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RowMan

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Join date
2-Apr-2004
Last activity
5-Feb-2023
Posts
315

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Post
#52557
Topic
Info: OT Bootleg DVDs
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/52557/action/topic#52557
Time
I have the DVDs seen at endorforrest.com and have to say I was pretty disappointed overall. True, these are dual-layered, factory pressed DVDs that come with very nice covers, inserts, disc art, and contain almost all of the supplementary material from The Definitive Collection, but the audio and video quality are severely lacking. The picture seems a bit dark and and is noticably fuzzy with some video artifacting. The worst of which was on Jedi. Dual-layered DVDs would seem have room for both the original two channel PCM audio tracks and the commentary track. These DVDs have neither. This set has a compressed Dolby 2.0 audio track. Also, the disc covers say "Widescreen Letterbox 16:9," but the actual image is 4:3 widescreen. The opening THX logo was anamorphic, though. I paid about $40 somewhere else. I'm still keeping them as I like the artwork, but if that is not important to you, I'd recommend the TR47 or the Anamorphic DVD-R sets any day over this set.
Post
#52556
Topic
OT bootleg DVD reviews
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/52556/action/topic#52556
Time
I have the DVDs seen at endorforrest.com and have to say I was pretty disappointed overall. True, these are dual-layered, factory pressed DVDs that come with very nice covers, inserts, disc art, and contain almost all of the supplementary material from The Definitive Collection, but the audio and video quality are severely lacking. The picture seems a bit dark and and is noticably fuzzy with some video artifacting. The worst which was on Jedi. Dual-layered DVDs would seem have room for both the original two channel PCM audio tracks and the commentary track. These DVDs have neither. This set has a compressed Dolby 2.0 audio track. Also, the disc covers say "Widescreen Letterbox 16:9," but the actual image is 4:3 widescreen. The opening THX logo was anamorphic, though. I paid about $40 somewhere else. I'm still keeping them as I like the artwork, but if that is not that important to you, I'd recommend the TR47 or the Anamorphic DVD-R sets any day over this set.
Post
#52483
Topic
OT bootleg DVD reviews
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/52483/action/topic#52483
Time
Quote
Originally posted by: oojason ^I'd rather have a review done by someone who isn't looking to plug/sell their own set, but...

How much does each set cost?

How much DID each set cost when it was first available?

I know people like digitalfreaknyc and others are willing to post to anywhere in the world. Is this the case with TR-47?


I have both the TR47 set and the Anamorphic set and agree with TR47's comparison review 100%. It just depends on what's important to you, no frills DVDs that are almost identical to laserdisc quality or DVDs with slightly less audio and video quality, but with all the bells and whistles.

TR47 recently reduced his price and sells his four disc set on high quality media for $25 shipped and includes an artwork CD with a few different types of covers. US sales only.

Rikter has both the TR47 four disc set and the Anamorphic four disc set. He looks for trades first or a donation of $4 per disc. I don't know what kind of media he is using, but I have had no troubles with any of the discs he sent me. He also has an artwork disc with many different types of covers.

His shipping prices -

United States
1-3 DVDr Shipping included in price
4-6 DVDr Shipped first class $2
6-15 DVDr Shipped Priority $5

Canada and elsewhere else via Global Priority:
1-10 DVDr - $5
10-20 DVDr - $12

digitalfreaknyc at one time was offering to burn the Anamorphic set for free if you sent him the blank media and included return postage, but I don't know if he is still doing this.

By the way, the fourth disc of supplemental material from both sets is the same.

I have dealt with both Rikter and TR47 and can say they are both honorable people. Both sets are worth either of their prices. Remember, not only are they burning the DVDs, but they buy the media, pack it up, and take it to the post office. It's a small price to pay for their time to do this and the wear & tear on their equipment.
Post
#52039
Topic
Info: OT Bootleg DVDs
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/52039/action/topic#52039
Time
Originally posted by: Rikter ...I also need a copy of the TR47 extras disc to be sure it's not the same as my Anamorphic DVD sets extras disc.
[/E]

The TR47 and the Anamorphic sets have the exact same extras disc.

Originally posted by: seventiesfilmnut ...I'm confused how you've managed to fit the original PCM soundtrack from the laserdisc onto the DVD-r, plus the commentary, plus the film itself without severely compromising the bit rate of the film? Is the soundtrack compressed or a straight copy of the original PCM stream?


The TR47 set is 4:3 widescreen and contains the original uncompressed PCM audio tracks. The Anamorphic set has a compressed/ converted audio track (AC-3 I believe) to make room for the commentary track, menu screens, THX opening, and an easter egg. Both excellent sets with different strengths.
Post
#48787
Topic
Info: OT Bootleg DVDs
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/48787/action/topic#48787
Time
Originally posted by: Bossk
With all the talk about this set being great and that set being fantastic, I have absolutely no idea which one to go for.


