Early Blu-rays that may have playback issues (Criterion, Well Go USA, etc.)

[omenboy]

Originally Posted by RedbeardS

Thanks for the photo suggestions. Presuming I can post them properly, apologies for my lowgrade snapshots. In addition to the white markings, you're also seeing a shiny reflection of my kitchen ceiling in the disc.

The first photo should be the Irma Vep disc, where the spot has spread toward the inner ring. The last two photos should be the demonlover and Cruising discs, where the milk spots are smaller and closer to the outer edge. (Right now I'm having trouble uploading the demonlover pic.)

To answer your question, there's no physical change when pressing on the spots.

Do you live in a very humid climate? You said a few other discs in your 150 disc collection had issues as well. That’s the only thing I can think of, since the discs seemed ok when first purchased.

[hariseldon]

Originally Posted by glennstl

My Criterion discs of 39 Steps and The Lady Vanishes ( both Alfred Hitchcock) no longer play. I discovered this over a month ago. I have emailed Criterion 3 times in the past month and gotten zero replies about replacing the discs.

I have been a huge supporter of Criterion... and I don’t understand why I’ve heard nothing back after over a month.

I’m at the point where I probably won’t be giving them much more of my money in the future.

I finally got around to sending my THE LADY VANISHES (original standalone, not the boxset item which still plays fine) back to Criterion about 18 months after I discovered it dead (OK I'm slow) and got an interesting followup email from Justin O. today with some updated information. This was around 2 weeks ago.

I had used the prior instructions and just mailed the disc back to Criterion NY address with my name/address and short message like I did with Walkabout and Summer Hours -- didn't contact them ahead of time. I did like that he had my prior information on hand and mentioned my prior discs. Also interesting he mention TLV being a problem disc though it's not on the longer list of those 2010 range items.

My apologies to Criterion -- I jumped the gun on posting the entire contents of the original email. When you ask permission you should actually wait for the answer before assuming something is OK. New info added from follow-up message

Post redacted after a follow-up email though I will keep the generic part most of which was previously known,
Essentially they have changed the exchange program and may no longer require you to mail the discs to them 1st. Contact them at the below accts and they should lead you through the rest of the procedure


Essentially they have changed the exchange program and may no longer necessarily require you to mail the discs to them. Contact them at the below accts and they should lead you through the rest of the procedure

"
Discs are replaced on a rolling basis and we can typically send out replacements within 1-3 months.
---

We have confirmed that certain Blu-ray discs pressed at a replication facility that we used for a period in 2010 have become defective, showing a noticeable bronze discoloration on the underside and developing playback problems. We have confirmed the problem for select titles, but not on all copies of these titles. All of these titles have since been re-pressed at a different pressing plant, and the vast majority of discs in circulation should not be affected.

The confirmed potentially affected Blu-ray titles are:
8 1/2
Bigger than Life
For All Mankind
Gomorrah
In the Realm of the Senses
Kagemusha
Lola Montes
M
Monsoon Wedding
Monterey Pop
Paris, Texas
Revanche
Ride with the Devil
Sanjuro
Seventh Seal, The
Stagecoach
Summer Hours
Vivre sa Vie
Walkabout
Wings of Desire

Days of Heaven - out of print but affected discs are still being replaced
Howards End - out of print but affected discs are still being replaced
Le Cercle Rouge - out of print but affected discs are still being replaced
Pierrot le Fou - will send copy of latest release version unless you specifically request the previous OOP version

Not all runs of these discs were affected with the disc rot. If your disc is displaying discoloration and/or having playback issues, please report it. Replacements will be honored for the foreseeable future, so there's no rush to request a new copy if there's no apparent problem."


" we'd prefer people reach out to us individually about specific disc issues rather than emailing us en masse because of something they saw elsewhere. I hope you can understand our concerns, and appreciate you asking us about this first.

We don't mind if you share your experience here in these groups/forums, and that they should contact/email us here at orders@criterion.com (and Jon at mulvaney@criterion.com) for assistance with any faulty discs first (before mailing any discs to us) if that is at all helpful to you. "

[HD Goofnut]

I haven't checked my copy of The Seventh Seal, but I certainly need to. Luckily, I backed it up shortly after I got it.

[Torrente]

Originally Posted by hariseldon

I finally got around to sending my THE LADY VANISHES (original standalone, not the boxset item which still plays fine) back to Criterion about 18 months after I discovered it dead (OK I'm slow) and got an interesting followup email from Justin O. today with some updated information. This was around 2 weeks ago.

