Enthusiastic Contrafibularities posted:
@Eugene's Lair - Did you manage to get to see the film?
I watched the three shorts this week. I think they would have helped going in, but not by a big margin. I managed to pick up most of the points by watching the film. Although interesting in their own right.
Yes, EC - I saw it in IMAX 3D on Sunday. I (and my friends) thought it was very, very good. 
The reason I asked you if you'd seen the shorts was because one of my colleagues saw the film on its release date, and found some of the background detail confusing. I'd then speculated that it might have helped if he'd seen the shorts, which are supposedly meant to bridge the gaps between the two films.
Having now seen the movie, I think the only one of the shorts which really helped in that respect was "Black Out 2022". In the film, the references to the "Black Out" made it sound rather arbitrary, however when seen in conjunction with the short it becomes clearer (IMO) as to not just what the Black Out was, but why it occurred.