Alles fliegt dir um die Ohren

Made on a very low budget in 1981, Comin' At Ya! was the first successful full length 3D motion picture since Andy Warhol's Frankenstein (Or was it The Stewardesses?). It started an early 80's resurgence of 3D films that (unfortunately) quickly died due to bad, bad movies and poor projection. Believe it or not, this (along with Friday the 13th Part 3) is arguably the best of that batch.

The 80 minute plot (which, without the endless assault of blatant 3D effects, would probably clock in at just over a half an hour) is very slight. In an opening flashback, Hart and his girl Abilene rob a Wells Fargo bank, get attacked by mercenaries, get married and get attacked once again, this time by white slave traders who take Abiline and leave Hart for dead. Hart survives, though, and sets out to find her. The bad guys lump Abiline in with a group of other women that they intend to use, abuse, and sell into prostitution across the border into Mexico. Hart and his scottish preacher sidekick(?) capture the head bad guys brother and use him as leverage to get his new wife back.

Now, I don't know how seriously the filmmakers were taking this story because sometimes the film seems like it's trying to be funny and other times it's incredibly deadpan. I'd like to say it's a spoof of Sergio Leone's Italian oaters (The actor's mouths move in English, but are still dubbed over by voice over artists, the soundtrack is a complete Morricone rip off and the lead actor strives for Eastwood's man with no name personna), but I'm not completely sure of the intention. I am sure of what the film is, however. It is the most gimmicky 3D movie I've ever seen. Not 5 minutes pass without guns, daggers, arrows, sticks, spilling beans, baby asses (midway through a diaper change), rats, bats and soap bubbles flying out in your face. The last five minutes of the film are a recap of the more successful 3D effects spun together with footage of fireworks and pinwheels sparking and spinning against a black background. About 75% of it works, though. The rest come too close to the camera and causes eye strain. It's 3D movies like this that give the rest a bad name.

Don't misunderstand me. I was entertained by this film, make no mistake. It's hard not to be entertained by a film that doesn't want a single thought entering your head for its running time. It's a 3D movie equivalent to a porno film... If you've never seen a 3D movie before, don't start here (see House OF Wax first), but If you've seen the best, then it never hurts to see the rest. Oh, yeah, a six pack helps this one immeasurably.

I was born in 1977, and this movie was my first experience with 3d. I went with my brother (3 years older) and my dad. My dad was reading the paper and saw 3d, and he just had to take his two young sons. I was only 11 or 12, but I remember the theater guy trying to talk my dad out of it, because I think it was R, or maybe just the violence. I remember thinking it was cool, but really now only remember a scene where a topless old time prostitute shakes her boobs at the screen. And no, my dad didn't take away our glasses when that scene appeared, although I thought for sure that he would. I was reading the other comments, and know I vaguely remember arrows being shot at us and one scene where multiple knives where thrown. Man, am I glad for the internet, I have been trying to find this title for years. Maybe one day Ill take my kids.

This special-effects Spaghetti Western is focused on the audience, and how to deliver as many shock & awe moments as could possibly be shoved into the story-free script. It's like watching the Rocky Horror Picture Show, with the big difference that The Rocky Horror Picture Show has a dynamite story, and many other reasons why it will always be a 10 Star cult classic. It's unlikely that anyone would want to have repeated viewings of this lackluster wanna-be-Western.

There are only so many shot guns shoved in your face, snakes rattling at you or drunken saloon patrons tumbling your way, before the formula wears off. If you've never experienced a 3-D movie, and this could be your only chance to check it off your bucket list, by all means, go for it. I've been there, done that back in 1981. Maybe I'll dig up one of the 1950s Classics in 3-D, but once was enough for this one.

"Comin' At Ya!" will not be a film to every taste. It is an energetic and enthusiastic Spaghetti Western, filmed in Spain with a mostly Italian crew and an international cast top-lined by two Americans you probably never heard of. It caused an unexpected sensation when it was first released in 1981, and its success ushered in the 3-D boom of the early 1980s, bringing us other, perhaps better films like "Friday the 13th Part III" and "Jaws 3-D."

"Comin' At Ya!" was filmed using Optimax III, a 3-D system that was capable of some surprisingly lovely imagery, when used with care and restraint. But one quality "Comin' At Ya!" surely lacks is restraint. The filmmakers cheerfully take every opportunity to hurl things through the window of the screen and into the audience, and this is what makes "Comin' At Ya!" a divisive subject even among diehard 3-D fanatics.

If you love "pop-out" effects-what the 3-D technicians call negative parallax shots-then you'll find much to amuse you in "Comin' At Ya!" But be forewarned-the filmmakers got carried away in their enthusiasm, and very often brought objects much closer to the camera than necessary to achieve the proper illusion. This means the total parallax (or left and right image disparity) is very high, and this in turn means that some scenes are not exactly the easiest or most comfortable to view.

None of this is the fault of MVD, who have in my view done a commendable job presenting "Comin' At Ya!" in this Blu-Ray disc. In addition to the high parallax values I mention above, there are other problems that just could not be fixed. Some shots have stray blobs of dust in one eye but not the other, to cite one example. But overall the image is sharp and bright, the colors as vivid as they ever were, and the elements used look reasonably clean and free from damage.

The story itself is an outrageous Western yarn involving a kidnapped bride and revenge against the white slavers responsible. One must resolve not to take it too seriously, and above all not to be too offended.

In summation, if you are a diehard 3-D fan, and certainly if you are a 3-D completist, "Comin' At Ya!" deserves a place in your collection, with the caveat that you may find your eyes getting a tougher workout than you have recently experienced in any 3-D movie. If you are a casual 3-D fan, I still urge you to consider a purchase, as "Comin' At Ya!" is historically important in the history of stereoscopic cinema. And you simply will not find a more energetic and enthusiastic compendium of off-the-screen, in-your-face 3-D shots in any other single motion picture.

Even if I had seen the movie in the original 3-D process it was filmed in, I seriously doubt it could have masked the utterly boring and unoriginal story. The constant jabbing of things into the camera lens is initially amusing, but soon becomes tiring.

In fact, the whole movie is seriously tired, a mix of elements from previous Tony Anthony movies (some of which were ripped off from Sergio Leone movies - talk about copies of copies!), and once again Anthony gives a performance that alternates between indifference and about-to-burst-into-tears. Much of the budget must have been spent on buying an extra camera, because the movie has a real cheap and quickly-shot appearance.

If you decide to watch the movie anyway, be sure you have fresh batteries in your remote - I guarantee you'll be using the fast-forward button a lot.