Being on holiday is nice and all...but home is where the bunnies are.
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Laserdisc Turtle (Ewan)
@LaserdiscTurtle@mas.to
mastodon 4.7.2He/Him. A programmer with thespian leanings. I have a love of laserdiscs and physical media in general. Expect lots of rabbits, nerdiness, video editing, and unhealthy levels of Highlander 2.
LGBTQ+ welcome. Fascists not.
No I will not "just" use Linux!
Program material is recorded on the other side of this disc! ○ 片面ディスクです。うらがえしてお楽しみください。
283 Followers
176 Following
50 Posts
Joined April 27, 2022
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Me in my natural habitat...
Ugh...looks like the upcoming Blake's 7 Series 3 Blu Ray has been "enhanced" with AI.
The trailer was suspiciously short on actual footage, focusing more on the new optional CGI effects...but what footage they did show had an odd and worrying smoothness to it.
Now people involved in the production have stated:
"AI diffusion has been used to remove noise introduced by videotape and to add detail back."
Why does the restoration team keep doing this? Blake's 7 Series 1 & 2, along with most of the Doctor Who Blu Ray sets, are shining examples of how to present TV shot on standard definition video on Blu Ray, but both shows now have series marred by AI slop.
Admittedly what the trailer showed for Blake's 7 series 3 is nowhere near as bad as the abominations of Doctor Who seasons 13 and 21...but it's still very disappointing to see.
Trying to decide if I'll be cancelling my pre-order or waiting to see how much it effects my viewing enjoyment before possibly returning.
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Still working through the new Jackie Chan 4K box set from Arrow. Last night we watched Mr. Nice Guy.
Another new to me Jackie Chan film and I really enjoyed it. You can tell that Jackie's ankle had finally healed after the dramatic (on screen!) break in Rumble in the Bronx; this one felt much more lively and action oriented than Thunderbolt and Police Story 4. The circular saw stunts were utterly unhinged!
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About six months ago I got my hands on one of the Studio Ghibli CD sized Video Single Discs (VSD) and ever since I've been keeping an eye open for the others in the series.
After months of nothing suddenly they all appeared at once, all from the same seller...so I finally have a complete set!
They are:
-The Seven Days of Fire (火の７日間) - Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
-The Book of the Heavens (天空の書) - Laputa: Castle in the Sky
-Mother Comes Home (帰って来たお母さん) - My Neighbor Totoro
-Ursula's Painting (ウルスラの絵) - Kiki's Delivery Service
These are all short videos mostly showing illustrations set to music, sometimes offering a little bit of extra lore to the films.
A VSD is essentially a CD Video (CDV) with just the laserdisc portion. CDVs also have a CD portion that can be played on any CD player (more on this later).
The rabbits were nice and quiet tonight, their bonding is going well and they don't need constant attention now, so I was able to sneak in the first film from the new Jackie Chan's Breakout Hits 4K Blu Ray set;
Drunken Master II!
The 4K restoration is great!
I love this film, but I'd only ever seen the US "Legend of Drunken Master" version before so this was my first time seeing (and hearing) the original Hong Kong cut.
I can certainly see why they cut the final ending scene in all the export versions...I love Jackie but some "humour" just doesn't age well.
Oddly out of the three versions the only one to actually feature Jackie's voice is the US English dub.
It's great to have all three versions on one disc at last!
Looking forward to finding the time to dig into the special features and of course the rest of the films!
Bunny dreams...
I don't think I've ever seen this many HD-DVDs in one place before.
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I also picked up a couple of CD Video discs from the same seller (I told you I'd get back to CDV!).
Best of Bubblegum Crisis Music 1 & 2.
I didn't realise that CDV discs were released in Japan; they were created as an attempt to revive the pretty much dead European laserdisc market.
CDV discs have space for both a short audio portion and a short video portion. The inner portion is the audio, with only the outer edge moving fast enough to carry a video signal. You can clearly see the band between the two sections on the disc.
I've never actually seen Bubblegum Crisis (I really need to get around to it) but I've become a fan of the music, particularly 今夜はハリケーン (Hurricane Tonight), the visuals and audio of which are clearly inspired by "Streets of Fire" and "Nowhere Fast."
The first disc contains the audio for "Konya wa Hurricane", while the second disc has the video for it. The video on the first disc is 明日へタッチダウン (Touchdown into Tomorrow)
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Last night we watched Thunderbolt, the first film in the Jackie Chan 4K box set that was new to me.
Not one of Jackie's strongest films but still fun. I haven't seen one but this is pretty much what I expected the Fast and Furious films to be like.
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Here's another item from my recent Japanese Laserdisc haul...this is something I've been wanting to get my hands on for YEARS!
Queen Rocks!
This is one of those discs I often see going for £80 - £150 plus...somehow I got it for £25!
It's got a bit of a bash to the top right of the cover but I can easily live with that for such a huge discount.
This is a companion disc to the album of the same name and features a combination of music videos and new video compilations for songs without videos. Even the existing videos are slightly modified.
What elevates it above a curiosity is that the video for "No One But You" has still not yet been released on DVD, so it's appearance here and on Queen's Greatest Flix III are the only way to get the video in decent quality.
Flix III is another one of my dream discs...but it's prices are insane! Maybe one day...
