I still remember my excitement at buying the Licence to Kill laserdisc back in the day. It was the first Bond film available on home video in it's original aspect ratio and wasn't cheap either.
That definitely fits as it came on the heels of Fox doing Die Hard in widescreen which was their first letterbox title and a pretty big moment in the video industry. The disc still holds up pretty well it’s just that it starts to get speckly because of rot. The MGM reissue is better pressing wise using what seems to be the same master and has zero rot.
@@DamnFoolIdealisticCrusader Cool. I remember mailing CBS/FOX video back in March 1988 (when I was all of 15 years old) to see if I could get a letterboxed version of The Living Daylights and was told that "contractual obligations" prevented them from releasing it. It had just been released that month on VHS. Thanks for the videos, they brought back alot of memories. I still remember the old transfers fondly and prefer the colour and contrast on many of them compared to the Lowrey versions (especially Thunderball through Diamonds are Forever).
@@richardfuchs3690 I wholeheartedly agree. The transfers still hold up and I watch the letterbox LDs every year for my series rewatch. That’s an awesome story. I grew up a bit later but also had teenage letters written to MGM about video releases!!
I remember watching my DVD copy of "A View to a Kill" and being impressed by how active and vigorous the surround mix was, but it sounded bright and a bit glary to me...I don't have the LD release and it would be interesting to compare the two tracks.
14:04 I found the same THX DVD of The Spy Who Loved Me at a video game store for real cheap, I already have different copies of the movie, but I bought it just for the heck of it. I literally got it for $4 so must've been a lucky find. Thankfully, it works pretty well.
Cool! Those are very tough to find now whether it's the snapper case of keep case version. They don't have all the extra features so the bitrate can be actually better than the SE DVD reissues but of course it's still just an LD master ported over. I'd like to get more but they are supposed to suffer from DVD rot but my THX Spy has been fine. Maybe the later keep case copies are safer bets.
They shouldn't be allowed to just cut scenes out of movies like they were never there 🎰 I had the VHS 📼 of a view to a kill in the 90s but I forgot about that scene 🎥
Ooh boy that’s quite a lot to go over. Essentially they messed with the color timing on all the films, some were new 4k scans with the others being video masters, they did DNR passes and then added fake grain plates which are sometimes frozen and a number of other things. The audio remixes on the first 9 films are appalling and were done by MiCasa studios.
I have it on good authority that the master tapes for Moonraker's score are NOT lost, and have actually been transferred. According to Stephen Woolston on the Film Score Monthly Forum the tapes were transferred recently, but the rights holders have no interest in releasing them it seems. You may have already heard this since making this video but thought I'd mention it.
I’ve heard similar things and had hoped the tapes themselves weren’t lost. Those in charge have done a pretty poor job of seeming to even care about preserving or presenting the scores. We’re lucky we even got the few expanded 2003 scores and those were done with an extremely limited and rushed schedule.
It's a real shame. The higher the profile of the property, the less likely it is to get an unmeddled with, uncomplicated release. Same thing with the original Herrmann scores for Hitchcock.@@DamnFoolIdealisticCrusader
I have license to kill from 1990 widescreen from Japan as well as GoldenEye also tomorrow never dies also have DTS version of GoldenEye and tommorow never dies love the video
The difference between uncompressed LPCM sound and compressed Dolby Digital is not subtle. I've always been into audio, but just assumed the discrete soundtracks were better. Then came the fateful night in 2021 that I was comparing the DVD release of "Fantasia" with the LD monster box set. I was comparing the image; I had just purchased a Toshiba 16:9 TV and was wondering what the 'stretch' feature looked like compared with the 4:3 image. I put in the LD and was very surprised to hear how much better it sounded: fuller, more 'fleshy' than the compressed DD 5.1. The matrix surround was superior to the DD as well. Things have improved since then, but I have never forgotten that and prefer the lossless tracks offered now, or the LPCM tracks on LD.
The LD mix of Fantasia was the last version to be made to sound similar to the original release with the original narration. Afterwards Disney started doing complete remixes which changed the sonic nature of the film.
The 2.0 surround mix on the LaserDisc of Fantasia is a faithful recreation of the original "Fantasound" mix from 1940. When Fantasia was being restored for the 50th anniversary release, Disney went as far as providing Terry Porter with the original notes from 1940 that were written by the sound department explaining how the original Fantasound mix was created. So Terry Porter knew exactly what to do when he was restoring and reconstructing the audio. When it comes to Fantasia's audio I too prefer the 2.0 surround mix on the LaserDisc over the 7.1 mix on the Blu-Ray. I find that the 7.1 mix is extremely front oriented and barely uses the surround channels whereas the 2.0 surround mix is very warm and uses of all the channels to a great extent.
@@Riddler95 Agreed. I thought I was the only one who found the matrix surround on the LD to be far more immersive. The 'rolling hills' during the Toccata and Fugue in G Minor, portions of The Nutcracker, and the opening of Night on Bald Mountain where the music starts in the surrounds and moves forward.
Agreed @@joseluisherreralepron9987 . I also love how the 2.0 surround mix moves all around the channels. It is extremely unfortunate that the 2.0 surround mix was not included on the Blu-Ray of Fantasia from 2010.
