[photo-3d] Field sequential movies

[E R Swanson <ers@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I'm a film buff with a set of Virtual I/O (I-glasses) and enjoy watching
3D movies. The I-glasses aren't perfect, but because there are individual
monitors in the units, and they retain the image longer than a liquid
crystal shutter system, there's virtually no image flicker. (The flicker
caused by the 15 image per second refresh rate in standard field
sequential systems give me a headache. There are higher speed shuttering
systems for computer applications, but they don't work with the old
movies.)

To date, I've managed to round up the following 3D movies in varying
quality copies (many are 3DTV originals); most are fairly decent:

Outlaw Territory
House of Wax (I have the 3DTV cropped version and the real one with the
Japanese subtitles)
Spacehunter
3 Stooges
Star Chaser (heavy metal style animation)
Metalstorm
The Stewardesses (true field sequential, not the anaglyph)
Dial M for Murder (I have the 3DTV cropped version, and the real one with
the Japanese subtitles)
Sam Space (puppettoon short)
Jaws 3D (no main titles)
Cat Women of the Moon (I repaired the fake "color" by converting it back
to the original b/w it was supposed to be)
Route 66 (Japanese crew shot a goofy nude short film along Route 66 in the
US)
(and in transit Rottweiler, Friday the 13 3D, Treasure of the 4 Crowns,
and Parasite. I bought the anaglyph Comin' At Ya and am working on getting
a field sequential copy.)

Many of the 3DTV titles have 25% of the image lopped off of the bottom of
the frame to mask the Japanese subtitles, which is a real shame.
Fortunately some of the films like Spacehunter are anamorphic using the
3DPix or similar horizontally split frame system, and the subtitles are
mostly below the image area.

The majority of these features were originally on the obsolete RCA
videodisc system and issued in Japan in Engligh with Japanese subtitles.
Many were dubbed to VHS masters and marketed in the US, which means that
you're already down to a 3rd generation copy.

Two of the real classics were issued on anaglyph 3D in 1980-- It Came From
Outer Space, and The Creature from The Black Lagoon-- and they are
virtually impossible to watch. Both were quickly withdrawn from sale. I
have ICFOS, and it's pretty poor, though with massive tweaking of the
colors you can sort of get 3D in some shots.

Friday the 13 3D was actually issued on laserdisc in field sequential, but
I've never seen an original laser copy offered for sale.

There have been copies of some of these films in VHS on recent ebay
auctions-- all are video copies, not commercial releases-- that have sold
for insane prices.

The Bubble, an Arch Oboler film, was issued by 3DTV as The Zoo, or
something similar (it's currently available in anaglyph DVD, which is
marginally 3D). I've been unable to locate a field sequential copy.

Does anyone actually have any of the original Japanese field sequential
videodiscs (not laserdiscs) of the field sequential feature films? I'd
sure love a complete copy of Jaws 3D with the opening credits, among
others.

Better yet, does anyone have DVD versions or SVCD versions of 3D feature
films? (Standard VCD won't work for field sequential.)

Admittedly, there's a pretty small base of interest, and the films are
mostly exploitation types, but they're so fascinating...

It would be great if whoever it is in Japan (they were released by
both Columbia and Warner Home Video in Japan, and maybe others through 
JVC also called the Victor Corporation) that has the original master
recordings would license and release the movies as a limited edition of
field sequential DVDs. I'd love to see these films in the best possible
quality for the few surviving flicks that remain in their 3D format.

As a kid I remember the impact of seeing It Came From Outer Space in
tandem 3D, with crystal clear images, and watching kids dive for the gross
theatre floor as rocks seemed to rain down all around us after the
spaceship crashed. Mom wouldn't let me see House of Wax... ;(

Some people are marketing some very nice modern field sequential material,
but it's the feature movies that have the allure...

Elliott