Did your copy of Lady Vanishes show signs of bronzing on the surface of the disc?
Or did it look "normal"?

I'm asking because mine doesn't and Wages of fear doesn't also but I still have issues with them both. So I wonder how I could take accurate pics so that Criterion would accept to replace them.
For the rest of the titles, they do show signs of bronzing so taking pics won't be a problem.

[hariseldon]

Originally Posted by Torrente

Did your copy of Lady Vanishes showed signs of bronzing on the surface of the disc?
Or did it look "normal"?

I'm asking because mine doesn't and Wages of fear doesn't also but I still have issues with them both. So I wonder how I could take accurate pics so that Criterion would accept to replace them.
For the rest of the titles, they do show signs of bronzing so taking pics won't be a problem.

Mine looked like the normal sl gold tint that most Double layer discs do. It just wouldn't load even to the menu. Multiple other people here and HTF has similar issues even though it wasn't part of the original batches of problem discs

Walkabout was the only disc I had that was definitely discolored and unevenly at that.

If you are having issues, I'm sure they will work with you as much as possible to help -- not all disc issues are rot/bronzing, some discs have others issues that cause problems and often a few questions may be all that is needed esp for International owners. There email may not always be the fastest, but their Customer Service has always been pretty special from my experience.

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by BluProofie

Email Criterion and they’ll replace it for you.

I just got an email back from Criterion offering to replace the disc for me.

"Unfortunately, SOLARIS is a Blu-ray title we've received a few reports about, and we're happy to send you a replacement copy directly from our office, at no additional charge. Please note, our team is continuing to work remotely at this time, but we've begun making limited visits to the office to handle these requests. This means it may take us 6-8 weeks to send out your replacement, if not sooner."

[dash_hornsby]

I've just received a reply from Justin at Criterion as well regarding the replacement program. These were the blu-rays I own that have issues:

M - bronzing; playback issues near end of movie
Stagecoach - bronzing; doesn't play the 'Bucking Broadway' special feature
Sanjuro - bronzing
The Lady Vanishes - no bronzing but the disc menu doesn't load (can't play anything at all).
Pierrot Le Fou - no bronzing but disc freezes (after layer change)
Le Cercle Rouge - no bronzing but disc freezes (after layer change )

I own some other discs on the list of problematic ones such as Wages of Fear, Kagemusha and Days of Heaven but thankfully I didn't notice any problems with those.

Criterion will send replacement discs including for the OOP Le Cercle Rouge. I don't have to send the problem discs to them at this point - just write in marker on the disc artwork and take pictures of both sides of the discs and email it back to them.

They've got great customer service that's for sure!

[jjlikesonions]

Interestingly, I opened up my 30th Anniversary edition of Edward Yang's Terrorizers and it looks bronzed now. But I tested it just in case and the film plays all the way through. I compared the bronzed color to other discs and it definitely only matches the color of my bronzed 2010 The Personals (that one doesn't work whatsoever though.

Has anyone else had a disc turn bronze but still work properly? I know that it used to be silver, because I remember checking it last year. I'm wondering if it is still in the process of degrading. If so, I might order the recent Nova Media release of it, just in case.

[neo_reloaded]

Some people have reported bronzed discs that still seem to work. No idea how long they will still work, don't have nearly enough data on that.

The 30th anniversary Terrorizers was released in 2017, right? I haven't seen previous reports of that time frame being problematic. The majority of the Taiwan/Hong Kong/Korea disc problems were much earlier (2008-2011ish). Can you read the IFPI mold number of the disc?

[jjlikesonions]

Originally Posted by neo_reloaded

Some people have reported bronzed discs that still seem to work. No idea how long they will still work, don't have nearly enough data on that.

The 30th anniversary Terrorizers was released in 2017, right? I haven't seen previous reports of that time frame being problematic. The majority of the Taiwan/Hong Kong/Korea disc problems were much earlier (2008-2011ish). Can you read the IFPI mold number of the disc?

Yes, it was released in 2017. There is no code on the bottom of the disc. The only code is on the top, very very small and engraved. It says "IFPI IC0Z"

edit: I see it matches with a problematic bunch in the original post. It's weird that this release is from 2017. Maybe they had discs from the batch still and used them 6 years later?

