FanFiltration said:
Here are some comparisons from the different laserdisc versions of "Goldfinger".
THX BOX SET
The Criterion Collection
The Connery Collection
THX BOX SET
The Criterion Collection
The Connery Collection
THX BOX SET
The Criterion Collection
The Connery Collection
This is how all three appear on CRT. I now have all three, and the Criterion is indeed direct from a print source that appears to be of an older release printing. It has an emphasis in darker blue/greens but I don't know if could be Technicolor in origin. The CC version has a bit of increased contrast but appears to be more normalized in terms of color and does not have the shift in the Criterion. The THX version has a much more delicate and golden hue overall and is easily the best appearing, richest colored version on LD. The MGM versions are from Interpositives as far as I can tell. The THX version is a differently sourced master as well. The mono has been cleaned up too, but only the Criterion has the title song in mono.
Two new additions to add to the growing comparisons:
TLD on the old CBS Fox LD holds up quite well despite the pan and scan. Color is outstanding with a bit of harsh white backlight reminiscent of a print. The white skies of the opening are now very white lit. Gunbarrel, opening shot and titles are in scope and even these hold up pretty well. Dial back the contrast a bit in the interiors and you have a nice looking picture. The analog stereo appears to have the surround encoding, Quality is very good. Overall, I'm really impressed with this. If it had been letterboxed the color should match the later MGM disc but a touch softer due to the earlier pressing date.
And...now I have a new top 5 entry. Moonraker looked terrible on the WS LD, and you get used to it. It is very noisy and lacking in fine details with a very video-y look in many scenes that are filled with noise. The audio was outstanding however.
The rare THX reissue fixes ALL the video problems, has a different color balance that is better for home viewing, and is among the best I've ever seen in Bond LDs. By this time LD mastering had become an art form, and it's near DVD on a good CRT. The audio seems to have been remixed slightly in EQ, going back and forth makes the THX PCM track seem a bit more balanced to the low end and surrounds with a slight less emphasis on the highs as found in the earlier disc which may have been a bit too bright.
If I nitpick, and I do, the THX MR disc is great but the earlier one may have some coloring that better replicates 35mm. The new transfer though has a better rendering of overall color shading, for example the many instances of brown that crop up in the film and its sets. M's office in the old disc is a mess of lines, noise and artifacts. The THX is gorgeously free of these and the color in the walls really pops out.
EDIT: I popped in the SE DVD, and they are the same transfer. The LD is so good that it almost matches the DVD on a CRT, the DVD being technically better over component. The 5.1 ac3 is the same on both @ 384 kbp/s. The PCM and 5.1 on the THX LD are the same mix, and I'll have to go over with headphones to compare to the older discs PCM track but I think the audio on the later copies may have been slightly remixed.
It looks as if MGM had done all the films over for their announced and later canceled THX LD releases in 1998. Only six ever came out before cancellation and then came the SE DVDs. The video is the same. This way we have a perfectly useable GOUT-like source for the entire series to work from as a reference.
If some useable 35mm frames can be found we can finally have a proper basis to work from. For years we've only been able to guess at if the MGM work was correct.