Originally posted by: boris
You should really OWN the laserdisc first, before owning the bootleg (which means the PAL French LD's if getting Moth3rs, or the Definitive Edition if getting Citizen's... etc.
I guess I'm one of the few people who can comment, then, since I own all of those LDs several times over.

...with written permission from the copyright holder
You don't have to ask for permission to exercise your fair use rights. They are rights.

The official DVD [...] has the original 1977 crawl - something no bootleg has

The EditDroid Star Wars has the original 1977 crawl -- and it had it about two years ago. Not to mention the fact that the DVD version is almost certainly CG, same as EditDroid. And EditDroid lets you choose between the original and "A New Hope" titles.

I think if anyone is going to disagree they should at least own the Laserdisc and not just a DVD bootleg.

I think that collectively, there's still many things better about bootlegs/preservations than the official DVDs:

- First of all, PAL-sourced projects probably have a bit better resolution than the GOUT discs -- especially where resolution deficiencies are punished.

- PAL-sourced projects have marginally better contrast ratios than the GOUT discs. That doesn't automatically mean better contrast, but a nicely-preserved project could do better than the official DVDs.

- Pre-THX-sourced projects probably have a bit better detail, and possibly better colour than the GOUT discs.

- A couple of projects have isolated scores, which I didn't think I'd care about, but which turned out to be pretty cool.

- Several projects keep the uncompressed PCM audio from the LDs, which is better than the Dolby Digital used on the GOUT DVDs.

All in all, I'm definitely anticipating that some new projects (most notably the X0 Project, but possibly Moth3r's v1.1) could outdo the official release, by combining the best features of the GOUT discs and new LD caps.

LD is dead; Long live LD!