Which laserdisc titles are better than the DVD release?

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by Chris Desjardin, Dec 9, 2003.

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  1. John Moschella

    John Moschella Senior Member

    Location:
    Christiansburg, VA
    I would not be so sure about that. Brazil got deluxe treatment as a 3-disc box set via Critierion DVD.


    All this stuff about LDs is pretty interesting. The LDs that I have kept are mostly ones that have not been released on DVD or issues where packaging is awesome like the Connery box set or Gettysburg box set. The fact that, in general, LDs sound better on older films with stereo soundtracks can't make up for the huge loss is video resolution which is all to obvious if your display is 60" or larger. The original post asked for examples where the audio or video quality is better on the LD. I have yet to view any LD that can match a DVD for video. Recently I was watching Blade Runner on DVD and was very disappointed with the video quality. In fact its a terrible DVD, much worse than an average one. For kicks I put in the LD, I have the CAV special edition. The video on the LD was much worse than the DVD, not even close. The audio on this LD sounds great, but which would I watch? I sold the LD on E-bay. You can't make a blanket statement because everything is system dependant but I have not seen (on my system) one example where the LD bests the DVD for video, and its not even close. Now audio is another story.

    Many times the digital audio soundtracks for DVDs can be very bad. I find that in these cases the analog outputs of my DVD player sound better through my processor. Most processors have a decent analog surround sound mode that might work well in this instance.
     
  2. Larry Geller

    Larry Geller Surround sound lunatic

    Location:
    Bayside, NY
    Mamas & Papas--Straight Shooter documentary. DVD pic is much fuzzier than the LD, and it's heavily edited (from about 88 min. down to an hour).
     
  3. Phantom409

    Phantom409 New Member

    Location:
    Houston, TX
    "The comment about THE FISHER KING looking better on laserdisc was news to me. I was never tempted by the DVD, as I really liked Terry Gilliam's audio commentary on the Criterion laserdisc. That and the Criterion version of THE ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN are special gems that don't have a big enough fan base (unfortunately!!) to get the SE treatment on DVD.


    I would not be so sure about that. Brazil got deluxe treatment as a 3-disc box set via Critierion DVD."


    Well, when it comes to home video I'm not sure about anything!!

    To clarify a little, THE FISHER KING and MUNCHAUSEN have a cult following, but nowhere near the following or reputation of BRAZIL.

    However, another big factor in why many of the Criterion SEs are not duplicated on DVD is related to studio licensing. Criterion used to have a relationship with RCA Columbia, which they don't have anymore. For various reasons, the major studios won't lease Criterion's extras and prefer to either release their own Special Editions (e.g. TAXI DRIVER and THE LAST PICTURE SHOW) or just issue plain vanilla versions (e.g., THE FISHER KING, DARLING, and BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK).
     
  4. reechie

    reechie Senior Member

    Location:
    Baltimore
    Well, sure, but that's bad mastering and editing decisions, not reflective of the format itself.
     
  5. mhvbear

    mhvbear Senior Member

    Location:
    Irvington, NY
    The original version of "Knick Knack" is on the 'Toy Box' dvd that has Toy Story 1 & 2 and a 3rd disc with addtional bonus features.
     
  6. Rspaight

    Rspaight New Member

    Location:
    Kentucky
    I don't disagree that PCM is preferable to DD 2.0, but in many cases it's a space issue. PCM takes up a *lot* more room than DD 2.0. 95% of the people won't notice the quality difference, and the disc can be loaded up with more stuff.

    It does? Mine only has "Tin Toy" and "Luxo Jr.".

    Ryan
     
  7. mhvbear

    mhvbear Senior Member

    Location:
    Irvington, NY
    Sorry it's on a video called 'Tiny Toy Stories' available on vhs.
     
  8. Ken_McAlinden

    Ken_McAlinden MichiGort Staff

    Location:
    Livonia, MI
    Post deleted because it was inaccurate. Sorry.

    Regards,
     
  9. Larry Geller

    Larry Geller Surround sound lunatic

    Location:
    Bayside, NY
    Well OF COURSE it is. That's the only way an LD would ever look better than a DVD. I thought that was the whole point of this thread.
     
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