationary in the sky and allows you to see him falling to the earth in almost genuine 3D space. This was one shot I certainly enjoyed seeing on the big screen vs the small screen. END SPOILERS The 3D works fantastically in moments such as these. But it also works in more subtle ways too such as when the camera is looking out of a present or a pipe, when fog or smoke floats through the air, or when we're looking down a flight of stairs onto the ground below. Pop outs aren't exactly constant, but they are certainly present. We get quite a few shots of ghosts, smoke, or fog leaving the screen, characters, especially Jack Skellington and Oogie Boogie, coming right at us, and even a couple flinch-worthy moments including missiles, Oogie's dice, and even a hockey puck. At one point, Sally lowers a basket into the room, and pretty soon herself. And when it snows, you'll feel it's coming out into the auditorium.

After my third viewing of The Nightmare Before Christmas in 3D, I come to realize that the third dimension is probably not the definitive way of seeing this movie. But it still does add a lot to the film. Unlike Jack Skellington's attempt to bring Christmas to the world, it more often than not does it's job. The unfortunate thing is it could've been a great 3D presentation if it weren't for those pesky technical errors. Once again, I don't want to fault the convertors for this since this was done so long ago. But at the same time, I'd also like to see someone pick up this conversion and fix some of those problems. Still, even as it is, The Nightmare Before Christmas was still a great choice for a 3D conversion. There are plenty of 3D ready shots and an environment that lends itself naturally to the format. This film is already so much about being a surreal visual spectacle, and 3D seems like a natural progression of that. It's probably not as fun as say, The Polar Express. But then again, hardly anything is. As it is, it's a flawed, but still entertaining 3D venture. It's because of those flaws, though, that I encourage caution anyone approaching the film in 3D at the theater, especially considering how glaring those flaws will be on the small screen. And with the experience I had last night with the projector equipment, I once again say make sure your theater knows what it's doing. Still, if all works out in your favor, chances are you'll still leave somewhat appreciate of the 3D on display. This won't be the 3D movie to convert people to fans of the format, but it should satisfy most common moviegoers well enough. And if you're a 3D fanatic, it delivers the goods.

3D RATING: GOOD

OTHER SOURCES THAT REVIEW THIS MOVIE'S 3D:

High-Def Digest Review (for 3D Blu-ray): https://bluray.highdefdigest.com/4439/nightmare_christmas3d.html

Real Future Pictures Review (3D 4DX): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOuDk6ya5Q8

Go Find Fun's Review (also for 3D Blu-ray): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGPFrL0eDQw

FINAL THOUGHTS

Who hasn't seen The Nightmare Before Christmas already at this point? No wait, I'll do you one better: how can't anyone like The Nightmare Before Christmas? It's an excellent movie built with a creative story and told in a passionate and visual engaging fashion. What we have is a true one-of-a-kind film and one I highly recommend you check out this Halloween whether or not you've already watched it before. And with it currently out on the big screen in all its amazing glory, what better time to do so? Now should you check it out in 3D? Well, that probably depends on what you look for in a 3D film. If you want a presentation with minimal distractions, the 2D version might suit you best. But if you want to feel immersed in the world of Jack Skellington, Halloweentown, and Sandy Claws, 3D certainly adds an extra dimension of wonder to the already imaginative picture. Ultimately, the choice is yours. It might not be a 3D presentation that'll please all audiences, but it still has a lot to offer, bringing this wonderful world into a whole new light. It gets my recommendation. If you are springing for the 3D version, I highly recommend seeing if it's playing in 4DX in your area. I haven't watched it that way, but Real Future Pictures gave a glowing review of the 4D effects and said it worked better with the film than the 3D did. I wish I could've seen it that way, but the timing didn't work out right. Instead, I saw it at the normal theater with a projector that didn't project the 3D right until someone came in to fix it. Still, I left pretty satisfied. And I take it you will be too whether you see it in 3D 4DX, 3D, or just normal 2D. It's The Nightmare Before Christmas after all. How can anyone not enjoy it?

DID YOU LIKE "THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS" IN 3D?

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