HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: bates@kronos.arc.nasa.gov (Andrew Bates)
Subject: Wayne's World: Audio changed for Laserdisc release
Organization: NASA/ARC Information Sciences Division
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 1992 17:14:32 GMT


    As you all know, Wayne's World was released yesterday on laserdisc.  And
in addition to being, IMHO, a very funny, it is notable that it is only being
released in the letterboxed (or "widescreen") format, on LD that is.  That's
a step in the right direction for those of you non-converts.  

    But anyway, as I picked the disc up from the store shelf to purchase it,
I turned it over, and, lo and behold, I saw a little warning which said,
"Some of the audio for this movie has been changed for laserdisc release."
Now, being the intelligent guy that I am, I figured this applies to the
videotape release as well.  And, having brilliant powers of deductive reasoning,
and having read the articles about the Pinocchio song being pulled from tapes
of "Be Our Guest", I deduced that the audio change was probably due to the
loss of rights to some song that was used in the movie.


Alas, how right I was.

    Before I go any further, I'd like to state for the record that this disc
is still highly recommended, and it's still a fantastic movie...despite the
audio change, which I will describe below, after the appropriate spoiler
warning.



Still with me?  Good.  The scene in question is the one where Wayne goes to
buy the Fender Stratocaster guitar (pre-CBS corporate buyout), and tries it
out first.  As he cradles the guitar in his hands, he picks out four familiar
notes, when the clerk stops him and points to a sign: "NO STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN".
"No stairway!  Denied!"  Yes, denied indeed, for in the laserdisc version,
the first four notes of the Led Zeppelin classic have been replaced by four
completely different unrecognizable notes, making the whole joke fall flat.
I'm not sure if Bob and Jim got upset at the use of the song, or whether the
record company had any say, but in any case, the notes are no longer there.
When I make a tape copy of this movie, I am planning on dubbing the first
four notes back in, to restore the scene as it was originally intended.

    Enough rambling.  I just had to let everyone know that, and get it off my
chest.  If anyone knows why this was changed, please enlighten all of us.

	Andy Bates.


Newsgroups: rec.video.releases
From: conty@cbnewsl.cb.att.com (Conty-kun)
Subject: Re: casablanca
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 1992 18:15:37 GMT

In article <1992Aug14.2021.778@channel1>, eric.walker@channel1.com (eric walker) writes:
> 
>      The videotape and CLV laserdisc contain:
> 
>           The movie.  (No kidding!)  "You must remember this..."

The B&W version, I'd hope.

-- 
			    E n r i q u e  C o n t y
			The Incredible Man-with-no-Life
			      jester@ihlpl.att.com
		    Disclaimer: You're not dealing with AT&T
Newsgroups: rec.video.releases
From: davidv@sco.COM (Uncle David)
Subject: Who Framed Roger Rabbit questions
Organization: The Santa Cruz Operation, Inc.
Distribution: rec
Date: Tue, 11 Aug 1992 09:05:53 GMT


i was in the store the other day, and saw two different versions of
Who Framed Roger Rabbit on Laserdisc. one is a CAV edition, and the
other is a CLV edition. what seperates them apart aside from a $10 
difference in price ($39.95 for CAV, $29.95 for CLV) is that the CAV
edition is letterboxed, and the CLV version is not. 

my questions are: 

1) is the CAV edition the only way to get the film in a letterboxed
   format? all CLV versions i've seen are full-screen (not letterboxed).

