Well Go USA MOD releases

[rdodolak]

It appears Well Go USA is going the MOD route, but of the burned kind.

[darkness2918]

That sucks. Hopefully they only do this for a few titles (would rather they never even started at all).

[Rzzzz]

Still waiting on this from Well Go......PRESSED!!

[Sector Drone]

Originally Posted by darkness2918

That sucks. Hopefully they only do this for a few titles (would rather they never even started at all).

They have movies coming out the month after these that are on pressed discs.

[darkness2918]

Originally Posted by Sector Drone

They have movies coming out the month after these that are on pressed discs.

I wonder why go the BD-R route with these? Maybe they don’t think they’ll sell well? So long as Peninsula is a pressed disc whenever they bring it out

[Dankk]

Originally Posted by darkness2918

I wonder why go the BD-R route with these? Maybe they don’t think they’ll sell well?

Yeah, my only thought is that these titles are probably so under-the-radar, that maybe it's not worth it for Well Go to make proper pressed copies.

In fact they probably have not seen very good sales on their recent releases that are pressed. Some recent WGU blu-rays that I've purchased are "The Brink", "The Divine Fury", and "The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil". All great movies, but I never hear anyone talking about them, and I'm not sure if there's even any threads about them on this forum. I can see why WGU would be disappointed. (Edit: just checked, and yeah, there are literally no threads about these movies.)

When "The Captain" (chinese true story about the sichuan airlines windshield incident) was released just a few days ago, my local Best Buy literally only got 1 copy in. (and I was the one who bought it, lol)

Anyway, I will probably still buy these. I've been wondering for a long time when they would release Line Walker 2 on blu-ray. I'm also sorta interested in seeing Chasing the Dragon 2, and I would also totally buy Unstoppable (even though I already own it on digital). "Lucid Dreams" is the only one I haven't heard of.

Originally Posted by darkness2918

So long as Peninsula is a pressed disc whenever they bring it out

I have to imagine that Peninsula will still be an actual pressed release. Train to Busan has a huge following.

[Sector Drone]

Originally Posted by darkness2918

I wonder why go the BD-R route with these? Maybe they don’t think they’ll sell well? So long as Peninsula is a pressed disc whenever they bring it out

Yeah, I imagine they don't have a lot of confidence in these titles selling that well. Samurai Marathon and Better Days, which are coming out the following month, look to be more highly regarded. Ip Man 4 is coming out the same month as these burned discs. Obviously, they know there's interest for that movie.

[vertigop1ayer]

On the disc topic, I am happy to see them begin selling 4K Blu-rays. After Ne Zha and Shadow, Ip Man 4 will be the third such title.

[Syrena]

This is horrible, I buy most of what they release, but I won't be getting these.

[Dankk]

Originally Posted by Syrena

This is horrible, I buy most of what they release, but I won't be getting these.

Honest question, what is the reason to be scared of a burned disc? I've personally never bought one before, but I can't imagine what the difference it makes, other than maybe having a weird "burned" color on the bottom of the disc. I don't see how it would actually affect the quality of the movie.

[Syrena]

Originally Posted by Dankk

Honest question, what is the reason to be scared of a burned disc? I've personally never bought one before, but I can't imagine what the difference it makes, other than maybe having a weird "burned" color on the bottom of the disc. I don't see how it would actually affect the quality of the movie.

Not scared, just not wasting my money on something I can do myself, aka burn a disc. It feels cheap and lazy.

[Dankk]

Originally Posted by Syrena

Not scared, just not wasting my money on something I can do myself, aka burn a disc. It feels cheap and lazy.

I see. It is certainly cheaper, but at the end of the day, I am still buying and supporting movies that I'm interested in. Assuming it will still be a proper studio-encoded movie that comes with a blu-ray case and printed artwork, I'm still gonna buy it.

[Leeon0]

I'll go the streaming route before I buy this sh!t.

[Dankk]

I'm seeing these movies beginning to pop up on online retailers, but the price seems way too high. A whopping $27.99 at Target, and $29.98 at Walmart. That can't be right, can it?

[kevin87]

Originally Posted by Dankk

I see. It is certainly cheaper, but at the end of the day, I am still buying and supporting movies that I'm interested in. Assuming it will still be a proper studio-encoded movie that comes with a blu-ray case and printed artwork, I'm still gonna buy it.

Originally Posted by Dankk

I'm seeing these movies beginning to pop up on online retailers, but the price seems way too high. A whopping $27.99 at Target, and $29.98 at Walmart. That can't be right, can it?

It'll have "Blu-ray Disc" case and will come with artwork, but it'll bad quality like you printed it yourself on an inkjet printer from the late 00s.

And yes, the price is correct. That's one of the big reasons people don't like BD-R. You're getting what feels like a bootleg but for a premium price.

[ninawatches]

At least this way we might get some lesser known/popular titles that wouldn't get released otherwise. I don't mind BD-R because I like to have a physical copy whenever possible, that's why there's a shelf of Malaysian DVD releases in my collection.

[Dankk]

Line Walker 2 and Unstoppable both arrived in the mail today. I've never ordered a MOD release before, so I wasn't sure what to expect (other than the backs of the discs having a burned appearance).

The blu-ray cases don't have a typical "Blu-Ray" logo at the top; in fact, they don't have any kind of logo or signifier at the top at all. Just an empty row of blue plastic. Quality of the printed artwork on the case seems seems very good though, almost indistinguishable from a normal release (unless maybe you're looking very closely).

My Line Walker 2 case unfortunately has a sizeable crack near the top part of the spine. Not sure if this is poor QC, or shipping damage. Either way I am not too miffed about it.

The discs themselves definitely have more of a printed appearance. You can see a very fine dot pattern when inspecting them closely, like you would see in a photo on a printed brochure. More than anything, the discs actually appear too shiny/glossy. Not sure what kinds of machines these discs are labelled on, but they do bring back memories of one of my former warehouse jobs where we produced CDs very similar to this, with unusually-shiny finish and all.

And of course, the CDs have very dark/discolored backs, indicating that they are indeed burned.

As for the quality of the movies themselves: The discs are both only BD-25's (I assume), but both films are AVC encoded at healthy bit-rates. Line Walker 2 is around 29 Mb/s, and Unstoppable is around 23 Mb/s. I haven't yet watched them in full, but I've scrubbed through both of them and PQ looks good to my eyes.

Here are a few photos for anyone who wants to see.

[Show spoiler]