I have a question about the Criterion laserdiscs from a more practical point of view. For collectors having all Criterion LD is a cool thing but would you recommend trying to snatch some of the Criterion LD also for pure movie watchers?

I want to get the best laserdisc version of the movies I want to own in terms of picture and sound quality as long it won´t break the bank.


I would be interested in the following criterion releases

The Rock, Robocop, Ghostbusters, Halloween, the first Bond movies and Carrie.

In case I am lucky and can find these LD for a good price would these versions be the best I can get in Picture and Sound Quality or would the non Criterion releases suffice?

Having a full “collection” of the Criterion Collection makes no sense. Nobody did this until well into the 21st century when getting “compete sets” of old video games caught on. It was never Criterion’s intention to promote Collectardism and people who are infected with that disease do not watch 1950s black and white Italian cinema, silent WC Fields, etc. “Criterion” and “Star Wars” on on opposite ends of the proverbial magnet.

The original point of CC was simply to get hard to find significant movies on video AT ALL. In the mid 80s it was hard to see those kinds of movies period and many thought, correctly, they they were even at risk of being lost. Criterion is about the preservation of movies that not even their own studios want to sell you. Absolutely nobody loves every movie in the collection. The scope is too large.

For the films you suggest, all ultra mainstream Hollywood blockbuster stuff, just get the Blu-ray. Ghostbusters on LD looks like absolute trash compared to Blu-ray. All these movies are very well taken care of and have never stopped being promoted by their owners.

No Criterion LD is anything near “the best” unless the movie was never released again on any format. There are some very rough transfers on a lot of those 40 year old LDs.

Oh but it will, find them locally or you will be paying 60+ each title you need.

Good luck and enjoy LDs.



Personally, unless you watch these titles under normal circumstances at least twice a year don't bother.
Robocop is probably the best of the ones you have listed. Bond are junk, the transfers are the exact same as the Connery box set, the
side breads on the CAV are garbage.

I just picked up a DVD of Halloween, forgot how much of a garbage film it really was, no continuity at all and boring, only good because of
Carpenter and its early.

The Rock, Carrie, really????? unfortunately I don't have anything to say about these. If you feel you need them go for it, I wouldn't bother.

Thanks for the info both of you.

@signofzeta Getting these movies on Blu Ray would be beyond the point. As a retro media enthusiast, I want the best version of these movies for Laser Discs standards. I like retro media for what they are and do not expect them to be as good as modern stuff.

I even built 2 retro gaming rigs all ready to play some pc games with original hardware. My Retro gaming console collection is also quite substantial.. I had lots fun with the few movies I have already watched on my pioneer cld 925.

So I did get the general consense on my question, right that the criterion versions are not necessarily better PQ and sound quality-wise compared to other releases?

Best quality on LD.
Robocop is the best on LD, no other LD is made with as good of quality.

James Bond, pass, very bad side breaks on CAV, only reason to get is the commentary which is boring and someone talks about one being a different cup of tea.
Carrie, not sure. Halloween, not sure. Probably best if they are widescreen and no other LD versions.

I think The Rock was the best version released on LD but its a major hollywood blockbuster, as zeta says you will get better or same quality just paying more for the
LD and putting more wear and tear on your LD player for nothing.

That is correct. They rarely restored anything or had new prints made in the early days. They just put out the best thing they could source which was pretty bad usually in the 80s.

Thanks for confirming your gaming habit is polluting your movie habits. What you’re saying made a better point than I ever could. You’re more into the format than the movies themselves.

Hey Puma, I agree with both Zeta and Rein-o.

I got a bunch of CC because I love to watch the extra content which is fantastic.
If you are only up for the movie: Do not bother that much.
Go for a cover art you love (because most of the time you will see them "on the wall") and a version you prefer (Widescreen, Pan & Scan; whatever makes you happy).

The Robocop CC release is great. The picture and sound are way better than on the PAL version (which to some degree is no surprise of course) and the extra content got me entertained for sure.

Halloween got a great pictures but there is very little extra content.

Besides that: As both of the previous responders already stated. The picture will never be the main reason to go for the big blockbusters.

If you want to go for something worth collecting in my opinion these are the CAV masterpiece edition box sets from Disney.
Picture and sound are very good (for a LD) and the extra content incl. the box itself are very desirable... at least for me.

https://www.lddb.com/search.php?search=Deluxe+CAV&sort=title&format=ld

Cheers,
Markus

I’ve got around 400 or so discs in my collection but I don’t own a single Criterion release, I do have the Dolby Digital US release of Rock, The (1996) [8887 AS] and its a pretty crisp transfer with very little chroma noise, I do believe that the CC version is rather sharper still though - shame I can’t be as enthusistic about the actual movie!

@myth and laserfanhld-gb Thx for the further information and advice.

@myth1986 Wow the Disney ld is nice. They seem to be more worth collecting than most of the Criterion releases.

I'd recommend avoiding the Ghostbusters CAV mine was so rotted it was ridiculous.

You pay a premium for that and the supplements aren't really all that great. Though I do like the gatefold cover and cardstock.

The James Bond I wouldn't recommend against if you can get them cheap. The problem is they want to overcharge for it being a so-called recalled release and they aren't rare at all.

I don't have the Rock or Robocop. The CAV for Robo is super expensive all the time for a non beat up cover.

Criterion discs honestly never impressed me qualitywise.
I have been into collecting ld’s since 91 and some discs were often used to demo in the store.
Like any format… garbage in garbage out.
There is alot of nice stuff on ld but they are not all created equal.
I got tempted wanting to own all dts discs once. If one sounds good they must all be like that? They aren’t. Not to mention some movies that just aren’t worth owning or watching to begin with.
Fairly early into collecting I focused on the more late stuff (1995… ) since technically the format was at it’s prime towards the end!
Same rule sometimes applies however…. Not all equal!
Criterion has a ring to it that I can understand but
Ghostbusters looks horrible… do yourself a favor and go blu or 4K on such titles!
Japanese discs also tend to be promoted ( these days for sure ) as superior in every way!
Believe me, they aren’t always just like their US equivalents it all comes down to the mastering to begin with.
Dune (Japan box) it is awfull in every way! I am no dune fan but gave the box a chance to see what the fuzz is about!
Bladerunner US…. They can say what they like but I never seen a decent pressing honestly.
Robocop is a nice one but not the best I own qualitywise

The good thing,
There is something for everyone and if you like the covers, signature collections, ac-3 releases, dts …. The sky is the limit but remember blu is often the smart move if you want the best around.