Leads on bootleg DVDs of original trilogy?

Dooku's Disciple · Post by **Dooku's Disciple** » 2003-02-18 08:18pm

Having just heard that there's almost no chance of Lucas releasing episodes IV-VI in their original form on DVD, I've decided to take immediate action.

I do *not* want the 1997 Special Editions, nor do I want the inevitable new versions that will be cluttered with references to Battle Droids, Gungans and other assorted nonsense.

The only "classic" SW DVDs I'm prepared to buy are the original versions, perhaps in widescreen with 5.1 surround. I've seen a set of them for sale on Ebay, but I live in Australia and am deeply mistrustful of sending money overseas. Can anyone post a link or two that might help me?

Cheers all,

DD

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2003-02-18 09:00pm

I think activity such as this is illegal, and something this site wants no part of.

Robert Treder · Post by **Robert Treder** » 2003-02-18 09:12pm

I'm certainly not against pirating DVDs, but I'll be happy with the SE or the Super-SE or whatever we get. I'm not going to be some elitist "the originals were better" kind of guy.

Darth Yoshi · Post by **Darth Yoshi** » 2003-02-18 10:02pm

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:I think activity such as this is illegal, and something this site wants no part of.

Agreed. The last thing we need is to get the site shut down for piracy and copyright infringement.

Dooku's Disciple · Post by **Dooku's Disciple** » 2003-02-18 10:17pm

Oops

Please disregard my earlier post then.

DD

Darth Fanboy · Post by **Darth Fanboy** » 2003-02-19 06:30am

Disregard this....

POKE

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Kurgan · Post by **Kurgan** » 2003-02-19 06:54pm

It's of course illegal.. and these files might exist on file sharing programs..

You never know! ; )

I guess the only tried and true way would be to buy a Laserdisc player and the THX Enhanced Star Wars Trilogy (the last release of the non-SE's on LD format) off of ebay and then encode 'em yourself.

And as long as you've got a decent capture card, a DVD burner and authoring software and some blank media, then you're all set. It's a lot of work, but at least THAT would be 100% legal. Or encode 'em in SVCD (see Wong's personal site for details) or some other format that might be playable on your DVD player. Compatability will vary based on your player of course...

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2003-02-19 09:51pm

Yeah, DL a file with quality that's shit compared to even VHS...

If I had to, I'd just by a LaserDisk player and the Trilogy set and be done with it. I you had an LD player and a set, why fucking bother to encode them?

Durandal · Post by **Durandal** » 2003-02-20 12:46am

Dooku's Disciple wrote:Having just heard that there's almost no chance of Lucas releasing episodes IV-VI in their original form on DVD, I've decided to take immediate action.

I smell an angry E-mail to george@starwars.com coming up ...

I do *not* want the 1997 Special Editions, nor do I want the inevitable new versions that will be cluttered with references to Battle Droids, Gungans and other assorted nonsense.

So get a laser disc player and find the original trilogy on CAV laser disc. No one gives a shit.

The only "classic" SW DVDs I'm prepared to buy are the original versions, perhaps in widescreen with 5.1 surround. I've seen a set of them for sale on Ebay, but I live in Australia and am deeply mistrustful of sending money overseas. Can anyone post a link or two that might help me?

This is "taking action"? Soliciting for people on a message board to give you links to illegal, shitty-quality versions of the original trilogy made from widescreen VHS video captures? Wow, Lucas is shaking in his boots. He's sure to listen to all your demands now ...

Kurgan · Post by **Kurgan** » 2003-02-20 07:42pm

I you had an LD player and a set, why fucking bother to encode them?

I can think of lots of reasons.

First off, with an LD movie as long as any of the Star Wars movies, you'd have to stop mid-movie and flip the disk over, or change disks to view the whole thing.

Second, a LD is big and cumbersome, it takes up a lot of space and requires more careful handling. A dvd is smaller and easier (and may last longer). So if you wanted to take the encoded dvd with you say to watch on a lap top or portable DVD player, or take it to a friend's house to watch on their player, it would be much easier to transport. Plus you don't need to lug the LD player with you.

What if your LD player ever breaks down in the future and you can't get it fixed or replaced? You're screwed (unless you live in Japan I guess, where LD's are more common)! At least with a DVD, you can get a new player or get it fixed. Besides, by now I would think the features on good DVD players would be equal to or better than the best LD players available, and easier to find. Maybe even cheaper, but don't quote me on that (I've seen some good deals on ebay for 'em, but not new).

