JayArgonaut

Gaffer Tape said:

Mielr said:

And they've both aged badly, for whatever reasons.

Really?  I don't think Mark Hamill looks half bad.  Carrie Fisher isn't too bad either.  She'd probably still be stunning if she dropped a little bit of weight.  I wouldn't say they've aged too bad.

Let's add some recent photographs of the pair to this discussion :)

Fisher in 2009 and... Fisher in 2009 pt2 and pt3

Hamill in 2008  and again in 2008 with Samuel L Jackson another one with Sam again, in 2008 and again in 2008 Hamill in 2009 and pt2

Moth3r said:

 

JayArgonaut said:

I'm not sure if anyone else noticed this but the 1990 ROTJ (which of course is a re-package of the 1986 JPN release) has the full dialogue of Lando in the Falcon which is missing from all the other pre SE releases.

Interesting discovery - what bits of dialogue are missing from the earlier LDs?

JayArgonaut said:

The Phantom Menace JPN LD (tried to locate the theatrical cut at various places online and the best I ever found was a VHS rip with static on the audio and elements of "Macrovision resistance").

You might want to look for Adywan's restoration of the theatrical cut, probably about the best you can get. http://originaltrilogy.com/forum/topic.cfm/The-Phantom-Menace-Theatrical-Version-NTSC-DVD-ADYWAN-NOW-AVAILABLE/topic/10615/

 

Thanks for that, I've managed to find a torrent link and I'll see if it's still active :)

Regarding ROTJ, from what I've seen on my W/S THX 1995 PAL VHS release, during the Death Star battle, just before Han deceives the Imperial forces into opening the rear base doors, Lando says: "Now. C'mon Han old buddy, don't let me down".

According on imdb and here virtually all the other pre-SE home versions have the same line. However, the JPN and 1990 U.S LD contain the full scene (present in all versions from 97' onwards) of Lando adjusting a few controls and commenting: "We're sure in the middle of it now...", after which he then says "C'mon Han old buddy, don't let me down". I don't have access to the 1993 DC or Faces sets to check them (perhaps others who do, can?), but if I'm correct, the JPN and 1990 U.S releases would be the most complete OOT version of ROTJ available.

That's a good question Womble, over the weekend I'll sit down and make a comparison by watching the same NTSC discs on both. Really I need to hurry up and rebuild my "A/V workstation" PC, then I could take some screengrabs and post them. In the meantime, slight differences include the D925 having a better laser (transport?) and perhaps error correction. This might be because the technology was made more recently.

I played a disc that has a big crack near the centre on both machines, the 4400 attempted and gave up whilst the D925 was able to cope, albeit with a distorted image. I only did this for a few seconds for fear of damaging both players. The 4400 appears during some scenes to have more ghosting, but again I'll sort out some grabs for you to check out soon.

Transfers? Well, they'd have to include Star Wars, wouldn't they? :)

The U.S CBS/Fox 1989/1990 LD's, I'm not sure if anyone else noticed this but the 1990 ROTJ (which of course is a re-package of the 1986 JPN release) has the full dialogue of Lando in the Falcon which is missing from all the other pre SE releases.

The Phantom Menace JPN LD (tried to locate the theatrical cut at various places online and the best I ever found was a VHS rip with static on the audio and elements of "Macrovision resistance").

PAL SW OT 1997 SE LD box set, which will include all the extras (obviously I'll be using the D925 for this job and will try to get the best results I can).

Criterion editions of Menace II Society and Dead Presidents. The new director's cut of Menace on DVD & Blu-Ray doesn't have even half the extras present on the Criterion LD and the commentaries are different too.

Pioneer WS SE version of Basic Instinct - according to this review the LD's director's commentary and extras are superior to those on the unrated DVD.

