Ha! Touche.

I just got Hearts of Darkness on laserdisc for an absurd amount of money. Eventually I want to archive it to dvd, but as of now, my laserdisc player only has coaxial and composite outputs. Would it be worth it to get a player that has component output? Would it even make a difference with a laserdisc? How much do these players go for anyway? Thanks.

I don't think they make such a thing. I believe S-Video is the best you can do with LD. The best bang for your buck player seems to be the Pioneer CLD-704, which has

Video:
S-Video out
Composite Video

Audio:
RCA
AC3
Optical

It sells for around $200-300

I have the CLD-702 (2-year earlier model) which has all of the above besides AC3 and I really like it. It is the only player I've ever had so I can't compare it to anything else but the image quality is really good on my set-up. My TV has a built-in line doubler and I've done a lot of experimenting with viewing settings (contrast, color, etc) to get the best picture. I had some friends over last night and we watched the LD of Cabaret and they couldn't believe how good it looked.

Hope that helps. Feel free to PM me if you want to discuss this some more.

To bring this somewhat back on topic, the image on the Belle de Jour Criterion disc is very good. I only wish it had a commentary track.

I'm making my way through the I Love Lucy disc and am amazed with it. There is so much information about the show that I'm still going through it even after already spending 4 hours. The two included episodes (Vitameatavegemin, and The Candy Factory) are hilarious. Too bad they never gave other classic shows the same treatment.

I hooked up my laserdisc player to my surrond sound system, but during all AC-3 films like El Cid, when I activate the 5.1 audio, all I get is a hiss and scratch sound. Anyone know how to fix this?

You need a four hundred dollar ac-3 converter. It's all analog information, and most receivers today don't process it themselves because the need is no longer there... Just try some dts laserdiscs, if your player and receiver do dts.

AC-3 is old technology using Analog instead of digital. You need a RF-Modulator to translate the analog AC-3 to the digital DD.5.1.

A quick search on ebay shows that they sell for about $250-$400. I don't have one myself and have learned to just live without one. I use the Dolby Pro-Logic II setting on my receiver and it makes my Dolby Stereo discs sound really good. The pro-logic circuit will still provide surround effects. My (basic) understanding of it is that it analyzes things like change in amplitude (loudness), phase and frequency of the soundtrack and assigns them to your various speakers. So booms go to your subwoofer, voices go to center channel and whizzing sounds go to surround speakers. It sounds much more natural to me than DD5.1 tracks where the original mono or stereo soundtrack is remixed by an engineer who assigns sounds to each of the speakers.

I don't like using surround sound for movies that weren't recorded that way anyway. I try to listen to movies using the sound format they were recorded in.

I've been trying to get my hands on a DTS LD, but I am unwilling to pay the $30-$40 they usually sell for so I haven't been able to check those out.

Hope that helps.

I found this interesting site that serves as database and for manegerial purposes of a laserdisc collection. Here is the link:
http://japanld.free.fr/index.php

That's a great site. I use it myself to catalog my discs and research what is available.

On a Criterion LD note, does anyone know if the commentary track on Naked is the same as the one on the new DVD?

Naked CC LD - Commentary by director Mike Leigh, actors David Thewlis, Katrin Cartlidge (there's a thread in this forum that has this info).

Naked CC DVD - Audio commentary by director Mike Leigh and actors David Thewlis and Katrin Cartlidge (via amazon.com)

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Also, for CC LDs, try the backup site: http://www.chaumurky.net/criterion/catalog.html

For DVDs, instead of amazon, try: http://www.dvdcompare.net/comparisons/

I'd say that's a 'yes'.

Thanks. I knew about those site, though. I checked chaumurky and criterionco but they didn't mention if it was a new track or not. I also checked the Criterion FAQ list of commentaries but it did not appear to have been updated recently.

I want to get High Noon CC LD for the Suber commentary. Is there anything on the SE DVD to keep me settled enough, or should I just get both? Thanks...

Does anyone have the cover for the Stranger than Paradise Laer Disc? I'd like to see what it looks like.

This MAY have been answered elsewhere, but should I track down CRASH on laserdisc, by David Cronenberg, or will it be out on Criterion dvd? Thanks!

Lots were putting money on Criterion trying to snaffle it as part of their New Line deal, but it's not actually confirmed. I got a fairly non-commital "go ask Criterion" statement when I asked Image whether they'd be licensing it a while back, so it looks likely but not definite.

Thanks. And I thought I loved the DVD cover, this cover kicks my ass.

Most LD covers are amazing. Go to lddb.com, and check out Ben-Hur, T2, Batman, etc, etc... and of course, the criterion covers...

Did they ever release a cover for Sonatine?

Can anyone comment or recommend the Hughes Brothers criterion laserdisc commentaries for Menace II Society and Dead Presidents? Are they worth the money? Thanks.

The laserdiscs are worth it (I stil have a little hope that a DVD will come out), but the only problem I have is that they love mentioning Scarface, a lot.

I'm not asking about the laserdiscs as a whole. It's odd, but I haven't seen either of the two movies, nor do I care to. I just want to know about the commentaries. I'm building something of an archive, and I wanted to know if they were particularly informative, or just rambling blather like "oh, that was a great shot!" Are the Scarface comments about as deep as they go, or are these two brothers geniuses? Thank you.

It's about as deep as it goes, don't expect too much.

I agree. I don't recall them being particularly insightful. Mostly, they discuss their influences and what it is like to be young African-American filmmakers. Dead Presidents has some interesting tidbits on the acting technique of a couple of the actors. I actually like Dead Presidents quite a lot. It suffered from misleading advertising but there are some good bits to it, particulary the Heist sequence. My current Avatar is an image taken from that sequence.

Anyone have the Star Wars Definitive collection? I managed to get Empire Strikes Back and ripped the commentary, but it's less than fifteen minutes! Now I've heard that they were really short, but still... Anyway, being the completist nutjob that I am, I'm looking to nab all three, figuring the commentaries will total in at feature length. Anyone whole-heartedly recommend this? Has anyone listened to them? Are they terrible?