You can watch DVD's on a pc with a dvd-rom drive. Sure, as Wong points out, this may be crappy for the home theater enthusiast, but its a quicker and easier way to take screen caps and all that. Plus, again, if you wanted to watch it at a friend's house, it would be much easier to just take the disc, rather than your LD player and the stack of LD's.

And finally, getting to a scene would be much easier, if you authored a DVD encode because you could put in chapter stops that throughout the entire movie, rather than having to disk swap/flip.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2003-02-20 07:56pm

I don't see your point, as I think a LD would still be superior to a home-authored DVD.

Do you happen to know of any home-authored DVDs from a LD source?

Kurgan · Post by **Kurgan** » 2003-02-20 08:25pm

Well, several of the illegal bootlegs being sold ARE sourced from legally purchased LD's, but I'm sure a person could do it themselves to painstakingly get the best possible capture and then author it with some quality DVD movie authoring software to a DVDR, then play it on a player that was compatible with the media format.

What else would you use as a source.. a VHS tape? A divx copy?

Surely using an LD source would give you the closest thing to the real deal.

Like I said, the best version of the original non-SE Trilogy would be the THX Enhanced LD trilogy package, which I HAVE seen for sale on ebay.

My POINT was that a home authored DVD, would be more CONVENIENT for the owner, for viewing purposes. He could make good quality copies onto DVD, and use those for viewing, and then store his LD's away for safe keeping, saving wear and tear on them, and having all the benefits of DVD.

If you're going to go to all the trouble to buy an LD player and LD disks, and then setup your system to accomodate an LD player, I don't see why its such a hassle (or you wouldn't be tempted to try it) to encode them onto a more accessible format for yourself... especially if you already have a pc with a DVD burner.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2003-02-20 08:27pm

I just think that if you have the set, and the player, then why the fuck bother wasting money and time?

Kurgan · Post by **Kurgan** » 2003-02-20 08:29pm

Because then you aren't limited to watching it only on your home LD player, and if something ever happens to your LD disks or your LD player, you can still watch them.

Plus, you get all the benefits of having a safe backup copy and portability.

How much more money would it really cost you anyway? If you already have a DVD burner, only the cost of the media. As far as time, well that's up to you. If you don't think it's worth it, don't do it. I'm just pointing out the benefits. Mr. Wong can't convince his wife that making an SVCD or divx disc of a movie he already owns is worthwhile, but that doesn't mean he thinks its useless. ; )

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2003-02-20 08:30pm

Or you could just buy that duel DVD/LD player that Pioneer makes...

Kurgan · Post by **Kurgan** » 2003-02-20 08:32pm

What would be the point of that?

Your disks still won't be able to be played on your PC (unless you use a tv-in card, and your milage may vary there) nor will it be portable, and the disks still have all the weaknesses of the LD format (disk flipping/swapping, laser rot, cumbersome, etc).

If those LD's ever break or get scratched beyond repair (much easier with their large surface area), you'll have to track down new ones. Much cheaper to just buy a new DVDR/RW/whatever when if your copy breaks down.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2003-02-20 08:40pm

Why would you be watching stuff on your computer if you already have a DVD/LD player? Watching DVDs on a computer sucks except for audio, anyway.

And if you're that worried about fucking up a LaserDisk, then you probably should be paranoid about wrecking your DVDs, too.

And laser rot was actually more of a scare then an actual threat, and it's not restricted to LDs: DVDs can get them, too. But for both mediums that's only if the pressing process was fucked up and air got trapped in the glue layer.

Kurgan · Post by **Kurgan** » 2003-02-20 08:51pm

Why would you be watching stuff on your computer if you already have a DVD/LD player? Watching DVDs on a computer sucks except for audio, anyway.

Because, let's say you're traveling on an airplane and you want to watch the DVD on your laptop, or you want to visit a friend/relative and play it on their dvd player or DVD-Rom drive, rather than lugging your LD player over there. Then you'd wish you had a DVD, wouldn't you?

LD's and players just aren't common anymore, except in places like Japan, or with hardcore audio/videophiles like Mike Wong. ; )

And if you're that worried about fucking up a LaserDisk, then you probably should be paranoid about wrecking your DVDs, too.

