There’s that scene in Tony Scott’s Top Gun, where Maverick (Tom Cruise) and Goose (Anthony Edwards) perform “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling” to a bewildered and ultimately sexually frustrated Kelly MacDonald. It’s been a long-held belief that the scene would look amazing if broken free of the two-dimensions that bind its magnificence. Now that dream is a reality.
Paramount has indicated that the sweaty volleyball scene, buzzing the tower and “Man, you can ride my tail” will all be post-converted for a 3D re-release sometime next year. They join the already announced Titanic 3D re-release and Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace that will be converted for deeper dimensions next year. There is also a long-rumoured sequel to Top Gun in the works.
Has 3D gone one-step too far? Are we, in the words of Paul Dempsey, now bored with three dimensions? It seems to be no coincidence that some of the “surprise” hits of the most recent season are Rise of the Planet of the Apes, The Help and more locally, Red Dog, the latter of which has made also AU $15 million at the Aussie box office. All of these films went against the tide and broadcast themselves in dynamic old-school 2D, attracting audiences with a strange gimmick called story and narrative strength.
