BDs That Are Out of Print (OOP)

[oubukibun]

My copy of The New World (sadly) has a noticeable bump on the side from the cardboard pressed too hard or being juggled by mail carriers on the way to me. It's easy enough to hide on my shelf, but there's just no need to hide these things, period.

I refuse to believe the callousness of the everyday person in how he or she handles DVDs or Blu-rays needs to become the norm for the rest of us.

People look at me like a loon when I'm inspecting a case before I buy the film inside, and I say, they're the loons for not caring at all.

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by oubukibun

My copy of The New World (sadly) has a noticeable bump on the side from the cardboard pressed too hard or being juggled by mail carriers on the way to me. It's easy enough to hide on my shelf, but there's just no need to hide these things, period.

I refuse to believe the callousness of the everyday person in how he or she handles DVDs or Blu-rays needs to become the norm for the rest of us.

People look at me like a loon when I'm inspecting a case before I buy the film inside, and I say, they're the loons for not caring at all.

Yep, I've given that speech to my wife and children at least a half dozen times over the years.

[oubukibun]

And rightfully so!

[snipemonkey]

Originally Posted by oubukibun

My copy of The New World (sadly) has a noticeable bump on the side from the cardboard pressed too hard or being juggled by mail carriers on the way to me. It's easy enough to hide on my shelf, but there's just no need to hide these things, period.

I refuse to believe the callousness of the everyday person in how he or she handles DVDs or Blu-rays needs to become the norm for the rest of us.

People look at me like a loon when I'm inspecting a case before I buy the film inside, and I say, they're the loons for not caring at all.

YEEEEEESSSSSS! I have an insane case of Physical Media OCD, too.

I can't even look at the movie collections of most of my relatives or friends anymore because they are absolutely brutal with their discs. I've seen DVDs and Blu-rays at my brother's house that looked like someone had walked on the box then left it out in the rain and gone at the disc itself with a power sander.

Outside of your own personal laziness, slobbiness or whatever, I've never understood why someone would pay good money for something and then treat it like a disposable baby wipe!

I had a girlfriend once who would always open my discs by grabbing both sides of the case and yanking them back until the front and back covers almost touched every time she wanted to watch a movie. And then practically snap the disc in half trying to get it off the spool. She was good enough to stop after my heart stopped and I lost consciousness a couple of times but I never could get an answer why she felt that was necessary. She did the same thing to books -- grab both covers and SNAP!... crack the spine with an audible sound that I still hear in my nightmares.

[oubukibun]

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by snipemonkey

I had a girlfriend once who would always open my discs by grabbing both sides of the case and yanking them back until the front and back covers almost touched every time she wanted to watch a movie. And then practically snap the disc in half trying to get it off the spool. She was good enough to stop after my heart stopped and I lost consciousness a couple of times but I never could get an answer why she felt that was necessary. She did the same thing to books -- grab both covers and SNAP!... crack the spine with an audible sound that I still hear in my nightmares.

I'm glad to see you describe this person in the past tense.

I have friends who do similar things.

I have a friend who will look at a nice new coffee table book (not mine, I hide them from him) and lift each page in such a way that he bends each page as he lifts it and leaves a ding in every single page he touches.

I always watch in horror and wonder, is this something he does on purpose? How can someone do this and not be aware they're doing it?

[Jay H.]

I have no words, other than the ones I just typed.

[HD Goofnut]

I've mentioned these experiences before here, but I was in management at Blockbuster from 2001 to 2004. I saw everything with DVDs: cracked, split in two, lost, chicken grease, pizza sauce, and other unidentified solids and liquids. Some of these folks would walk back into the store and say something like, "I don't understand why it wouldn't play." I just sighed usually and gave them another copy. However, I'd tell them to keep anything off the bottom of the discs other than a microfiber cloth and if you had to clean them use lukewarm water with a soft cloth.

[snipemonkey]

Originally Posted by James Luckard

I'm glad to see you describe this person in the past tense.

I have friends who do similar things.

