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Info: PAL LBX: there's another one... a '78 UK release of a PAL LBX LD

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I went to buy a bunch of LD’s today, and encountered a guy with a LD collection of over 1500 definitely. He had about ten SW trilogies in there, and when we started babbling about them I came to an extraordinary discovery. I stated the only SW PAL LD with English audio is a '95 French version, upon which he showed me a '78 UK release of a PAL LBX LD (with Englisch audio of course). Details coming up…

That's no moon. It's a LaserDisc.

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Was that by Encore Entertainment?
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The Encore release is the special edition, I believe. And the earliest PAL laserdiscs were '81-82, so a laserdisc from 1978 is a bit suspect.

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Well '78 is what he told me, I'll contact him for scans of the cover. He is a member of LDDB.COM and contributes a lot there. He has some disks which weren't known to man until he put them on.

That's no moon. It's a LaserDisc.

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Star Wars first appeared on laserdisc in 1982. I'm aware of some earlier specially released VHS and Beta tapes, but I seriously doubt a 1978 laserdisc, much less a letterboxed version. I'd like to see some proof of this myself.
Greedo shoots first? Not in my DVD player.
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There is NO WAY that Star Wars was put out on home video at any point in the 1970s. None.
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'78 UK release of a PAL LBX LD (with Englisch audio of course).

Was it widescreen or fullscreen?
Fez: I am so excited about Star Whores.
Hyde: Fezzy, man, it's Star Wars.
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Originally posted by: Arnie.d
'78 UK release of a PAL LBX LD (with Englisch audio of course).

Was it widescreen or fullscreen?


I think LBX stands for Letterbox, so I would assume Widescreen.

Save London’s Curzon Soho Cinema

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Yes that's right, LBX stands for letterbox. I was just as astound and sceptic about it as all of you btw, at the moment I can't guarantee it was from '78, but I'm telling you, the guy knows what he's talking about, so my guess is he's right. One thing I do know for sure is that it was a PAL widescreen version with English audio, and it came out of a very old cover I had never seen anywhere on the internet. We did a quick search but ended up not finding it anywhere (if it's not on lddb.com that sais a LOT). As soon as I get the scans I'll post 'em here.

That's no moon. It's a LaserDisc.

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Some of this is almost certainly moot. Any discs released earlier than the THX (Faces) trilogy are bound to sorta suck, video-wise. I mean, there are quite a few pre-Faces NTSC letterbox discs, and nobody's using those because they're just not as good as the later stuff.

Audio-wise, it of course doesn't matter if the video is fullscreen [sic] or widescreen.
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If it's from 1978 you would expect the original crawl right? Did you see the crawl Grinder?
Fez: I am so excited about Star Whores.
Hyde: Fezzy, man, it's Star Wars.
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Since its a UK release not sure if this helps with any info on it, but the laserdisc copies that the LOC has for star wars, the earliest they got one was in 83. I would think they would have gotten a copy earlier if was available, but not sure if they would 'import' a UK release to do so. Dont know if that helps or anything, but thought i would throw that info out there in the discussion.

ps. Slightly off topic, but I did have my whole LOC thread but not sure where it went, in it i gave info on the various copies the LOC has. It doesnt show a 79 version, but like i said, dont know if the LOC deals in UK releases.

this is what they have
1 videodisc of 1 (laser) (ca. 120 min.) : sd., col. ; 12 in. viewing copy.
1 videodisc of 1 (laser) (ca. 120 min.) : sd., col. ; 12 in. viewing copy (copy 2)
1 videodisc of 1 (laser) (ca. 120 min.) : sd., col. ; 12 in. viewing copy (copy 3)
1 videodisc of 1 (CED) (ca. 120 min.) : sd., col. ; 12 in. viewing copy.
12 reels of 12 on 6 (ca. 10869 ft.) : sd., col., anamorphic ; 35 mm. ref print.
12 reels of 12 on 6 (ca. 10869 ft.) : sd., col., anamorphic ; 35 mm. ref print.

