Die Hard THX Laserdisc

[Farstarbuck]

Nice, you need to rip the pcm at least and the audio for the trailers.

Can do, just need to find the time . I had the widescreen one captured but something went wrong with that copy and it got corrupted. So A re-do is in order.

Otherwise, here is what Disclord said about Die Hard:

BTW, the 70mm 6-track mix for Die Hard was done after the initial 35mm release - Fox wasn't sure of Bruce Willis' box office draw so no 70 prints were made until the first box office results started coming in. It's a beefed up mix compared to the original Dolby Stereo, with different sounds here and there, more aggressive panning to take advantage of the discrete tracks, etc. Grease was the same, with 'late' 70mm prints and a different mix.

and about the widescreen LD:

an excellent sounding disc and the only home video release with the original 2-channel Dolby MP Matrix mix used for the Dolby Stereo theatrical prints - plus the PCM sound is unlimited, unlike the Dolby A or Dolby SR theatrical prints.

So old buddy old pal, is there a chance the PCM could be ripped from the THX LD?

[captainsolo]

Since reading disclord's comment I've done extensive comparisons across formats of the first three.
I don't have the early discs for I and II but I can say with some certainty that if you compare the THX LD, SE DVD and Blu-ray the tracks are virtually identical. What is going to be different is if any limiting or nearfield remixing for modern home setups has been done. I really couldn't detect much if anything but my setup isn't the most high end.
I too think there is something to the LDs but I can't put my finger on it. The PCM and ac3 are identical. The DVD ac3 seems identical. The BD DTS-HDMA seems like a higher res version but doesn't have that nice rich warmth to it somehow. So it may be best to capture the DTS LD, with the original release after doing comparisons.

They really need to redo these anyway. The color went all over the place for the first film when they made the five star DVD. I and II are contrasty and video-ish and have never gotten away from it. 2 seems to have been re-colored and made more "naturalized". 3 fares best as it finally gets away from the atrocious DVD transfer which was one of the worst ever done IMO.

[Farstarbuck]

Interesting comparison there Cap. I know what you mean, I can't figure out what would be different with the THX LD but I'm stumped if I know. It could just be as simple as newer mixes routing a lot of low end through subwoofers instead of the main speakers. I don't know I do not profess to be an expert but something is lost. Thanks for your input

[BDgeek]

Hi PDB and Captain Solo,

Has there been any development with the audio capture of this THX LD?

With the (sort of) recent UHD release in mind, I think it would just be fantastic to have the LD tracks captured and synced to it.


BTW, does anyone have the DTS LD or has heard about it being captured?

I just looked at lddb.com and it's one of those really expensive LD. But if anyone is really up to the job, I could try to secure it.

Die Hard is still one of my favorite films of all time, and getting the UHD with the LD audio would probably make it the Definitive Edition for this movie.

[SpaceBlackKnight]

That DTS laserdisc came out around 2000, after the non-anamorphic DVD releases and before the 2001 anamorphic remastered DVD. My hunch tells me the DTS LD has the modern 5.1 DVD remix on the digital track (but at 1536kbs vs the DVD's 768kbs half rate), while the analog track is probably the DS mix spanning from the earlier releases. Might be a waste if it does end up having a higher bitrate version of the remix (which the BDs and UHD all have in lossless) with no major differences, but feel free to take a shot nonetheless.

[captainsolo]

Well to be honest if you have the BD then you have the 5.1 from the THX LD. The 5.1 mix carried over to all subsequent releases and is excellent. The standard BD sounds better than the LD due to the lossless codec. The DTS versions of 1-3 are very rare and expensive and are probably the same mix but in 1536kbps. Pretty much all DTS discs are the ac3 ones repressed with only the audio being different-with very few exceptions.

I don't have the 4K UHD because I was holding out hope they would do a boxset of at least 1-3. There is a 2.0 track some claim is the original 1988 Dolby Stereo mix which previously is only on the old original letterbox LD. I think someone has done a sync of this track. This track is a bit narrowed in in terms of mixing and is of course not as bombastic as the 5.1 which is supposed to be based on the 70mm mix which would explain the difference. That said this mix from the 1990 disc is a nice listen and the original DH2 LD audio is similarly much more lower tier 90's theater narrower but warm Dolby SR sounding.

[BDgeek]

Hi Captainsolo,

thanks for all the information!

Still regarding the THX LD, isn't the Dolby Surround track based on the original mix? Or is it just a downmix of the 5.1?

As for DTS LD, I don't know how accurate this information is, but back in the early 2000s it was common understanding the DTS tracks on LDs were mixed in house by DTS and so, were very different from the AC-3 LD track or DVD tracks.

Can you shed some light on this issue?

[SpaceBlackKnight]

I was told it's uncommon for LDs in general to have two different mixes ala Goldeneye, so the Dolby Surround track on the THX LD might indeed be the Dolby Stereo LRCS mix. There's a chance it may end up being a downmix of the 5.1, but that practice wasn't common until the DVD era.

I remember reading somewhere that the 5.1 DTS mix on the 2001 DVD of DH (or possibly DH II) was a complete remix that had issues with effects being drained in impact and voices being too low. This might be the DTS track on the JP DTS LD if there were separate mixes different than DVD or AC3 counterparts. It was also said the DD 5.1 mix on the same DVD(s) is the 5.1 THX mix spanning from the LD and the 2.0 is a downfold of it and not the 1988 DS LRCS mix. The 5.1 DTS-MA mix starting with the BD definitely went back to the THX 5.1 mix as the transfer was also different than the 2001 DVD, but the lossy DD 2.0 track was still the folddown and not the DS LRCS mix, which didn't appear until the UHD in lossless DTS-MA 2.0 form.

[zoidberg]

This has been discussed elsewhere on the forum, but to cut a long story short every DVD release of Die Hard has seen the audio remixed, even the original non-anamorphic THX DVD.

The general consensus is that the first LD (1666-80) has the original Dolby Stereo track while the subsequent THX LD (8905-85) has the 70mm 6-track (with mono surrounds) presented as 5.1 AC-3 and matrixed 2.0 PCM. The DTS LD (0890584) also has this 70mm mix and it's a cracker    Much like True Lies, the DTS LD is also not THX-certified, make of that what you will

[alexp120]

On the UHD Blu Ray disc, there's a 2.0 DTS-HD MA track. Could anyone confirm that it is the 1988 Dolby Stereo mix for the 35mm prints?