2) what is the correct aspect ratio for the film? the credits claim
   it was filmed in Panavision, yet it appears to have been transferred
   at 1.85:1 for the CAV version. was it filmed in panavision, and the
   sides cut-off for theatrical presentation? also, the jacket claims
   that it's presented in a matted-screen format, which would indicate
   to me that in fact it was shot full-screen, and matted for presentation
   in the theaters, and when they transferred it to video they opened up
   the matte, at least for the CLV edition. i'm really confused here... 

other than those two questions, i'm really happy with it. transfer is
pretty clean, and they chapter-encoded it. my only other complaint is
that they didn't allow a few frames of black before starting each side.
the side-starts are a bit abrupt as a result.
-- 
David Vangerov, Systems Analyst - Advanced Technologies, Information Services.
Voice: 408-425-7222, x4357 | Email: ...!uunet!sco!davidv | SCO would never say 
Fax:   408-427-5460        |        davidv@sco.com       | something this lame
  "First rule of bicycling: you're always going up a hill and into the wind"
From: vibrad@os2dce06.austin.ibm.com
Newsgroups: rec.video.releases
Subject: Re: Few tidbits from the Laser Disc Newsletter
Keywords: LD laserdisc
Date: 12 Aug 92 14:13:50 GMT
Organization: IBM, Austin

According to LaserDisc Fan Club, The Rescuers is set to be released Sept 18.

I have yet to here anything on Beauty & the Beast or the Great Mouse Detective.
 
Brad
Newsgroups: rec.video.releases
From: ac985@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Joel Tscherne)
Subject: Re: JFK Narrator
Reply-To: ac985@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Joel Tscherne)
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (USA)
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 92 21:04:12 GMT


In a previous article, WAUGH@SLACVM.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU () says:

>In article <14427@mindlink.bc.ca>, Mike_Quigley@mindlink.bc.ca (Mike Quigley)
>says:
>>
>>Does anyone know who is the uncredited narrator at the beginning of JFK? It
>>sounds like Martin Sheen...
>
>Sounds like Martin Sheen to me too.  Apt if it is.  Did he not play both JFK
>RFK in different films?

He played RFK in the TV movie "The Missiles of October".  He played JFK
in the TV miniseries "Kennedy".
>

-- 
===============Joel Tscherne:  ac985@cleveland.freenet.edu===============
Newsgroups: rec.video.releases
From: boyajian@ruby.enet.dec.com (The Man from Another Place)
Subject: Re: LBX Excalibur is out
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation
Date: 23 AUG 92 01:50:02 EDT

In article <SS.92Aug22080023@wpi.WPI.EDU>, ss@wpi.WPI.EDU (Scott Streeter) writes...

} For the picture, the first 20-30 minutes of the disc had alot of white
} dots in it, even in the LBX bands. It is either from the original film,
} or from the transfer, I don't know which.

Since the bands are not part of the film image, if any flaws appear in the
bands, they must be an artifact of the transfer, not of the original film.

-- 

	"She's my radiation baby.
	 She's my teenage fallout girl."

--- jayembee (Jerry Boyajian, DEC, "The Mill", Maynard, MA)

    boyajian@ruby.enet.dec.com
Newsgroups: rec.video.releases
From: mjw@cbnewsm.cb.att.com (Michael Weber)
Subject: Re: Laser disc and video
Organization: AT&T
Distribution: usa
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 1992 14:44:16 GMT
Followup-To: rec.video.releases

Chris Knight writes:

>Let me put it this way...I have yet to find a letterboxed movie whos credits I
>can't read...and I have a 13" television!

You obviously have never seen the letterboxed version of Road House.
There is not enough resolution to make out the lettering on any size
television!
--
Michael Weber
mjw@aluxs.att.com
From: idc@ukc.ac.uk (I.D.Catchpole)
Newsgroups: rec.video.releases
Subject: Release info
Date: 18 Aug 92 13:31:51 GMT
Organization: Computing Lab, University of Kent at Canterbury, UK.


A little while ago someone posted an article on the release
of the CAV special editions of The Abyss, Terminator, and T2.

I need a copy of this article for a friend, but it has expired
on our news system.

If anyone still has the article I would be grateful if you passed it
on.