and this is when they recieved it
Received: 7/8/83; viewing copies (copy 1 and 2); purchase, purchase order no. 0124319; LC Purchase Collection.
Received: 11/88; viewing copy (copy 3); purchase; LC Purchase Collection.
Received: ca. 1983 or 1984; viewing copy; purchase; LC Purchase Collection.
Received: 3/28/78; ref print; copyright deposit--advanced selection; Copyright Collection.
Received: 6/19/79; ref print (FGD 5534-5539); copyright deposit--no agreement; Copyright Collection.
Why Anakin really turned to the dark side:
"Anakin, You're father I am" - Yoda
"No. No. That's not true! That's impossible!" - Anakin

0100111001101001011011100110101001100001

*touchy people disclaimer*
some or all of the above comments are partially exaggerated to convey a point, none of the comments are meant as personal attacks on anyone mentioned or reference in the above post
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Laserdiscs were around in 1978, (under the original moniker Discovision) but the public couldn't buy anything before 1979. (And Fox wasn't on the bandwagon until later.) This mystery disc must be from the 80's.

Where were you in '77?

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Originally posted by: zion
Bootleg LD perhaps???


can you do that? I mean, i dont even know what kind of equipment you would need to 'press' a laserdisc or whatever they do to it. Let alone the converting process. All the stuff for dvds is available to consumers, even if at lower quality...can a consumer make a LD? seems like you would need some expensive equipment.

-Darth Simon
Why Anakin really turned to the dark side:
"Anakin, You're father I am" - Yoda
"No. No. That's not true! That's impossible!" - Anakin

0100111001101001011011100110101001100001

*touchy people disclaimer*
some or all of the above comments are partially exaggerated to convey a point, none of the comments are meant as personal attacks on anyone mentioned or reference in the above post
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No way it's a bootleg. I've never even HEARD of a bootleg LD...
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Bootleg laserdiscs do exist. They typically came out of the far east from disc production plants that had been closed down by their legitimate owners or those that looked the other way while an illict batch was run off. Either way, not something anyone could do cheaply in their basement.

Where were you in '77?

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Originally posted by: Karyudo
Some of this is almost certainly moot. Any discs released earlier than the THX (Faces) trilogy are bound to sorta suck, video-wise. I mean, there are quite a few pre-Faces NTSC letterbox discs, and nobody's using those because they're just not as good as the later stuff.


I believe the Def. Col. is also pre-Faces... and nearly everyone uses that one.

That's no moon. It's a LaserDisc.

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There is just no way that it is a 1978 laserdisc, the only things being produced then were the discovision discs, and they had only just barely started in production, PAL laserdiscs didn't even exist at that point - who would manufacture a PAL laserdisc for a market that simply did not exist in any form. There was no such thing as bootlegs until later in the Laserdisc lifespan - the real companies were having enough trouble producing discs that worked.
Basically no one in the general public even owned a player at that point.

My guess is that there is a copyright notice of 1978 on it - perhaps referring to the copyright date of the film print used in the transfer, but I will give you both my testicles if it is a PAL laserdisc manufactured in 1978 of ANH.
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http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/9966/test9aa.jpg

<span class=“Italics”>MeBeJedi: Sadly, I believe the prequels are beyond repair.
<span class=“Bold”>JediRandy: They’re certainly beyond any repair you’re capable of making.</span></span>

<span class=“Italics”>MeBeJedi: You aren’t one of us.
<span class=“Bold”>Go-Mer-Tonic: I can’t say I find that very disappointing.</span></span>

<span class=“Italics”>JediRandy: I won’t suck as much as a fan edit.</span>

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Originally posted by: Grinder
Originally posted by: Karyudo
Some of this is almost certainly moot. Any discs released earlier than the THX (Faces) trilogy are bound to sorta suck, video-wise. I mean, there are quite a few pre-Faces NTSC letterbox discs, and nobody's using those because they're just not as good as the later stuff.


I believe the Def. Col. is also pre-Faces... and nearly everyone uses that one.


The DC is of exactly the same vintage as Faces. The transfer is identical. If the master tape still existed, it'd probably have 'Definitive Collection / Faces Master Tape' written on it in Sharpie.