Video recorded in May 2020 for my Patreon followers. / oliverharper www.olivers-ret... / ollieh82 / oliversretroreviews / oliverharper1982 Join the discord! / discord
Since recording this video I have added a few more titles to my collection. I did manage to get the Widescreen Japanese releases of RoboCop 1 & 2 and Ghostbusters. Titles below. Ghostbusters www.lddb.com/laserdisc/12193/PILF-7208/Ghostbusters RoboCop www.lddb.com/laserdisc/42320/PILF-7303/Robocop RoboCop 2 www.lddb.com/laserdisc/45043/PILF-7304/Robocop-2
Hi Oliver pretty new to your channel I'm going through your stuff but I'm watching all ya videos everyday... I'm just curious what TV do you have i.e brand?
Forgive me if you have covered this before, but do you happen to have the Laserdisc release of Michael Mann's The Keep? If so, is there anything different about the Laserdisc version of the movie compared to the current DVD version in terms of length and picture quality? I'm just curious because the movie has always fascinated me due to the fact that it was severely cut down from 210 min. to 96 min. before it's theatrical release in 1983. The DVD version has the butchered theatrical cut as well as crappy VHS-level picture quality.
How the hell does this channel only have 175k subs? I've been subbed to this for a few years now, and I don't understand how its not a 500k plus channel. The retrospective series alone is such high quality free content.
@David Mander Dave, I'm speaking more on all of his content, not just this. His retrospective series is more than mainstream enough. The laser disc stuff is niche, but more popular than you'd think.
A retrospective of The Mask would be great. Especially with the history of it being originally a horror film franchise New Line Cinema was going to replace Nightmare on Elm Street with after Freddy's Dead. Hence why Chuck Russell (who directed Dream Warriors) got hired. It was Chuck who told New Line to change it into a comedy and begged them to let him cast Carrey who was only known for In Living Colour. So they would use the rest of the budget on ILM. During filming, Ace Ventura came out and Jim became an overnight sensation, with New Line's gamble casting him winning. VERY interesting behind the scenes info.
Very cool. Pioneer alllllll day. I've still got about 700 LDs. Love the E.t. box, star wars definitive, all that anime as well. Still a lot of good reasons to rock laserdisc
Love laserdiscs I wish I had kept all the discs and players that I had collected very inexpensively from 15 years ago. I had 500 discs and 7 players. Still have an Onkyo player and a bunch of discs. I kept the 1997 Star Wars reissue box set and the Terminator 2 box set. It's such an experience between the art work and respecting the physical size of the medium. So much of a visceral experience over clicking your mouse to open VLC player and watch something you have downloaded
I still have my laserdisc player and my laserdisc collections. New Kids On the Block was my first laserdisc that I got for Christmas because a family member thought that it was a record. Took me a month to get me a laserdisc player!
Great video, you made me flash back to 1997 when I searched everywhere for an RF demodulator! Finally found one at crutchfield(called the store, pre internet as it is today). Thanks!!!
Thanks for the tour, you're a great host! I had a player and some movies about 5 years back, but nobody in my circle "got" the attraction. I still look for a nice player locally for not too much money. The Robocop one of yours is my favorite.
Been collecting Lasers for about a year and a half now and i’ve managed to accumulate over 70 titles. Like you Oliver, I’ve managed to pretty much find all the titles I was after but I’m always curious to find any more interesting gems 📀
Awesome to see you’ve continued collecting and I always get a thrill out of seeing other people’s LD collections. Here’s a few notes I would add about the first third or so: Phantom Menace on LD is the best way to see the theatrical cut. It was only released on vhs and LD. I’m glad you mentioned the picture quality as most expect it to be awesome. The soundmix is the theatrical Dolby EX track and a powerhouse. Every successive release is a remix and not as good. Goldeneye is the go-to LD overall. The ac3 issue is very common and has heavy lfe and bass in both 2.0 and 5.1 mixes. I call it the Goldeneye club mix. The dts pressing fixes this and is an even more aggressive track that betters even the Blu-ray audio I would argue. If you haven’t gotten Tomorrow Never Dies yet I’d strongly advise it. The sound is even better and I think it’s the best LD transfer I’ve ever seen. Superman letterboxed has a noisy transfer but is my favorite release because the audio was derived from the 70mm mix which finally got officially released on the UHD release. II is harder to find in widescreen and I like the mix best on LD though no one has ever mentioned the Megasound premiere mix which was WB’s attempt to have Sensurround type bass. III in widescreen is incredibly rare on LD. Speed was reissued with ac3 but it’s very difficult to find since the original is one of the most common LDs of all time. DADC USA was the Sony plant with issues. You have to look for the DADC Austria pressings which are rot free.
Loved this! Amazing collection, Oliver. For people such as myself who are giving thought to collecting the format it's good that you give out information on which titles are prone to disc rot. Those boxsets are things of beauty, especially the definitive Star Wars one at the end.
Hi Oliver, the unrated director's cut version of True Romance is considerably more violent than the theratrical cut, particularly the scene where Alabama is confronted by James Gandolfini's mobster character.
