HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: Mike_Quigley@mindlink.bc.ca (Mike Quigley)
Newsgroups: rec.video.releases
Subject: Re: JFK = Still Defective!
Date: 14 Aug 92 13:31:32 GMT
Organization: MIND LINK! - British Columbia, Canada
Distribution: world

> Bill Vermillion writes:
> Posted: Fri, 14 Aug 1992 04:29:5
> 
> Org.  : W. J. Vermillion - Winter Park, FL
> 
> 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.
> 


I forgot to mention in my original posting -- this was a copy which had "***"
under the price code, which is supposedly from the second pressing. All that
worries me about this problem is that the dealer I'm sure will find there is no
defect at all (at least when played on his machine)... should make for an
interesting argument. I looked at a couple of new players yesterday, but I'm
not willing to spend $600 and up just to see that one disk. My position is if
the disk is viewable, then it can be sold to someone else.
Newsgroups: rec.video.releases
From: wlrc@uhura.neoucom.edu (William R. Cruce)
Subject: Re: La Femme Nikita (Was: Top Laserdisc Sales)
Organization: Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine
Distribution: usa
Date: Mon, 17 Aug 1992 05:17:50 GMT

In article <1992Aug16.002429.5300@uhura.neoucom.edu> wlrc@uhura.neoucom.edu (William R. Cruce) writes:
>In article <36834@sdcc12.ucsd.edu> smah@sdcc13.ucsd.edu (Steve Mah) writes:
>>
>>As long as I'm at it, can anyone confirm that the disc is in mono?
>>If so, does anyone know how the import version compares (i.e. does
>>it happen to be in Dolby Surround like it should be?)
>
>Yes it is in mono :-(.  Thus no Dolby Surround :-( :-(.

I should have made it clear:  I was refering to the domestic version
(VIDMARK #LDCVM5472)

-- 
                 "So many windows, So little time"

Bill Cruce, N.E. Ohio Univ. Coll. of Medicine, Box 95, Rootstown, OH 44272
VOICE: 216-325-2511,  FAX: 216-325-0522,  INTERNET: wlrc@uhura.neoucom.edu
From: smah@sdcc13.ucsd.edu (Steve Mah)
Newsgroups: rec.video.releases
Subject: Re: La Femme Nikita (Was: Top Laserdisc Sales)
Date: 14 Aug 92 05:59:39 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: University of California, San Diego

In article <29384@alfred.Teknowledge.COM> tbarnes@teknowledge.com (Terry A Barnes) writes:
>
>The transfer to disc was a real hack job IMHO.  I suspect the disc was only
>partially letterboxed -- the composition was all wrong, with major characters
>partially to entirely off-screen.  The transfer was jittery and the film was
>dirty.  All in all, it was the worst recent LD transfer I've seen...

Although I haven't had a chance to pick up the disc yet, it sounds
like Vidmark used the exact same master that they used for the
widescreen tape.  If I recall correctly when I rented it, altho it
was letterboxed, characters were still being cut off on the ends,
and whenever the end of a film reel was coming up, the picture got
especially spotty (BTW, if you thought the composition was bad on
the l'boxed edition, you'll _love_ the P & S version- it seemed like
they just used jump cuts when characters were on the extreme edges
of the screen).  I guess Vidmark didn't have the bucks to get a
better print.

As long as I'm at it, can anyone confirm that the disc is in mono?
If so, does anyone know how the import version compares (i.e. does
it happen to be in Dolby Surround like it should be?)


-- 
*  Steve Mah                             smah@sdcc13.ucsd.EDU *
*							      *
*                    "Is it safe?"                            *
***************************************************************
From: dwjz@bnr.ca (Doug Zolmer)
Newsgroups: rec.video.releases
Subject: Re: Top Laserdisc Sales - For Week Ending August 1, 1992
Date: 12 Aug 92 20:19:54 GMT
Reply-To: dwjz@bnr.ca (Doug Zolmer)
Organization: Bell-Northern Research Ltd.

