I'll always love laserdiscs, will you? (1 Viewer)

[Jeff Swindoll]

And, yes, I do miss the "elitist" feeling of being an LD enthusiast. You knew immediately if you met another LD owner that you had something in common. Everybody has DVD. Even my sister, and she has no real interest in movies other than to pass the time.

Brudder, Ah feel yur pain .
The argument has been made that since DVD is such a mainstream medium that JSP has to be catered to. Seemingly (because I know alot of flicks were released in P&S on LD) this was not the case with LD. I do definately agree with the poster above that misses the format but does not miss the incredibly high prices. I was just re-discovering my LD collection when DVD came along. DVD also made alot of my valuble LDs not so valuble anymore, but que sera sera. The last LD I bought was One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest SE set that was on sale (Very nice set, it's like a coffee table book). Unfortunately, the new bad DVD habit of buying and not watching has kept me from spinning Cuckoo .
Cheers.
"Remember elitist bastard is a badge of honor"

 

[Glenise]

The one thing I love about laserdiscs is the Dolby demos that appears on the laserdiscs.

I haven't seen any of the Dolby intros on DVDS.

You know, train, canyon, etc.

I really like showing those to friends when they come over.

I wish they had these Dolby intros on DVD.

Why do you think Dolby don't put these on movies.

I realize they have a Dolby demo DVD that has these but that's about it.

 

[JonZ]

I miss my LDs. No STUPID interactive menus, no complaining about how this that and the other thing isnt on the disc.

I was just happy to have my movies in OAR with a geat picture and sound.

About the "Elitist" feeling, thats true, I used to go to a Mom & Pop store that rented about 200 LDs and always use to get odd looks walking out with those huge silver records under my arm. Occassionally people who were curious would ask me LD.

 

[Mark Zimmer]

Nope, never loved LD and never will. I was all excited about the format, until I actually saw it in action. The side breaks were the worst; I couldn't imagine being drawn into a movie and then every 20 minutes or so stopping to change discs. What the hell is up with that? If they did that at the movie theater, people would be screaming bloody murder. Unless and until LD could reproduce a movie uninterrupted, it was a distant second to VHS as far as I was concerned. I'm amazed that LD survived as long as it did.

 

[Michael Reuben]

I wish they had these Dolby intros on DVD.
Why do you think Dolby don't put these on movies.

Because Dolby Digital is the standard sound format on DVDs. (To be accurate, it's one of two standard formats, but it's by far the most common.) So the inclusion of a DD soundtrack on DVD is nothing special.
On laserdisc, however, Dolby Digital arrived after LD had been around for about 20 years and produced thousands of titles. DD was an alternative sound format, and a new one at that. When DD first appeared on laserdisc, few people even had the hardware to play it. Many of the earliest titles also came with paper inserts explaining what Dolby Digital was. The intros on the discs served as additional advertising for the new audio technology.
Hey, it just occurred to me: The DD and THX intros on LD were among the earliest instances of "forced trailers".
M.

 

[Grant B]

I don't know what's worst having a LD flip or one of those annoying DVD layer breaks that they 'try' to disguise

My wife loves it when I scream BAD LAYER BREAK!

TPM on DVD?

Pleaszzze, why would I want to downgrade????

 

[Larry Sutliff]

Laserdisc was how was I introduced to serious home theater; as such it wills always hold a special place in my heart. Mark mentioned side breaks, which were usually once every hour, not every 20 minutes(half an hour on CAV discs but there aren't too many of those). The sidebreaks never bothered me, and still don't when I watch a LD. If you want to be annoyed by a "sidebreak", try collecting 16mm films(which I did for a short time)-having to rewind the first reel and then re-thread the second reel(on longer films three reels) was murder. After that experience laserdisc sidebreaks were fine with me! I do prefer DVD, especially on my widescreen television, but there are titles on laser that we won't be seeing on DVD for a long time(STAR WARS Trilogy) and many other titles that I doubt will make it to DVD at all, at least in the forseeable future(the old MGM/Warner/RKO library with titles like THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY,the Val Lewton collection,ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES,etc. etc. etc.). I'm grateful for the beautiful laserdiscs of these great titles.