Ian
--
__ __                          ! I.D.Catchpole ! Alaska....                  
  |    __  __        __   __   !               ! Where men are men and       
  |   |   |__| |\/| /  | |  |  ! University of ! Women are in short supply.
__|__ |__ |__  |  | \__| |  |  ! Kent, England !        
Newsgroups: rec.video.releases
From: boyajian@ruby.enet.dec.com (The Man from Another Place)
Subject: Re: casablanca
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation
Distribution: rec
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1992 11:30:56 GMT

In article <1992Aug14.2021.778@channel1>, eric.walker@channel1.com (eric walker) writes...

} Ted Turner must be a BIG fan of laserdiscs, because his laserdisc
} marketing department a lot of effort into releasing the best discs
} of the classics around, at prices that must be making Criterion furious.

Just what is this thing you have about Criterion's pricing?  This is the
second time within a number of weeks that you've crowed about the lower
prices of MGM/UA's releases with respect to Criterion's.

If Criterion was "furious" about Turner's subsequent releases on the MGM/UA
label of films that Criterion had previously released, there's no evidence
of it. They continue to do business with Turner and release films that they
*have* to know will be released later by MGM/UA at a lower price.

The fact remains that Criterion must be doing a reasonable business with
their releases, or they wouldn't be continuing to do them.

I'm quite happy with my Criterion CAV edition of CASABLANCA. Sure, I could
have waited for MGM/UA to release their wonderful edition and paid less
money, but then, I wouldn't have been able to indulge myself in watching
the just-as-wonderful Criterion edition for the past three years.

-- 

	"She's my radiation baby.
	 She's my teenage fallout girl."

--- jayembee (Jerry Boyajian, DEC, "The Mill", Maynard, MA)

    boyajian@ruby.enet.dec.com
From: Mike_Quigley@mindlink.bc.ca (Mike Quigley)
Newsgroups: rec.video.releases
Subject: Truth in Advertising
Date: 14 Aug 92 17:18:04 GMT
Organization: MIND LINK! - British Columbia, Canada
Distribution: world
From: dweaver@earth.Eng.Sun.COM (David Weaver)
Newsgroups: rec.video.releases
Subject: Re: Romancing the Stone Question
Date: 14 Aug 1992 22:17:08 GMT
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Reply-To: dweaver@earth.Eng.Sun.COM
NNTP-Posting-Host: earth


In article 10576@eng.umd.edu, whitefox@eng.umd.edu (M.S. Pope) writes:
>
>I recently joined the Columbia House Laserdisc Club (they had the CAV 
>ALIENS as one of their $1 offers)

The Aliens Special Edition CAV set is (alas) *not* available on the $1
offer from CH -- although "Aliens" 2-disc CLV version *is* available
under that deal.  CH excludes all sets of 3 or more discs and any LD
priced over $70 from being selected in the $1 offers.


>In their catalog, they list
>the letterboxed version of ROMANCING THE STONE for $34.95

My guess is that this is an error in the listing, and it's the 
pan-n'-scan version they're offering.  The LBX version was due out
last year (did it ever come out?), and was to list for $59, not $35.


> but I've heard that the transfer isn't very good.  Is this true?

I've rented the non-LBX version.  I definitely recall that it had a
great, punchy soundtrack (very nice in surround-sound w/subwoofer),
but don't recall what the transfer was like.  It must have been
"reasonable"; if it was lousy or exceptionally good, I'd remember.
I recall my main wish at the time was that it be letterboxed so I
could see the whole scene.   ...If the LBX version is available and
has as good or better video/audio than the old non-LBX one, I'd buy it.
Newsgroups: rec.video.releases
From: trussell@cwis.unomaha.edu (Tim Russell)
Subject: Re: Heavy Metal LD & Barr Digital Database
Organization: University of Nebraska at Omaha
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1992 02:37:24 GMT

cowl@elec.canterbury.ac.nz (DAve.) writes:

>I seek information (I was told it existed on LD...) on the Heavy Metal LD.

>Does it indeed exists or not?