[neo_reloaded]

Originally Posted by jjlikesonions

Yes, it was released in 2017. There is no code on the bottom of the disc. The only code is on the top, very very small and engraved. It either says "IFPI IC0Z" or "IFPI IC07"

Huh, that's interesting. IC0Z is one of the mold codes for the bad Taiwan/HK/Korean discs from 2010/2011, and that code seemed to be retired since late 2011. Around that time, all the distributors who used that plant started releasing discs with IC1Z, so it seemed like the plant upgraded its machinery. I haven't seen a single IC0Z disc since that timeframe.

Either my data tracking is incomplete and there have still been new IC0Z discs (and I just haven't seen them), or these are old discs that they put in new packaging for the 2017 release. Or did you buy it used? If so, the seller could have put an old disc in the new packaging.

Originally Posted by jjlikesonions

edit: I think this is relevant. https://www.dvdclassik.com/forum/vie...178&start=1860
Google Translate the page to English, and CTRL+F "IC0Z"

Hahaha, that is Torrente quoting something I wrote in the Blu-ray.com thread about the asian bronzing discs.

[jjlikesonions]

Originally Posted by neo_reloaded

Either my data tracking is incomplete and there have still been new IC0Z discs (and I just haven't seen them), or these are old discs that they put in new packaging for the 2017 release. Or did you buy it used? If so, the seller could have put an old disc in the new packaging.

ahhh. I think that's it, unfortunately. Even though it's anniversary edition, there's no extras or anything. There's nothing printed on the physical disc, or in the content of the disc that says anything about 30th anniversary.

I bought it new from JSDVD and it was shrink wrapped. By comparing the product picture of the 2010 release and the 2017 release..... it seems to be the same disc, but different packaging.

2010


2017

[jjlikesonions]

Originally Posted by neo_reloaded

Hahaha, that is Torrente quoting something I wrote in the Blu-ray.com thread about the asian bronzing discs.

Is that a different thread? I can't seem to find it on here. Is it gone?

[neo_reloaded]

Originally Posted by jjlikesonions

Is that a different thread? I can't seem to find it on here. Is it gone?

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=316362

[dash_hornsby]

Originally Posted by dash_hornsby

I've just received a reply from Justin at Criterion as well regarding the replacement program. These were the blu-rays I own that have issues:

M - bronzing; playback issues near end of movie
Stagecoach - bronzing; doesn't play the 'Bucking Broadway' special feature
Sanjuro - bronzing
The Lady Vanishes - no bronzing but the disc menu doesn't load (can't play anything at all).
Pierrot Le Fou - no bronzing but disc freezes (after layer change)
Le Cercle Rouge - no bronzing but disc freezes (after layer change )

I own some other discs on the list of problematic ones such as Wages of Fear, Kagemusha and Days of Heaven but thankfully I didn't notice any problems with those.

Criterion will send replacement discs including for the OOP Le Cercle Rouge. I don't have to send the problem discs to them at this point - just write in marker on the disc artwork and take pictures of both sides of the discs and email it back to them.

They've got great customer service that's for sure!

I received my replacement discs in the mail from Criterion. The discs arrived just a couple of weeks after Criterion confirmed my place in the replacement queue. Really fast response!

[surfinhank]

Found another bronzed disc today: The Life Before Her Eyes. It was put out by Magnolia (don't remember any reports of bronzing from this company). The entire disc is bronzed and it has a few of those milky white spots, but it played fine all the way through.

[Torrente]

Originally Posted by surfinhank

Found another bronzed disc today: The Life Before Her Eyes. It was put out by Magnolia (don't remember any reports of bronzing from this company). The entire disc is bronzed and it has a few of those milky white spots, but it played fine all the way through.

I had a similar issue with Vanishing on 7th Street a few years ago.

[neo_reloaded]

Originally Posted by surfinhank

Found another bronzed disc today: The Life Before Her Eyes. It was put out by Magnolia (don't remember any reports of bronzing from this company). The entire disc is bronzed and it has a few of those milky white spots, but it played fine all the way through.

The publisher doesn't really matter - the manufacturer is the key information. Look at the first post of this thread and provide the requested mould code. That will identify the manufacturer and help this get properly added to the list.

[Vriess]

My Baraka has gone bad and will not play

[jjlikesonions]

Originally Posted by Vriess

My Baraka has gone bad and will not play

That's really unfortunate. I gotta check mine when I get home this weekend. Mine is in the plastic case though. (I saw in the other thread that your's was cardboard)

I think that cardboard packaging can contribute to bronzing. I had seen that theory online somewhere. My bronzed "The Personals" and "Terrorizers" were both in cardboard packaging. I really hope that "That Day on the Beach" is not next because that one was really pricey and rare.