Anyone else finding just a few too many old DVDs just don't work any more?

I wish I could say the same thing... it's 2018 and there still hundreds of DVDs I've never been able to find... they've been on my wish list since day one!

 

I'd love to know which ones!

 

I don't have my list handy, but it's mostly obscure cult/foreign horror films and stuff along those lines.... hence the reason they're not easy to come by.

 

gotcha...if you come across the list PM me...I'll keep an eye out for you. I come across many movies in my travels...

 

Is someone else in your house playing these and not being as careful with them as you would?

 

Almost all the discs of my original individual seasons of ST:TNG look kind of pitted and have problems playing.

 

A perfect excuse to get the new HD remastered versions...and then future proof them by archiving to hard disk (with a backup).

 

A few months ago, I took out my Blu-ray copy of The Hunt for Red October (which was fine the last time I played it) and discovered a two inch crack radiating out from the center of the disc! Needless to say, this Blu-ray was totally unplayable. It was the first time I ever had anything like this happen (it was totally unexpected because I am super careful with my discs). At the time, Amazon had the Blu-ray version of this movie on sale for something like eight bucks, so I just ordered a replacement and wasn't that upset.

 

LOL. Yeah... I guess so.

 

I have the lot on Laserdiscs that I think all still play. It's been about 10 years since the last time I played then all in order. I've pulled out quite a few piecemeal since and never ran into any problem.

 

I wish I hadn't sold as many of the old classics as I used to have. When I check for them now, people are asking big bucks for them.

The only problem I have with my old DVDs now is the remote broke and the universal remote I had to buy doesn't work for all functions.

 

Big bucks ?
Because DVD titles are hard to get / non available on Blu Ray ?

 

Dirty Harry DVD ( from 35 film DVD box) DVD froze half way through " my you've got a big one" scene. My blu Ray player made a hellava racket took a while to eject disc ( looked fine) cleaned it...same process again 3 times, got a Dirty Harry coaster now. Luckily the DVD can be bought for 50 cents. I'll get the Dirty Harry complete series on Blu Ray..even though I only really need DH &Magnum Force.

 

To everyone that's been noting..."I have a THOUSAND dvds and only one or two won't play now..." How many of those THOUSAND dvds have you put into a player of late to check? If you're like me... you have STILL SEALED dvds you haven't gotten to yet. What about all of those? I've been having a BIG problem of late with burned DVD-R discs. i have three main DVD players. All i suppose are ten years or older. I recently bought a set of DVD-R discs of a public domain TV show from ebay. It was all hit and miss. They were made with high quality DVD-R discs, but one disc would play on one player and not another. One kept freezing up after a certain point. I'm glad I was not one who thought they were getting ahead by transferring all my VHS to DVD-Rs and getting rid of the tapes. I have 40 year old VHS tapes that play like the day they were made and aren't going to "go blank" like numerous DVDs I've had experience with. Yes, I have to devote a lot of room to those tapes. But feel they are FAR MORE secure than discs.

 

I've been saying for years that DVD/CDs aren't forever, as they were initially marketed, but have often had that same argument made in rebuttal. As more time goes by, more disks will fail to play or will have glitches or player incompatibilities. I've long decided to back up all content that I want to keep to hard disk (and have another backup disk for safety). It's also much easier to navigate a file system than a roomful of DVDs and tapes.

 

Are we using the term 'DVD' here to reference both DVD's and Blu's or is this strictly a standard DVD problem? I've never had a problem playing a Blu unless it was dirty or damaged (and I just played 'Sky Captain' one of my oldest Blu's just last night). I have had problems with Std DVD's though just spinning and spinning and never engaging; especially the cheapie off-brand ones.

 

Only had a single DVD out of probably 1000 DVDs/Blu-rays fail: The original Universal release of "Vertigo". I probably bought it 4 more times via DVD/Blu-ray/Digital, but still kept that original orange DVD case after I tossed the DVD, because it had the best artwork

 

It might just be because BluRays are only a decade old, but I've certainly experienced much fewer failed BDs than DVDs. There were a few Criterion titles, but those were replaced for free, and one King Crimson disc from the 'Starless' box, also replaced for free, and the first disc of the 'Firefly' set, which I really need to get around to replacing sooner rather than later. Oh, and also 'Full Metal Jacket' and 'Contempt.'

It's always possible, of course, that more BDs might start to fail in the near future, but it's also likely that manufacturers are more aware of the need to not cut corners now then they were then.

 

I also keep an ultra violet collection.

 

too bad most of the early VHS tapes were Pan and Scan...I still have some as well, but I no longer play them. The ones I loved most I transfered to DVD-R...ah, the irony.

 

yes, ebay sets the market for those...forget Amazon just greedy pig sharks that bloat them all to the stratosphere of ridiculous pricing...

 

I admire your optimism, but I can't see it. If there's a chance to cut a corner and save money, the corner will be cut. What's more, it helps the studios' because when a disk fails (normally many years after purchase), the consumer will likely buy it again (or a 'better and improved 'new edition).

 

I really think the studios are far more concerned with people just not bothering to buy physical media at all any more than they are with potential double-dippers. The studios don't make money by cutting manufacturing expenses. They're the ones paying the companies who manufacture the discs and if they're not being provided with the product they're paying for they're not likely to be repeat customers. It's pretty unlikely the money saved by cutting corners and making defective discs is being passed on up the chain to anyone in the studios. I pay $30 for a disc and it stops working, then I get annoyed. A studio pays hundreds of thousands of dollars to have discs manufactured and then later have to spend more thousands of dollars to press replacements and mail them out, then they get royally pissed.

 

What titles are demand big bucks ?

 

I come across them on Amazon all the time especially when I'm looking for an OOP title...