    No.  Not a chance.  Hasn't even been released on video.  The only place
I know of that you can view Heavy Metal is either rented on film (or has
that stopped?) or watching it on Cinemax, which shows it every few months.

--
    Tim Russell                 Omaha, NE              trussell@unomaha.edu
One of the richest men in the world made his billions selling a toy "operating
system" that is more accurately described as a glorified bootstrap loader.
                                                  -- Phil Karn
Newsgroups: rec.video.releases
From: bill@bilver.uucp (Bill Vermillion)
Subject: Re: JFK = Still Defective!
Organization: W. J. Vermillion - Winter Park, FL
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 1992 04:29:52 GMT

In article <14229@mindlink.bc.ca> Mike_Quigley@mindlink.bc.ca (Mike Quigley) writes:
>Curses! I bought JFK today since it was on special locally for $39.95 (this is
>Canadian bucks, y'all understand...the regular price is $69!). My player won't
>go to the ends of sides 1, 2 and 4! What a pissoff. Does this qualify as "laser
>lock"? What happens is when it gets to the end (or as far as it will go), it
>goes back several seconds into an endless loop. I've had this happen before
>with disks that were over 59 minutes and 40 seconds because my ancient LD-700
>won't go beyond that point (don't ask why, I've tried to fix it by cleaning the
>rods the laser mechanism sits on). But JFK doesn't approach that limit. Sides 1
>and 2 are around 54-55 minutes, and side 4 is somewhere between 40 and 45. I
>checked out side one of East of Eden, which goes well over 58 minutes, and
>there was no problem there. Does anyone else have this problem? I have about 90
>laser disks, and aside from the above-mentioned mechanical problem, which only
>affects 3 or 4 disks, I've never had this problem with any of them.

A great many, if not the majority, of the disks from the first pressing
run of JFK were defective.   I had wavy lines on part of side 1, laser
lock at about 45 minutes into side two.   Replacement from a new
pressing run is good.

This was only the second time I have had laser lock in any LD since
1983 - out of about 300 disks.

I suspect the dealer didn't get replacement stock.  The new ones have a
heavier jacket also.  The first jacket was supposed to have been the
problem, but I think there were other problems too.

Bill

-- 
Bill Vermillion - bill@bilver.oau.org  bill.vermillion@oau.org
                - bill@bilver.uucp 
                - ..!{peora|ge-dab|tous|tarpit}!bilver!bill
From: tbarnes@Teknowledge.COM (Terry A Barnes)
Newsgroups: rec.video.releases
Subject: Re: Romancing the Stone Question
Date: 18 Aug 92 17:54:29 GMT
Reply-To: tbarnes@teknowledge.com (Terry A Barnes)
Organization: Cimflex Teknowledge Corp., Palo Alto CA

>>In their catalog, they list
>>the letterboxed version of ROMANCING THE STONE for $34.95
>
>My guess is that this is an error in the listing, and it's the 
>pan-n'-scan version they're offering.  The LBX version was due out
>last year (did it ever come out?), and was to list for $59, not $35.

Columbia House does indeed ship the lbx version of Romancing the Stone for
$34.95.  They often start out by shipping a non-lbx version, and later switch
over.  They don't always change the price.  Chinatown may be another example,
though I'm not sure that CH is shipping the lbx version yet.

In any case, you should *always* verify the information with customer service
before ordering.  Their catalog is often wrong.

			Terry
-- 
INTERNET:  tbarnes@teknowledge.com
  USENET:  {hplabs|sun|ucbvax|decwrl}!tbarnes%teknowledge.com
HARDCOPY:  Cimflex Teknowledge, 1810 Embarcadero Road, Palo Alto, CA 94303
   PHONE:  (415) 424-0500 x416     FAX:  (415) 493-2645
From: ttullio@eagle.wesleyan.edu
Newsgroups: rec.video.releases
Subject: Re: SUBTITLES (Re: Star Trek VI -- Additional Footage?)
Date: 17 Aug 92 17:35:06 GMT
 <1992Aug17.055901.29691@sura.net> <1992Aug17.151020.17470@news.eng.convex.com>
Organization: Wesleyan University