@@Riddler95basically they didn't know what they were doing for the 7.1 mix to recreate the Fantasound mix and didn't use all the channels to their full advantage. Somebody at Disney better make a new mix to supplant the one we have now and dig up the notes from the 1940s and 1990s, That way come the 4K restoration We have a better audio track figure out a better way to get the original narration tracks after better quality.
It seems they get increasingly harder to find as time goes on. I was patient and finally got all the thx LDs at good prices but it took ages. I really should try to find the rest of the thx early dvds.
i watched Goldeneye on Epix. It was bizarre it was the theatrical cut with DVNR and edge enhancement the full scope version. But it had the awful Lowry remixed audio. and incorrect logos. I will have to get out my DVD or laserdisc to hear the much superior original mix.
when i was in the cinema in the 70-80 the soun was great- no surround and al that 5.1 and that- see the old movies like they was in the original cinema showing
Well to be honest there should have at least been Dolby stereo by the 80’s in most theaters but the key difference between now and then is that showmanship and presentation was still maintained and that there was some degree of quality control in terms of mixing going on. Today mixes are getting louder and less enveloping and theaters are just plain terrible. One wishes the old thx certification would come back and be mandatory for all theaters.
Lucky! I wish I could have seen the original theatrical run. Yes it should have been Dolby stereo. There were some 70mm prints made and apparently a few were mono but that was likely for 16mm.
1:05:34 Once had the AC-3 pressing that was when I got dts decoder processor Millenium, then sold the AC-3 got the dts pressing the picture still looks laserdisc quality colour the dts is or the discrete film mix is great. Region 2 DVD earlier pressing has minor sound flaw in brief mute in the gunshot where bond and girl escape from that guys newspaper tower and jump out the window, just before they are tortured the escape but the R2 DVD has minor audio flaw. You haven't got The world is not enough.
I have a soft spot for Moonraker. And i had the THX DVD that had laser rot and eventually bought the whole Blu Ray collection .
So that is why the AC3 Moonraker goes for 70 dollars. I have Thunderball and it was worth every bit of the 50 dollars i paid for a sealed copy.
I still remember my excitement at buying the Licence to Kill laserdisc back in the day. It was the first Bond film available on home video in it's original aspect ratio and wasn't cheap either.
That definitely fits as it came on the heels of Fox doing Die Hard in widescreen which was their first letterbox title and a pretty big moment in the video industry. The disc still holds up pretty well it’s just that it starts to get speckly because of rot. The MGM reissue is better pressing wise using what seems to be the same master and has zero rot.
@@DamnFoolIdealisticCrusader Cool. I remember mailing CBS/FOX video back in March 1988 (when I was all of 15 years old) to see if I could get a letterboxed version of The Living Daylights and was told that "contractual obligations" prevented them from releasing it. It had just been released that month on VHS. Thanks for the videos, they brought back alot of memories. I still remember the old transfers fondly and prefer the colour and contrast on many of them compared to the Lowrey versions (especially Thunderball through Diamonds are Forever).
@@richardfuchs3690 I wholeheartedly agree. The transfers still hold up and I watch the letterbox LDs every year for my series rewatch.
That’s an awesome story. I grew up a bit later but also had teenage letters written to MGM about video releases!!
Wow this is one heck of a James Bond Laserdisc collection. Keep the good videos coming please.
I remember watching my DVD copy of "A View to a Kill" and being impressed by how active and vigorous the surround mix was, but it sounded bright and a bit glary to me...I don't have the LD release and it would be interesting to compare the two tracks.
I got David Arnold to sign my Tomorrow Never Dies ld at a little q&a once. Nice guy.
Wow that’s awesome! He definitely seems like a very nice guy even just from his Twitter posts.
14:04 I found the same THX DVD of The Spy Who Loved Me at a video game store for real cheap, I already have different copies of the movie, but I bought it just for the heck of it. I literally got it for $4 so must've been a lucky find. Thankfully, it works pretty well.
Cool! Those are very tough to find now whether it's the snapper case of keep case version. They don't have all the extra features so the bitrate can be actually better than the SE DVD reissues but of course it's still just an LD master ported over. I'd like to get more but they are supposed to suffer from DVD rot but my THX Spy has been fine. Maybe the later keep case copies are safer bets.
They shouldn't be allowed to just cut scenes out of movies like they were never there 🎰 I had the VHS 📼 of a view to a kill in the 90s but I forgot about that scene 🎥
Do you have any info on what was changed in the 2006 Lowry remasters?
Ooh boy that’s quite a lot to go over. Essentially they messed with the color timing on all the films, some were new 4k scans with the others being video masters, they did DNR passes and then added fake grain plates which are sometimes frozen and a number of other things.
The audio remixes on the first 9 films are appalling and were done by MiCasa studios.
I have it on good authority that the master tapes for Moonraker's score are NOT lost, and have actually been transferred. According to Stephen Woolston on the Film Score Monthly Forum the tapes were transferred recently, but the rights holders have no interest in releasing them it seems. You may have already heard this since making this video but thought I'd mention it.