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@avavsystems@mastodon.world I recognise the back of that laserdisc player! DVL-919E by any chance? Certainly a late Pioneer.
Good luck with the wiring!
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My copy of the Arrow Jackie Chan 4K box set should be arriving sometime today...but I'm reading online that some people who ordered the Arrow Store Exclusive artwork (like I did) are receiving the standard edition version instead.
I kept flip flopping on which one I preferred and still can't make up my mind...so not sure I'd be that annoyed if I received the wrong one...but I'd probably have to complain on principle.
I prefer the blue box of the exclusive version, but I think the film covers are better on the standard edition.
Which one do you think I'll get?
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Over the weekend I watched Jackie Chan's Police Story 4: First Strike for the first time!
I'd rate it alongside Thunderbolt...not Jackie's best but still entertaining...and the ladder fight is iconic.
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The most expensive home video item I've ever bought...and I've just been informed that's it's being "delivered" by Evri.
Pray for me.
Boosted by @GroupNebula563@mastodon.social
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@GroupNebula563@mastodon.social @SheHacksPurple@infosec.exchange I'm guilty of leaving the occasional "Here be dragons" comment in code.
Interesting...a cinema listing has appeared for Michael Mann's Manhunter...
...THE FINAL CUT!
I've only ever seen the Theatrical Cut, not heard much praise for the Director's Cut. Interesting to see that it's getting another edit. Hopefully all three will come to 4K at some point.
Would be nice if we could get a Final Cut of The Keep some day! (And NO, there is no 210 minute cut of the Keep! Please let that BS rumour die at last!)
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Amazingly it's turned up in immaculate condition...so I assume the cretins at Evri sat on the wrong button.
However...it's the red edition. Utterly gorgeous...but not the one I ordered. I'll probably keep it since the two editions were the same price and I kept flip flopping on the artwork...and I don't want to run the Evri roulette again...but I'll definitely be having words with Arrow's customer service.
I just watched the first three episodes of The Daleks' Masterplan including episodes 1 and 3 in full! A sentence I never thought I'd say and sights I never thought I'd see!
Douglas Canfield's directing really shines, he's constantly going above & beyond what's expected from #DoctorWho at the time!
And amazing to see so much of Nicholas Courtney's Bret Vyon!
Utterly wonderful! Looking forward to watching the rest of the existing episodes along with reconstructions over the next few nights.
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That's enough laserdisc posting for now...still more to come.
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The VSD discs I mentioned before are essentially the same thing as a CDV but without the audio portion...or the gold colouring.
CDV discs are considered to be notorious rotters...but I have three of them now (two from Japan, one from UK) and they all play perfectly.
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I like that all of the discs come with these little spine stickers. I guess they're to be used for if you lose the obi strip.
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My favourite of these is probably the Laputa disc as it features a lot of beautiful animation rather than just stills like the other ones.
I'll need to check, but I think some of these are essentially textless versions of the opening/ending credits of some of the films.
To my eyes it shows the world before the story takes place, showing the airship based society that built Laputa.
The Nausicaä disc is also a prequel; showing a tapestry detailing the world falling into ruins.
The Totoro disc is very sweet; showing the girl's mother returning home after her long hospital absence.
The Kiki disc, which was the first one I got, features a detailed look at the painting the character Ursula created during the film.
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@davidrevoy
Tagging @renegaderich
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And yes, I'm perfectly aware that the dimensions are all wrong.
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Looks like no Jackie Chan 4K for me today. Arrow's tracking says it's been damaged in transit. Everi's tracking is rather vague on details...they simply can't deliver it today.
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And now a text from Evri saying it should be here in the next half hour...¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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@glittercleric@corteximplant.com When we see her like that we like to think we're doing a good job. Not a care in the world.
I persist but so do the horrors.
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@wisegreyowl@mastodonapp.uk I've taken that same picture myself...though you got much nicer weather. It's such a lovely day out, plenty to explore!
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I do have another similar set, the BBC TV version of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, but it doesn't commit to the theming as much as the Werewolf set as it doesn't have the tape reels discs.
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@beecycling@wandering.shop Excellent choices.
I think the first DVD I bought was 2010: The Year We Make Contact.
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@UKFilmNerd I'm a big fan of the novels so I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts.
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(This is only *part* of Florence's area in my office 🤣)
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@avavsystems@mastodon.world @obsoletemediauk@mastodon.world I wish my main TV could still handle Teletext. My slightly older Panasonic 4K TV can still display Teletext when I played a compatible LD through it.
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@hischeekiness@mas.to Yeah, I used to have the two tape box set back in the day. Part of the reason I went for this edition of the Blu Ray is because it reminded me of that old set.
(Pictures shamelessly stolen from eBay)
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(I wouldn't have it any other way)
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@TheBreadmonkey@beige.party God, I wish.
Jinu being cute while Florence keeps a watchful ear on him.
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@sethmarinello@mastodon.online Bizarrely I have a a Blu-Ray drive for my PC that can read HD-DVD, but I've never had a dedicated player.
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@hischeekiness@mas.to We share ♥️
I can't believe that Thunderbolt Fantasy is almost 10 years old already!
And we still don't have an English friendly home video release!
Come on! Give me epic wuxia puppets on Blu Ray!
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@josh0@babka.social I haven't dared try! 🤣