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

[jscoggins]

Originally Posted by James Luckard

Ah, I hadn't heard about it before. I'll definitely check my copies tonight.

Yeah, the information was spread throughout various threads and websites. I figured one master thread could consolidate and highlight the issue.

[pedromvu]

Another thing that worries me is that when Criterion released a statement that Walkabout disc had an error, they just said it was a problem with specific list of players, like if it could be some kind of Authoring error maybe, not sure if they really didn't knew what happened, if they didn't knew they could still be pressing their discs in the same way or same place.

[Brent L.]

This really, really sucks for the OOP titles. There is no way they have enough of them to issue replacement to everyone, if they still have any extras at all.

I had a brand new and sealed Pierrot le fou that I sold a few months ago. I really hope that it ended up being just fine for the buyer. I can't imagine how pissed I'd be if I paid for an OOP title like that and then it was defective and there just wasn't anything that could really be done about it anymore. Ugh.

[rdandura]

This is completely, absolutely awful and I will NEVER, EVER heal from this. This makes everyone feel stupid for buying these on release day, knowing they would become useless just a FEW SHORT YEARS later. These are supposed to last 20 years!

I checked my copy of Ride with the Devil, and I'm unsure if there is any bronzing on the disc; there probably is, but as of this moment it works fine and loads on my player. (I bought this in November/December 2010). Of the other nine discs, I don't own Summer Hours, Monsoon Wedding, or Howard's End and the other six all pass (although I had Walkabout replaced).

It's nearly criminal that Criterion has not respond in nearly a month to quell panic on the web about these defective discs. I would be 50 times calmer if they just said something instead of their reputation going down in flames by the side.

[Doctor Jack]

Even thoug they are taking their sweet time addressing the issue, I think Criteron will sort it out. They have always been top notch. Probably just figuring out a way to resolve the issue. Hopefully it is only for these discs. Shame it happened at all but let's be thankful it isn't all of their discs. That would be a disaster.

[Brent L.]

Originally Posted by Doctor Jack

Even thoug they are taking their sweet time addressing the issue, I think Criteron will sort it out. They have always been top notch. Probably just figuring out a way to resolve the issue. Hopefully it is only for these discs. Shame it happened at all but let's be thankful it isn't all of their discs. That would be a disaster.

I agree that they are likely just trying to figure things out, but really, what's to figure out? The only thing they'll be able to do is just replace all of the defective copies. I guess you need to figure out to do that for a huge number of people, but at least let people know if that's what you're doing. There was a screw up, they are damaged, and they need to be replaced ASAP.

[tama]

Originally Posted by pedromvu

Another thing that worries me is that when Criterion released a statement that Walkabout disc had an error, they just said it was a problem with specific list of players, like if it could be some kind of Authoring error maybe, not sure if they really didn't knew what happened, if they didn't knew they could still be pressing their discs in the same way or same place.

Walkabout would not play properly on my Sony player. It would freeze or skip. It plays absolutely fine on my insignia and an older panisonic model.

[rdodolak]

Originally Posted by rdandura

This is completely, absolutely awful and I will NEVER, EVER heal from this. This makes everyone feel stupid for buying these on release day, knowing they would become useless just a FEW SHORT YEARS later. These are supposed to last 20 years!

I checked my copy of Ride with the Devil, and I'm unsure if there is any bronzing on the disc; there probably is, but as of this moment it works fine and loads on my player. (I bought this in November/December 2010). Of the other nine discs, I don't own Summer Hours, Monsoon Wedding, or Howard's End and the other six all pass (although I had Walkabout replaced).

It's nearly criminal that Criterion has not respond in nearly a month to quell panic on the web about these defective discs. I would be 50 times calmer if they just said something instead of their reputation going down in flames by the side.

I checked my copy as well, which was purchased in Nov 2010, and so far it's not showing any signs of bronzing.

[Brent L.]

For those with no issues, yet, do you also have "first printing" copies of the aforementioned discs?

[rdodolak]

Originally Posted by Brent L.

For those with no issues, yet, do you also have "first printing" copies of the aforementioned discs?

My copy of Ride with the Devil is a first printing according to the cover art.

[neo_reloaded]

Originally Posted by rdodolak

My copy of Ride with the Devil is a first printing according to the cover art.

That line on the cover art is really more like "first authoring." There's no easy way to tell first pressing besides remembering if you bought it right around the release date or not.

[pedromvu]

Originally Posted by tama

Walkabout would not play properly on my Sony player. It would freeze or skip. It plays absolutely fine on my insignia and an older panisonic model.

I Wasn't aware of that , do you have any other Criterion with the browning issue? maybe they are not rot, but 80% of players have problems reading discs with that color , unless the Walkabout defect was completely another kind of error.

[Habsfan77]

Wow, this is awful. I own 4 of the titles mentioned in this thread (Pierrot le fou, M, Days of Heaven and Paris, Texas) and I just checked the discs and fortunately they were alright. None of these were from the first pressing however.

[tama]

Originally Posted by Brent L.

For those with no issues, yet, do you also have "first printing" copies of the aforementioned discs?

For the titles I own being listed all but Pierrot were bought on release week or very shortly after. I picked up pierrot right before it went OOP.

[rdodolak]

Originally Posted by neo_reloaded

That line on the cover art is really more like "first authoring." There's no easy way to tell first pressing besides remembering if you bought it right around the release date or not.

My copy was purchased in Nov 2010 but it was probably manufactured before that. How can you tell if it's a first pressing or not?

[tama]

Originally Posted by pedromvu

I Wasn't aware of that , do you have any other Criterion with the browning issue? maybe they are not rot, but 80% of players have problems reading discs with that color , unless the Walkabout defect was completely another kind of error.

No Browning issue. Just regular playback issue with Walkabout on my Sony player. But it plays fine on my other players.

[Brent L.]

When I first realized this issue the very first thing I did was check my Third Man disc! Even though I watch it every now and then, and did just a couple months ago, I still went to check it. It may be my favorite Blu-ray disc of them all, and I'd have been crushed if that one was affected with this crap.

[jscoggins]

When you bought a BD may or may not matter, though. Especially with brick and mortar stores, you don't know how long a Criterion BD has been sitting there. You could've bought it two years after release, it might be the one and only copy that a store ever put on its shelves.

[neo_reloaded]

Originally Posted by jscoggins

When you bought a BD may or may not matter, though. Especially with brick and mortar stores, you don't know how long a Criterion BD has been sitting there. You could've bought it two years after release, it might be the one and only copy that a store ever put on its shelves.

Yeah, it's tough to confirm that a particular copy is NOT from the first pressing, as random copies from that first pressing could have remained in particular warehouses for months or years.

If you bought during the release week, however, it's pretty much guaranteed you DO have the first pressing.

[pedromvu]

Originally Posted by tama

No Browning issue. Just regular playback issue with Walkabout on my Sony player. But it plays fine on my other players.

Oh ok, since my first copy of Walkabout had also the Browning issue, i always assumed it was the same playback issue Criterion mentioned on 2010, since the description fits (it was said that if it played it would skip around 50 minutes mark).