SilverWook

Spaced Ranger said:

Is it too much to hope your new VCD looks anything like the VCD open-matte screener in the framing compare above?  :O

 

Turisu said:

... could someone with the DVD to hand take a screen pic and see if their camera white-balances out the green?

I only did a short comparison with the DVD. Some shots are definitely open matte. You can see a frozen American flag in the Lady in Red sequence. The shot of Neo jumping down into the garbage has been cropped to remove the airbag visible in the VHS screener though.

Two other interesting details I noticed. There is a second or two of black where Laserdisc side breaks would be, therefore I presume the HK LD master was used for this. Also the credits are slightly different. The main title is simply Matrix, it's also the same for the closing credits.

I'll try to post some shots over the weekend. Weather is really bad right now, and I fear the power is going to cut out with these winds. Winter sucks!

Cannot unsee!

Stumbled across this on youtube today. I'm hard pressed to hear the difference in Sam's voice, but there are noticeable differences in other spots.

http://youtu.be/NaKFbsHnbVg

I'm wondering about the early video releases now.

More random thoughts. The majority of any songs used ought to be 70's vintage.

For Empire, some 80's music starts creeping in, and by Jedi, it's mostly 80's. :)

That's amazing if true. In a way, it's the earliest known fan preservation!

I found the reaction ironic considering some old postings I know of that went quietly ignored. And don't ask me what they were.

If they found the whole Jabba/Leia angle kinky, so what? It was George's idea to begin with. ;)

I've been sensing a trend to pounce all over anyone new who doesn't immediately fit right in. It's understandable with all the real troublemakers we've had the past year or so, but remember, we were all newbies once.

I'm lucky all the potentially dumb things I've ever said online were pre Google.

And now, I kind of want to see the uncropped version of Kristarwars' avatar.

Haven't used it since VLC came along, but would certain audio projects around here have been possible without it?

As all the theatrical DTS preservations probably wouldn't have ever happened without that ancient Winamp plugin, I thought this was worth mentioning.

http://money.cnn.com/2013/11/20/technology/winamp/index.html

AOL is pulling the plug next month.

On a side note, Twilight Time is releasing limited edition Blu Rays of The Golden Voyage of Sinbad and Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger next month. Only 3000 are being pressed, so get them before they're gone!

A future and former Doctor double feature! Coincidence?

joetunon said:

I would love to see a Give-a-Show restoration too! I loved that toy.

I'm sure this has been asked a billion times: there's no search feature in these forums, is there? It's awful hard to find stuff.

I think we had one several years ago, until someone spilled coffee on it or something. ;)

Seriously though, google is probably the only way to search old posts for now.

Got the VCD today. Any specific scenes I should take caps of?

I'm not sure why Leia is wearing this outfit, but I don't mind! ;)

Ok, it works now. :)

I definitely think there would be some interest around here.

I keep hoping someone would undertake a preservation of the Kenner Give A Show filmstrips. Something similar has been done with the ones made for classic Doctor Who, and have become DVD extras.

Ryan McAvoy said:

Coming very soon...

Interesting idea. I've been wondering if the Peter Cushing movies are ever going to come out on Blu Ray on this side of the pond. Rewatched the original DVD releases recently, and the transfers are riddled with digital artifacts. I also had an inexplicable craving for Sugar Puffs after the second film. ;)

Good luck with your project. Lucas' changes to THX are far more severe than the to the OT, and I don't evny the level of work you're going to have to put in to restore it.

I think some elements might be lifted from the Japanese pan and scan LD, like the albino lizard shot.

Has anyone seen this poster before?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-George-Lucas-THX1138-4EB-1982-Japan-First-Insert-Movie-Poster-STAR-WARS-/370947791713?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item565e361b61

Interesting that the student film version was shown in Japan alongside Star Wars.

All I get is an error on that link.

Lucas was going to have Tusken Raiders in his student version of THX, but didn't have the funds to realize them on screen? ;)

Well, that's a Snake River Canyon sized leap of logic! ;)

Are you saying Star Wars was a modest success?

Spaced Ranger said:

You_Too said:

By the way, here's something I found when searching for info on the screener. Taken from this page.

When Neo is running from the agents near the end, he jumps off a fire escape and lands on a pile of garbage. When we see him (stunt double) land, we can see that there is a cushion with the garbage placed on top. Note: This is only seen in the open matte version, and not in the widescreen version where the cushion would have been out of frame.

... Does anybody know more of these things that one could find in this version?

This is excellent! With all that extra space from the final framing, there must be more of these intriguing, behind-the-scenes reveals.

It's odd there was never a full frame DVD version. There were fullscreen releases for the sequels.

You've never heard of a translucent playing deck? ;)

A quick google search says it's legit. If it wasn't, Lucas would have squashed it, and they would be selling for hundreds now. ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ggki3iqNh14

That this was licensed and exists boggles my mind.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/THE-LADIES-OF-STAR-WARS-PLAYING-CARDS-/321169494684?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4ac731929c

Yes, a year after the HK LD release.

http://www.lddb.com/laserdisc/46143/ERA-18-99/Matrix-The-%281999%29

We'll find out when I get it. The color differences should be obvious if there are any?

Funny you should mention VCD. I just snagged a legit one that came out around the same time as the HK Laserdisc.

http://www.yesasia.com/us/matrix/1000030541-0-0-0-en/info.html

The cover art is identical to the LD, except for the format logos. I'll post some screencaps when it arrives.