I was excited to learn that the Star Wars films will be re-released in 3D starting with The Phantom Menace in 2012. That seems like a long way off, but I have a son who loves to play the Star Wars Lego video games and has been asking if he can watch the movies. He’s only six and the films are too adult for him now, but once the 3D versions start to hit DVD I would love to rewatch them with him. (And face it, by 2012/2013 we’ll have 3D TVs at home that might not even require glasses. I already saw a few at the consumer electronics fair this year.)

Now not only is Star Wars going to be re-released in 3D, Titanic will be too. Star Wars seems like a no-brainer for 3D as there are plenty of special effects that may be more compelling in that format. Plus it’s such a classic scifi series and the most popular of all time. Titanic is a love story with some sad, predictable action. How is that going to look better in 3D? I know a lot of people love that movie but I saw it once and it was enough for me. The scenery was well done, but let’s face it – it was a movie about a tragedy where a lot of people died unnecessarily. Sure the deep sea imagery might look better in 3D, but it hardly seems like a good candidate to be redone with new technology. It’s coming though, and supposedly James Cameron is giving it his all.

E! Online asks if Cameron and George Lucas are out to honor technology, their bank accounts or a little of both:

The Star Wars movies are coming back in 3-D. Titanic’s coming back in 3-D. Avatar’s coming back in 3-D. Oh, wait—that last one already came back (and already was in 3-D).

With the burst of rerelease news, we trust you understand our confusion—and suspicion. Are George Lucas and James Cameron really out to advance movie science—or they just out to suck more bucks from the wallets of us suckers?

BoxOffice.com editor Phil Contrino tried to calm our worst fear—the one about our wallet becoming lighter than it already is in order to make Lucas’ and Cameron’s fatter than they already are.

“I would have to say they’re technology driven,” Contrino says of the moguls. “I think in the case of Cameron, he’s been pretty vocal about bad 3-D conversions, and I think there’s a part of him to show how it’s done right.”

Indeed, Cameron has said as much, telling Vanity Fair of his plans for Titanic, “We really want it to be the gold standard of how you do a conversion.”

So, OK, maybe Cameron has a legitimate mission. And, besides, he’s got the makers of Piranha 3D to keep him honest.

But as for Lucas… Isn’t he just out to stop the Harry Potter films from reigning as the world’s top-grossing franchise? Or, more nefariously, isn’t Mr. Here-Buy-My-Movie-Again just trying to, you know, MAKE US BUY HIS MOVIE AGAIN?!

As to the first question, the Wall Street Journal concludes Potter won’t ever truly be able to overtake the sci-fi series, 3-D rereleases or no.

As for the second question, yes, Lucas is trying to make us buy his movie(s) again. But Contrino agrees with the idea that as much as we can’t help but comply with his wishes, Lucas can’t help himself, either: The man’s a tinkerer.

“Don’t be surprised if he adds an extra scene in there at the last minute,” Contrino told us.

[From E! Online]

So will you see these movies – again and in 3D? I will probably see the Star Wars movies with my son, up until the time when he’s a teenager and it’s no longer cool to go to watch movies with his mom. As for Titanic I’ll skip it. I didn’t get the appeal the first time and it was just too uncomfortable for me to see a movie that depicted a real life tragedy. The cinematography was beautiful though.