Two of Warner’s 3D theatrical releases this year are coming to Blu-ray 3D this week, “Clash of the Titans” and “Cats and Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore” ($44.98 each).
Warner Bros.’ best and most fun 3D so far has been the two Road Runner animated 3D shorts before the theatrical releases of “Cats and Dogs… ” and “Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole.”
With the release of “Cats and Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore” on Blu-ray 3D this week, once again the Road Runner cartoon “Coyote Falls” stands out as the clear highlight of the release.
In fact, the 3D in the three-minute Looney Tunes short shows off 3D better than anything Warner has released to date, especially the aerial shots of the coyote looking down steep canyons to the road runner below. The cartoon is also one of only a couple 3D bonus features on any mainstream Blu-ray 3D release.
The main movie itself is very pedestrian, not only in story and characters but also in the use of the 3D, which is so subtle that is has little or no impact.
“Clash of the Titans” has all of the same problems with 3D that prompted so much industry criticism last summer. Unfortunately, there has been little or no improvement in the transfer process except that the inherent brightness of TV improves the darkness of the theatrical experience a bit, although much of the movie’s scenes are washed in drab blues and browns anyway.
Speaking of drab, the front-side of the 3D discs themselves are stamped with the dullest image of all three discs in the combo-packs – a black-and-white scene from the movie, while the Blu-ray 2D is in full color and the DVD/digital copy is golden.
And even in the Blu-ray 3D package the 3D discs are not positioned as the first disc when you open the box. You have to flip past the 2D Blu-ray to get to the Blu-ray 3D on the back-side.
At least the 3D versions of the movie are given their own disc separate from the 2D versions available in the same set to allow, in theory, for better quality and higher bit rate, unlike Warner’s “Polar Express,” which compresses both onto a single disc.
— By Scott Hettrick