In article <1992Aug17.151020.17470@news.eng.convex.com>, datri@convex.com (Anthony A. Datri) writes:
> 
> See that "Star Trek VI" in the Subject?  Those subtitles are obviously part
> of the movie itself, since the Klingon language is made up on the fly.
> 

Not exactly true.  Klingon is a "real," albeit artifical language, invented
before the production of ST:TMP.  I suppose it WOULD be a lot for Paramount to
expect that any significant portion of the population would be able to
understand the dialog WITHOUT the subtitles, tho...  9-)

Just my (largely worthless) $.02
-- 
                                        __
                                       / /\  
Tom Tullio                            / / / 2       I always said I wanted to
Wesleyan University                  / /  \                     be someone --
----------------------------*       / / /\ \         I guess I should've been
TTULLIO@WILLET.WESLEYAN.EDU         \_\/\ \ \                  more specific.
                                         \_\/
From: datri@convex.com (Anthony A. Datri)
Newsgroups: rec.video.releases
Subject: Re: SUBTITLES (Re: Star Trek VI -- Additional Footage?)
Date: 17 Aug 92 15:10:20 GMT
Organization: Engineering, CONVEX Computer Corp., Richardson, Tx., USA
X-Disclaimer: This message was written by a user at CONVEX Computer
              Corp. The opinions expressed are those of the user and
              not necessarily those of CONVEX.

>me as a load of hooey.  There are times when the titles placed over
>the picture are important and intentional, like the credits, but it
>strikes me as highly unlikely that the directors intend for the subtitles
>to cover up their film; in fact, I'd be willing to bet that most of the
>time they'd prefer it if you knew the language the actors were using
>(except when they use the subtitles for a joke, ala Wayne's World).


See that "Star Trek VI" in the Subject?  Those subtitles are obviously part
of the movie itself, since the Klingon language is made up on the fly.

-- 

======================================================================8--<
Newsgroups: rec.video.releases
From: zarthac@camelot.bradley.edu (Matthew Simmons)
Subject: When is Abyss collectors edition due out?
Organization: Bradley University
Date: 23 Aug 92 12:00:36 GMT

When is Cameron slated to release the collectors edition of the Abyss LD?  I was told he was doing collectors editions of all three movies... (t2, aliens and the abyss)
From: "eric walker" <eric.walker@channel1.com>
Newsgroups: rec.video.releases
Subject: casablanca
Date: 18 Aug 92 22:28:47 EST
Reply-To: "eric walker" <eric.walker@channel1.com>
Distribution: rec
Organization: Channel 1 Communications

DS>>      (In addition, Turner is offering a "Return To Rick's" sweepstakes
DS>>      form with the new release of "Casablanca," with the grand prize
DS>>      being a trip to - where else? - Paris and Casablanca, where the
DS>>      winner visits the real-life Rick's Cafe Americain.)

DS>Bwah ha ha! There never was a `Rick's Cafe Americain', it was built after
DS>the war to cash in on _Casablanca_ :-)

     Yes, I know that.  All contests of this sort are just P.R. jobs
     anyways, so I just go with the flow.

     For that matter, Casablanca was never really the departure point for
     refugees that the movie says it was, and none of the people involved
     with the movie even knew what the real city looked like.
---
  SLMR 2.1a  ...all for a children's crusade...
--
Channel 1 (R)   Cambridge, MA
Newsgroups: rec.video.releases
Subject: Re: Laser disc and video
From: claudius@zeus.calpoly.edu (King_Claudius (Chris Knight))
Date: Mon, 17 Aug 1992 19:13:28 GMT
Organization: California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo

