Arriving June 1981, Paramount Home Video was the first label beyond the introductory MCA DiscoVision label on the LaserDisc
format.
Paramount films had been on LD since 1978, through a licensing of titles to MCA DiscoVision. On MCA DiscoVision, you'll find
"Saturday Night Fever," "Love Story," "Three Days of the Condor," "Heaven Can Wait," and "Looking For Mr. Goodbar." Other
Paramounts were promised from DiscoVision, but only those listed above were pressed and released prior to Paramount Home Video's
summer 1981 arrival on LD.
As was the practice of the day, all movies are presented full-frame and these early titles have only analog sound with no
CX-noise-reduction. PCM digital sound did not exist for LD in 1981, so naturally this feature is not present on these early
releases.
All of these original titles were pressed in the U.S. first in 1981. On the back of early Paramount Home Video jackets, it
read "Made in the USA by DiscoVision Associates." Most were quickly re-pressed by Pioneer at its Kofu, Japan disc replication
plant. Those versions back jackets will read, "Manufactured in Japan by Universal Pioneer for DiscoVision Associates." Later,
whether produced in the U.S. or Japan, the verbage is altered to reflect "Pioneer Video" and the "DiscoVision Associates"
name is gone. This information is important for those wishing to obtain original pressings, as Paramount Home Video does
not go through the label/name changes that most others studios did over the history of the LD format. For example, Universal
films are found on LaserDisc on a variety of different label names: MCA DiscoVision, MCA VideoDisc, MCA Home Video, and MCA/Universal
Home Video.
Paramount Home Video's original pricing structure was $29.95 for single disc titles and $35.95 for double-disc releases.
|