In article <1992Aug12.160328.16879@dcs.qmw.ac.uk>, jan@dcs.qmw.ac.uk (Jan Wysocki) writes:
|> In article <3756@vidiot.UUCP>, brown@vidiot.UUCP (Vidiot) wrote:
|> |> TOP VIDEODISC SALES			For Week Ending August 1, 1992
|> |>  12	     NEW	La Femme Nikita					$34.95
|> 
|> My question:
|> Is this a release of the original French flick, or the US remake?
|> Please email me if you know.
|> 

If it's the same one I saw last year, it's a French film with English 
subtitles.  Good movie...

|> -- 
|>           Jan Wysocki                 |  Computer Science Department,
|>                                       |  Queen Mary and Westfield College,
|>  email:    jan@dcs.qmw.ac.uk          |  Mile End Road,
|> 'phone:   +44 (0)71 975 5230          |  London.  E1 4NS

-- 
dwjz@bnr.ca  Voice: +1 613 763-8217  Disclaimer: my opinions only  
Newsgroups: rec.video.releases
From: dpruitt@cpqhou.compaq.com (Daniel Pruitt)
Subject: Re: La Femme Nikita (Was: Top Laserdisc Sales)
Reply-To: dpruitt@cpqhou.UUCP (Daniel Pruitt)
Organization: Compaq Computer Corporation
Distribution: usa
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 92 13:29:16 GMT

In article <1992Aug12.215733.17891@kong.gsfc.nasa.gov> jonke@kong.gsfc.nasa.gov (Stephen Jonke) writes:
>[...]  Still, it's the only letterbox version
>available.  I'd recommend renting it first, if possible, to decide if you
>don't mind the problems with it.

The tape that I rented not long ago was letterboxed...  I haven't been able
to find the LD to rent so I broke down and rented the tape expecting the usual
pan & scan crap.  I was surprised that the tape was in widescreen.

Daniel
Newsgroups: rec.video.releases
From: jonke@kong.gsfc.nasa.gov (Stephen Jonke)
Subject: Re: SUBTITLES (Re: Star Trek VI -- Additional Footage?)
Organization: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Distribution: usa
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 92 14:27:43 GMT

In article <1992Aug14.103633.29630@engage.pko.dec.com>, boyajian@ruby.enet.dec.com (The Man from Another Place) writes:
> 
> In article <1992Aug14.071713.15582@usenet.ins.cwru.edu>, as215@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Alexander Aingworth) writes...
> [quoting article about moving subtitles to the lower band on a letterbox disc]
> 
> } I _hate_ that!  Those bloody fools at Paramount did the same thing to
> } the letterboxed edition of _The Hunt For Red October_. When I saw the
> } film in the theatre, the subtitles did not appear somewhere below the
> } screen -- they were actually _on the screen_. So, why put them in the
> } black area on home video?
> 
> Boy, talk about strange complaints.
> 

I believe the "I hate that" poster was joking.

Steve
Newsgroups: rec.video.releases
From: as215@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Alexander Aingworth)
Subject: Re: SUBTITLES (Re: Star Trek VI -- Additional Footage?)
Reply-To: as215@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Alexander Aingworth)
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (USA)
Date: Sat, 15 Aug 92 03:41:15 GMT


	Putting the subtitles in the black area below the letterboxed
image makes one look away from the film image to read the subtitles.  It
is a distraction -- an annoyance.  As for text on the black area making
it easier to read, that's silly.  The only time subtitles are difficult
to read is when the letters blend in with the image behind them (which
I've noticed, annoyingly enough, in older films like _M_ and _Der Blaue
Engel_), but subtitles done correctly (like on a more recent foreign
film I saw, _La Femme Nikita_) are easy to read.

	Putting the subtitles in the black area is expanding the film
below its appropriate visual range.  I find that terribly annoying.



-- 
   any turkey
    can smoke!
Newsgroups: rec.video.releases
From: trebor@foretune.co.jp (Robert J Woodhead)
Subject: Re: SUBTITLES (Re: Star Trek VI -- Additional Footage?)
Organization: Foretune Co., Ltd.
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1992 02:36:51 GMT

r2chen@undergrad.math.waterloo.edu (Ray Chen) writes:
>Another side effect of the subtitles in the black bars, is that when the new
>16:9 tv's come out next year that automatically cut the bars off to fit the screen, our beloved subtitles will be cut right off.  that sucks big time.

