Best Laserdiscs? (1 Viewer)

I’m going tomorrow to a place that has an abundance of used laserdiscs for sale. Can any of you recommend some laserdiscs to look out for? Besides obvious ones such as movies that are not yet out of DVD… I’m talking about ones with exceptionally good transfers, really good extras, etc… I don’t mind that most of these movies are already out on DVD, because your average DVD costs $15+ and I’m able to get these laserdiscs for much cheaper than that. If you have ever watched a laserdisc and thought to yourself, “Wow they did a great job mastering this disc”, or “These are some of the best PCM tracks I’ve ever heard”, etc… I’d like to know which ones you were talking about. Thanks!

if you mean amoeba ...they are a little low (yesterday) on lds, but they still have some good ones
2 boxes of outer limits were there ($40)
If not amoeba then please let me know where!?!?!?

Every laserdisc collection must have "Smoking: How To Stop"

I was going to buzz by 2 of the local Rasputin Records stores, and some used book stores which also happen to sell used Videos including LD's.

I didn't know they carried LDs
cool, let me know if they have a lot

I think the DTS LD's generally are the best video and audio ever put on LD. There is a bit of variability from movie to movie (Mr Holland's Opus isn't quite up to usual DTS standards thought the sound is great). Many people including me believe that the Casper DTS may be the best LD produced for the US market.

On a selfish note.
If you run across a DTS copy of Scream or Austin Powers or 6 Days, 7 Nights or Happy Gilmore, please consider picking it up and selling it to me. I am goind crazy trying to find the first 3 and my copy of HG isn't in the best condition.

The Frighteners: Signature Collection
The Howling: Collector's Ed.
Bram Stoker's Dracula: Criterion Special Ed.
The Thing From Another World: Collector's Ed.

Look at all the bay area folks, hello.

There is a place down in mountain view that just changed locations and is blowing out all there laserdiscs. I haven't been down there to check it out though. Address is

2290 W El Camino Real
Mountain View, CA
650-965-7800

They are advertising on craigslist if you want some more info.

I go to the Berkeley rasputins and amoeba just about every weekend, both of there selections for LD are pretty slim. But there used DVD selection is great.

What used bookstore that you go to has used LD's?

Criterion Silence of the Lambs has a lot of good extras on it. Some of them are downright disturbing (because they are clinical yet graphic accounts of real serial killers as opposed to fictional ones).

Scream DTS or Dolby Digital (This is the only version that is the director's cut) Try to get both if they are cheap, I did.
Halloween Criterion (audio commentary not on dvd)
Pretty much any other dts laser except for Blown Away(bad transfer)
Star Wars Definitive Collection (for obvious reasons)
Star Wars Special Edition Box Set
Jaws Box Set (has more extras & comes w/ the novel and a cd)
Who Framed Roger Rabbit CAV (the only unaltered version out)
A Nightmare On Elm Street Box Set (has extras not on dvd)

Hard to find but worth it:

>Robinson Crusoe On Mars - Criterion Collection Edition: Has some great extras.
>One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest - Special Edition: Has the original unaltered documentary and a nice coffee table book.

amadeus comes with many great extras including a double cd of the soundtrack
Some others with great stuff
Mrs parker and the vicious circle
Patton
Twilight Zone, The creative vision Vols 1,2 &3
Midnight Cowboy 25annvry special edition
Golden Eye DTS

Recently I picked up the Archive Edition LD of Disney's Tron, and I was stunned. It is one of the best looking and sounding LDs I've ever spun. Plus, it's great fun to have the whole film in CAV. I believe that most or all of the supplements are available in the new DVD.

Some of my favourite LDs, for PCM audio, are:

Apocalypse Now (all three issues of the widescreen disc are good, but the last one, the one with a Dolby Digital track, has slightly better video than the other two)

Se7en from Criterion Collection

The English Patient from Criterion Collection

West Side Story (the red cover version from MGM sounds the best)

Jaws Signature Series -- the best sounding mono soundtrack I've ever heard, and the original mono mix is not on the DVD. Also, the great making-of documentary is longer on the LD.

The Spy Who Loved Me THX remaster -- the Dolby Digital track is a little fake sounding, but the PCM track is great.

...really, anything from Criterion is worth buying. The transfers were almost always top-notch, and often the discs had interesting extras.

I'll think of more tonight and post 'em tomorrow.

A few weeks back I picked up the The Phantom Menace on LD at the SF Ameoba for 8 bucks Made me happy. Now that I think about it I have that movie on VHS, LD and DVD.
Any other good places in the Bay Area for used LD's?

I went to citysearch.com and did a radius search from my house and then called each place.

The 4 best LD sets I own in terms of picture, sound, extras, packaging, and films are as follows.

1. Star Wars THX Definitive Collection Box Set

2. Star Wars THX Special Edition Box Set

3. The Abyss THX Collector's Box Set

4. Aliens THX Collector's Box Set

Just to be nitpicky, the Aliens box set was not THX certified -- the only THX certified LD of Aliens is the movie-only disc of the theatrical version (which is an excellent disc). THX at the time would apparently not certify the extended cut of Aliens because is was not completed on film, and therefore they could not certify each step of the film-to-video transfer.

It's still a great box, though the transfer on the later THX LD of the theatrical version is better (IMO).

Other notables: the LD of the extended cut of Dances With Wolves has a spectacular PCM track, as does the Alien boxed set. And yeah, that Abyss: Special Edition box rocks. Wasn't it the first official THX LD? It was the first one I bought (though I did have the 'unofficial' Apocalypse Now disc -- it went through all the stages of THX mastering, as a test run for the system, but is not labelled as a THX disc).

If you see RONIN -DTS pick one up for me! If you see 2, pick up one for yourself!

I'll always have a fond place in my heart for Criterion's special CAV edition of The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, the first laserdisc I ever bought. Although the sound probably won't knock your sox off, the supplements are extensive, and this LD remains the only way to hear Gilliam's ever-insightful commentary on the film.

Picture-wise, I did an A-B comparison with Columbia's much more recent bare-bones DVD of the film, and found I actually preferred Criterion's transfer, in terms of color. This shouldn't have surprised me too much, I guess, as Gilliam was personally involved with the Criterion disc.

Whether you find the LD or not, here's hoping Criterion ports their version of this great film to DVD soon.

--Jefferson Morris