Archived from groups: alt.video.laserdisc (More info?)

Greetings!

I just received very small quantity of The Fugitive. This pressing was a
test disc by Toshiba and is in anamorphic widescreen, which means it has 20%
more resolution than other LDs. Are there any other anamorphic titles out
there? Meaning real anamorphic titles (where you must watch in full mode).

I am thinking that this title is extremely rare. Is this so? What would be
the value of such a title?

Thanks for answering.

Gregg Loewen
www.lionav.com

Archived from groups: alt.video.laserdisc (More info?)

>Are there any other anamorphic titles out
there? Meaning real anamorphic titles (where you must watch in full mode).>

I have a Terminator 2 "squeeze" LD. There were a handful of "enhanced for
widescreen" LD titles, but the players could not convert them for use on 4:3
sets, yet another limitation that cost LDers with WS sets significant
horizontal resolution. Luckily, LDers were never too demanding and, as usual,
were satisfied with less for more.
Kraig

Archived from groups: alt.video.laserdisc (More info?)

"GreggLoewen" <gregg@lionav.com> wrote in message
news:0hBBc.655$J82.371@fe25.usenetserver.com...
> I just received very small quantity of The Fugitive. This pressing was
a
> test disc by Toshiba and is in anamorphic widescreen, which means it
has 20%
> more resolution than other LDs. Are there any other anamorphic titles
out
> there? Meaning real anamorphic titles (where you must watch in full
mode).

Anamorphic laserdiscs are known as "Squeeze LDs". The complete list of
released titles is:

> Title Audio Ctry. Catalog No.
> ---------------- ----- ----- -----------
> FREE WILLY Surround USA 16903
> THE FUGITIVE Surround USA 16904
> GRUMPY OLD MEN Surround USA 16905
> UNFORGIVEN Surround USA 16901
>
> BASIC INSTINCT DD 5.1 Japan PILF-2192
> CLIFFHANGER DD 5.1 Japan PILF-2188
> CUTTHROAT ISLAND DD 5.1 Japan PILF-2348
> SHOWGIRLS DD 5.1 Japan PILF-7352
> STARGATE DD 5.1 Japan PILF-2193
> TERMINATOR 2 DD 5.1 Japan PILF-2187
> TERMINATOR 2(THX) DD 5.1 Japan PILF-2555

I seem to be missing a 16902, so there may have been one additional
American release.

Archived from groups: alt.video.laserdisc (More info?)

On Mon, 21 Jun 2004 23:51:03 GMT, "Joshua Zyber"
<jzyber@SPAMMERS-DROP-DEAD.mindspring.com> wrote:

>"GreggLoewen" <gregg@lionav.com> wrote in message
>news:0hBBc.655$J82.371@fe25.usenetserver.com...
>> I just received very small quantity of The Fugitive. This pressing was
>a
>> test disc by Toshiba and is in anamorphic widescreen, which means it
>has 20%
>> more resolution than other LDs. Are there any other anamorphic titles
>out
>> there? Meaning real anamorphic titles (where you must watch in full
>mode).
>
>Anamorphic laserdiscs are known as "Squeeze LDs". The complete list of
>released titles is:
>
>> Title Audio Ctry. Catalog No.
>> ---------------- ----- ----- -----------
>> FREE WILLY Surround USA 16903
>> THE FUGITIVE Surround USA 16904
>> GRUMPY OLD MEN Surround USA 16905
>> UNFORGIVEN Surround USA 16901
>>
>> BASIC INSTINCT DD 5.1 Japan PILF-2192
>> CLIFFHANGER DD 5.1 Japan PILF-2188
>> CUTTHROAT ISLAND DD 5.1 Japan PILF-2348
>> SHOWGIRLS DD 5.1 Japan PILF-7352
>> STARGATE DD 5.1 Japan PILF-2193
>> TERMINATOR 2 DD 5.1 Japan PILF-2187
>> TERMINATOR 2(THX) DD 5.1 Japan PILF-2555
>
>I seem to be missing a 16902, so there may have been one additional
>American release.
>

I had DeNiro's "Wag the Dog" in anamorphic and DTS. Unfortunately I
stupidly sold it a while ago and can't give you the Cat number.

. Steve .
>

Archived from groups: alt.video.laserdisc (More info?)

"Steve(JazzHunter)" <jazzhunterNotHere@internet.com> wrote in message
news:0dued09r0gjggcqk96e7a867ofaclbqlim@4ax.com...
> I had DeNiro's "Wag the Dog" in anamorphic and DTS. Unfortunately I
> stupidly sold it a while ago and can't give you the Cat number.

It wasn't anamorphic. There were no DTS "Squeeze LDs". The DTS edition
of Wag the Dog was, like almost all laserdiscs, non-anamorphic
widescreen.

Archived from groups: alt.video.laserdisc (More info?)

