Many years ago I bought a sealed copy of this:

Star Trek I: The Motion Picture (1979) [LV8858-2WS]

Unfortunately I didn't watch it for a couple of years, at which time I discovered it had a glitch causing playback to badly skip during the end credits. I did some searching at the time and found a usenet post where someone described the same problem with their copy.

I was recently thinking of trying to find a replacement, but I was wondering if anyone knows how widespread this problem is. Do I have a good chance of finding a copy that will play flawlessly all the way through?

I can look through mine and see if they are decent.

Thanks, I'd be very curious to know what you find.

Side 3 is a VERY long CAV side. Since the problem is in the end credits, I suspect your disc suffers from what I call a ripple warp. This is where the very edge of the disc will be warped. On CLV discs, it isn't as big a problem because the RPMs drop to around 600, but in CAV, the warp happens so quickly that the pickup simply cannot keep track of the ... track. If you hold the disc virtical with a pencil (or fingers) in the center hole and give it a slight spin, (not enough to take flight, but enough to get a few RPMs out of it) you can watch the edge of the disc. It should be nearly flat, but if you have a ripple warp, one spot (or sometimes two) will be out of alignment with the rest of the edge.

These kinds of warps are common, but really only affect very long side CAV sides. They are especially common for those discs pressed in the USA, because of the way the jackets are assembled. The top and bottom edge of the discs in the jacket have more pressure on them because of the jacket overlap assembly, and if you pack the discs tightly on a shelf, there is more pressure where the packaging is thicker. If you look at a Japanese release jacket, they dove-tail the jackets overlaps so the insides of the jacket are smooth.

It's also worth noting that the box set version of this disc was pressed in Japan, while the individual sleeve versions were pressed in the US.

Sometimes you can get the plastic to relax and go back to it's original shape (see other threads about getting rid of warps), but not always. I know that I was able to 'recover' a CAV edition of "The Rocketeer."

Very interesting, blam1. I hadn't considered that, but it makes sense that it could be warped after remaining in the shrinkwrap for so long. I'll have to take a closer look at the disc.

I also just looked up Bob Niland's instructions on correcting warps, and I'm not sure if I would be up to the task. I might take the lazier option of replacing it.

i have 3 CAV discs that also skip during the credits, i made a post a while ago about it

I've had similar problems with some CAV sides, but as they seemed to disappear when I got a new player I always put it down to the fact that I was using naff hardware before. Can some players deal with this type of distortion better than others?

Some players can handle the situation better than others. For example, if you have a 2nd generation gas tube player (Pioneer LD-1100, Magnavox VC-8010, Sylvania VP-7200, Pioneer PR-8210), they still used actual tracking and tangential mirrors which were lightning fast. Most of Pioneer's stuff is pretty good, except for the LD-700 & CLD-900 (which I always hated). It will also depend on the degree of the warp. I have been very pleased with the DVL-919's ability to track most discs.

I'm using the DVL-919E nowadays, it always seems to get bad press but I think it's a great player. The player I had the CAV problems with was the CLD-V2120D.

I absolutely love the DVL-919E. I have 2 of them. I just wish I had a TV that could play PAL...

I've seen NTSC to PAL converters here in the UK though I've never had to use one, I'm sure you can find the reverse over there.

I think I have a dual player, anyone know if the sony a2 is able to play both?

I have the same pressing playing now on Pioneer DVL-909 no snags no skipping jumping stuttering nothing just pure CAV smooth enterprising Laserdisc sailing. I've had the pressing since 1999.

Also see The Rockeeter was mentioned also and that was played a year or so ago no snags with it.

Too bad no chapter stops on the STAR TREK laserdiscs.

I like the tiny little blemishes of golf balls and soft grain and odd few scratches on this print.

Also some green in it when V'ger expands into new life form but I deal with this on this pressing also bit of it at the start with Klingons being double roasted and again when the V'ger probe bursts onto the bridge. Other than that the Dolby Stereo 424 matrix is spot on precisely what I heard and listened to 23 years ago at the Empire as that was the last time I saw the film in 35mm and years before that at local cinema in 35mm optical Dolby Stereo.

STAR TREK CAV side 3 playing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ih79G6Ej ... e=youtu.be

Just watched side 3 on a DVL-700 it played through ok maybe a tiny glitch on the end paramount logo. Dont know if mine was part of the box set or not i got them seperately.

Oh yeah they released a box set of all 5 or was it 6 originals. The UK had a similar release on PAL I got a box set but the box was empty at the shop well almost as all the Laserdisc was sold separately not that it bothered me I had a few already NTSC and was only after the NTSC versions there was a few PAL ones that I don't have STAR TREK III and IV the rest I have are NTSC STAR TREK I II V panned and scanned and VI all NTSC are letterbox same as the PAL. I'll get the III IV and V again in letterbox some time soon, soon.

The first box set in the US was just the 5 films, with a 12x12 booklet that had all of the jacket art for the individual films. The box set was numbered and the discs were pressed in Japan. The individual sleeved films were pressed in the US. Later, when "Generations" was issued, a new "box" set was issued, which was simply a sleeve around the first 7 films in their individual jackets. You could buy the empty sleeve too, if you already had the individual discs.

"The Screen Voyages" in the UK was issued in PAL with the first six films in widescreen. "The Motion Picture Films" was issued in PAL in German in two volumes, with films 1-3 and 4-6.

In Japan there were 2 box sets, each containing the first 6 films. "The Complete Collection" is in English with subtitles, and "The Bilingual Collection" is in English in the Digital tracks and Japanese on the analog tracks, with no subtitles.