Home Theater Forum  ›  Forums  ›  Entertainment and Media  ›  SD DVD - Film and Documentary  ›  "laserdisc is dead! long live the laserdisc!"
Forum Nav More Forums | All New Posts | New Thread

"laserdisc is dead! long live the laserdisc!"

#31
Rating: 0
6/25/09 at 1:42pm
  • Joined: October 2008
  • Location: Brooklyn, New York
  • Post Count: 248

Re: "laserdisc is dead! long live the laserdisc!"

My earliest memory is of visiting my uncle who had a laserdisc of Raiders of the Lost Ark playing in the living room on a 25-inch RCA TV. When the movie was over and he whips out what looked like a record but shiny metallic I was naturally dumbfounded. This was 1983. It wasn't until I got out of high school in the early 90's that I realized what I had seen in my uncle's living room was a laserdisc. Widescreen Review magazine was the only publication that covered the format (that I knew of) and that's how I furthered my knowledge of it but by then DVD was around the corner and decided not to buy into it. They were expensive indeed but I really loved that they came in such beautiful packaging. Many people dismiss artwork (or packaging) as unimportant and nitpicky but I think it's one of the most appealing things about the movie-watching (and collecting) experience and for me it is a big deal. And laserdisc supplements were actually more interesting and analytical, as I later discovered when I read Widescreen Review's best-ever laserdiscs issue in 1998. Imagine what that King Kong commentary that Criterion recorded in 1985 would be like listening to today! (and what it would fetch on the collector's market)
Export to Wiki
#32
Rating: 0
6/25/09 at 2:25pm
  • Joined: December 2000
  • Post Count: 1,458

Re: "laserdisc is dead! long live the laserdisc!"

Thanks for all of the compliments !!!

On the dvd of Oliver, 1776, ten Commandments, the studios had basically the same material I used, but especialy in the case of 1776, they don't sound as good. Oliver is really terrible.
Export to Wiki
#33
Rating: 0
6/25/09 at 8:52pm
  • Joined: March 2007
  • Location: New Orleans, LA
  • Post Count: 652

Re: "laserdisc is dead! long live the laserdisc!"

Quote:
Originally Posted by Joe Caps
Thanks for all of the compliments !!!

On the dvd of Oliver, 1776, ten Commandments, the studios had basically the same material I used, but especialy in the case of 1776, they don't sound as good. Oliver is really terrible.

I also have held on to the Oliver LD all these years and it is still the best version around. Thanks for entertainment and I am glad I can actually thank someone who worked so hard on it. As for as the 1776 LD, I still bring it out every 4th of July and show it to friends.
“For God's sake don't say yes until I've finished talking.” - Daryl F. Zanuck  
Export to Wiki
#34
Rating: 0
6/27/09 at 4:58pm
  • Joined: October 2002
  • Location: Italy
  • Post Count: 11

Re: "laserdisc is dead! long live the laserdisc!"

I want only to say THANKS to all the posters and readers - 1000 views in a week is not bad for a laserdisc thread!

I think I will ask questions as separate threads, to be more focused on the laserdisc - as the laser is on its surface ;-)

Andrea

A book about LASERDISC? In THIS millennium? Why not?
Are you crazy or what? No, I just think it's time people HAVE to know the truth about
laserdisc... but I need YOUR HELP! If you want to contribute, please contact me!

Export to Wiki
#35
Rating: 0
6/30/09 at 8:09pm
  • Joined: February 2004
  • Location: Beautiful Fort Worth
  • Post Count: 3,571
This coming Sunday I'm going to be running a movie night for a group of friends, using my LaserDisc library as the source material.  No matter how you count, I have above 400 Japanese animation LDs (somewhere above 500 considering, e.g., the individual volumes of a complete 96-episode TV series in a single boxset), about half of which have come within the past year.  I recently acquired an overlay generator to permit superimposing subtitles on the Japanese ones, for the benefit of an Anglophone audience.


Resources for :
Anime on LaserDisc
Everything on LaserDisc
Export to Wiki
#36
Rating: 0
7/1/09 at 9:02am
  • Joined: May 2000
  • Post Count: 2,410
I sold most of my 1400 laserdiscs, but I still have around 100 titles, many of which have not been released on DVD yet. I will miss my laser buying days...nothing will ever come close to my joy at buying the new releases each week at Tower Records.
Export to Wiki
#37
Rating: 0
7/1/09 at 9:15am
  • Joined: December 1998
  • Post Count: 2,953
Jay -  "nothing will ever come close to my joy at buying the new releases each week at Tower Records."

I used to purchase a bunch of LDs at Media Play in the '90s.  For myself, the most fun I had with Laser Disc (in terms of purchases) was scoring a rare title on Ebay.  The TRON boxset and the Star Wars (new edition) boxset were two favorites.

My favorite Laser Disc remains the Criterion CAV version of Citizen Kane (purchased from Ken Cranes.)

- Walter.

Fidelity to the source should always be the goal for Blu-ray releases.

Export to Wiki
#38
Rating: 0
7/1/09 at 10:44am
  • Joined: May 2000
  • Post Count: 2,410

Quote:
Originally Posted by Walter Kittel View Post

Jay -  "nothing will ever come close to my joy at buying the new releases each week at Tower Records."

I used to purchase a bunch of LDs at Media Play in the '90s.  For myself, the most fun I had with Laser Disc (in terms of purchases) was scoring a rare title on Ebay.  The TRON boxset and the Star Wars (new edition) boxset were two favorites.

My favorite Laser Disc remains the Criterion CAV version of Citizen Kane (purchased from Ken Cranes.)

- Walter.
 


Over the last few years of my laser buying, I did buy mostly from Ken Cranes, but getting those boxes in the mail just wasn't the same as the retail experience, although I did save more money.

As we get further and further away from the Laser era, I'm sure the discs will become more and more of a curiosity/conversation piece whenever someone visits my place.

Export to Wiki
#39
Rating: 0
7/1/09 at 6:19pm
  • Joined: June 2006
  • Post Count: 609
We had a couple great laserdisc stores in the Boston area - "Laser Craze" was Downtown (and latter on Newburry Street) and "Sight And Sound" in Waltham.

I went to Ken Cranes twice on trips to the west coast in the mid-1990's! 
Export to Wiki
Forum Nav More Forums | All New Posts | New Thread