Kagemusha (1980)

[DukeTogo84]

I couldn't find a U.S. topic on Kagemusha, but was hoping someone could help me out.

In the Criterion Blu-ray disc I noticed kind of a blue light in the upper corner. An example would be at the 2:20:18 mark where it's really strong. It's mostly in the dark scenes.

At first I thought it was the TV and that it was going through something called "flashlighting" but I tried it on a second TV and had the same issue as well.

I've never noticed this on a blu-ray before, but it's bugging me and not sure if it's the print of the film, or something is wrong with the disc, blu-ray player, or TV.

Can anyone take a look on their disc and see if it has a similar issue?

[drush9999]

Originally Posted by DukeTogo84

I couldn't find a U.S. topic on Kagemusha, but was hoping someone could help me out.

In the Criterion Blu-ray disc I noticed kind of a blue light in the upper corner. An example would be at the 2:20:18 mark where it's really strong. It's mostly in the dark scenes.

At first I thought it was the TV and that it was going through something called "flashlighting" but I tried it on a second TV and had the same issue as well.

I've never noticed this on a blu-ray before, but it's bugging me and not sure if it's the print of the film, or something is wrong with the disc, blu-ray player, or TV.

Can anyone take a look on their disc and see if it has a similar issue?

Yes it's there on mine, it's an artifact from the original photography, nothing to worry about.

[DukeTogo84]

Originally Posted by drush9999

Yes it's there on mine, it's an artifact from the original photography, nothing to worry about.

Awesome. Thanks for that, as it's a big relief. Thought my TV might have been acting up.

[Gatorshea]

Anyone else have this disc start going bronze?

[I KEEL YOU]

Originally Posted by Gatorshea

Anyone else have this disc start going bronze?

It's one of Criterion's early blu ray releases, and you can assume that all the discs that were pressed at the same time have already bronzed or will bronze soon.

[DaBargainHunta]

Originally Posted by I KEEL YOU

It's one of Criterion's early blu ray releases, and you can assume that all the discs that were pressed at the same time have already bronzed or will bronze soon.

I bought it in 2017, so I thought I'd be safe - but *sigh* it was a "used - like new" copy, presumably from AWD.

I have no idea if it's bronzing or not - I'd have to check - but is there a way to get a replacement regardless? It is obviously a known issue.

[Bates_Motel]

Originally Posted by I KEEL YOU

It's one of Criterion's early blu ray releases, and you can assume that all the discs that were pressed at the same time have already bronzed or will bronze soon.

The didn't use the same plant for every release, so not all the early titles have bronzing issues.

[DaBargainHunta]

Originally Posted by Bates_Motel

The didn't use the same plant for every release, so not all the early titles have bronzing issues.

Maybe I got lucky... If there's any "bronzing" on mine, I certainly can't tell.

[MifuneFan]

My disc, and a couple others started bronzing, and were unreadable. I contacted Criterion at hte time, and got a response from "Jon Mulvaney" stating to just send them in. Being the horrible procrastinator I am, I still haven't gotten around to do it, but I will soon enough

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

I started watching Sanjuro yesterday, and at around the 37 min mark my disc stopped playing. I tried a few times to get it to work, but nothing. I then realized this was the dreaded disc rot / bronzing issue that's plagued several discs from ~2009/2010. I decided to check more of my discs from that time and found 3 others that were affected. My 8 1/2 disc was the worst looking one, and it wouldn't even be recognized by my PS3. My Kagemusha disc is also not readable, and my Stagecoach disc freezes towards the end of the movie.

So what's the protocol here? Do I contact Criterion first, and tell them the issues? I know they brought up their replacement program a few years back, but only listed a few problematic films, and I don't think any of these are included. How do you guys package the discs? Jewel cases?



And for anyone wondering, I had an older copy of Sanjuro on DVD, so I was able to watch the rest of the movie that way ...I'm also wondering whether I should send in Yojimbo too. I watched that one 2 weeks ago and it was perfectly fine, but it's from the same set, so I don't know if it's bound to fail eventually too..

Email I got:

Hello Michael,

I hope this email finds you well, although I'm sorry to hear you are having trouble with these Blu-rays! These titles is ones that could have been affected by the disc rot, and although they aren't on the original list, please go ahead and send them in for replacement. I've posted the instructions below:

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 on ten 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:

SUMMER HOURS
WALKABOUT
PARIS, TEXAS
M
THE SEVENTH SEAL
PIERROT LE FOU
HOWARDS END
MONSOON WEDDING
MONTEREY POP
RIDE WITH THE DEVIL

If you have found that your Blu-ray copy of one of these titles does not play, please send your disc in to the following address for a replacement:

The Criterion Collection
Attn: Jon Mulvaney
215 Park Avenue South
5th floor
New York, NY 10003

Please include only your disc -- no packaging -- along with the address to which you'd like us to mail your replacement. We will not be replacing or exchanging packaging. There is no need to email us in addition.

If you decide not to send in a disc that is playing fine and it starts to show signs of the defect at a later date, we will be happy to exchange your disc at that time. If we learn that other titles are similarly defective, we will add them to the list and continue to replace them as well (excluding discs that are out of print that aren't listed above). The best way to tell if your disc from the list is defective is by looking on the under side of the disc (the shiny side) and if you see the letters 'BVDL' your disc will be fine. If you don't see those letters you should send in your disc.

Thank you for your patience and understanding!

Jon Mulvaney

[CreasyBear]

Any reason why the Blu-ray is out of print, but the DVD isn't?

[latehong]

Originally Posted by CreasyBear

Any reason why the Blu-ray is out of print, but the DVD isn't?

Isn't it just out of stock, not out of print?

[CreasyBear]

Originally Posted by latehong

Isn't it just out of stock, not out of print?

It's been running high on eBay and Amazon for awhile now.

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by CreasyBear

Any reason why the Blu-ray is out of print, but the DVD isn't?

On the website it only says "Currently Unavailable", which may be a stock issue.

[DukeTogo84]

Yeah, that's odd that the Blu-ray is hard to find, but the DVD isn't.

[DaBargainHunta]

Originally Posted by ravenus

On the website it only says "Currently Unavailable", which may be a stock issue.

Today is the Criterion Flash Sale. Several movies say "Currently Unavailable" right now, which has never made any sense to me because you'd think Criterion wouldn't "run out" of their own stock. Makes the flash sales more annoying than fun IMO, so I usually don't bother.

[Mister_Kidd]

I bought it this morning, so if it went OOP, it happened today.

[DukeTogo84]

Originally Posted by Mister_Kidd

I bought it this morning, so if it went OOP, it happened today.

Well that's interesting. At least that tells us that it's not out of print.

[mmarczi]

Things that are out of print say "OUT OF PRINT". Even if something says "CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE" for a long time, that still means that at a later time it will be available. It could mean that they need to get more copies printed, for example. For titles that may have been released in a dual format, it could mean that they are in the process of transition to a new single-format edition, and had been waiting to sell off stock, as recently happened with Persona. Their release of Salo was unavailable for a rather long time, but it was available today (I got a chance to order it before it became unavailable again within 20 minutes of the start of the sale).

[DukeTogo84]

This is a damn fine movie. Even though most think it's inferior to Ran (and Kurosawa himself said it was a dress rehearsal to Ran), I think it's the better film. It just shows the turmoil of man so well and I think along with Hara Kiri and the Human Condition trilogy, it's Tatsuya Nakadai's best performance.

[Ray Jackson]

The only thing I don’t like about Kurosawa samurai films like Ran and Kagemusha is when they break out the old school A cappella singing.

...I just think it’s corny.