©1973 Universal Pictures. All rights reserved.

Catalog Number 17-002
Format Standard Play CAV 1st Issue
Standard Play CAV 2nd Issue
MPAA Rating
Running Time 103 minutes
Release History

Standard Play Version - First Pressing

Mono
Pressing Location DiscoVision Carson
Label Color Blue
Retail Price $15.95
Year Issued 1978
Side Frames Running Time
1 41,896 29min 06sec
2 42,403 29min 27sec
3 38,253 26min 34sec
4 31,224 21min 41sec
153,776 106min 48sec
Ratings
Video Transfer
Audio Transfer
Replication
Packaging
Large Open-Top
Open-Top
Side-Open Sticker
Printed

Pressing Notes

The 4 sided version is missing the copyright sentence below the DiscoVision logo on Side 1 which is present on the 5 sided version. This version proceeds directly into the film and does not contain the MPAA rating screen. Content wise, the film is the same as the 5 sided version. Side 4 and Side 5 of the 2nd pressing are essentially identical.

Standard Play Version - Second Pressing

Stereo
Pressing Location DiscoVision Carson
Label Color Blue
Retail Price $24.95
Year Issued 1979
Side Chapters Frames Running Time
1 4 32,004 22min 14sec
2 5 30,174 20min 57sec
3 5 33,679 23min 23sec
4 7 26,570 18min 27sec
5 4 31,142 21min 38sec
25 153,569 106min 39sec
Dead Side Various
Ratings
Video Transfer
Audio Transfer
Replication
Packaging
Large Open-Top
Open-Top
Side-Open Sticker
Printed

Pressing Notes

This version has a copyright sentence below the DiscoVision logo on Side 1. The film also opens with the MPAA rating screen before the film starts. Content wise, the film is the same as the 4 sided version, however, the film has been re-transferred and each scene is composed slightly differently from the 4 sided version. Side 5 of this version and side 4 of the first pressing are identical in run time. This version was the only DiscoVision edition of Jesus Christ Superstar to have stereo sound or chapter stops.

The video transfer is about typical for DiscoVision, with vivid colors possible but with so much contrast, there are scenes where the only way you know someone is there is by the whiteness of their teeth. The audio transfer is also typical with an apparent lack of high-end. There are times when the audio distorts noticeably. This isn't a fault of the transfer or of the DiscoVision mastering, but of the source material used. The distortion is even present on widescreen LaserDisc edition of the film available from Universal Home Video.

Some copies have been found with the typical Japanese "DiscoVision Blue Turtle" dead side. This is a fully mastered side with the words "DiscoVision: No Program this Side". While this isn't unusual to find on Japanese mastered and pressed CLV title, this is the only known occurrence of an Carson pressed side being included on a CAV title. This would indicate that Jesus Christ Superstar was still being assembled long after titles such as Star Trek: The Motion Picture were done for Paramount. No other odd-sided Carson pressed title is known to have these dead sides.

Known Dead Sides

Release History

Jesus Christ Superstar was re-released on MCA Home Video as a 2 sided CLV disc in August 1987 (Catalog #: 17002). Again, it was released Mono first (a mistake, since the jackets claimed stereo), and then repressed in Stereo. MCA/Universal Home Video released a widescreen (2.35:1) edition (Catalog #: 41297) in July 1992. Universal restored the title and provided it with a new THX certified transfer for release on video tape. That same transfer was used on the March 1999 release on DVD, which restores the original 4 channel magnetic soundtrack and presents it in a discrete 4.0 channel Dolby Digital presentation.

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Updated: July 30, 2005
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