First and Last Laserdisc question (1 Viewer)

What was the first lasterdisc title released in 1978 and the last in 2002 and are they both available on DVD?

I don't know about the first, but I read somewhere that the last was "End of Days" with Arnold Schwartzenegger. It is available on DVD

Thanks ChristopherDAC. Yes, if you would. I know when DVD came to the US, Warner had a DVD package of several titles for trial market run. By numbering I believe "Batman" was the first movie DVD. Yet like with LaserDisc, there were also even earlier titles including in Japan. I have a mint original copy of LumiVision's Imax "Tropical Rainforest" title in its original CD sized jewel case. These Imax series were supposed to be the very first US commercial release DVDs.

Though "End of Days" was probably the last movie title, I wonder if "The Rome Disc" by Ponessa Productions of Montana released in April 2002 is the "last" LaserDisc as they claim? I know "End of Days" is on DVD since I have it

Eric

The DiscoVision "Jaws" has a catalog number of 001.

How fitting that "End of Days" would be the last laserdisc pressed. Heh.

I seem to remember seeing a laserdisc pre-order list in an old Sight and Sound (may they rest in peace) catalog from late 2000. The only title in that list was Mission Impossible 2. I seem to remember around that time many upcoming laserdiscs were cancelled because pre-orders were so low. So I'm sure more were planned than were actually released. (I think the last new laserdisc I bought before the market dropped out was The Lost World, which would've been in early '98.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laserdisc

SRD = Spectral Recording Digital

1978

11th December - Jaws (1975) (NTSC, P&S/CAV, DiscoVision, USA)

1979

12th May - Coyote's Lament (NTSC, CAV, DiscoVision, USA)
2nd July - Last Remake of Beau Geste (1977) (NTSC, P&S/CAV DiscoVision USA)

1941 (1979) (NTSC, P&S/CAV, DiscoVision, USA)
On Vacation with Mickey Mouse and Friends (NTSC, CAV, DiscoVision, USA)
At Home with Donald Duck (NTSC, CAV, DiscoVision, USA)


1980

5th May - The Onion Field (1979) (PAL, P&S, United Kingdom)
26th November - Cheech and Chong's Next Movie (1980) (NTSC, P&S, DiscoVision, USA)


1981

30th March - Flash Gordon (1980) (NTSC, P&S, DiscoVision USA
13th March - The Warriors (1979) (NTSC, P&S, USA)
9th October - Nogiku no gotoki kimi nariki (She Was Like a Wild Chrysanthemum) (1955) (NTSC, Japan)
9th October - Just Friends (NTSC, Japan)

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977) (NTSC, P&S, NTSC, USA)
Beatles: Let It Be (1970) (NTSC, P&S, USA)
Autumn Sonata (1978) (NTSC, P&S, USA)
Alien (1979) (NTSC, Original English dialogue; Japanese dub, Japan)
The Godfather (1972) (NTSC, P&S, USA)

1982

Hello Dolly! (1969) (PAL, P&S, United Kingdom)
Dirty Mary Crazy Larry (1974) (PAL, P&S, United Kingdom)
The Baltimore Bullet (1980) (PAL, P&S, United Kingdom)
Unternehmen Capricorn (1978) (PAL, Germany)
Ein Mann sieht rot (1974) (PAL, P&S, Germany)
Geschichte der O (1975) (PAL, P&S, Uncut, Germany
55 Days at Peking (1963) ANA 1982 PAL United Kingdom
The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin (1976, TV) (PAL, United Kingdom)
The Pied Piper (1972) (1.66:1 Letterbox (NTSC, Original English dialogue; Japanese dub, Japan)
Dirty Mary Crazy Larry (1974) (NTSC, P&S, Japan)
To Hell with the Devil (Mo deng tian shi) (1981) (1.85:1 Letterbox, Japan)
Bang the Drum Slowly (1973) (NTSC, P&S, USA)
Days of Heaven (1978) (NTSC, P&S, USA)
The Gambler (1974) (NTSC, P&S, USA)
Murder on the Orient Express (1974) (NTSC, P&S, USA)
National Lampoon's Animal House (1978) (PAL, P&S, United Kingdom)
The Blues Brothers (1980) (PAL, P&S, United Kingdom)
Chinatown (1974) (PAL, P&S, United Kingdom)
Raise the Titanic (1980) (PAL, P&S, SRD, United Kingdom


1984

Laservision with Digital Dound Demonstration Disc (NTSC, USA)

Citizen Kane (1941) (NTSC, Criterion, USA)
# Chapter 27 is a preview in which "The cast of 'Citizen Kane' is introduced"
# Chapter 28 is a visual essay by Robert Carringer
# Chapter 29 is the original theatrical trailer

King Kong (1933) (NTSC, Criterion, USA)
Commentary by Ron Haver

Manhattan (1979) (NTSC, 2.35:1MGM/UA, USA)
- Problematic transfer

Several CED (a needle/stylus video disc format) titles were issued in letterbox format in 1984:

January - Amarcord - 1.66:1
The Long Goodbye - 2.35:1
Manhattan - 2.35:1
Monty Python and the Holy Grail - 1.85:1

King of Hearts - 2.35:1 (released by RCA)
- RCA called this their "innovative widescreen mastering technique," and on the back
of the caddy provided an explanation for the black bands at the top and bottom of the
television screen. CED was the first video format to feature letterboxing, with the release
of Amarcord in January 1984. This was eight months prior to the release of
Manhattan on LaserDisc, which is often mistakenly considered the first
letterboxed release.

