Encounter in the Third Dimension

Released Mar 31, 1999

40m

Documentary

List

73%

11 Reviews

Tomatometer

64%

250+ Ratings

Audience Score

This mix of fact-based documentary and camp comedy focuses on a professor (Stuart Pankin) as he explains the history and technology of 3-D film-making, with the help of his flying robot assistant, M.A.X. Enlisting late-night television temptress Elvira (Cassandra Peterson) to illustrate his new invention, Real-O-Vision, the professor loses control and all goes haywire. In the end, Elvira turns the professor into cardboard and traps M.A.X. inside a TV, debating whether or not to release him.

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Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

Watching MAX whizzing about, I reflected that it was done well, but, alas, I did not want it done at all.

Rated: 2/4

Oct 30, 2001

Full Review

Entertainment Weekly

Rated: B+

Mar 31, 1999

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Philip Martin

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

While the film promises a tour through the history of stereoscopic effects, the survey is pretty cursory, with a lot of old Stereopticon cards and clips from 3-D movies from the form's early 1950s heyday like Bwana Devil (1952).

Rated: 74/100

Mar 9, 2007

Full Review

Film Threat

Rated: 3/5

Dec 6, 2005

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TV Guide

Rated: 2/5

Sep 24, 2005

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Film Threat

Rated: 3/5

Dec 8, 2002

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Audience Member

It's gonna be great if u see it in IMAX 3D.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/11/23

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Ben Stassen

Director

Stuart Pankin

The Professor

Cassandra Peterson

Elvira, Mistress of the Dark

Andrea Thompson

Ruth in the Booth

Kim Nelson Fry

Co-Producer

Charlotte Huggins

Producer

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Synopsis

This mix of fact-based documentary and camp comedy focuses on a professor (Stuart Pankin) as he explains the history and technology of 3-D film-making, with the help of his flying robot assistant, M.A.X. Enlisting late-night television temptress Elvira (Cassandra Peterson) to illustrate his new invention, Real-O-Vision, the professor loses control and all goes haywire. In the end, Elvira turns the professor into cardboard and traps M.A.X. inside a TV, debating whether or not to release him.

Director: Ben Stassen
Producer: Ben Stassen
Screenwriter: Ben Stassen, Kurt Frey
Distributor: NWave Pictures
Production Co: Luminair, nWave Pictures, Movida
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 31, 1999, Original
Release Date (DVD): Oct 16, 2001
Box Office (Gross USA): $7.2M
Runtime: 40m