Customer Reviews

Spy Kids 3 - Game Over [VHS]

5 star:		(72)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(31)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(55)

 

 

This is the first hollywood blockbuster released in field-sequential (FS) 3D. The red and blue glasses were used in the theaters and in the first DVD release, but this release is much better than the first. This version works with the shutter-glasses type of 3D system, which is fairly easy to get your hands on. It's available at Amazon in the Ultimate 3D Collection, which comes with 3 3D Imax flix (stay away from the Ultimate 3D Horror Collection! The three films that come with it are not genuine 3D films--read my review there). This type of 3D really pops off the screen in full color without the distracting red/blue glasses, and it's quite amazing that a mainstream movie has been converted to a somewhat underground viewing format. "3D Transitions", another FS DVD here at Amazon is a good companion to this. I have also purchased the HQFS (High Quality Field Sequential) version of Santa vs. The Snowman, but I haven't had a chance to watch it. Also, there are numerous older 3D movies available for this system, but most are less-than-legal versions of Jaws 3D, Friday the 13th Part III in 3D, House of Wax, It Came From Outer Space, etc. These are easy to find on auction sites as well as some private sites.

In this latest installment of the Spy Kids franchise, it's painfully obvious that the decline shown in Spy Kids 2 is moving along faster than a mom unplugging your Xbox game. Where the original was fun, goofy and life affirming, Spy Kids 3-D is over-blown and lacking in any feeling and consistency.

Oh, the actors are having a blast, but it just doesn't translate to the audience. The only great moment was Elijah Wood's cameo as "The Guy". The most painful part was watching Stallone on screen at the same time as four different characters. Not even Ricardo Montalban acting in his best earnest grandparent mode could bring the movie to any heights.

And the 3-D? They used the old technology of red in one eye and blue in the other which causes the film's colors to be muted and the film to darken inappropriately. Oh, I'm sure that kids will get a blast putting on and taking off their glasses when the film tells them, but when you have polarization technology to achieve the same effect without the headache, why use such an antiquated format? Game over is right.

If I could see 1 movie it would be Spy Kids 3D Game Over.I wish
that I could be in that movie.When it comes out on DVD i'm going
to buy for sure.And i'm going to watch it again and a again.
Spy Kids 3D Game Over is a thrill.

viewer,

Chanel Brown age 9

The third and final installment to the Spy Kids series of movies makes a grand attempt to go out with a bang, but instead just mercifully goes away...

THE STORY:

Juni Cortez comes out of "retirement" to save sister Carmen from an evil Virtual Reality game that threatens to corrupt the lives of America's youth (yuk yuk yuk) forever. Juni must enter the VR game and battle through 5 levels of CyberWarfare facing other gamers and assorted CyberMonsters to save Carmen.

THE COOL THINGS:

Obviously the big sell of this movie are the 3-D special effects. You'll get your old school 3-D glasses (red lens in one eye, blue in the other) at the box office and the movie conveniently tells you when to put them on. The virtual reality/3-D world of the video is just awesome to see and the "high-tech" battles of the movie are a nice contrast to the mutated creature/monsters of the previous movies. Overall, the movie gets an `A' for FX. Another big plus going for this movie is the prominent role of Grandpa Cortez (the legendary Ricardo Montalban) who aides Juni in rescuing Carmen. That's about it for the cool stuff though...

THE CRITIQUE:

Something just feels off and missing from this movie. Much of the charm of the first two movies is lost. There are no "cutesy" bad guys in this film, just follow "CyberWarriors" and virtual robot baddies. The pacing of the movie also just feels very off. The journey of Juni and his friends to Level 5 of the game, while at parts exciting, just feels very un-epic and un-exciting. The ending of the movie is also very anti-climatic. The movie is just extremely short. I found myself quite underwhelmed when Juni and the crew finally "saved" Carmen and reached Level 5 to "beat the bad guy." Have you ever found yourself doing and seeing something you were looking forward to and when it was over thought to yourself "That's It????"

One cool thing at the end was bringing back much of the characters from the previous films (a nod to the franchise reaching it's finish) but again, it just feels so anti-climatic. The addition of Sylvester Stallone as the crazed Toymaker was a nice touch for the adults (with nods to Rocky in the bloopers) but seriously, how many of the little kids in the audience even know who Stallone is or having memorable recollections of Rocky or Rambo?

