Just a short review from me.

This disk was just--ok-- and eventhough alot of what I'm about to say is somewhat negative, believe it or not I'm still glad it's in my small DVD collection. (FREE FROM REEL)

The picture seemed to have been mastered off of a source that was good but NOT that great. The picture had alot of black flecks in some scenes. The sound was alright and in certain spots the sound was better than others but in my opinion there was NOT enough LF sound on the disk and sometimes it seemed to hiss a bit.
The extras were pretty good and they included bios of some of the characters in the film with artwork to match. The deleted scenes section was very interesting but again the picture quality was bad. They do of course warn you of this before you view them. Another interesting extra is the original language scenes. It seemed to be the actually scenes WITHOUT the nice dubbing and sound processing that goes into this type of film(puppets). So what you hear is Frank Oz doing his ONE AND ONLY VOICE which is a cross between Yoda and Kermit! http://forum.dvdtalk.com/ubb/wink.gif

The Menus are very nice and the case rocks.

Like I said, this disk overall is cool but NOT one of the greatest DVDs in terms of sound and picture.

But DON'T let this review stop YOU from buying it because it is only MY opinion!



------------------
THE ORIGINAL GIANTROBO!!!

I'm sorta suprised at your lukewarm review actually.

I thought the picture was pretty good considering its a film from 1982 (17 years). I can't tell you much about the sound, because I don't have a nice system anyways, but I never experienced any hissing that I remember.

As far as the extras only being OK? What? Considering the MSRP on this is $24.95 - You get an almost hour long documentary, the deleted funeral scenes, the trailer (as well as trailers for labrinth and storyteller), talent files, production notes, isolated music score, character drawings and profiles.

and the original language work prints. Actually as far as I can tell, Henson's crew planned on having the creatures speak their own language. If you turn on the subtitle during the language work prints, it will give you the final dialogue for the movie. pretty cool actually.


I only paid about $10 for this DVD. Well worth it.

oh.. and the movie was pretty cool too. http://forum.dvdtalk.com/ubb/smile.gif

I haven't had the chance to watch my copy yet, but from what I've seen so far, it's another winner from Columbia/Tri-Star. http://forum.dvdtalk.com/ubb/smile.gif

I flipped through the menus and checked out the previews. I also previewed a couple of scenes to check out the picture quality and sound. Columbia/Tri-Star amazes me with their quality restoration of their older titles, such as this and "Ghostbusters".

Hopefully, I'll have some time this week to watch the entire DVD.

here's another review that agrees with me at least on the "black Flecks" issue.

About 4 or 5 paragraphs down.
http://www.dvdreview.com/html/the_dark_crystal.shtml


Like I said, I'm still happy I own this dvd.

------------------
THE ORIGINAL GIANTROBO!!!

[This message has been edited by Giantrobo (edited 10-12-1999).]

yeah, but it also says:

"you will notice how breathtakingly sharp and detailed it is... this is an excellent compression... the same is true for the color balance and brightness... This is a picture-perfect transfer... This is a stunning release there can be no doubt and Columbia TriStar Home Video is bringing us the best home video presentation of this
incredible film ever... The phenomenal audio and video transfers on this release will let you experience “The Dark Crystal” like you have never seen it before!"

but yeah, you're right, he did mention the specks. http://forum.dvdtalk.com/ubb/smile.gif

"The Dark Crystal" is an example of the best of what DVD can do. Here is a movie from my early childhood, brought back to vivid life with stunningly clear picture (anamorphic!) and sound (Dolby 5.1!).

Seeing Fizzgig, the Garthim, and all the other creatures was like reuniting with old friends. The extras were also generous, with an excellent documentary the highlight.

Granted, the effects often seem cheesy, but movies like this are time capsules that show us how special effects looked in the days before CGI.

Seeing this movie as an adult, I think the screenplay could have been a little more sophisticated, but I liked it just fine when I was a kid. All in all, a great DVD and a worthwhile purchase.