chrisco@emx.cc.utexas.edu (Chris Cooley) says:
>In article <1992Aug10.201254.26406@nntp.uoregon.edu>,
>dcutter@oregon.uoregon.edu (dann cutter) writes:
>>Since it seems most of the Extended cuts and such seem to be coming out on
>>Laserdisc, and not tape, is it worth buying one?
>
>...as a new (~1 month) LD owner, I'll answer thusly:
>
>Believe me, I *really* mean it when I say "OH, GOD--YES!!"  If quality of 
>image and sound means **anything** to you, you can't beat the LD.  To wit, 
>even on Super VHS format (without argument better than normal VHS format), 
>you can't notice things like the graininess of the negative the film was 
>photographed on; you can't get many things in letter-boxed format; you can't 
>get real digital audio; (you can't get episodes of Space: 1999)...  And, 
>point blank, you can't get many titles on SVHS, period.  (LD has hundreds, 
>even thousands, and besides, many pictures are released concurrently in the 
>VHS format *AND* LD format.)

Let me put it this way...I have yet to find a letterboxed movie whos credits I
can't read...and I have a 13" television!

I do believe Space:1999 is on videotape, I'll have to check with a friend but
I'm almost sure.

And while we're talking about letterboxed video, there are GOBS of special
edition videodisks [most are letterboxed, many also have extended footage
and/or documentary information at the end.]

[other stuff deleted]

Some other comments:

many [most] full-length movies are recorded in CLV format [constant-linear
velocity, variable rotation speeds...alot like a giant CD] which doesn't allow
many of the fancy freezeframe/frame stepping etc. special effects.  If you
invest in a high-enough end system I'm sure you can get it to handle that for
you but I have yet to see one.  Also many LD's aren't recorded with digital
audio...it's a fairly new phase.

Some features to look for in a LD player:

digital audio
CX decoding [CX is an analog 'dolby-like' filter]
high [around 400 line for NTSC] horizontal resolution
good D/A converters [16 bit 4x oversampling, 2 converters minimum]
digital out, preferrably fiber-optic cable
ability to play CD/CDV
ability to switch between digital and analog audio
ability to switch between stereo and individual channels
  [many ld's are recorded with two languages, one in each channel]

I'd recommend Philips if you can afford it, especially if you live in the UK.
[I couldn't afford it though so I bought a Yamaha drive...nice piece of
machinery though.]

One thing I wouldn't recommend:a multi-disk player...you'll pay lots of money
just to have the laserdisk player change your disks.  Big deal.  Plus there are
alot more parts to break.
-- 
---King Claudius---                                   claudius@zeus.calpoly.edu
Newsgroups: rec.video.releases
From: barker@dmpe.csiro.au ( David Barker)
Subject: Re: SUBTITLES (Re: Star Trek VI -- Additional Footage?)
Organization: CSIRO. Div of Mineral and Process Engineering.
Date: Mon, 17 Aug 1992 23:24:32 GMT

In article <1992Aug17.101654.28046@dcs.qmw.ac.uk> jan@dcs.qmw.ac.uk writes:

>Yeah Jerry, but if you have a widescreen tv, there isn't necessarily any 
>"space below the image" there either.  While the purist might want
>a _separate_display_ for the subtitles of films which originally appeared
>without subtitles, it is obvious that this film was planned with subtitles.
>Therefore it's highly unlikely that anything significant was lost under the
>subtitle.  It's just the usual courtesy of seeing the film as the director
>intended: no pan and scan, no alterations to the image at all! 
>

If you notice the subtitles on Star Trek II, these are on the screen, not
below the widescreen bands.  They also appear in a text used in the Star Trek
titles at the end.  I find that these subtitles enhance the film as they are
preserved in their original form.

Also did anyone notice that the widescreen version of STIII had Dame Judith
Anderson's name partially cropped at the ends in the opening credits?
Obviously the widescreen ratios are not preserved exactly as the cinema release.
The P&Scan version does not have this problem as they slightly compress the titles to fit!

David Barker
<barker@dmpe.csiro.au>