This past week, we’ve been looking at the long and turbulent history of 3D, from the nineteenth century to the present day. Today, we’re looking at the 3D boom of the 70s and 80s, as well as the introduction of the first 3D sex romp. Join us won’t you? (SFW).
4. The second coming
The 1960s and 70s saw new incarnations of 3D technology, such as Space-Vision 3D and Stereovision. The former printed two images over each other on a single strip, so only needed a single projector, doing away with some of the previous synchronisation issues.
A film called The Bubble was the first to use it – it was panned by the critics, but the audiences loved the new 3D effect. Stereovision, meanwhile, squeezed two images side by side on one piece of 35mm film, using an anamorphic lens to widen the image using Polaroid filters. The Stewardesses, a softcore sex romp, was the first film made using the tech – it went on to gross over $27 million in the US, though whether that was down to the technology or the subject matter is open to debate.
Despite these successes 3D in the cinema didn’t get anywhere near its 1950s heyday, with third dimensional movies remaining a genre of their own. Throughout the 1980s and 90s, it found its biggest success in the IMAX theatres, with documentaries including Into the Deep and Wings and Courage. Potboilers like Jaws 3D, Friday the 13th Part III, and a short called Captain EO (starring Michael Jackson, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, shown only in Disney theme parks) helped put the nails in the mainstream 3D coffin.