BEST SCENES:

1. Juni vs. Demetria is the "Battlebot Competition"

2. The Race scene

3. Lava Surfing

THE VERDICT:

I'm a big fan of the Spy Kids series and quite honestly, "Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over" simply underwhelms. Sure, the action and FX are well done, but the story and pacing of the movie just doesn't deliver the same amount of "oomph" that the first two films do. If you're looking for cool VR action this movie does that well in spades, but for an entertaining and enthralling story you can probably do better elsewhere.

Fare thee well Carmen and Juni Cortez, it was fun but sadly enough the Game really is over.

Recommendation: Stick with the first two movies.

This version has effects that really do come off the screen!!! To watch this tou have to have a Field Sequencial 3D theater which you can get if you buy the Ultimate 3-D Movie Collection. BUY THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is the best 3-D movie I've seen!When I went into the theatre I knew it would be 3-D,and it was 3-D!I would also reccomend the DVD version.I also give this two thumbs up.

From,
Zack Paslay,age 9

I kept watching this hoping a plot would eventually come up. But it didnt .

Finally, a major studio film released in HQFS (High Quality Field Sequential)! HQFS uses electronic shutter glasses instead of inferior red-blue anaglyph. The result is an outstanding picture. The 3-D is great, combining live action and CGI for terrific depth. This is how movies should be made!

Unfortunately, the HQFS release is just plain shoddy. The anamorphic 1.85:1 film was squeezed on the disc in 4:3 full frame television format making everything look too skinny. There is no way to play it on a regular 4:3 television in letterbox format as is normally done with widescreen films. It should play fine on a new widescreen 16:9 set though.

In addition, the disc strangely includes none of the bonus features found on the 2-D and 3-D anaglyph DVD releases. Why? It would have cost no more to include them, and considering that the HQFS version retails for 50% more than the others is really hard to understand.

The producers of this disc are to be congratulated for making this movie available to the small, but growing number of home 3-D video enthusiasts, but should really have done a better job.

There is no way on earth, or any other planet or dimension for that matter, that this movie could be related to the first two Spy Kids movies. The same actors appear to be present, but I'm guessing that they have been replaced by emotionally-incapable robots with their charm programme removed.

Instead of a plot, almost the entire movie is spent inside an extremely confusing computer game with incomprehensible rules, controlled by the evil Toymaker (Sylvester Stallone, what have you gotten yourself into?) The robot battle scene was very imaginative, and also the bike race and the lava surfing, but having to watch it with 3D glasses spoiled the movie for me. I wear spectacles, and was unable to see the effects clearly while wearing both pairs. Taking them off just made it worse, and the version I bought didn't have a 2D version included.

Just for information, Antonio Banderas and Carla Gugino only appear in this movie as cameos, as all the action centers around Juni (Daryl Sabara), Carmen (Alexa Vega) and Grandpa (Ricardo Montalban). Small parts were adequately filled by Elijah Wood and Salma Hayek, and there are guest appearances by everybody who was in the first two movies.

For fans of Alexa Vega, like my four year old son, there are some music videos in the extras that are worth a look.

Not up to the standard of the first two Spy Kids movies.

Amanda Richards, May 24, 2005

Everybody is being so annoying over how the 3D isn't great or how there is no plot. First of all, that is the whole point, it is a fun cheesy exciting movie for kids. Half the time anyone takes thier kids to the movies there is hardly anything going on that keeps them interested, even if it is a cartoon or whatever.
SpyKids 3D wanted to make this movie experience a very different one for kids and adults, an exciting one where in order to see the movie, you need special glasses. Fine the 3D isn't Imax status but it was intended to have video game graphics, hence the title, game over!
For anyone who has ever had a Viewmaster (you know, those little binocular looking toys that project images with circular discs) well, you get that kind of 3D in this movie. Rodriguez was celebrating the 50 year anniversary of 3D (stereoscopy) in itself.
For anyone looking for things to pop out of the screen and hit em in the head, go stand in front of a bus, but for those of you who appreciate an escape from the real world into fantasy, red/blue lenses and all, than you will definately enjoy this movie.