6:30 Love the cover for Masters of The Universe, beautiful poster. I don't care whatever anyone says about this movie, i love it. Got it on Blu-ray, sits on the shelf next to Super Mario Bros The Movie 🤣 (love that movie too)
I never heard of that Karate Cop before. I have a VHS movie called Karate Cop, but it stars Jeff Wincott and Cynthia Rothrock, and is actually Martial Law 2, the sequel to Martial Law, which starred David Carradine in quite a meaty bad guy role. :P Both Martial Laws are available on Prime in widescreen HD. :)
Flight of the Navigator is in widescreen on DVD. I discovered the limited edition Blu Ray of the film too late. By the time I had money for it, it was gone...sort of. People are charging an arm and a leg for it on ebay.
wow… maybe import the german Blu-ray release from Splendid films. It has a great HD master. They even had a 30th anniversary Mediabook release. You can get the regular Blu-ray for a few bucks as Splendid is actually a budget label.
Still need "Flight of the Navigator" on Laserdisc as well. One of my most favorite childhood movies. Yeah the soundtrack is basically what made this film stuck into my mind. Thanks the hammering NED Synclavier sounds that Alan Silvestri used. Damn fine score. Which cut is the Kevin Costner Robin Hood movie? I think warner only releases the directors Cut on DVD and only on Blu-ray you finally had the theatrical cut available again. Yes, 4:3 material looks amazing on Laserdisc. Which makes it hold up a lot better with DVD rather than the letterboxed movies. That Japanese LD of "SUperman IV" basically looks like the german TV master which too included the extra scenes with the tornado and the nuclear missle parade at the red square... and i hated to find out years later that these scened are not part of the normal film but only on video. It was the way i saw this film as a kid back then on TV and without these scenes... the film is really missing a lot :(
Great content, so awesome :) I'm from germany and was one of the few people back then who ordered the Laserdisc-System for the Amiga 500...together with 1 game ;) didn't know there were movies available this way before. We had an US-Video Center nearby where i got very cool editions of some my favourite movies. Dawn of the Dead (Elite, ntsc, 142min, DC) The Killer (Criterion sp.ed.) Hellbound (Anchor Bay/Lumivision) Evil Dead (Hk) Evil Dead 2 (Elite Sp.Ed.) Fist of the Northstar (same as yours, not a favourite but for the archives) From dusk till dawn (Dimension Sp.Ed.) ... I own a few german editions, Lethal Weapon, Ghostbusters 2, not recommended because not complete sometimes. Awesome collection you have there :)
Interesting… Street Fighter was Super35? Did Columbia Pictures ever release that 4:3 version on DVD as well? Like 20th Century Fox did with "The Abyss" even thou only in the USA. Not in Europe.... That would be awesome because you did see a lot more at the top and bottom. I'm almost certain Columbia Pictures did release it since Terminator 3 exists as 4:3 open matte DVD version as well.
This is awesome. Just up to Rain Man so far, very cool collection. Awesome you got the only widescreen of Masters of the Universe. Cop Land with Andy Garcia? Think you meant Ray Liotta, mate.
@@OliverHarper All good, mate. Was cool to see the collection. Enjoy your retrospective/reviews, always a pleasure to hear a fellow person who appreciates the art of film.
Great collection you have there. I have around 80 Laserdiscs. Do you collect soundtracks at all as you mention soundtracks a lot in this Vlog. Just wandering as l collect soundtracks on CD and was looking for people who are also interested for chatting to.
Good Ol Laserdisc .... only have a few left now since my player died a death ... sold most , only a handful left on ebay for sale and get silly offers for them
Are you sure the US version of "Masters of the universe" is pan scan and not open matte? LDDB sometimes lists open matte versions as 4:3 pan scan. I think i may take a look at that LD release of "muppets a christmas Carol". I saw that film at the cinema back in 93 together with my mom and my best buddy from school so that film really was quite an experience :) My first theatrical experience of a Muppets movie. YASS that Golden Eye laserdisc is a must have for every LD collection :) Yes it is a great release and it's feature packed. It's nice to have it because that way you can watch the Tina Turner musicvideo with lossless audio, compared to the DVD which has of course only lossy Dolby Stereo. That Austin Powers Laserdisc was still closer to the theatrical aspect ratio than the first DVD release here in Germany done by Kinowelt. Which was 2,20:1. I think the later Blu.ray was 2,35:1.
