Home Theater Forum › Home Theater Forum › Archives › Archived Threads 2001-2004 › Superbit - Labrinyth & The Dark Crystal
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Superbit - Labrinyth & The Dark Crystal

post #1 of 38
3/7/03 at 8:02am
Thread Starter 
Has anyone seen the Superbit verison of these movies? I've read a couple reviews, but I always like to hear more opinions.

How do they compare to the original DVD releases?
Would you suggest repurchasing?

These are my favourite movies and I've love to see them look as good as they possibly could.
Reply
post #2 of 38
3/7/03 at 8:51am
I know that dvdreview.com has reviews of the Dark Crystal Superbit, as does dvdfile (I think they did Labyrinth as well).

Sounds like both new versions improve picture, and to a degree the sound, of the originals.

I'm getting them both but haven't received yet to compare.

dave
Reply
post #3 of 38
3/7/03 at 9:24am
I was going to pick them up, but after seeing the price I left them on the shelves. I will never pay a premium price for a bare bones superbit Paramount. 34 bucks is way too much to double dip.

Dean
Reply
post #4 of 38
3/7/03 at 10:26am
Uh...Paramount? Try Columbia. I think that the discs would have to be much superior to the originals for me to shell out the bucks for them. The original discs are available at a bargain price and have great (long) documentaries that were made during the production.
Reply
post #5 of 38
3/7/03 at 10:26am
Heck...I woudln't pay those rediculous prices either!

That's why I pre-order items like this from deepdiscountdvd.com!!!
Reply
post #6 of 38
3/7/03 at 10:58am
The new Superbit line can be had (at least in this area) for as little as $24.00 - $25.00 CAN per disc... that equates to about $15.00 bucks US. Even deepdiscountdvd.com is somewhere around $20.00 bucks USD IIRC. Believe it or not, our local Walmart has the entire line with the cheapest prices around with Future Shop being a close second.
Reply
post #7 of 38
3/7/03 at 11:22am
Not worth it for me. I am an extras guy. I already have the original Dark Crystal but I do want Labrynth. Looks like I'll get the regular verson of that too.
Reply
post #8 of 38
3/7/03 at 11:36am
Thread Starter 
From the few reviews I've ready, Labrinyth is much improved when compared to The Dark Crystal. If I didn't have the original of both, I'd get the Superbit Labrinyth version.
Reply
post #9 of 38
3/7/03 at 1:14pm
I didn't pick up the new Dark Crystal since I already have the old one (though judging by all the dirt marks in that transfer, maybe it's worth an upgrade?). But I bought Labyrinth yesterday, and it looks pretty solid. It's not a fantastic looking Superbit like Bram Stoker's Dracula. The image is a little too coarsely grainy in places to make it a reference disc, but judging from the reviews of the first DVD it definitely seems like an improvement.

Now, how good is the Labyrinth documentary that I'm missing?

Mark
Reply
post #10 of 38
3/7/03 at 5:14pm
The review of Dark Crystal at DVD Talk said the PQ wasn't noticebly better. I just watched the 'old' version of DC the other night and it is very good on my 65" HDTV. Plus it there are just a ton of extras on that disc.
Reply
post #11 of 38
3/8/03 at 1:01pm
Ok I found them at Walmart for 25 bucks, thanks Herb. Here are a few comparison screen shots that I took. The original is the top picture and the Superbit is the bottom. I have found that the colors are a little more saturated with the Superbit versions.

Dark Crystal 1
Dark Crystal 2
Dark Crystal 3
Dark Crystal 4
Dark Crystal 5
Dark Crystal 6

Labyrinth 1
Labyrinth 2
Labyrinth 3
Labyrinth 4
Labyrinth 5

Dean
Reply
post #12 of 38
3/8/03 at 1:29pm
Perhaps it is just me but I can not see much of a difference in those captures.
Reply
post #13 of 38
3/8/03 at 1:56pm
Has anybody else noticed a lip synch problem with the DTS track on Labyrinth? The DD lines up perfectly.

Mark
Reply
post #14 of 38
3/8/03 at 2:18pm
Let me revise, the Dark Crystal captures are very similar to my eyes but the Labyrinth pic's show finer grain on the Superbit than the older release.
Reply
post #15 of 38
3/8/03 at 2:54pm
Quote:
Perhaps it is just me but I can not see much of a difference in those captures.

Agree, if I can get the older ones for cheap, maybe via Columbia House, I'll probably just do that.
Reply
post #16 of 38
3/8/03 at 2:57pm
One thing the Dark Crystal original has going for it is the isolated score audio track.

