Almost Forgot This Movie

U2 3D is the concert movie of what may be the greatest rock and roll band under 60. (The Rolling Stones movie by Martin Scorcese comes out in April.) It is also done in 3-dimensions. My word for the movie et. al....

Remarkable!

My first reaction was to the 3D. It uses the polarized glasses, not the old red/blue style. Same concept, different system. You started with the glasses for a couple of previews, including the Neil Gaiman adaptation- Coraline. That's the first "Awesome, dude." Things flying off the screen at you is amazing.

But then it gets to the concert and the directors have done a truly excellent job of utilizing the 3D putting people in front and back of others, superimposing, cross-fading, close-ups, titles- all in 3-dimensions. It is at first unnerving to see something out of the "corner of your eye" and then realize it is actually "on the screen" even though it appears to be next to you. A hand goes up or someone stands in the on-screen crowd and you want to tell the person in front of you to sit down. Realistic? It was better than being there because you stood next to The Edge or Bono. Or you looked down as the drummer did his thing. The words on the screens behind the band were super-imposed in front of them.

It made me think back to the first time I put a set of headphones on and listened to stereo way back in 1967. The music came alive. Well, this is the next big step- the whole thing came alive.

And what life!

There is no doubt that this is a spiritual movie. A U2 concert is a spiritual experience. The concert is clearly planned, developed, lived with purpose and direction. There is more than the music. There is an atmosphere. Some of it is political; some of it could be labeled religious. The band's spiritual roots help take you to new places. It was a new fangled revival meeting.

After all these years of playing together, the band is a finely tuned instrument! They meld and merge and separate and make music as a whole. Bono may stand out in front but they need each other to do what happens on that stage. Seeing it up-close, personal, and in 3D made it very alive.

If you like rock and roll music (even if you don't like U2) you should see this for the experience of music in 3D.