The Magnavision VH8005 (often designated in service literature as the VH8005 or VB8005CH01) is the second-generation iteration of North America’s very first consumer LaserDisc player.

Originally released by Magnavox (by then a subsidiary of North American Philips) in late 1980 / early 1981, the VH8005 was created to address the severe reliability issues, operational limitations, and missing features of the original VH8000 (which launched on December 11, 1978).
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Key Technical Architecture & Features
Infrared Remote Control:
The most significant upgrade over the original VH8000 was the inclusion of a wireless infrared (IR) remote control.
The original VH8000 relied entirely on top-panel touch-sensitive buttons. The VH8005 added an IR sensor window to the front panel, giving users remote access to trick-play features, pause, frame step, and index search.

Optical System & Laser Tube:
Like the VH8000, the VH8005 used a red Helium-Neon (HeNe) gas laser tube operating at a 632.8 nm wavelength rather than the solid-state semiconductor laser diodes that became standard in late-1980s players.
It utilized a top-loading mechanism where the entire optical assembly sat beneath a hinged lid with a clear viewing window.
Analog Audio/Video Processing:
The unit was completely analog. Video was extracted via analog FM demodulation, and audio was standard analog CX-compatible subcarriers (before digital CX noise reduction or EFM digital audio were introduced).
It featured primitive character generator logic for on-screen displays (frame numbers, track/chapter displays) that rendered coarse, arcade-style numbers reminiscent of early home video game systems.

CLV and CAV Disc Handling:
The original VH8000 had famously struggled with Constant Linear Velocity (CLV / "Extended Play") discs due to spindle speed tracking and servo lock issues. The VH8005 revised the servo and spindle control boards to provide more stable playback of CLV discs, though full trick-play functionality (freeze-frame, slow motion, frame stepping) remained exclusive to Standard Play (CAV) discs.

Mechanical & Electronic Re-engineering
The VH8000 series was plagued by extreme sensitivity to mechanical shocks and thermal drift. The VH8005 attempted to refine these vulnerabilities:
Optical Tracking Alignment: The radial tracking mirror and focus servos were slightly updated to prevent the objective lens assembly from physically colliding with warped or out-of-spec DiscoVision/LaserDisc pressings (a common failure mode in early VH8000 models where the objective lens could scrape against the rotating disc).
Transit Lock Mechanism: Due to how easily the optical sled and HeNe laser tube alignment were knocked out of place during shipping, the VH8005 incorporated transit locking screws under the chassis that had to be physically disengaged by the user prior to power-on.

Historical Significance & Legacy

The European Counterpart: When Philips introduced LaserDisc to the European market under the "VLP" moniker, the Philips VLP-700 was directly derived from the Magnavision VH8005 architecture (whereas the VLP-600 was derived from the remote-less VH8000).
Competition and Market Obsolescence: Despite the improvements in the VH8005, it arrived just as Pioneer introduced the VP-1000 (and later the LD-1100). Pioneer’s solid-state servo control, superior HeNe optical assembly alignment, and vastly better tracking capability quickly eclipsed the Magnavision design in reliability and picture quality.

Collector & Service Status Today:
The VH8005 is prized among vintage electronics conservators as an iconic artifact of late 1970s / early 1980s optical storage history.
Modern restoration of the VH8005 is notoriously difficult. HeNe laser tubes weaken or lose gas containment over decades, the complex power supply boards suffer from severe electrolytic capacitor degradation, and the analog servo circuits require precise optical alignment procedures using specialized test discs and multi-trace oscilloscopes.

Based on what is written on the web regarding this player, it appears to be one of the most unreliable machines ever made for all sorts of issues that you can ask AI about.

With that said, it doesn't appear to be a bad laser since you see a red light (that's actually very good) and the spindle motor still spins up (another good thing).

I probably would look to see if the laser assembly is really stuck (try gently moving it with your hand with the player powered down) and if it appears to move freely I would think that's not the issue (not sure if it's belt driven or worm gearing so that is something you need to investigate).

The most common problems other than what I mentioned is mirror calibration issues and bad capacitors.