Not always.  First, many movies are at wider perspective ratios than
16:9, so you'll still have black bands.  And second, widescreen TV's
let you move the picture area up and down to taste, so in most cases
you can reduce the size of the top black bar and see the subtitles.

-- 
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+ 
| Robert J. Woodhead, Biar Games / AnimEigo, Incs.    trebor@foretune.co.jp |
|  Fundamental Mistakes in the design of the World's User Interface, #3217  |
|                   "Elevators don't have CANCEL buttons"                   | 
Newsgroups: rec.video.releases
From: boyajian@ruby.enet.dec.com (The Man from Another Place)
Subject: Re: Heavy Metal LD & Barr Digital Database
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1992 11:17:44 GMT

In article <1992Aug18.123759.384@csc.canterbury.ac.nz>, 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, it doesn't. If you were told it did, you were told incorrectly. 

Now, it's possible that your source is confused. There is a Japanese
animated feature that *is* on LD whose title is commonly known in
English as "Heavy Metal L-Gaim" and I know that on occasion, someone
has mistakenly thought that that was HEAVY METAL, but it isn't.

-- 

	"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: "eric walker" <eric.walker@channel1.com>
Newsgroups: rec.video.releases
Subject: casablanca
Date: 14 Aug 92 07:48:56 EST
Reply-To: "eric walker" <eric.walker@channel1.com>
Distribution: rec
Organization: Channel 1 Communications

     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.  His latest coup is the 50th anniversary edition of
     "Casablanca," which is due on video in September.  There will be
     a $25 videotape release and a $100 Limited Edition Boxed Set
     video release - but what's interesting here is how much the
     laserdisc of the same set will cost.  The CLV laserdisc will be
     $30 - and the CAV Boxed Set laserdisc will only be $50!

     The videotape and CLV laserdisc contain:

          The movie.  (No kidding!)  "You must remember this..."
          The original theatrical trailer.  (Turner's been making this
                        a standard of all his disc releases, and I
                        like it!)
          A 30-minute documentary on the making of "Casablanca" called
                        "You Must Remember This" (redundant, no?),
                        narrated by Lauren Bacall.  (Bogey's still-living
                        wife, and a star in her own right.)
          A companion booklet by author Rudy Behlmer.

     The Boxed set has all this stuff, plus:

          The hardcover book "Casablanca: 50 Years"
          Five "collectible production stills."
          A reproduction of the original shooting script of the movie.
                        (Does it include all those legendary changes
                        and rewrites, I wonder?)
          A "Limited Edition" numbered certificate.
          And the laserdisc Boxed Set is in CAV.

     Now's the time to pre-order from your local video store.

     (In addition, Turner is offering a "Return To Rick's" sweepstakes
     form with the new release of "Casablanca," with the grand prize
     being a trip to - where else? - Paris and Casablanca, where the
     winner visits the real-life Rick's Cafe Americain.)
---
  SLMR 2.1a  Gravity doesn't exist; the earth sucks.
--
Channel 1 (R)   Cambridge, MA
From: dps@otter.hpl.hp.com (Duncan Smith)
Newsgroups: rec.video.releases
Subject: Re: casablanca
Date: 19 Aug 92 13:36:02 GMT
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Laboratories, Bristol, UK.

In rec.video.releases, eric.walker@channel1.com (eric walker) writes:

> 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.

Reminds me of the advertising for an outdoor screening of _Casablanca_ here
in the UK last summer (that time of year when the rain gets warmer :-). It
tried to appeal to the movie buff by referring to `Doolie (sp?) Wilson's piano
playing'. But Doolie Wilson couldn't play the piano, he was a singer and
mimed the keyboard action ...