I have a friend who will look at a nice new coffee table book (not mine, I hide them from him) and lift each page in such a way that he bends each page as he lifts it and leaves a ding in every single page he touches.

I always watch in horror and wonder, is this something he does on purpose? How can someone do this and not be aware they're doing it?

Wasn't why we eventually broke up. But then again it didn't help either.

This is why I have a strict "Will Not Loan" policy on all my stuff. I'll be happy to rip a copy of any movie I own but those discs never leave my house -- E-V-E-R. When I die my sh*t is going to be as close to Mint condition as it is reasonably possible for me to keep it.

[oubukibun]

I don't lend anything out, either.

I once lent out my copy of Kingdom Hearts for the PS2 and my buddy returned it to me mauled by Cujo and stamped on by Chucky.

Unless he lived in a house he shared with Gremlins or Critters, there was no excusing it.

Learned my lesson early, and it's most definitely a keeper, haha.

[James Luckard]

Ha, I'm the same, I don't loan ANYTHING.

I made that mistake too many times back years ago and things vanished or arrived back looking like they'd been run over by a truck. Some people were kind enough to replace the things they ruined or lost, others forced me to rebuy them.

I still remember the thing that made me start the firm rule. I was already leaning toward not loaning anything, but a close friend asked to borrow a DVD and he was a super obsessive film buff, so I figured I could trust him. I had never been to his house, but went there a month or so later to watch something, and he remembered the DVD he had borrowed. He ran around looking and, to my horror, all his discs were loose and strewn all over the apartment. He had empty DVD cases in piles, and then discs lying around on top of furniture, on the floor, all without their cases. It took him five minutes to find both the case and the disc, and the disc was on a pile of a bunch of other discs, covered in scratches. It took Oscar-level acting not to express my revulsion, lol. Needless to say I haven't loaded a thing since then, haha.

[meremortal]

DVDs/CDs are generally quite durable. I recently bought a bunch of previously viewed discs that are so scratched up that I can't see a reflection off the discs. But they play okay. In contrast, I've had several blus with the most minor scratches that led to entire chapter skips. But in general blus are more forgiving for scratch-resistance. Even cleaning a dvd or cd with a microfiber cloth can still add some scratching.

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by meremortal

DVDs/CDs are generally quite durable. I recently bought a bunch of previously viewed discs that are so scratched up that I can't see a reflection off the discs. But they play okay. In contrast, I've had several blus with the most minor scratches that led to entire chapter skips. But in general blus are more forgiving for scratch-resistance. Even cleaning a dvd or cd with a microfiber cloth can still add some scratching.

I've found the opposite. In my experience, CDs/DVDs with any sort of scratch will skip or refuse to play on at least one of my devices. Meanwhile, I've never had a BD get scratched at all, though I've had a few bronze and become unplayable that way.

[houseca]

Guys is this a bad time to ask to borrow a copy of The Third Man on Criterion? My kids and their hockey friends want to watch it.

[Blu Titan]

This great movie is OOP.

[houseca]

Originally Posted by Blu Titan

This great movie is OOP.

There is a 4K release in Germany, but I believe no subs, which would be a huge problem for English speakers.

[SpaceBlackKnight]

I'm sure someone will eventually put out the 4k Stalingrad remaster in the US. Might not be a 4k UHD (maybe digital?), but most would settle for anything other than $100+ for a OOP (and now inferior) BD.

Luckily, Paramount is reissuing the former Criterion titles for those who missed out or sold theirs. We're not being totally left out in the cold like when Olive's Ticks went OOP due to a rights issue, or Rad's 4k UHD came and went for good due to an odd licencing deal. These Paramount releases probably won't have all the extras and original audio on some of them, but they may have better PQ and compression since some of the Criterions had notorious compression and mastering issues.

[Nightman04]

Really upset that I missed out on Harold and Maude. Didn’t get a chance to replace that one.

[noiradelic]

Very good chance Paramount will rerelease it. It's no less popular than Days of Heaven.

[Nightman04]

Originally Posted by noiradelic

Very good chance Paramount will rerelease it. It's no less popular than Days of Heaven.

Hope you’re right!