I've had "Breakdown" on my blu ray watch list for years. Finally bought the Laser version. The only US release is a pan and scan DVD. LD being widescreen. I think you'll be pleased when you finally get around to watching it. Great movie in my opinion. With Kurt Russell in it you can't go wrong. don't know how well the transfer looks on laserdisc though.
That explains why it has been discussed in fan circles then. I’ll have to move it to the top of my watch pile. I’ve always loved the poster artwork design for some reason.
In my opinion, Ransom is one of the greatest looking laserdiscs I've ever seen. It almost looks like a DVD until I have to flip a disc/change discs on my model. Dunno how the guys at Mitsubishi were able to get such a great transfer, but whatever. I'd recommend it as a test disc since according to the LDDB, it's a common title and in the top 100 most owned LDs
Love video any of the ddac discs I have bought the Japanese pressing that are pioneer did this with Leon the 5element Bram stoker's Dracula criterion and all the criterion cav bond laserdiscs
First class video all the way through my friend. You're killin it with these informative reviews. I especially appreciate the audiophile perspective. Speaking of Michael Mann, have you seen an early film of his "The Keep"? A rare laserdisc/VHS only release worth checking out. Nice eerie, synth Tangerine Dream score to boot. May never come to Blu or DVD sadly.
Thanks very much! The audiophile side is what kept me in this dead format and got me fully hooked. There are so many great sounding discs out there, and many that I was surprised sound inferior on later releases. The real kicker is how many new discs have overzealous noise reduction just like badly mastered music releases. Or the new release just sounds different, such as the wonderful WAC Mask of the Phantasm Blu-ray lacking the warmth of the LD audio and is a bit harsher on the dialogue. Not bad at all, but when you're used to the PCM presumably from the theatrical printmaster going to a new element source is a bit jarring. I've had The Keep on my watchlist for sometime but haven't gotten to it yet due to its rarity.
I look at the digital audio tracks on these old LDs as sort of a sealed audio time capsule. It was captured, most likely from the original tapes, unmolested, and tinkered with as it was meant to be heard early in the life of the original sound elements. Then sealed in this disc format that does not degrade in most cases. It's such a shame that the DVD format sacrificed this great audio quality to save space and make the smaller discs cheaper. Even though we had the DTS DVDs and a handful of PCM, mostly concert discs, In a lot of cases the video quality was then sacrificed to allow it to all fit on the disc. If they had just made the darned discs a smidge bigger we could have had it all! Well now we have blu ray but that was a long time to wait.
Absolutely. The few times where dvd lossy audio was superior was either in having slightly better bitrates for Dolby digital 5.1 later on if the track wasn’t remixed and for having restored mono that was cleaned up versus a noisy source used for the Laserdisc. Otherwise it was indeed a giant leap backwards going from PCM to tinkered with 192 kbps 2.0 ac3. And they even cut DTS in half so it couldn’t be as powerful as it’s LD counterpart which originally on the first wave of DVDs was equal. The sad part is that there are now films with the best sounding release being a lossy dvd track-particularly some classics that were cleaned up for dvd and have an over noise reduced track on their hd release if they have an HD release at all.
As a fan of the original 1960s Mission Impossible tv show, I can't say I ever warmed much to the 1996 movie. Turning Phelps into a murderous traitor and focusing on one man as the star, etc, turned something that was fun and original into something rather dull and formulaic. Nonetheless, the film has one of the best sound designs and scores of that era and The LD is a must-own for any serious home theaterphile. I heard that the 2015 UHD release doesn't sound quite up to scratch?
It’s an issue that definitely remade the films into a different feeling series and something that was at least attempted to be addressed on the later films by bringing on more of the team aspect. However I do appreciate the first film playing with expectations so much that it pulls the rug out from under the audience not once but several times. Yes indeed only the LD has the low end intact on both 5.1 and 2.0. Starting with the first dvd that was mixed down for some unknown reason and has stayed that way.
Ac3 is discrete 5.1 and merely Encoded on the analog track. Once decoded it is 384kbps 5.1. The pcm surround holds its own but is not discrete. However on dolby stereo era films I do prefer to listen in the original matrixed surround form on the 2.0 pcm Dolby surround version.
What is wrong with DADC USA. Every single title they pressed for AD Vision which i own is a rotter. Gunsmith cats is the worst. I'm glad it was reissued as a Blu-Ray by Animeigo even if the stereo track is missing.
Matthew Gaudet dadc USA is for some reason the king of rot. If they pressed it there’s a good chance of rot save for their Criterion titles which thankfully are all ok. But dadc Austria is always great and no rot! Seeing the made by dadc Austria info is a thrill!
@@DamnFoolIdealisticCrusader , speaking of Laserdisc. Is there an edition of Kurosawa films you recommend. Are the Criterion editions worth It? I'm thinking of getting Yojimbo and some of the others.
@@matthewgaudet4064 I’m so behind. The best editions currently are the criterion Blu-ray’s but I’m hoping they do a big boxset. On LD the criterion’s are the way to go but some are early and you have to get the CLV reissues for pcm audio. I have seven samurai CLV because of this.
I've had "Breakdown" on my blu ray watch list for years. Finally bought the Laser version. The only US release is a pan and scan DVD. LD being widescreen. I think you'll be pleased when you finally get around to watching it. Great movie in my opinion. With Kurt Russell in it you can't go wrong. don't know how well the transfer looks on laserdisc though.
