U23D opens Today! (1/23/08)
 

So I saw only 1 small mention of this with no discussion.

U23D opens today in Imax theaters! I'm so excited to see it, but I'm waiting until the weekend because for some reason they only show it 4 times a day around here. Even though it is only 80 minutes there are 2 early shows, then 5 (too soon after work) and again at 9:30 (too late for the wife! - the drive is about 45 minutes from home)

Has anyone seen it yet? What did you think?

I thought this is both an IMAX and Dolby Digital 3D release

Maybe, but its only playing in IMAX theaters around here (3 in Southern California)

I saw it a few nights ago. It's a great film, with a phenomenal use of 3D. The cameras are able to pan and zoom just like you'd do in a conventional concert documentary. And the film incorporates 3D layering -- a technique where different shots are superimposed three-dimentionally -- which is really great.

It's one U2 show in Buenos Aires, for a crowd of 100,000 (at times, you feel like you're in there with them). No "behind the scenes" footage -- just the show -- so it's over in less than 90 minutes.

Luckily, U2 gave a great performance that night which only makes the film better. But unless you absolutely HATE their music I'd recommend it to just about everybody.

I think I read that National Geographic's films 'Sea Monsters' for example played on both IMAX and REAL-D systems, this believe it or not is another NG production - the reason why it's not being released as such, is the release is too close to the other 3D concert film that is getting released in the beginning of Feb - Hannah Montana.

What songs are played in the film?

here's the review of the concert film from our own forum:

U23D

1. "Vertigo"
2. "Beautiful Day"
3. "New Year's Day"
4. "Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own"
5. "Love and Peace or Else"
6. "Sunday Bloody Sunday"
7. "Bullet the Blue Sky"
8. "Miss Sarajevo" / Reading of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
9. "Pride (In the Name of Love)"
10. "Nobody Calls Me Number Two"
11. "Where the Streets Have No Name"
12. "One"
13. "The Fly"
14. "With or Without You"
15. "Yahweh"

I was hoping for some more deep cuts that were played on the tour, but I guess the well-known songs were to be expected. I'll see it anyway.

granted the film is only 85min in duration, it's definately not a complete show.

They actually did a pretty good job of presenting it as one concert from beginning to end. I would be hard pressed to guess which of the songs didn't actually go together.

"Yahweh" plays during the credits, so that's one that obviously was somewhere in the middle of the actual concert.

I started a thread a week or two ago in the Movie Forum too...
http://forum.dvdtalk.com/showthread.php?t=522791

I still hope Negativland does a 3-D IMAX movie.

or Gwar for that matter.

today's review of the film in the Washington Post states that the film will rollout to standard DLP-3D screens in February sometime after the one week Hannah Montana 3D concert engagement.

I find it interesting that for some reason imdb lists the print information as 35mm (filmed in HiDef), that doesn't make much sense, wouldn't the IMAX prints technically be what imdb refers to as, 70mm/horizontal?

saw it last night... it was quite mindblowing!

not the best U2 concert i've seen, but hands down one of the best concert films i've ever seen. and the 3d is really beautiful. at one point i felt like i could look up adam clayton's nose!

I saw it last night.

First of let me say... $14.50!!! I was expecting $11 or $12, but $14.50! Man was that an expensive night.

Next I have to say that it was worth it. The concert itself was spectacular. I liked the mix of songs, and I have to say that the version of Bullet the Blue Sky that they played was incredible. I've been listening to U2 for the whole week because of this thing, but this morning I bumped my U2 list to the top and have 326 U2 songs on my iPod now :D

Question: They had a word on the screen "COEXISTA" where the C was a moon, the X was the Star of David, and the T was a cross. I get the latter 2, but what is the moon a symbol for? Also, there was a shot where that was lit up in red on the screen, and that was about all there was on the screen - can anyone get a high resolution capture of that? It would make a great desktop.

The Presentation:

First, I think something was wrong with the sound. For the most part there just wasn't much base. Every once-in-a-while it would pick up, but for the most part it sounded kind of... flat. It was probably just my theater. Once I got into the show I didn't mind anymore, and I forgot to complain about it after.

Next, the 3D. It was a neat gimmick, and at the beginning they had some good use of it, but then it was like they forgot about it... like they spent a bunch of time on the first 20 minutes, then got bored and hurried through the last 60 minutes or so. Personally, and maybe it was my glasses, I could still see the "shadow" image, especially during the close-ups in the later half. Personally I would have preferred it to be a regular movie. I hope the DVD has the 3D and non-3D versions though. It was pretty cool at the beginning when they did some audience shots and I wanted to swat the hands in front of me down so I could see better.

Despite the problems I still enjoyed the experience immensly. I give it an A, but then again I'm biased, so take that for what its worth.

Islam.

I liked how Bono points out that "we're all brothers of Abraham". I think it's a call to arms against the Hindus.

If you mean a crescent moon and star, that symbolizes Islam .

Thanks!

Another question. Was anyone able to count the tracks on the set-list? I am curious to know the number of tracks that were played vs. the 14 in the movie.

I think it was this show :

03/01/2006 River Plate Stadium - Buenos Aires, Argentina
City Of Blinding Lights, Vertigo, Elevation, Until The End Of The World, New Year's Day, I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, Beautiful Day, The First Time, Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own, Love And Peace Or Else, Sunday Bloody Sunday / Rock The Casbah (snippet), Bullet The Blue Sky / When Johnny Comes Marching Home (snippet) / The Hands That Built America (snippet), Miss Sarajevo, Pride (In The Name Of Love), Where The Streets Have No Name, One
encores: Zoo Station, The Fly, Mysterious Ways, With Or Without You, Fast Cars, Yahweh, All I Want Is You, Love Is Blindness
comment: Love Is Blindness is played - evidently spontaneously - for the first time since 10 December 1993. Bono sings most of the lyrics but the band cut the song short before Edge's solo. They have not attempted the song at any subsequent shows. This show also features the final performance of Fast Cars.

wasn't the film comprised of clips from a bunch of different shows throughout south america, mexico and australia? at least that's the impression i got from viewing the credits at the end.

It's not just your theater. The mix sucks.

From the original thread...


See ya tonight Suprmallet!

There are no plans to release U2 3D in any 2D format including DVD. You have to catch this one in theaters!

Hey Chris, it was great meeting you! Come back anytime. How did you like the show?