However, I'm a "Labyrinth" whore so I'm probably going to get the Superbit (but keep the original just to have it).
Reply
post #17 of 38
3/8/03 at 8:09pm

I think the Labyrinth pics illustrate fairly significant differences. I've been wanting to purchase the movie for quite awhile but never got around to doing it. So, when faced with a choice between the two, I'm definitely going with the Superbit. However, I'm not 100% sure I would upgrade if I already owned it. Tough call...
Reply
post #18 of 38
3/9/03 at 10:02am
Well after spending some time with these I have decided that unless you’re a big Dark Crystal fan, double dipping really doesn't seem worth the money. It does have an improvement in the picture but you really need to overlap the images and flash back and forth to actually see the difference. The sound track is very nice to have in 5.1, I'm going to keep both copies and be very happy having both.

For Labyrinth the picture improvement is much more noticeable but still really isn't anything to write home about. The big improvement is the sound track. With the original the sound level is really low causing you to raise the volume quite a bit beyond normal. This is fixed with the Superbit version of the movie. Once again if you're a major fan of the movie I highly recommend grabbing both versions of the movie. The documentary on the original is worth having IMO.

Dean
Reply
post #19 of 38
3/9/03 at 10:42am
Quote:
The sound track is very nice to have in 5.1, I'm going to keep both copies and be very happy having both.

But the original DVD offered 5.1 audio as well, though not DTS...
Reply
post #20 of 38
3/9/03 at 10:53am
Quote:
For Labyrinth the picture improvement is much more noticeable but still really isn't anything to write home about. The big improvement is the sound track. With the original the sound level is really low causing you to raise the volume quite a bit beyond normal. This is fixed with the Superbit version of the movie.

I have no problems with turning up the volume on my amp - the real problem with the original Labyrinth DVD soundtrack wasn't that it was muted, but that it was of such poor quality - IIRC it was hissy and had very poor range. If all they've done on the SuperBit release is raise the volume and "fill" the 5.1 speakers then the upgrade is definitely not worth it for me.
Reply
post #21 of 38
3/10/03 at 4:42am
I've ordered both new SB versions just because I'm such a devotee of these wonderful Henson masterpieces.

When I get my Labyrinth copy I'll compare the new 5.1 DTS to the former 2.0 DD version and try to evaluate the differences for those of you on the fence.

Anyone who is any sort of "fan" of these films, as posted earlier, may want both versions (or at least the original versions) as the documentaries on each are really wonderful and worth having.
Reply
post #22 of 38
3/10/03 at 5:36am
Someone already asked but I haven't seen a reply... are the extras on the original Labyrinth DVD any good?
Reply
post #23 of 38
3/10/03 at 5:43am
Yes, quite.
Reply
post #24 of 38
3/10/03 at 6:18am
Didn't I just address that in my post?

Quote:
Anyone who is any sort of "fan" of these films, as posted earlier, may want both versions (or at least the original versions) as the documentaries on each are really wonderful and worth having.

Reply
post #25 of 38
3/10/03 at 9:43am
I couldn't tell any differences at all with any of the pics.

Go figure
Reply
post #26 of 38
3/11/03 at 5:05am
Thread Starter 
The only difference I could make out in those pictures was in the 6th picture from The Dark Crystal. If you look at the sky, it has noticably less grain in the picture below when compared to the picture above. Other than that, the pictures looked the same to me also.
Reply
post #27 of 38
3/11/03 at 9:59am
I noticed small very minor differences in one or two of the comparisons. Or maybe it's just my eyes playing tricks. If I had the originals, I would not bother upgrading. The only reason I would buy the superbits if I didn't already have the originals would be if they were animorphic. Are they?
Reply
post #28 of 38
3/11/03 at 10:41am
The old versions are anamorphic.
Reply
post #29 of 38
3/12/03 at 5:39pm
Deepdiscountdvd says that the extras are on the Superbit verision too?

I'm going to go out shopping for it tonight but wondered what was true on that?

Labyrinth at DDDVD

never mind, looks like the just copied the blah blah blah from the old one, the list of features lacks the documentary so I'll just hang on to the old one but get the better soundtrack one!
G2
Reply
post #30 of 38
3/23/03 at 7:20pm
So how was the Audio on the Superbit Labyrinth?
Is the DTS out of sync?

Do you find the SB a good thing to have, there are none available locally so I'm checking into getting it from DeepDiscount right now but wanted to hear from you guys now that you've had yours for a while...

G2

ps
Thanks Dean Cooper for putting those images up too!
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Archived Threads 2001-2004
Home Theater Forum › Home Theater Forum › Archives › Archived Threads 2001-2004 › Superbit - Labrinyth & The Dark Crystal