Duncan
Xref: sparky rec.video.releases:2434 rec.arts.disney:4177
From: vibrad@os2dce06.austin.ibm.com
Newsgroups: rec.video.releases,rec.arts.disney
Subject: Re: Disney Sing-A-Long: Be Our Guest - Two versions!!!
Date: 11 Aug 92 21:57:24 GMT
Organization: IBM, Austin

The Rescuers on LD will be released Sept 18.  (I got this info from the
LaserDisc Fan Club)

Brad

(still no word on Beauty & the Beast and The Great Mouse Detective)
From: tbarnes@Teknowledge.COM (Terry A Barnes)
Newsgroups: rec.video.releases
Subject: Re: La Femme Nikita (Was: Top Laserdisc Sales)
Date: 13 Aug 92 22:11:46 GMT
Reply-To: tbarnes@teknowledge.com (Terry A Barnes)
Distribution: usa
Organization: Cimflex Teknowledge Corp., Palo Alto CA

>It's a very good movie, but a pretty BAD laser disc.  The copy I viewed had
>a very grainy picture with lots of color noise, etc. and even a few spots
>where the "film" seemed to jump.  Still, it's the only letterbox version
>available.  I'd recommend renting it first, if possible, to decide if you
>don't mind the problems with it.

The transfer to disc was a real hack job IMHO.  I suspect the disc was only
partially letterboxed -- the composition was all wrong, with major characters
partially to entirely off-screen.  The transfer was jittery and the film was
dirty.  All in all, it was the worst recent LD transfer I've seen...

			Terry Barnes-- 
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: levin@bbn.com (Joel B Levin)
Newsgroups: rec.video.releases
Subject: Re: Laser disc and video
Date: 20 Aug 92 20:36:15 GMT
NNTP-Posting-Host: bbn.com

unknown@ucscb.UCSC.EDU (tuu) writes:

|	I thought most Laserdisc players also did freeze-field rather than
|freeze-frame.

I don't know about VCRs.  It depends on how much information is under
the heads when the tape's not moving.

All laserdisks do freeze FRAME on CAV (standard-play) disks.  Each
rotation covers a full frame (two fields).  If you examine the surface
of the disk you will see the mark of two vertical retrace intervals,
one per field.

Most laserdisks capable of freezing on CLV (extended-play) disks
freeze a FIELD and they do this with a digital store.

I think there is at least one industrial strength expensive player
(Bob Niland, among others, knows) capable of doing freeze FRAME on CLV
disks, also using a digital frame store.

	/JBL
=
Nets: levin@bbn.com  | "How does a mouse let me move the cursor anywhere 
pots: (617)873-3463  |  I want?"  "What are address busses?"  "How do 
              N1MNF  |  icons work?"              --Time-Life Books
From: whitefox@eng.umd.edu (M.S. Pope)
Newsgroups: rec.video.releases
Subject: Romancing the Stone Question
Date: 13 Aug 92 19:18:54 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: College of Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park
Originator: whitefox@tea.eng.umd.edu


I recently joined the Columbia House Laserdisc Club (they had the CAV 
ALIENS as one of their $1 offers) and now I have to make two selections
from their catalog before I can quit.  In their catalog, they list
the letterboxed version of ROMANCING THE STONE for $34.95, but I've
heard that the transfer isn't very good.  Is this true?  I like the
movie, but I don't want a copy if it's lousy.  Please e-mail me if 
you can respond to my question.

P.S--I've also seen Dario Argento's THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMMAGE
     available on LD,in a letterboxed format, and mentioned in different
     publications.  Is this worth getting?  I have a VHS copy, but I am
     interested in an LD version if the transfer is good.


						M. Steven Pope
						univ of md
						college park
From: boyajian@ruby.enet.dec.com (The Man from Another Place)
Newsgroups: rec.video.releases
Subject: Re: SUBTITLES (Re: Star Trek VI -- Additional Footage?)
Date: 18 Aug 92 11:20:57 GMT
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation

In article <1992Aug15.034115.28625@usenet.ins.cwru.edu>, as215@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Alexander Aingworth) writes...

} Putting the subtitles in the black area below the letterboxed image
} makes one look away from the film image to read the subtitles. It is
} is a distraction -- an annoyance.

Hogwash. First, *even if the subtitles are on the image* you have to pull
your eyes away from the action to read them. Secondly, at an average
viewing distance from a television, the lower letterboxing band is within
the normal field of view. It *has* to be, since it's within the confines
of the television screen. So flicking your eyes down to the band to read
subtitles is no different than flicking them down to see something at
the bottom of the screen in a full-screen image.

} As for text on the black area making it easier to read, that's silly.