That explains why it has been discussed in fan circles then. I’ll have to move it to the top of my watch pile. I’ve always loved the poster artwork design for some reason.
In my opinion, Ransom is one of the greatest looking laserdiscs I've ever seen. It almost looks like a DVD until I have to flip a disc/change discs on my model. Dunno how the guys at Mitsubishi were able to get such a great transfer, but whatever. I'd recommend it as a test disc since according to the LDDB, it's a common title and in the top 100 most owned LDs
The extended cut is pretty cool. Shame the dts version was Japan exclusive and the longer cut was never reissued.
Love video any of the ddac discs I have bought the Japanese pressing that are pioneer did this with Leon the 5element Bram stoker's Dracula criterion and all the criterion cav bond laserdiscs
First class video all the way through my friend. You're killin it with these informative reviews. I especially appreciate the audiophile perspective. Speaking of Michael Mann, have you seen an early film of his "The Keep"? A rare laserdisc/VHS only release worth checking out. Nice eerie, synth Tangerine Dream score to boot. May never come to Blu or DVD sadly.
Thanks very much! The audiophile side is what kept me in this dead format and got me fully hooked. There are so many great sounding discs out there, and many that I was surprised sound inferior on later releases. The real kicker is how many new discs have overzealous noise reduction just like badly mastered music releases. Or the new release just sounds different, such as the wonderful WAC Mask of the Phantasm Blu-ray lacking the warmth of the LD audio and is a bit harsher on the dialogue. Not bad at all, but when you're used to the PCM presumably from the theatrical printmaster going to a new element source is a bit jarring.
I've had The Keep on my watchlist for sometime but haven't gotten to it yet due to its rarity.
I look at the digital audio tracks on these old LDs as sort of a sealed audio time capsule. It was captured, most likely from the original tapes, unmolested, and tinkered with as it was meant to be heard early in the life of the original sound elements. Then sealed in this disc format that does not degrade in most cases. It's such a shame that the DVD format sacrificed this great audio quality to save space and make the smaller discs cheaper. Even though we had the DTS DVDs and a handful of PCM, mostly concert discs, In a lot of cases the video quality was then sacrificed to allow it to all fit on the disc. If they had just made the darned discs a smidge bigger we could have had it all! Well now we have blu ray but that was a long time to wait.
Absolutely. The few times where dvd lossy audio was superior was either in having slightly better bitrates for Dolby digital 5.1 later on if the track wasn’t remixed and for having restored mono that was cleaned up versus a noisy source used for the Laserdisc. Otherwise it was indeed a giant leap backwards going from PCM to tinkered with 192 kbps 2.0 ac3. And they even cut DTS in half so it couldn’t be as powerful as it’s LD counterpart which originally on the first wave of DVDs was equal.
The sad part is that there are now films with the best sounding release being a lossy dvd track-particularly some classics that were cleaned up for dvd and have an over noise reduced track on their hd release if they have an HD release at all.
30:34-30:36 I saw The Crucible in high school english literature class.
As a fan of the original 1960s Mission Impossible tv show, I can't say I ever warmed much to the 1996 movie. Turning Phelps into a murderous traitor and focusing on one man as the star, etc, turned something that was fun and original into something rather dull and formulaic.
Nonetheless, the film has one of the best sound designs and scores of that era and The LD is a must-own for any serious home theaterphile. I heard that the 2015 UHD release doesn't sound quite up to scratch?
It’s an issue that definitely remade the films into a different feeling series and something that was at least attempted to be addressed on the later films by bringing on more of the team aspect. However I do appreciate the first film playing with expectations so much that it pulls the rug out from under the audience not once but several times.
Yes indeed only the LD has the low end intact on both 5.1 and 2.0. Starting with the first dvd that was mixed down for some unknown reason and has stayed that way.
I just realized I have Ransom as a 1998 release when it was a 1996 release. For some reason I always thought it was a 1998 one...
Which would sound better on Laserdisc: Dolby Surround on the Digital Track, or Dolby Digital on the Analog?
Ac3 is discrete 5.1 and merely
Encoded on the analog track. Once decoded it is 384kbps 5.1. The pcm surround holds its own but is not discrete. However on dolby stereo era films I do prefer to listen in the original matrixed surround form on the 2.0 pcm Dolby surround version.
What is wrong with DADC USA. Every single title they pressed for AD Vision which i own is a rotter. Gunsmith cats is the worst. I'm glad it was reissued as a Blu-Ray by Animeigo even if the stereo track is missing.
Matthew Gaudet dadc USA is for some reason the king of rot. If they pressed it there’s a good chance of rot save for their Criterion titles which thankfully are all ok.
But dadc Austria is always great and no rot! Seeing the made by dadc Austria info is a thrill!
@@DamnFoolIdealisticCrusader , speaking of Laserdisc. Is there an edition of Kurosawa films you recommend. Are the Criterion editions worth It? I'm thinking of getting Yojimbo and some of the others.
@@matthewgaudet4064 I’m so behind. The best editions currently are the criterion Blu-ray’s but I’m hoping they do a big boxset. On LD the criterion’s are the way to go but some are early and you have to get the CLV reissues for pcm audio. I have seven samurai CLV because of this.
I saw "Heat" and "Casino" the same day theatrically. What a long day. I preferred "Casino"; "Heat" seemed a bit bloated and pretentious to me.