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U2 frontman Bono reaches out to the audience in the band’s 3D spectacular |
U2: the reel thing may be even better
U2-3D
Directed by
Catherine Owens and Mark Pellington
Certificate U
TWO minutes into this thundering rock concert by U2 in the giant River Plate Stadium in Buenos Aires, a woman in the row in front of me got up and began frantically waving her arms around as Bono was hammering out Vertigo to an audience of 80,000 shrieking fans.
I leaned forward and reached out a hand to get the woman to sit down. But… my hand went right through her, grasping thin air, to the total amusement of the audience around me as I sank back, much egg on face, jackass ears flapping.
That’s what 3-D does for you.
Especially if it’s in the brand-new digital 3-D IMAX 15p/70mm format which, the film-makers boast, “makes you feel as if you are actually part of the audience.”
Well, they’re right. It does, and it did. Witness my confusion – a first for an old hand who thinks he has seen it all.
I’ve witnessed 3-D in the past, with those red and green glasses, but nothing like this when it comes to sheer realism. For starters, the specs they hand out at the door at the IMAX screens are as big as the ones worn by snooker ace Dennis Taylor, obliterating every other visual image in sight.
Sixteen amplifiers blast you out of your seat from all around the cinema, even above and behind, encasing you in the virtual reality world you’ve just entered.
The result is a stunning 88 minutes, not so much a film as an experience and devoutly to be praised for that.
The opening scenes in the massive stadium draw us headlong into the concert as Bono and his band of brothers (guitarist Dave “the Edge” Evans, bass Adam Clayton, drummer Larry Mullen) churn out their hits like Beautiful Day, Love and Peace, Pride (In the Name of Love), and Bullet the Blue Sky.
Try and catch it at the IMAX in Waterloo, where I saw it – the screen is as high as two double-decker buses, and it’s worth the trip, believe me.
As you’ll gather, I’m hooked! Next time, with apologies to the row behind, I may even get up and jig around in my seat. |
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