Fun video as always Oliver. Randomly, a nice shout out for Psycho 2 arrow video had this title in a sale recently and I dipped into the film again so been on my mind a lot, agreed good/great sequel
Yeah man, people overvalue Laserdisc a LOT over here in Germany… People demand insane prices even for simple PAL releases… and you should see the prices for NTSC discs or even worse... Music Laserdiscs. So far i had been lucky and didn't pay all toooo much for my collection... with the exception of the Disney Archive CAV Box of "TRON" or the Criterion Collection release of "2001 - a space odyssey" which i wanted because THAT version was supervised and authorized by Kubrick himself. Unlike MGM's 30th Anniversary CLV release, which was also sourced from a 70mm print (and actually looks a lot better too). I think the Tron box did cost me 50 € and the Criterion of 2001 ca. 40 €. That was probably the most i ever paid for certain Laserdisc releases but you hardly get them for a few bucks like in the US of A.... where they seem to go away for pennies. Plus some don't pop up that often either. Sometimes you're lucky and you get a set of various films together a lot cheaper than you would if you'd buy them separately. This is how i got my Alien CAV collectors box from 1992. Which is such a nice release. Or the restored CLV version of "Aliens" (Theatrical cut) which was sourced from the original 35mm OCN for that release. It still holds up really well, compared to the Alien Quadrology DVD set, which suffers from nasty DRM and bad macroblocking & compression artifacts.
@@OliverHarper Yup… and sometimes they don't come with remote. My LD player came without one so i cannot even switch between digital and analog audio because the player itself has no button for that…
I can’t believe they would’ve released Barton Fink (or any Coen Bros film) in pan and scan, that’s just criminal! Great mention though. Still waiting for a good transfer of Miller’s Crossing.
D'you have Marlon Brando's One Eyed Jacks?Any Jim Thompson?Coup De Torchon?Laser Rot-The Movie?:)Laser Rot-the Videogame?LaserRot-thekid's animation series from the 90's?That was Gold Ollie,Gold:)
Cop Land!! I have it on dvd but nobody knows about it. Underrated film. Certainly not perfect but a nuanced performance from Stallone and a great cast.
If Richard Stanley says that Death Machine rips off his film, he may well be right, but he should be honest and also point out that HE was successfully sued because Hardware rips off a 2000 AD Comic.
My LaserDisc player just died recently putting a small halt to my channel. Bought another one off Ebay but it was junk. Have you taken to converting your LD's to a more digital format (Dvd)?
Spent £95 and a £5 whsmith voucher to get the criterion LD of Robocop back in 1997. Only way to see the directors cut back then. I earned £3 an hour. Money well spent.
I bought that Star Wars Definity Collection for a good price of ebay. And a cheap Laserdisc player. The player was deliverd broken and the seller didnt respond so now i have the laserdiscs but no player.
so your old video of your collection popped up after this one and you explain laser rot pretty well there right in the first few min. so nevermind. love your vids especially your retros. carry on.
What actually is Laser Rot? Curious to know is this only found on Laser disc or can DVD and Blu Ray suffer from this as well, never heard of it before.
Yes it can affect other types of disc but it generally depends on how well they were manufactured (hence why some titles are more prone to it) and to an extent how well you take care of them. As for the explanation, I googled it for you: Laser rot is the appearance of video and audio artifacts during the playback of LaserDiscs, and their progressive worsening over time. It is most commonly attributed to oxidation in the aluminum layers by poor quality adhesives used to bond the disc halves together.
Laser rot is basically the deterioration of the reflective surface that gets eaten by the corrosive additions of the glue that was used to merge the two sides together. Because every Laserdisc is a bond of two discs (like you would glue together two CDs with the readable side facing outwards). Some pressing facilities used pretty aggressive glues and basically all of the very earlier LaserVision / DiscoVision Laserdiscs of the late 70s and early 80s are all ruined now because of that glue issue. However that problem was detected and fixed at one point. Especially DADC austria and Pioneer Japan were known for outstanding pressings that were completely free from laser rot since they used glues that did NOT attack the reflective coating of the discs. Pioneer USA however....... Funny thing is even early DVDs suffer from this issue. Like some Warner titles. Heck, even HD-DVD was affected by Laserrot.
because the film negatives appear to have been destroyed... there's only a workprint that exists as VHS copy. And i think Paramount included that one on the Blu-ray release. We still might never get to see the film Paul Anderson REALLY wanted to make.
i only have Star wars Original trilogy Special edition, i have no laserdisc player, but i got for dirt cheap, empire and jedi not even opened. Could you do retrospective from Mel Gibsons Payback? thats i think one of best Gibson movies
What sort of upscaler do you use to make the picture look better on modern TVs? Scream/Shout Factory in the US is working on a Special Edition release of Event Horizon, they put out notices that they're looking for any usable footage.
I use a DVDO scaler to upscale my LaserDisc player. It does an okay job but using LaserDisc on modern TVs never gets fully satisfying results compared to the old CRTs.
I love the packaging of laser discs with that giant artwork. But with so many references to laser rot, it seems to be common enough of a defect that I’d be scared to collect. Does rot cause the disc to stop playing or does the picture just suffer temporarily?
It is rare and normally only a very few releases are susceptible to it as its more of a manufacturing issue. It does not stop playing but it does cause some video/audio distortions.
The NTSC (US/Japan) market for LaserDisc was far bigger than the European LD market. More titles, better transfers, more special editions and box sets. Simple as that really.
To the younger views: Laser discs are for the top end of elite civilization. Most of people will never ever afford...but to collectors as well are indispensable.