There's a few others I'm looking into but I think this lot is more than enough for me to be getting on with for the meantime :)

It's not a documentary but a short film by the BBC which might be worth considering given the theme you're going with - Filth: The Mary Whitehouse Story. Unfortunately I don't have a copy but I've seen it available as a torrent from the usual places... :)

SilverWook said:

What reviews, where? Anybody and their aunt can write a "review" on the net these days. ;)

Show me something that saw print in 1977.

I personally don't think Lucas was a poor director in the 70's. (And if he was, he had an army of seasoned pros helping him.) THX-1138 is a dystopian masterpiece, and American Graffitti was a huge hit that has influenced Hollywood almost as much as Star Wars has.

It's hard to believe but Star Wars did have some negative reviews in '77. This is all from memory, so excuse any inaccuracies. On the eve of Episode I being released in the UK, a friend showed me an article from the British press that reported on the negative reviews the film was receiving stateside and the journalist contrasted them with quotes from bad reviews of Star Wars 22 years earlier. It ended with a quote from GL saying something along the lines of that he had learned to ignore the press because they had always said unfavourable things about his work.

Looking back now I wish I'd kept the article because some of the critics comments were cluelessly hilarious, such as one that described the film as lots of noise and lacking on the whole! Normally I'd never cite Wikipedia because it's usually a dubious source but their page on Episode IV does contain details of bad reviews written at the time which can be corroborated through further searching.

Personally I believe those people all lived to eat their words and I absolutely agree about THX and American Graffitti, they're both amazing films and illustrate his talent (and that of the team around him too).

Time for another update, my 4400 arrived and is fully working - you guys were definitely right about the build quality of industrial players, it's built like a tank! The picture quality is superb and hats off to you all who replied for helping me make the right choice. Some scenes suffer from slight ghosting, but from what I've read on the video forums it's a problem (or trait) with all Pioneer models to a greater or lesser extent and I can live with it. 

I've also picked up a D925, from which I can rip the digital audio output straight into my computer and of course it also means the option is there to get the AC-3 too. The only downside is to the LD collecting is that out of the 15 titles I've bought so far, virtually every disc seems to have some presence of laser rot. Even the more recent discs made as recently as the late 1990s and 2000. This is where the PR-8210 SilverWook recommended would've come in handy, but I couldn't find any sellers who'd ship to the UK!

All in all though, I'm happy that I managed to get what I wanted and look forward to sharing my projects with you once they're ready.

Jay

Ok, update time...

I've managed to get hold of a fully working 4400 for about $39.00/£25.00. The shipping costs are a killer, but at least I was able to get what I wanted. As it goes I did find an 8000 but the seller wouldn't ship beyond the US, ah well - good outcome on the whole. Thanks again for the advice and I look forward to posting details of my projects very soon.

Jay

Thanks very much for the suggestions and advice :)

I'm in the UK, so a PAL machine would've made my life less complicated but I'm resourceful enough to be able to sort out a step-down converter and an NTSC compatible TV (if required). I'll only be transferring NTSC material so having PAL disc playback isn't really that important. I remember seeing the V4300D/V2300D players many moons ago at school and my local library, takes you back! Yeah, you're right - they're very hard to come by.

The lack of a digital audio output is a minor disappointment but I can live with that. It looks like the 4400 is going to be my choice machine and right now I'm trying to negotiate the shipping costs. I'll post back with details once the deal goes through. Thanks again.

Jay

Hello everyone,

I'm in the process of acquiring gear to work on a few preservation/transfer projects (I'll post more details on them when they're closer to completion). One of the items I'll need is an LD player to transfer my source material. I've searched through the forums and read the suggestions by Moth£r, Laserman and others not to bother with PAL machines or consumer units. The Pioneer Elite range are out of my budget, but I've seen the industrial models and some seemingly high-end players going relatively cheaply.

Below is a shortlist of contenders, if anyone can give recommendations on which ones would give good results or to avoid, I'd really appreciate it as I'm itching to get moving with some projects.

*drum roll* DVL 919, 909, LDV4400, D925, CLD2950.

Cheers!

Jay