It appears that movie studios are beginning to drive interest for a range of new 3D movie technologies with the release of several new 3D movies on Blu-ray and DVD.

All of the new movies we are reviewing utilize anaglyph stereoscopic viewing technology, which requires users to wear special glasses with differently colored lenses to visually separate double images embedded in the movie. 3D movies typically come with 4 sets of cardboard anaglyph glasses. The cardboard glasses are not necessarily the most comfortable, but they do work well and can easily be worn over standard eye glasses.

Anaglyph technology has been around for a long time. It is not really the best technology for viewing full color movies, because the colored lenses tend to mute the movie colors. Newer technologies are being developed, but are likely to be very expensive for the first few years. Anaglyph movies allow you to jump into 3D movies right now using your existing HDTV or standard television with no additional expense for special equipment.

Before we jump into the movie reviews, there are some special configurations that you may need to change on your TV or HDTV in order to get the best 3D quality with anaglyph movies. If you are having problems with ghosting (where you can see both anaglyph images while viewing movies) or other issues, check out the article, Tips for Viewing 3D Movies.

It is also important to note that only a few movies are released in 3D each year. Some of the movies are special editions, which means that the 3D version may only be available for a short time. Be sure to look for releases that come with both a 3D and a 2D version of the movie. Most will include both. If for some reason you do not like the 3D version, you can then simply view the standard 2D version. Some of the special editions also include a 2D digital copy that can be played on your PC or iPod.

All of these 3D movies are available in s Blu-ray and standard DVD. If you have an HDTV and a Blu-ray player, you definitely want to get the Blu-ray versions of the films. They only cost a few dollars more, but can be well worth it.

My Bloody Valentine 3D

My Bloody Valentine 3D is a typical blood, guts and gore horror flick about a deranged miner who once killed 22 people with a pick axe in a bloody massacre. It is now years later and the pick axe murderer is back. The story line is not bad and the 3D effects are very good. In fact, I would say that they are almost as good as the 3D effects found in the Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D movie. There are some scenes with gratuitous full frontal nudity (Rated R) and sex acts, so this is probably not a good movie for small children.

My Bloody Valentine 3D comes with four pairs of green-magenta anaglyph 3D glasses. The copy that we purchased included a standard 2D version of the movie as well as a 2D digital copy.

Coraline

Coraline is an animation about a girl whose parents are pretty dull. They move into a new home and she finds a tunnel that leads to an “other world” with an other-Mom and other-Father, who start out being cool, but then turn creepy, which turns into a nightmare for Coraline. It is not a horror film. We found it to be entertaining, but definitely not a blockbuster movie. The 3D effects are okay, although 3D effects with animations tend to not be as vivid because they lack the visual depth found in 3D movies filmed with live actors and scenes. This is a good film for both kids and adults, so it would be a good choice for family viewing.

Coraline comes with four pairs of green-magenta anaglyph 3D glasses. The copy that we purchased included a standard 2D version of the movie as well as a 2D digital copy.

National Geographic: Sea Monsters – A Prehistoric Adventure In 3-D

Sea Monsters is about the predators that lived in the oceans 80 million years ago during the age of the dinosaurs. It is a pretty interesting 3D movie if you or your kids like sea monsters or dinosaurs or just enjoy well-made National Geographic movies. Sea Monsters uses magenta-cyan anaglyph glasses. 4 pairs of glasses are included. The left magenta lens seems darker than the right magenta lens, which took a few minutes to get used to. The 3D effects were pretty good. At times it appears that the schools of fish and sea monsters were coming into your living room. There was some very minor ghosting that we could not completely eliminate. Like other 3D movies on Blu-ray and DVD, the movie also includes the 2D version. This was originally an IMAX movie.

A few 3D movies were introduced in 2008. You can see our comments and reviews in 3D Movies on Blu-ray and DVD for 2008.

For a full list of currently available anaglyph 3D movies, see 3D Movies on Blu-ray and DVD.

For a list of current 3D movies using the new Blu-ray 3D technology, see 3D Movies on Blu-ray 3D.