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

[darkness2918]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

This thread has made me super paranoid about the fact that my film storage bookshelf is located directly in front of a heater in my bedroom. There's really no way to reconfigure the room to get around it.

...it scares me.

Im not sure about BD but ive had a similar situation as yours but with DVDs being near the heater. Never had a problem with any of the discs.

[jscoggins]

Originally Posted by darkness2918

I just bought copies of Ip Man 1,2 & Legend of the Fist from Well Go USA now im gonna have to keep an eye on them. Im glad I found this thread.

Update: I just checked all 3 discs, which all came from the same big order I placed from an online store & all 3 discs have the bronzing with IP Man 1 being the worse. Can someone whos sent in a disc to Well Go let me know about how long itll take to get the replacements in?

It should be fairly quick (2-3 weeks?) since they now have a supply of discs to send out to their customers.

[captveg]

Originally Posted by jscoggins

Criterion has not expanded their initial list. People who sent discs that aren't on Criterion's list are still waiting to hear back from Criterion.

Which is why I mentioned receiving Monterey Pop, a title I had go bad but not one on their formal list.

[BigManDeath]

I received all 10 of my Well Go replacement blu-rays the other day. It only took a little over a week once they received the originals. Very pleased.

[Torrente]

Did anyone else other than me notice that several other WELL GO disc show severe bronzing too?
I just watched DRUG WAR. It played fine... but it's bronzed as hell... Are we sure that WELL GO doesn't use the same factory anymore?

[jscoggins]

Originally Posted by Torrente

Did anyone else other than me notice that several other WELL GO disc show severe bronzing too?
I just watched DRUG WAR. It played fine... but it's bronzed as hell... Are we sure that WELL GO doesn't use the same factory anymore?

Check the IFPI numbers.

[Torrente]

I would like to.
But I can't find it.
Usually I can see them on the Criterion discs and some other Well Go titles. But with Drug War I can't. I don't even see the spot. As if there were none.



Also, I realized my US 10,000 BC disc is severely damaged!
It has a fine layer of some kind of mist over the whole surface. It's the worst chemical reaction I've seen so far.
Much more than what I witnessed on my french discs that are also touched by this same bronzing and "unplayable" issue that is affecting my Criterion / Well Go discs.
I also witnessed severe bronzing on my european Dirty Harry series discs.
And the art side of my New York Ripper disc is deteriorating over the years. There is a kind of bubble (as if I put a flame on the art side trying to burn it) that is showing also on the data side and the disc is therefore unplayable anymore

[jscoggins]

Originally Posted by Torrente

I would like to.
But I can't find it.
Usually I can see them on the Criterion discs and some other Well Go titles. But with Drug War I can't. I don't even see the spot. As if there were none.



Also, I realized my US 10,000 BC disc is severely damaged!
It has a fine layer of some kind of mist over the whole surface. It's the worst chemical reaction I've seen so far.
Much more than what I witnessed on my french discs that are also touched by this same bronzing and "unplayable" issue that is affecting my Criterion / Well Go discs.
I also witnessed severe bronzing on my european Dirty Harry series discs.
And the art side of my New York Ripper disc is deteriorating over the years. There is a kind of bubble (as if I put a flame on the art side trying to burn it) that is showing also on the data side and the disc is therefore unplayable anymore

I will add your US discs to the OP.

[Torrente]

OK, thanks!

Maybe I'll send an email to Blue Underground for my New York Ripper disc... I think I bought it on Axel Music and the store closed in the meantime, so...
I'll try to buy 10,000 BC again and see what happens.
Those "chemical" reactions are very concerning (same goes with at least 50 titles released in France over the last few years) to a point where I'm questionning the ability of the factories to manufacturate blu-ray discs properly...

[jscoggins]

Originally Posted by Torrente

OK, thanks!

Maybe I'll send an email to Blue Underground for my New York Ripper disc... I think I bought it on Axel Music and the store closed in the meantime, so...
I'll try to buy 10,000 BC again and see what happens.
Those "chemical" reactions are very concerning (same goes with at least 50 titles released in France over the last few years) to a point where I'm questionning the ability of the factories to manufacturate blu-ray discs properly...

The air bubbles thing is pretty crazy.

[Torrente]

Originally Posted by jscoggins

The air bubbles thing is pretty crazy.

Yes it is

And it seems another member's disc is affected too (check the Blue Underground thread).
So it's not an isolated issue or "just" a bad one. It seems there's a bunch of bad ones out there.
Hope they did another pressing in the meantime

[atlantajoseph]

Sent my Criterion BDs in about a week and a half ago (all from their official list) and just got my replacement discs, including both OOPs.

[kuro_sawa]

Has "A Serious Man" been brought up here? I just checked my disc and it has chips/glue starting on the inner ring that weren't there previously.

[neo_reloaded]

Originally Posted by Torrente

Did anyone else other than me notice that several other WELL GO disc show severe bronzing too?
I just watched DRUG WAR. It played fine... but it's bronzed as hell... Are we sure that WELL GO doesn't use the same factory anymore?

I also cannot find an IFPI code on Drug War. BUT... it's a bd-25, not a bd-50, and therefore immune to bronzing as we know it...

bd-25's are more see-through, so maybe it's just a trick of the light?

[jscoggins]

Originally Posted by neo_reloaded

I also cannot find an IFPI code on Drug War. BUT... it's a bd-25, not a bd-50, and therefore immune to bronzing as we know it...

bd-25's are more see-through, so maybe it's just a trick of the light?