No, it isn't. Until recently, all subtitles were done in white. If the
subtitles happen to be against a light colored background (especially
if the film is in back-and-white), they are difficult to read.

} The only time subtitles are difficult to read is when the letters blend
} in with the image behind them

Which is often.

} (which I've noticed, annoyingly enough, in older films like _M_ and
} _Der Blaue Engel_), but subtitles done correctly (like on a more recent
} foreign film I saw, _La Femme Nikita_) are easy to read.

Subtitles will *always* be readable against the black background of the
lower band. They are sometimes unreadable if displayed on the image.
Me, I'd rather have them always readable than mostly readable.

} Putting the subtitles in the black area is expanding the film
} below its appropriate visual range.  I find that terribly annoying.

Like I said, since the subtitles are still within the confines of the
television screen, they are *not* "below the film's appropriate visual
range".

-- 

	"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: Re: JFK Still Defective, So Is The Store!
Date: 22 Aug 92 00:33:25 GMT
Organization: MIND LINK! - British Columbia, Canada
Distribution: world

> Samuel A. Fineberg writes:
> 
> [regarding my problems with the JFK laser disk]
> 
> Pioneer should take the disc back from them and replace it
> with a fresh one.  It wouldn't cost them a penny to refund your money unless
> if they are selling it to you grey market (i.e., they are importing it
> themselves) or something.  I would definitely avoid that store in the future.
> 


No problem with that idea! Since my original message, I spoke with the Warner
Video representative in Vancouver who was VERY sympathetic to my problem and
I'll be dealing with him to hopefully find a solution to my problems.

From: rjn@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM (Bob Niland)
Date: Mon, 17 Aug 1992 14:34:46 GMT
Subject: Re: SUBTITLES (Re: Star Trek VI -- Additional Footage?)
Organization: Hewlett-Packard/WSY Ft.Collins,CO,USA
Newsgroups: rec.video.releases

In rec.video.releases, as215@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Alexander Aingworth) writes:

>> removed the  subtitles of the Klingon dialogue off the picture and
>> placed it in the lower black bar.  This was the first time I saw
>> this in a movie release on Laserdisc.

This is standard (but not universal) practice for matted and letterboxed
productions with subtitles.

> I _hate_ that!  ...  When I saw the film in the theatre, the subtitles did
> not appear somewhere below the screen -- they were actually _on the
> screen_.  So, why put them in the black area on home video?  Any text that
> appears in the picture (subtitles, credits, et cetera) belongs in the
> frame of the film itself, precisely where it was in the theatre!

I disagree, and I suspect the majority of LD collectors do as well.  There
are several arguments in favor of putting the titles below the video image:

1. The original theatrical subtitle text may be too small to read on video,
   particularly on anamorphic widescreen productions like the Star Trek
   series.  To leave the titles in the image, they would have to be enlarged
   and re-applied to the image, and would become obnoxious.  Titles below
   the image can be almost any size needed.

2. For those who speak Klingon :-) and for "real" foreign languages, it is
   nice to be able to mask off subtitles you don't need.  I particularly
   appreciate this on imported Japanese LDs of American films.  The Japanese
   subtitles are of no use to English speaking viewers.  On "Dragonslayer",
   for example, they are large, bright and distracting (but maskable).

3. An advantage for the studio is that be leaving the subtitles off the
   image, they can use the same video master for multiple markets.  The
   regional language subtitles can be applied locally.

Regards,                                              Hewlett-Packard
Bob Niland      Internet: rjn@FC.HP.COM               3404 East Harmony Road
                CompuServe:  71044,2124               Ft Collins CO 80525-9599

This article represents only the opinion[s] of its author, and is not an
official or unofficial position of, or statement by, the Hewlett-Packard
Company.  The text is provided for informational purposes only.  It is
supplied without warranty of any kind.
From: WAUGH@SLACVM.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU
Newsgroups: rec.video.releases
Subject: Re: JFK Narrator
Date: 20 Aug 92 16:18:47 GMT
Organization: Stanford Linear Accelerator Center

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?

Brian Waugh                       |    "What's for dinner?"
WAUGH@SLACVM.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU    |        Conrad Veidt
Newsgroups: rec.video.releases