It begins with a montage of fans running to fill the gigantic soccer stadiums of Buenos Aires, Argentina and other South American cities, giddier than if they were going to the World Cup itself.
But it’s not a sporting event they’ve come to see, it’s a concert by a band from Dublin who has been playing together for longer than most of the spectators have been alive. Sitting in high-backed theater seats, watching all of this unfold through thick safety-goggle lenses, theatergoers in Council Bluffs, Iowa were in on the experience as well.
“U2 3D,” shot in 2006 during the South American leg of the band’s Vertigo tour, was shown for the soft opening of the brand-new IMAX theater at Star Cinema.
The theater made its grand opening on April 4 with the Rolling Stones movie “Shine A Light.”
“U2 3D” is the first live-action movie shot and shown in digital 3D technology, and there couldn’t be a better subject for this sensory intensity than a rock concert.
When Bono reaches out his hand toward your face, or when you get an overhead view of Larry Mullen, Jr. at the drums, you know you’re in for more than just a concert film.
The directors give each band member plenty of love, taking their cues from the stage design to highlight specific musicians at their signature moments in the songs.
The film also takes many band’s-eye-view looks at the audience members, who palpably lend their energy to the music. The sight of an entire stadium of people bobbing up and down like a bowl of jello was one of the most striking images in the film.
The editing is flawless to the extent that it’s impossible to tell it isn’t all the same show. Most of the pre and post-song banter is cut, letting the songs carry the messages on their own strength.
Clocking in at just under an hour and a half, the movie is too short for the hard core fan, but it does lend a nice unity to the set list. Focusing mostly on U2’s social justice-themed songs like “Bullet the Blue Sky” and “Miss Sarajevo” adds more gravitas and a stance that wouldn’t come out as strongly with just a random collection of hits.
The encore is short as well, but takes a more playful approach, incorporating animation with “The Fly” and “Yahweh,” which plays throughout the end credits.
The directors of “U2 3D,” Catherine Owens and Mark Pellington, filmed over 100 hours of footage on cutting edge camera technology from “3ality Digital,” creating an experience that is truly one of a kind – and hopefully the first of many like it.