 

[Brian-W]

Personally I was never bothered by the side breaks. A good time to use the bathroom, refill on refreshments, etc. Having an auto-reverse player that switched sides wasn't bad either. Everyone makes a big deal about the side breaks, but they were never as bad as everyone makes it.
And I will also agree with the happiness of NOT having to wade and wait through all these dumb and time wasting intro menus on DVD. Just start the damn movie already!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm sorry, a side break is nowhere near as bad as having to wait for a menu screen to load to watch the movie. I wish DVD companies would 'autoplay' the movie and have the menu be an afterthought that has to be selected.
And if it wasn't for the LD crowd, you'd all be watching pan-and-scan to this day. LD drove widescreen and supplemental features. I'm glad today that doesn't = $149 for a movie.
Rachael, what's the verdict on MUSE Back to the Future? Stay away from pt.3, doesn't look as good as pt. 1/2 ? I'll be checking out Jumanji MUSE LD shortly.
-Brian

 

[RobertR]

Brian:
Check out the new Theatertek HTPC player. You can set it so that it will start playing DVDs where YOU want it to, bypassing menus, FBI warnings, etc.

 

[george kaplan]

I don't know if I'll always love them, but I certainly will as long as I can only see the following films on ld, and not dvd:

The Adventures of Robin Hood

Aladdin

Back to the Future

The Beatles Anthology

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (OAR)

Desk Set

The Ghost & Mrs. Muir

A Goofy Movie (OAR)

Grumpy Old Men (OAR)

Hopscotch

In the Good Old Summertime

Raiders of the Lost Ark

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (uncut)

Lifeboat

The Long, Long Trailer

The Postman Always Rings Twice

Sleeping Beauty

Star Wars

The Thin Man

To Catch a Thief

To Have & Have Not

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

Vegas Vacation (OAR)

Victor/Victoria

and lots, lots more.

 

[Ed Francisco]

In the Philippines (where I came from), Laserdiscs were as common as VHS, and we had LD rental places in every neigborhood. Everybody I knew had one so it wasn't really an "elitist" thing. One great thing that we loved is its ability to do Karaoke!!!!

 

[Brian-W]

Robert, a new toy eh? Okay, I'm going to check that out...

-Brian

 

[Rachael B]

Brian, BACK TO FUTURE is OK. The colour maintains well but it's not as sharp as some titles. There's some overly compressed spots here and there, no huge amount, it seemed. I need to watch it again. I was kinda' tired when I viewed it. I'd call it above average but only a little. I thought CLIFFHANGER looked some better. It definitely was more detailed looking. I promise I'll send the CHERRY BLOSSOMS back soon. Best wishes, Muse Mamma!

 

[Jason Fanesi]

I remember how excited I was when I bought the 3 disc CAV set of John Woo's The Killer... for $125! Everyone thought I was crazy, but I didn't care. Man, the 3rd disc in that set was awesome! People take supplements on DVD for granted!

 

[Esten]

As long as supplements and movies that are on LD aren't on DVD,yes i will.

 

[Rand]

After spending between 30k and 40k on laser discs you bet I sitill like them.
As far as side breaks go, it's just every hour and any player except older ones changed sides for you in little more than the time a layer change takes on a dvd. And ld's didn't have the very annoying feature of locking out your controls.

 

[Thomas T]

My extensive film library consists of thousands of laserdisc titles. Realistically, hundreds of them will probably never see the light of day on DVD anytime soon, if ever.
Meanwhile, I can enjoy them now. While DVD only enthusiasts whine about when will the Indiana Jones trilogy come out on DVD or Magnificent Ambersons, Adventures Of Robin Hood, Meet Me In St. Louis or a wide screen La Dolce Vita, they are there sitting on my shelf to be pulled off and watched anytime I want.

 

[Jeff_HR]

All of us will enjoy & appreciate LDs should offer thanks to Pioneer for keeping the format's head above water for many years.

 

[Patrick McCart]

I never got into LD or VHS (My VHS collection is mostly stuff recorded off TV or gifts from friends/relatives)
I'm glad, too. My DVD collection is at 50 and I've only had to replace 5 of my VHS collection with DVD (Fantasia, Amadeus, 2001, Citizen Kane, and Jurassic Park.)
Actually, I do have one LD, but I won it in an auction and it's going to be re-sold soon. (London After Midnight)

 

[Scott Strang]

Jeff_HR sez

All of us will enjoy & appreciate LDs should offer thanks to Pioneer for keeping the format's head above water for many years.

Couldn't agree more. Pioneer should also be commended for support optical formats in general.