Because of the approach WB manufactured their DVDs, nearly all discs pressed between 2006-8 are unplayable now.
UPDATED: In the previous couple of days since we posted this piece, the story has gone viral, and now Warner Bros has reached out to us with a press release from their Residence Video division providing to make good on the ruined DVDs – if doable.
Right here’s the assertion in full:
Warner Bros. Residence Leisure is conscious of potential points affecting choose DVD titles manufactured between 2006 – 2008, and the corporate has been actively working with shoppers to switch faulty discs.
The place doable, the faulty discs have been changed with the identical title. Nevertheless, as among the affected titles are now not in print or the rights have expired, shoppers have been supplied an alternate for a title of like-value.
Customers with affected product can contact the client help group at [email protected].
For me, that is form of a excellent news/ unhealthy information state of affairs, as whereas it is going to be good to get replacements, MANY of the titles I’m most involved with are now not in print, largely as a result of the truth that the rightsholders have modified, and as such are now not accessible in any kind. Should you occur to benefit from this provide by WB, please contact me at [email protected] along with your expertise so we will observe up on this story.
ORIGINAL POST:
I’m an enormous fan of previous motion pictures. Now, once I say previous I don’t imply motion pictures from ten, twenty, and even thirty or forty years in the past. I really like motion pictures from the Golden Age of Hollywood, particularly the 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s. I’ve at all times beloved this era, and given how onerous it’s to search out many of those motion pictures on streaming, I’ve made an effort to purchase as many of those motion pictures on bodily media as doable. As such, I’ve 1000’s of previous motion pictures on DVD, and amongst my most treasured titles are a number of dozen DVD field units Warner Bros put out within the mid-2000s, as they management one of the best library of traditional movie.
A number of months in the past, I dug into an previous Humphrey Bogart field set to observe a favourite of mine, Passage to Marseille. After about an hour, the disc merely stopped working. The identical factor occurred with one other film from the set, Throughout the Pacific. I really thought my previous Blu-ray participant was responsible, and on condition that I used to be in want of an improve anyway, I purchased a brand new UHD participant and simply forgot about it.
Flash ahead to a few week in the past, once I determined to throw on an previous Errol Flynn film referred to as Determined Journey. The identical factor occurred. This was extra regarding to me, as, not like the opposite motion pictures I discussed, this has by no means gotten an HD launch and was unavailable digitally. I did some research on-line, and to my horror, I landed on a number of residence theater discussion board threads (and a few good movies) confirming this was no fluke.
It seems that nearly each Warner Bros DVD disc manufactured between 2006 and 2008 has succumbed to the dreaded laser rot, the place discs merely cease working as a result of a rotting of the layers. As soon as it occurs, it could actually’t be undone. This was a frequent drawback with laserdiscs again within the 80s and 90s, however it wasn’t an enormous drawback with DVDs. The problem comes right down to the best way the discs have been authored. Most of the titles affected, which vary from classics like The Wild Bunch and The Shawshank Redemption to TV collections like The Dukes of Hazzard, have been reissued on Blu-ray or digital HD. A number of the titles, akin to most of the titles within the Looney Tunes Collections and most of the Golden Age of Hollywood motion pictures, haven’t, making them, in a variety of instances, misplaced media.
So, what may be finished about this? Nothing. As said on this RetroBlasting video, we had ticking time bombs on our palms, and the one approach round the issue was to tear our faves to one thing like PLEX, however it’s too late for almost all of discs. Warner Bros, after all, has but to touch upon this, so individuals like me have 1000’s of nugatory discs cluttering our cabinets. Right here’s essentially the most complete record of titles accessible.
To date, Blu-ray Discs aren’t affected, though all HD-DVD discs put out by WB on this interval are mainly costly coasters.
Whereas it could be nice of WB was to attempt to make good to shoppers by not less than providing us alternative MOD discs from the Warner Archive, I’m not holding my breath. Provided that the discs solely went unhealthy after fifteen years or so, I’m certain they really feel like we obtained our cash’s price – which we definitely didn’t for my part. Particular shout out to Rattling Idiot Idealistic Crusader, an outstanding Residence Theater YouTube Channel that was approach forward of this story.
UPDATE: In response to one among our readers, FilmFan-89, WB will exchange some discs for those who contact them straight, with a catch. They may solely exchange discs which are at the moment in print, and sadly, most of the faulty titles are usually not. Attain out to them by the WB Retailer and hold us posted within the remark thread if they arrive by with replacements.
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