Forbidden Planet (1956) [ML102321].

Movie:
The movie itself is one of the best Sci-Fi movies I've ever seen. It has a great story, great characters, VERY impressive visual effects (for the 50's), and a very unique soundtrack. Check it out whenever you get the chance.

LD Video Quality:
The video quality of this Laserdisc release of Forbidden Planet is actually (IMO) one of the best looking LD's I've ever seen. Almost everything looks exceptional with bright colors, sharp edges, etc. The only complaint I have with the video quality is the print that they used. The print appears to be pretty worn, with lots of white and black dots appearing on the screen (I don't think it's Laser Rot, because there's very little colored specks.). Besides the worn print, it's a very nice looking LD.

LD Audio Quality:
The audio quality is also very nice. The audio is presented in Analog CX'ed Stereo & Digital PCM Stereo, and seems to go through my LCD TV's built in Surround Sound decoder very well. The audio is overall very clear, has a good amount of bass, and I have not noticed any audio defects.

This Laserdisc, although probably not as nice as the Criterion release, is still a very good version to have. If you can't afford the Criterion release, this is the disc for you.

Agree on all points, and I haven't seen the Criterion either. I have to say though that I prefer the more filmic look of this older MGM master when compared to the new HD one struck for SE DVD/BD etc. They re-used this old transfer for the CAV disc and early DVD.
This edition has the best cover of all IMHO.

the criterion version is amazing and has a great image, along with extras at the end on side 4.
but i've never had the version that tpgb12 is reviewing.

great film overall, first film to use the theremin for the soundtrack.

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the rein-o official signature:

the criterion version came out earlier then this version it seems. So technically wouldn't the fact that the version tpgb12 is reviewing in this thread being a later pressing that was remastered mean that it has better PQ then the criterion version?

yes, the same fact that bluray is better than DVD since it was made later

not always the case as we all know.
but again i don't have that version, so i can't say which is better, just that the one i have is really nice, it's also "wider" than other releases.

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the rein-o official signature:

In Forbidden Planet's case it is. The Blu-Ray is clearly superior to the DVD I mean.

Anyway yeah there are some exceptions, but generally more often then not, its the later release especially if its been remastered that is going to look better, and I was just wondering if that were the case with Forbidden Planet on LD. Perhaps someone who has seen both releases on LD can feel us in on that.

I actually just noticed something pretty weird with this disc. The aspect ratio is actually (very slowly) constantly getting wider and wider, but it's not really noticeable.

Do you mean that the black bars are getting bigger? I know that when a film is shot with an anamorphic lens, anything that is out of focus gets more or less stretched.

Yeah, that's basically what seems to be happening. It happens over quite a long period of time, though, so it's not very noticeable unless you notice how big the black bars are in the first few minutes, and then skip later into the disc.

tpgb12 wrote: 'The video quality of this Laserdisc release of Forbidden Planet is actually (IMO) one of the best looking LD's I've ever seen.'

There is also a CAV edition of this movie. I can get both from a local seller but I can't decide which one to buy.
I like the artwork of the CLV edition the most, but I also think picture quality is of importance.

Does anyone know if there's a big difference in picture quality between the CAV and CLV edition of Forbidden Planet?

If something, the CAV edition may have less CLV smear but they're probably the same master.