On Tue, 22 Jun 2004 02:41:26 GMT, "Joshua Zyber"
<jzyber@SPAMMERS-DROP-DEAD.mindspring.com> wrote:

>"Steve(JazzHunter)" <jazzhunterNotHere@internet.com> wrote in message
>news:0dued09r0gjggcqk96e7a867ofaclbqlim@4ax.com...
>> I had DeNiro's "Wag the Dog" in anamorphic and DTS. Unfortunately I
>> stupidly sold it a while ago and can't give you the Cat number.
>
>It wasn't anamorphic. There were no DTS "Squeeze LDs". The DTS edition
>of Wag the Dog was, like almost all laserdiscs, non-anamorphic
>widescreen.
>

Ok, I think I'm wrong about the dts part, but the laserdisc most
definitely was anamorphic. I'm a huge Robert DeNiro fan and have all
his movies. I picked up the disc for $5 at the closing sale of a
laserdisc store and resold the title because I did not at the time
have any way to present 16:9. Since then I have bought a Sony Wega
that will do 16:9, thus my regret at selling this disc, which is
probably quite rare. This copy of "Wag the Dog" was identified as an
Anamorphic Special Edition, "A Widescreen Monitor is required for
proper playback."

. Steve .

Archived from groups: alt.video.laserdisc (More info?)

"Steve(JazzHunter)" <jazzhunterNotHere@internet.com> wrote in message
news:ubchd05mlhgihd7lj44h1h4f8r9g5no7qd@4ax.com...
> >It wasn't anamorphic. There were no DTS "Squeeze LDs". The DTS
edition
> >of Wag the Dog was, like almost all laserdiscs, non-anamorphic
> >widescreen.
>
> Ok, I think I'm wrong about the dts part, but the laserdisc most
> definitely was anamorphic. I'm a huge Robert DeNiro fan and have all
> his movies. I picked up the disc for $5 at the closing sale of a
> laserdisc store and resold the title because I did not at the time
> have any way to present 16:9. Since then I have bought a Sony Wega
> that will do 16:9, thus my regret at selling this disc, which is
> probably quite rare. This copy of "Wag the Dog" was identified as an
> Anamorphic Special Edition, "A Widescreen Monitor is required for
> proper playback."

Interesting.

Are you sure you aren't misremembering? All of the American "Squeeze LD"
releases were Warner Bros. titles, since they had a tie-in promotion
with Toshiba to promote their widescreen TVs. Wag the Dog was a New Line
movie, distributed on laserdisc by Image Entertainment.

Yes, New Line is technically an AOL Time-Warner subsidiary, but its home
video distribution is separate from Warner Bros. studios.

All of the Japanese "Squeeze LD" discs were distributed by Pioneer.

In either case, Wag the Dog just doesn't fit in.

Archived from groups: alt.video.laserdisc (More info?)

On Wed, 23 Jun 2004 01:04:17 GMT, "Joshua Zyber"
<jzyber@SPAMMERS-DROP-DEAD.mindspring.com> wrote:

>"Steve(JazzHunter)" <jazzhunterNotHere@internet.com> wrote in message
>news:ubchd05mlhgihd7lj44h1h4f8r9g5no7qd@4ax.com...
>> >It wasn't anamorphic. There were no DTS "Squeeze LDs". The DTS
>edition
>> >of Wag the Dog was, like almost all laserdiscs, non-anamorphic
>> >widescreen.
>>
>> Ok, I think I'm wrong about the dts part, but the laserdisc most
>> definitely was anamorphic. I'm a huge Robert DeNiro fan and have all
>> his movies. I picked up the disc for $5 at the closing sale of a
>> laserdisc store and resold the title because I did not at the time
>> have any way to present 16:9. Since then I have bought a Sony Wega
>> that will do 16:9, thus my regret at selling this disc, which is
>> probably quite rare. This copy of "Wag the Dog" was identified as an
>> Anamorphic Special Edition, "A Widescreen Monitor is required for
>> proper playback."
>
>Interesting.
>
>Are you sure you aren't misremembering? All of the American "Squeeze LD"
>releases were Warner Bros. titles, since they had a tie-in promotion
>with Toshiba to promote their widescreen TVs. Wag the Dog was a New Line
>movie, distributed on laserdisc by Image Entertainment.
>
>Yes, New Line is technically an AOL Time-Warner subsidiary, but its home
>video distribution is separate from Warner Bros. studios.
>
>All of the Japanese "Squeeze LD" discs were distributed by Pioneer.
>
>In either case, Wag the Dog just doesn't fit in.

Yes, I am sure. It was an American pressing and was in a rack along
with just a few other anamorphic laserdisc titles at Laserland, which
always brought in a few of anything of particular interest to
videophiles, since they were pushing widescreeen TVs and "XTreme Home
Theatre" at the time. The year was 1998, early autumn, the WtD
anamorphic laserdisc was released the same time as the regular DVD.
I'm not certain that the disc said "SE", it may have been "Limited
Edition." I really wish I'd kept it! The store had an Anamorphic
demonstration laserdisc (Pioneer) which they used to demonstrate the
16:9 TVs and 16:9 mode on a 4:3 monitor, and also had one or two of
these commercial anamorphic releases available as demos. However the
consensus was that DVD was the way to go, thus the sell-off of lasers
in general and the laser version of anamorphic titles... It's a fact
that the lasers that were considered the most worthless in 1998-1999
are now the most interesting and collectible. I was not smart enough
to see the coming rapid demise of laserdiscs nor did I predict that
some of the lasers that I sold at that time, such as "Robinson Crusoe
on Mars," would become such collectors'items. Since however my
interest was always in classic titles, particularly RKO and MGM, at
least my collection does now have a high percentage of worthwhile
lasers, rather than contemporary quaff, such as the regular laser
release of "Wag the Dog" which I sill have on laser as well as DVD.

. Steve .