Check out my post on page 13 of this thread. Pages 9 to 14 are peppered with reviews of both sets.

I think both sets are worth having. Each can stand on their own for features and quality. In a nutshell, the TR47 set best represents the films as they appear on The Definitive Collection laserdiscs and the anamorphic set best represents the complete content as a whole of those laserdiscs.

Post
#47103
Topic
Info: OT Bootleg DVDs
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/47103/action/topic#47103
Time
I actually made a "very special" special edition cut using letterboxed laserdisc sources of the original and SE of Star Wars for a friend a few years ago. Used the SE for everything except Greedo shooting first and cut out Jabba. Looked pretty good. She couldn't tell where the edits were made. Wish I had kept it for myself as my editing VHS recorder has since died.
Post
#43653
Topic
Info: OT Bootleg DVDs
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/43653/action/topic#43653
Time
I already have TR47's Star Wars original theatrical versions on DVD and just got a new set from a different person. Here's a brief(?) review:

This is a four-disc set mastered from The Definitive Collection laserdiscs. They are single layered DVD-Rs that feature:

-NTSC Anamorphic widescreen (movies only)

-Dolby 2.0 Surround Sound OR intermittent audio commentary by George Lucas, Frank Oz, Ralph McQuarrie, Dennis Muren, and Ken Ralston. It seems the audio was taken from various interviews and then spliced in at appropriate moments during the films. Not truly scene-specific, but very close.

-Alien language subtitled in English over the bottom of the film image

-Menus with chapter and audio selections (all the original LD markers)

-Production notes

-Easter eggs

-SW and TESB contain a Death Star trench-like THX trailer

The fourth DVD features ALL of the supplementary material from The Definitive Collection laserdisc set.

Also included was a CD-R containing covers (more than one version), inserts, and disc art.

The video and audio quality of SW and TESB is awesome. Compared to TR47’s discs, they look almost exactly the same except that these discs are anamorphic and have a slightly higher color level. ROTJ looks a little softer in places compared to TR47’s. This might be due to the video compression as this film sports the longest running time of the trilogy. But it still looked great on a 48 + inch widescreen TV.

The supplementary disc I received was exactly like TR47’s in format and content. I don’t know who had or produced it first, though.

Which set to choose? In that regard, I’m still up in the air. I think TR47’s discs show the truest overall audio and video quality of the films only from The Definitive Collection. They contain the original PCM audio and are non-anamorphic widescreen that is representative of those laserdiscs.

On the other hand, I think this new set best depicts the overall content of The Definitive Collection because of the production notes and the selectable audio commentary. The names of the commentators even appear on the screen when the commentary audio is selected - just like on the original laserdiscs. The bonus THX trailer and musical easter eggs were nice touches, too.

So if you want the best representation of the audio and video quality from The Definitive Collection films, pick TR47’s. If you want anamorphic widescreen and all of the bells and whistles of The Definitive Collection set with only a slight difference in video quality, then these other DVDs are the way to go. Personally, I’ll be keeping both sets as each are top-notch efforts in preserving the original theatrical versions of the trilogy on DVD.
Post
#43220
Topic
Info: OT Bootleg DVDs
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/43220/action/topic#43220
Time
TR47's SW movies do not have any menu at all. Just pop in the disc and it goes. They do have numerous chapter mark, though. The only menu I saw was on the bonus disc. Its main menu has George Lucas, Dennis Muren, and Ben Burtt on the left with the words, "Star Wars Trilogy The Definitive Collection" below them. On the right is a Ralph McQuarrie preproduction painting from TESB under where you make the program selections.
Post
#42461
Topic
Info: OT Bootleg DVDs
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/42461/action/topic#42461
Time
Actually, home-burned DVDs have no region coding at all unless specified by the author. These region-free DVDs will not be inhibited by the region coding of a particular player. Sending a US made DVD to Australia, however, presents a different problem. The Australian player must be able to properly convert the signal of the US DVD (NTSC) to the television standard of Australia (PAL). I have read that many TVs in countries outside the US are able to handle both television standards, though, so it may not be a problem at all.
Post
#41987
Topic
Info: OT Bootleg DVDs
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/41987/action/topic#41987
Time
I have TR47's set and they're awesome, but has anyone seen the Definitive Collection DVDs that are supposedly done in anamorphic widescreen ? I know that they weren't anamorphic on the original laserdiscs, but it is possible to capture material and then author a DVD that way. Just seeking some opinions on the quality.