I’ve heard similar things and had hoped the tapes themselves weren’t lost.
Those in charge have done a pretty poor job of seeming to even care about preserving or presenting the scores. We’re lucky we even got the few expanded 2003 scores and those were done with an extremely limited and rushed schedule.
It's a real shame. The higher the profile of the property, the less likely it is to get an unmeddled with, uncomplicated release. Same thing with the original Herrmann scores for Hitchcock.@@DamnFoolIdealisticCrusader
I have license to kill from 1990 widescreen from Japan as well as GoldenEye also tomorrow never dies also have DTS version of GoldenEye and tommorow never dies love the video
My CBS/FOX copy of Licence to Kill has no rot, though my Pan and scan copy of Living Daylights has some rot on side 3
Oh cool to know there are rot free ones out there. And then on earlier discs sometimes you just can’t escape the speckling!😉
The difference between uncompressed LPCM sound and compressed Dolby Digital is not subtle. I've always been into audio, but just assumed the discrete soundtracks were better. Then came the fateful night in 2021 that I was comparing the DVD release of "Fantasia" with the LD monster box set. I was comparing the image; I had just purchased a Toshiba 16:9 TV and was wondering what the 'stretch' feature looked like compared with the 4:3 image. I put in the LD and was very surprised to hear how much better it sounded: fuller, more 'fleshy' than the compressed DD 5.1. The matrix surround was superior to the DD as well. Things have improved since then, but I have never forgotten that and prefer the lossless tracks offered now, or the LPCM tracks on LD.
The LD mix of Fantasia was the last version to be made to sound similar to the original release with the original narration. Afterwards Disney started doing complete remixes which changed the sonic nature of the film.
The 2.0 surround mix on the LaserDisc of Fantasia is a faithful recreation of the original "Fantasound" mix from 1940. When Fantasia was being restored for the 50th anniversary release, Disney went as far as providing Terry Porter with the original notes from 1940 that were written by the sound department explaining how the original Fantasound mix was created. So Terry Porter knew exactly what to do when he was restoring and reconstructing the audio.
When it comes to Fantasia's audio I too prefer the 2.0 surround mix on the LaserDisc over the 7.1 mix on the Blu-Ray. I find that the 7.1 mix is extremely front oriented and barely uses the surround channels whereas the 2.0 surround mix is very warm and uses of all the channels to a great extent.
@@Riddler95 Agreed. I thought I was the only one who found the matrix surround on the LD to be far more immersive. The 'rolling hills' during the Toccata and Fugue in G Minor, portions of The Nutcracker, and the opening of Night on Bald Mountain where the music starts in the surrounds and moves forward.
Agreed @@joseluisherreralepron9987 . I also love how the 2.0 surround mix moves all around the channels.
It is extremely unfortunate that the 2.0 surround mix was not included on the Blu-Ray of Fantasia from 2010.
@@Riddler95basically they didn't know what they were doing for the 7.1 mix to recreate the Fantasound mix and didn't use all the channels to their full advantage. Somebody at Disney better make a new mix to supplant the one we have now and dig up the notes from the 1940s and 1990s, That way come the 4K restoration We have a better audio track figure out a better way to get the original narration tracks after better quality.
8:35 it is rare hardly any on ebay.
Well I have the region 2 DVD earlier pressing.
It seems they get increasingly harder to find as time goes on. I was patient and finally got all the thx LDs at good prices but it took ages. I really should try to find the rest of the thx early dvds.
i watched Goldeneye on Epix. It was bizarre it was the theatrical cut with DVNR and edge enhancement the full scope version. But it had the awful Lowry remixed audio. and incorrect logos. I will have to get out my DVD or laserdisc to hear the much superior original mix.
Wow that's interesting. It sounds like they took the DNR riddled blu-ray master then.
when i was in the cinema in the 70-80 the soun was great- no surround and al that 5.1 and that- see the old movies like they was in the original cinema showing
Well to be honest there should have at least been Dolby stereo by the 80’s in most theaters but the key difference between now and then is that showmanship and presentation was still maintained and that there was some degree of quality control in terms of mixing going on. Today mixes are getting louder and less enveloping and theaters are just plain terrible. One wishes the old thx certification would come back and be mandatory for all theaters.
yes, i went to see return of the jedi at the premiere here in denmark in the 80s 5 times- and the sound was great-mabye it was dolby stereo ,maybe
Lucky! I wish I could have seen the original theatrical run. Yes it should have been Dolby stereo. There were some 70mm prints made and apparently a few were mono but that was likely for 16mm.
I want to hear the original Dolby SR from Licence to Kill.
I’ve got the Japanese widescreen version of license to kill
1:05:34 Once had the AC-3 pressing that was when I got dts decoder processor Millenium, then sold the AC-3 got the dts pressing the picture still looks laserdisc quality colour the dts is or the discrete film mix is great. Region 2 DVD earlier pressing has minor sound flaw in brief mute in the gunshot where bond and girl escape from that guys newspaper tower and jump out the window, just before they are tortured the escape but the R2 DVD has minor audio flaw.
You haven't got The world is not enough.