TERMINATOR TXH: review

[Ronald Epstein]

======= Originally posted on THE HOME THEATER FORUM, Delphi ======

36670 20-MAR 20:06 Laserdiscs and Players
THE TERMINATOR THX'd
From: OBIWANKENOBI To: ALL

THE TERMINATOR, arguably Jim Cameron's best film and one of the few science
fiction films that can legitimately be called a classic of that genre, has
been released in yet another incarnation on laser disc. This newest video
transfer carries THX certification and appears superior, in varying degrees,
to the previous letterboxed transfer in virtually all respects.

The widescreen framing is more accurate, at about 1.85:1, compared to the
previous disc's 1.66:1. Colors appear very accurate with no bleeding or
chroma noise. Contrast and brightness are also improved. I found the
previous transfer a bit too light in a number of scenes but the new disc
maintains a very nice balance of contrast and brightness throughout. The
older transfer was quite sharp and the new disc is as well, with a noticable
improvement in image detail (possibly due to improved contrast).

The biggest knock most people had against the previous disc transfer was
with the audio, specifically the notable lack of low bass. The new disc
does have more bass in the soundtrack, but not a lot more. Considering the
obvious budget constraints and the fact that the soundtrack is (and has
always been) mono, my personal feeling is that there was never a lot of bass
to begin with and barring a complete remix of the original sound stems, this
is about as good as it will get. Also, the audio on this new disc often
sounds overly bright to me and there are a few dialog passages that don't
sound completely natural.

The disc contains the same number of chapters in the film as the previous
disc with one additional for the theatrical trailer (full screen). The side
break has also been changed and works a lot better. Other than the
'widescreen edition' banner on the top front, the jacket and liner notes are
virtually identical to the previous disc. List price is $39.95.

Obi

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[gigl...@shrsys.hslc.org]

So am I the only one wondering if this new widescreen edition shows more
picture area than the pan and scan version, ie is it really widescreen or
was it matted by cutting off the top and bottom.

Frank

[Joey F]

Will there be a Director's Approved Pan & Scan Version ??
There was rumor that the THX version release was to be Pan & Scan.

Joey F.

[Philip Renda]

I compared the original letterboxed version of The Terminator to a
full screen version and this is what I found:
It shows more picture during special effects shots and masks the top and
bottom off the picture during regular shots.

For the new THX version, Image will be touching up the old letterboxed
transfer and adding the THX test signal.
--
Philip Renda (ai...@freenet.carleton.ca)
president of The Laser Alliance - Canada's #1 source for Laser Discs
(613) 841-8942
Ottawa, Ontario CANADA

[KiraProd]

Assuming things went as they were supposed to, the "new" THX-certified
transfer of "The Terminator" is in fact the first and only
director-supervised transfer of the film, which was done by Jim Cameron
and myself, with colorist Adam Adams (the regular crew!). This transfer
has never been released on laserdisc before, and only the letterboxed
version was released VERY briefly in 1992 on VHS (!) by Live Home Video as
part of their Terminator Collection VHS boxed set.
So enjoy, folks, as this is the definitive transfer... for now.

Van Ling

[JR from SA]

I seem to recall seeing Sarah's roommate making love with stereo
headphones on her head, but this does not appear in the laserdisc
THX-version of the film released 3-22-95. Does anyone else remember this
scene?

[Chuck Kahn]

In article <3kn8rc$l...@saba.info.ucla.edu>,

Joey F <fern...@physics.ucla.edu> wrote:
> Will there be a Director's Approved Pan & Scan Version ??

I would guess "No" since THE TERMINATOR wasn't shot in Super35.
--
Chuck Kahn / od...@io.org / <A HREF="http://www.io.org/~odin/">Home Page</A>

[KiraProd]

Actually, the newest THX release SHOULD be our director-approved P&S and
director-approved letterbox versions. Bear in mind that Super-35 and 1.85
Academy spherical can both be full-frame formats with more image top and
bottom. 1.85 Academy is just a little more limited in our transfer
options.

Van

[Jon C. Allen]

JR from SA (jrfr...@aol.com) wrote:
: I seem to recall seeing Sarah's roommate making love with stereo

: headphones on her head, but this does not appear in the laserdisc
: THX-version of the film released 3-22-95. Does anyone else remember this
: scene?

Well, it was included in my copy of THX Terminator.
--
_____ _ _ __ __
Jon C. Allen ------------------ |_ _| |_| |\ \/ / ------------------
--:--:--:--:-- `-- This MESSAGE is | | | _ | > < A P P R O V E D --'
Graphic Designer `------------------ |_| |_| |_|/_/\_\ ----------------'

[Sulaco]

That's not completely true. The Terminator has been released on
laserdisc before this new transfer...I know, I rent it...
The new THX version has the same front and back as the original.
The only difference is the THX symbol and the Widescreen band on the
top. But yes, the Terminator was released on Laserdisc, but it never
looked this good...

Sulaco

--
...............................................................................
| Sulaco | |
| Alexander Entertainment | |
| -------------------------- | |
| E-Mail: sul...@netcom.com | |
+----------------------------+------------------------------------------------+

[B. Narendran]

I recently acquired an LD player, and one of the first LDs I bought
was the ALIEN box set. It seems to exhibit symptoms that are close
to what seems to be called 'speckling' here. Is this a flaw in the
particular disc? Should I return it?

Here are the symptoms:

1. Specks (usually white, but sometimes blue) frequently
appear in the picture (approx one every few seconds).

2. At the beginning, all of the specks were within the letterbox
area, which made me think it might not be a problem with the
disc. But later on, some of the specks do show up outside (in
the top and bottom 'margins'.)

3. Cleaning the LD didn't help. Also, the specks are repeatable, and
appear in the same frames always.

Other noticeable problems:

4. On the CAV sides (script pages etc.), a couple of the frames show
small horizontal black lines that look like flashing cursors.

5. In particularly dark backgrounds (during credits, for example),
there seem to large dark green "patches" that slowly change
shape and drift in/out of the picture. Is this a problem with
the disc? Player? My eyes? :)

- Narendran.
na...@research.att.com

[Eric Castle]

In article <3kr64u$3...@newsbf02.news.aol.com>, kira...@aol.com (KiraProd)
wrote:

# Assuming things went as they were supposed to, the "new" THX-certified
# transfer of "The Terminator" is in fact the first and only
# director-supervised transfer of the film, which was done by Jim Cameron
# and myself, with colorist Adam Adams (the regular crew!). This transfer
# has never been released on laserdisc before, and only the letterboxed
# version was released VERY briefly in 1992 on VHS (!) by Live Home Video as
# part of their Terminator Collection VHS boxed set.
# So enjoy, folks, as this is the definitive transfer... for now.
#
# Van Ling

This is confusing. I have the letterbox Terminator laserdisc. Its not
letterboxed by much if I recall (maybe 1:85?). I'll have to play it again
and see. The only difference I see from the packaging is the THX logo.

So whats the difference between this transfer and the new thx Camaron
supervised version? Its still in mono right? Is the picture quality
supposed to be better?

--
Eric
eric_...@taligent.com