Ah, that makes sense.

[Torrente]

Well, as you may know, we are currently facing a HUGE blu-ray disc fiasco in France, with a magnitude that is 100 times more concerning than what happened to Lionsgate / Criterion / Well Go discs in the US.
We (french customers) find a lot of our discs to be unplayable anymore.

Companies told us it was mainly a problem of material they used back in 2009 / 2010 which are causing some kind of deterioration to the layers on BD-50s. But we recently discovered it was partly wrong or uncomplete. Because a lot more discs became unplayable. Discs that were released in 2011, 2012, 2013. And BD-25 too. They didn't answer about those latest issues yet.
We at least discovered 70 to 80 discs that are unplayable anymore... and counting. Everyday another title is added to the list.
Today the following french releases were named:
- Tucker & Dale
- Brazil (digibook)
- Cleopatra (digibook)
- Speed (BD-25)

It affects a lot of french discs: most of the TF1 video "old" steelbooks (Polanski's Pirates, Pulp Fiction, The Mist etc), most of the M6 vidéo releases, Pathé, Europa Corp, a lot of Wild Side discs too (such as Sin City and many others) and some Gaumont, Aventi, MEP. We also discovered 2 titles that were pressed by Sony in France (The Myth and Silent Hill collector's 2 discs edition) and several from Fox.
We also discovered european discs of the Dirty Harry collection from Warner might be affected (mine are).

Right now BD-25 that are affected are very rare, I agree on that. Still, some are concerned too. For example, my Speed disc is totally ROT. It's not a "bronzing" effect, it's more like a kind of a mist on the surface of the data side.

This issue is discussed on all the french blu-ray community forums. I don't think we discussed about it on the french forum of blu-ray.com yet 'though.
I chosed not to, because right now, most of the companies didn't say a word. They just said it was a problem with the factory named QOL and that we should all deal directly with it. But this very factory is in receivership right now. Her faith will be adressed on the 26th of February so we all wait to know how this will end. Plus other factories are concerned as some of the discs that are affected weren't manufactured by QOL factory but others.

At the moment, we only can check all our collection, hoping that just a few discs won't work, and not a huge lot.

[jscoggins]

Originally Posted by Torrente

[Show spoiler]Well, as you may know it (or not) we are currently facing a HUGE blu-ray disc fiasco. With a magnitude that is 100 times more concerning that what happened to Lionsgate / Criterion / Well Go discs.
A lot of discs we (french customers) find unplayable anymore.
Companies told us it was mainly a problem of material they used back in 2009 / 2010 that are causing a deterioration to the layers on BD-50. But we recently discovered it was partly a lie. Because a lot more discs became unplayable. Discs that were released in 2011, 2012, 2013. And BD-25 too.
We at least discovered 70 to 80 discs that are unplayable anymore and counting. Everyday another title is added to the list.
Today it was the french releases of:
- Tucker & Dale
- Brazil (digibook)
- Cleopatra (digibook)
- Speed (BD-25)
It affects a lot of french discs such as most of the TF1 video steelbooks (Polanski's Pirates, Pulp Fiction, The Mist etc), most of the M6 vidéo releases, Pathé, Europa Corp, a lot of Wild Side discs too (such as Sin Cuty and many others) and some Gaumont, Aventi, MEP.
Right now BD-25 that are affected are very rare, I agree on that.? Still some are concerned. And my Speed disc is totally ROT. It's not a "bronzing" effect, it's more like a kind of a mist on the surface of the data side.

This issue is addressed in all the french blu-ray community. I don't think we discussed about it on the french forum of blu-ray.com yet 'though.
I chosed not to because right now most of the companies don't say a word. They just say it's a problem with the factory and we all have to deal directly with them. But this very factory is in receivership right now. And her faith will be adressed on the 26th of February so we all wait to know how this will wait.
At the moment we only can test all our collection hoping that just a few discs won't work anymore and not a huge lot.

You should create a new thread about this somewhere, copying the words identically. This is HUGE.

Edit: I started new threads in the DigiBook and SteelBook sections since that is what people usually import when they buy European editions.

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=257683

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=257684

[wormraper]

with the commonality that is showing up across MULTIPLE factories worldwide, I'm saying my original statements early on in this thread are ringing true. There seems to be a flaw, or at least a propensity for Blu-rays too be pressed improperly in ways that FAR outclass DVD... I'm thinking Blu-ray will have failure rates long term that will FAR outclass Laserdisc rot

[jscoggins]

Originally Posted by wormraper

with the commonality that is showing up across MULTIPLE factories worldwide, I'm saying my original statements early on in this thread are ringing true. There seems to be a flaw, or at least a propensity for Blu-rays too be pressed improperly in ways that FAR outclass DVD... I'm thinking Blu-ray will have failure rates long term that will FAR outclass Laserdisc rot

This reminded me that I should add Sin City: A Dame to Kill For to the OP since the stacked discs might be unplayable.

[rdodolak]

Originally Posted by wormraper

with the commonality that is showing up across MULTIPLE factories worldwide, I'm saying my original statements early on in this thread are ringing true. There seems to be a flaw, or at least a propensity for Blu-rays too be pressed improperly in ways that FAR outclass DVD... I'm thinking Blu-ray will have failure rates long term that will FAR outclass Laserdisc rot

Not to claim that the sky is falling, but I recall there was a member on these forums years ago that claimed that manufacturers were purposely using inferior materials to expedite disc failure but that member had been laughed at back then by other members.

So far all the discs I've checked seem fine but who knows what the future brings.