The Re-release of Terminator 2: A Judgment Day for 3D Movies?

This weekend, theaters across the country will be showing a remastered 3D re-release of Terminator 2 (1991). T2 director and co-writer James Cameron oversaw the post-production 3D conversion process, which he did previously for another one of his films, Titanic (original 2D release in 1997, 3D re-release in 2012). In a way, this 3D conversion closes a particular circle within the Terminator franchise: For the longest time, the only 3D Terminator movie was the one included in “Terminator 2 3D: Battle Across Time”, an attraction at the Universal Studios theme parks. Now, over two decades later, we finally have the actual feature-length T2 movie in 3D.

Unfortunately, American fans of 3D movies and T2 better be ready to see this film in the theaters while it’s there. According to several sites I’ve been to online, the 3D Blu-ray for T2 will not be made available in the U.S. when it’s released on home video in October. The 3D Blu-ray will be sold in other markets, but the only versions of the remastered T2 that America will be getting are the 2D Blu-ray disc and the 4K ultra high-definition (UHD) disc. (It should also be noted that only the theatrical edit of T2 has been converted to 3D and is getting the UHD upgrade. The other two official edits—the extended edition and the director’s cut—won’t be getting any upgrades at all.)

T2 in 3D at Universal Studios.

As far as I know, Cameron, who has been an outspoken supporter of 3D filmmaking for years, has yet to say anything about why the 3D Blu-ray of T2 is not being released in America. He has mentioned in interviews that he would like to eventually convert Aliens (1986) to 3D, but that would heavily depend upon how well the 3D version of T2 does financially. I would imagine that preventing the sale of the 3D Blu-ray version of T2 in the U.S. would diminish its total profits and thus reduce the probability of Cameron converting Aliens (or any of this other 2D films) to 3D, but the actual reason behind keeping the T2 3D Blu-ray off of American store shelves has yet to be revealed.

Of course, there are plenty of bitter critics out there who absolutely despise 3D and will early tell you that this is yet another sign that 3D is just a fad that is inevitably reaching its end; this opinion fails to consider that 3D movies are still doing very well in other markets around the world. What I have heard from others is that 3D home video in the U.S. is winding down due to a few major errors that were committed by the tech companies that originally brought the 3D format to flat screen TVs. The scuttlebutt I heard was that the major brands in 3D TVs—LG and Vizio—bungled the transition from the expensive active 3D format (i.e., 3D that requires shutter glasses) to the cheaper passive 3D format (i.e., 3D that uses non-electronic glasses), and then failed to promote the passive 3D TVs they made. In the meantime, competitors have been dumping more resources into the UHD format, and LG and Vizio are dropping 3D TV altogether in order to catch up to their rivals.

Terminator 2: From future to present, from 2D to 3D.

Based on these rumors, some are predicting that Hollywood will try to save money by bumping off 3D movies altogether by reducing the number of 3D movies and 3D Blu-rays that are being released (at least in the American market) since the opportunities to watch 3D movies outside of the box office are dwindling. I can’t say for sure if these rumors are true, although they do remind me of my personal experience with 3D TVs. The first 3D TV we bought was an active 3D TV from Vizio. The 3D quality was good, but we only had two pairs of shutter glasses because it was so expensive to buy more. When we had to have that TV repaired, it would have cost us a few hundred extra to have the component fixed that sent the 3D signal to the shutter glasses; the TV itself still works fine in 2D, but its 3D capability no longer works. We later bought a passive 3D TV from LG—it still works great and the 3D glasses are cheap to buy, so I’m glad we have it. However, I can see how a more casual fan would give up on 3D TV altogether if he got burned financially like I was by the active 3D TV format.

If the rumors are true, then Hollywood is repeating the same mistake it did in the 1950s—namely, by promoting 3D films before ensuring that a stable, cost-effective format for presenting those films to the public was firmly in place. In the ‘50s, it was about 3D movies at the box office; now, it’s about 3D movies on HD TVs, but it appears that Hollywood has learned absolutely nothing about making 3D work in the long run. We’ve had the technology to make great 3D films for well over 60 years and digital technology is still making major strides in 3D conversions of 2D content, but neither of these facts matter as long as Hollywood keeps dropping the ball on bringing 3D entertainment to the masses in a reliable format and at a reasonable price.

I’m still hoping to see a restoration and 3D Blu-ray release of Revenge of the Creature (1955), and I still want to see 3D versions of episodes I through VI of the Star Wars saga released on home video. Unfortunately, Hollywood’s ongoing mishandling of 3D would not only prevent these releases from ever happening, but it would also hinder the production of 3D films in the future and severely curtail the efforts of groups such as 3D Film Archive to preserve and distribute vintage 3D films.

I’m convinced at this point that smartphones will eventually be the platform that keeps 3D movies (and probably 3D entertainment in general) alive and well. The public has already shown a willingness to spend lots of money on smartphones and all they require are a 3D video player app and a stereoscopic headset to watch 3D movies, both of which are very cheap additions to an otherwise expensive smartphone. Unfortunately, for the production and home video releases of 3D movies to come, their future is not yet set in Hollywood.