The Rereleases

I know that I've complained about the 3D-ization of movies in the past. Personally, I've never really seen the point of it. If you want to impress me with 3D, make something that's actually interactive, Star Trek holodeck style. More often than not, 3D just gives me a headache and doesn't really add anything to the movie-going experience that a regular 2D movie can't give.

However, I can totally get behind the idea of rereleasing classic movies from the past.

One may not necessarily call The Phantom Menace a classic. I certainly wouldn't. But Star Wars definitely has an epic ring to it. And seeing it on the big screen again was kind of hard to pass up. And so, in spite of the 3D-ness of it all, I bought my ticket and went to see it.

Look, I know a lot of people complain about the fact that George Lucas keeps on making "improvements" to his space saga. I won't be one of them. Especially if he decided to improve Episode I by eliminating the character of Jar Jar Binks or recasting the role of Anakin Skywalker. Sadly, these improvements did not make it into the final 3D cut.

Why would I get behind the idea of a rerelease? Seeing movies in the theater is always fun. Who doesn't enjoy seeing their favorite movies on the largest screen possible? Surround sound? Anyone? That's what I thought. Tell me you wouldn't like to see Back to the Future on the big screen 27 years after its initial showing.

I know I would.

People will argue that it's a waste of money. I still argue that there's just something more fun about seeing a great movie in a big dark room full of strangers. Okay, when I read that back, it sounds a little creepy.

But movie studios were doing the rerelease game long before the 3D fad started catching on. Disney used to release their beloved animated classics every decade or so. I remember seeing Sleeping Beauty in the theater as a kid. And I was certainly not a kid in 1959. My own mother was just a toddler.

Hollywood likes to rerelease movies that are up for Oscars sometimes. That way they can get the nominated films back in the minds of the public and the voters just in time to win some awards. But I'm not interested in going back to see a movie that was just out a few months ago. Bring back the movies that have done well in the past.

We live in a world of too many remakes and reboots and sequels. I'm not saying that the studios should stop making new movies altogether. Just stop making bad movies. Although, I suppose, no one sets out to make a bad movie. But it happens all too often. And there are a lot of great movies out there that haven't seen the inside of a cinema in decades.

Instead of dusting off Indiana Jones' fedora for a fifth outing, bring back Raiders of the Lost Ark to the big screen. Instead of rebooting the Superman franchise with Man of Steel next year, show us the classic film that taught us to believe Christopher Reeve could fly.

You may be thinking that my words have become blasphemous. After all, I'm a movie lover and a big Superman geek. On a side note, I will be seeing Man of Steel as soon as it comes out. I'm not saying that I won't. I'm just saying that I would see the original Superman film on the big screen, should Warner Bros. decide to make that move. I never saw that one in the theater. It was made before I was born. I was cheated of seeing its awesomeness in a big dark room full of strangers.

I know that Disney is planning to do a few more of their animated movies for a 3D rerelease. And Lucas is planning to put out the other five Star Wars films in 3D. I still don't see the point of 3D, other than the excuse to charge an extra three bucks a ticket. That's not cool. Because of that, and the inability of The Phantom Menace to dazzle me with its new effects, I may not be willing to see Episode II when it comes out. But I'm kind of a sucker. It could happen.