Click here for more info: CED


1985
Deep Red (Profondo Rosso) (1975)(NTSC, 2.35:1 Letterbox, Japan)
- 105-minute version

1986
25th December - Star Wars: A New Hope (1977) (NTSC, CAV, 2.35:1 Letterbox, Japan)


1987
Blade Runner: Special Edition (Theatrical cut) (NTSC, 2.35:1, Dolby Pro-Logic?/CAV/Uncut, USA)

Included:
- The original European release version, with footage cut
from the American theatrical release. This version includes
the narration by Deckard and longer ending that was removed from the Director's Cut.
- Gouache illustrations, pen and marker drawings, an
preliminary sketches by Syd Mead, the film's "visual
futurist"
- Detailed scene-by-scene analysis
- Trivia test and Blade Runner bibliography


1989
Star Wars (1977)(NTSC, 2.35:1, SRD, USA)
The Empire Strikes Back (1980) (NTSC, 2.35:1, SRD, USA)

1990
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) (NTSC, 2.35:1,USA)

10th November - 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)(NTSC, 2.20:1, SRD, USA)

26th November - Close Encounters of the Third Kind: Special Edition (NTSC, 2.35:1, SRD/CAV, Criterion, USA)
- Contained both 1977 and 1980 versions via manual programmable branching
- Making-of
- 1,000 still frames
- Screenplay for deleted scenes
- Publicity material.


1993

First batch of Sony's 1035i (interlaced), high-definition "MUSE HI-VISION LASERDISC" releases:

21st May - Bugsy (1991) (1.85:1/16:9, SRD, Japan)
21st May - A League of Their Own (1992) (1.85:1/16:9, SRD, Japan)
21st June - Lawrence of Arabia (1962) (2.20:1/16:9, SRD, Japan)
5th August - Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) (2.35:1/16:9, SRD/+CAV, Japan)
21st August - The Silence of the Lambs (1991) (1.85:1/16:9, Japan)
22nd September - Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) (1.85:1/16:9, SRD, Japan)
21st December - Universal Soldier (1992) (1.85:1/16:9, Japan)
21st December - Chaplin (1992) (1.85:1/16:9, Japan)

Releases continued sporadically until 1997. Most transfer of films have problems,
ie unstable colour, artifacts, etc. Some transfer are amazing, though. This was
the first step towards the HD-DVD/Blu-Ray revolution.


1995
31st January - Clear and Present Danger (1994) (NTSC, 2.35:1 Letterbox, AC3, THX, USA)
- First ever AC3 Laserdisc?


1996

First batch of Japanse "Squeeze Laserdisc" (16x9 Anamorphic) releases:

(Test discs from Sony for the Triniton widescreens TVs were released in 1995 in the UK and Japan)

25th January - Alaska: Last Frontier (1994) (NTSC, SQZ/SRD/CAV, Japan)
25th September - Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) (NTSC, 2.35:1, SQZ, AC3, Japan)
25th September - Cliffhanger (1993) (NTSC, 2.35:1, SQZ/AC3, Japan)
25th September - Basic Instinct (1992) (NTSC, 1.85:1, SQZ/AC3/Uncut, Japan)
25th September - Stargate (1994)(NTSC, 1.85:1, SQZ/AC3, Japan)

More releases followed, including a superior Terminator 2 set in May 1998.

These discs can't be played back on a 4:3 screen unsqueezed.


2001
23rd February - X-Men (2000) (NTSC, 2.35:1 Letterbox, AC3, Japan)
21st September - Tokyo Raiders (2000) (Letterbox, AC3, Japan)


A link not in the Wikipedia article is this one, an article by our very own, Rachael B:
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...?postid=577355

Does Rachael still post here?

I'm off to travel back in time to get a 1990 Criterion Close Encounters boxed set without laser-rot. Thanks for reading - bye!

I got one of the first laserdisc machines sold the first day in Atlanta for the test marketing.
All discs were CAV as they had nopt developed CLV discs yet.
On that day I got Jaws, The Birds, 1941, American Graffitti, Saturday Night Fever, Going MyWay, Bride of frankenstein.

Any idea where I can find a first issue (not extended play) of Jaws by DiscoVision for sale? See some extended issues but not the older version. See other first release DiscoVision discs for sale real cheap. Guess their quality varied a bit from what I've read.

Agreed. There are some mistakes. Correct me if I am wrong but wasn't the Criterion Blade Runner the "international" version with some more violence and not the true theatrical version? Also the bit about LDs being more expensive than VHS while on the surface is true but at the time of release unless the film was a huge blockbuster (100 million at the time)the VHS was released at rental prcing which was in upwards of $90.00 or more where the LD was $29.99 - $39.99. There were plenty of titles that never made sell-through on VHS and the LD was the only way to go in terms of price. The only reason why I bought a laser disc player is because I wanted to own Peter Jackson's Dead Alive. The VHS was $109.99 and the LD was $39.99. Granted I did have to spend $500.00 for an LD player but I have had up to 300 lds over the years so the money evened out.


--Ian

I thought Episode I was the last one... how many more came out?

Ryan

Star Wars: Episode I was released to LD in April of 2000 *only* in Japan. U.S. consumers had to "make do" with a VHS Deluxe Widescreen edition of the movie (or import the LD from Japan) until its DVD debut in November of 2001.

The point is, there was never a domestic LD release of Ep I.

I do recall very clearly in 1979 or 1980 seeing Star Trek The Motion Picture being shown at video stores and I believe another member once corrected me a few years ago that is was not an LD, but a disc in a cartridge. That sounds like the CED described above. While not the first LD, it seems to be an early form of it.