The difference is if your DVDR's fuck up, you can just burn another one. If your LD fucks up, you lose your source. If I want to backup my DVD's onto DVDR or CDR, I can do that much more easily, because blank media for those formats is cheap and readily available (DVDR being
more expensive, but going down in price). But you'll need to go back onto ebay to get your SW LD's replaced, and pay whatever price the person is asking, or take a plane ride to Japan. ; )

And laser rot was actually more of a scare then an actual threat, and it's not restricted to LDs: DVDs can get them, too.

It's not something that happens to every disk, but it does happen. It is less common among DVD's because the smaller size of the disc means its less prone to "flexing" and stress on the glue layers and all that. Plus there's less surface area to keep clean and free of scratches. Have you ever tried to clean an LD (even worse.. one that has data on both sides)? I would think anyone could see cleaning a DVD or CD would be much easier.

But for both mediums that's only if the pressing process was fucked up and air got trapped in the glue layer.

And how are you going to know until it fails if that happened? At least if you make a copy, you can make a copy of the copy (and digital copies of digital copies can be identical if done right). That way you save putting wear and tear on your LDs, so they shouldn't be failing if they're not being used.

That's why CD burners were invented inthe first place... not only can you store data on cdr's, but you can also make backup copies of your discs, so if something ever happens to them, you can use the copy, or you can use the copy, rather than risk damaging the original.

And don't tell me you won't ever damage the original during regular use. All sorts of things can happen.. including a clumsy roommate or family member handling them by accident. ; p

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2003-02-20 08:58pm

Well, to be honest, I am kind of a cinephile. I'm the kind of person who would actually buy a LaserDisk player and not give a shit about DVRs or burning or any of that shit.

BTW: where are you going to store three films that are between 10-20 GB?

Lord_Xerxes · Post by **Lord_Xerxes** » 2003-02-21 03:09am

I have more than 3 films on my hard drive right now, Spanky. I still have my copy of QOTD on there from before it was released to DVD, I have LOTR TT, AOTC, and the Scorpion King (which I didn't feel like paying to see a second time...he wanted to see it, and it wasn't worth another 8 bucks plus all the extras). My roomate, who has a far shittier computer, has even more (for the same/similiar reasons that I have Scorpion King) that he got off of Kazaa.

I'll probably delete both QOTD and SK now though. They don't serve any real purpose.

Also, i will point out that all of these AVI boots (by themsevles...not all the movies together) were able to fit on just ONE CDR, even though they were 2-3 files each. I burned one of my good friends a copy of AOTC after we got our hands on it.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2003-02-21 03:45am

Are each of them 3-5 gigabytes in size? Because that's what I was talking about.

Kurgan · Post by **Kurgan** » 2003-02-21 12:47pm

If each film is 20 gigs, you'll have to use compression of the audio/video to fit it on a standard 4.7 gig DVD disc.

(You could of course span it onto multiple discs uncompressed, but that would defeat the convenience of having it all on one disc, unless you had a DVD changer on your player).

But the same would be true for LucasFilm if they were putting the film out on DVD. So far none of the SW films released on DVD (TPM, AOTC) have put the film onto two discs (the second disc is just extras, the movie itself fits on one).

And it could be done in such a way that the quality differences would be negligable, if that was even an issue.

If your problem is with the DVD format ITSELF, then this entire discussion is irrelevant. We were discussing alternatives if you wanted the original trilogy (non SE) considering George seems to be dead set against releasing them on the modern mainstream movie format.. DVD.

If you were a true cinephile, you'd have reels instead of disks or tapes.
; )

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2003-02-21 08:03pm

I said that each film would be about 4.5 GB, not 20. 15 GB total is still a lot to put on a computer.

Kurgan · Post by **Kurgan** » 2003-02-21 09:38pm

My mistake.

It's actually no problem at all. You just need enough space to encode (& author) one movie, then burn it to the disc media of your choice. Then delete the files from your hard drive. Repeat for the other two movies.

When you're done, no extra Hard Drive space is being used up, and you have three shiny DVDs ready to play on your player or DVD-ROM drive, assuming you did it all right and your stand-alone hardware is compatible.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2003-02-21 09:41pm

And since you're so paranoid, what if the burned DVDs get fucked up?

StarDestroyer.Net BBS

Leads on bootleg DVDs of original trilogy?

Leads on bootleg DVDs of original trilogy?

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