Last night we sat down to watch a new DVD, Fritz Lang's "Hangmen Also Die," and the disc went straight to the play chapters menu, and wouldn't go any further. I love my many other DVD's I've gotten from the KINO company, and I'm sure this is a singular abberation, but our planned Brian Donlevy triple feature was derailed (1965's "Pit Stop" and 1942's "Great McGinty"). There is a hairline crack in the inner ring, this is enough to derail the disc? You guys come across many discs that are duds?
I just picked up Fargo yesterday. In the widescreen version it won't play chapters 29-32. I had to flip it over and play the Standard version for those chapters. I was able to play the widescreen version from chapter 32 to the end. I could swear when I rented this several years ago I had the exact same problem. I don't buy many DVD's, I rent through Netflix. Even with all that handling these discs receive there are very few problems. Mostly skips. I think only once I received a disc I couldn't play.
After 4 years, I've come the conclusion that 4-5% have some problem, usually minor "sticks" (not the layer change type). Duds that won't play are a much smaller proportion (maybe 4-5 disks out of 350 total), but I've seen enuff to wish DVDs had the reliability of CDs. I had "The Lost Girl" (from Kino I think), and it wouldn't play through, and the Kino people replied to my e-mail, saying there was a problem with the disk, and I should exchange it.
My first DVD of The Nightmare Before Christmas would not play on any machine. A visible flaw in the disc would not allow it to track.
I had to return a copy of Black Hawk Down because it came with scratches/pits and wouldn't play. Of course, there was the time I opened up my sealed copy of a DVD (can't remember the title though it was a De Niro film with great car chase scenes) only to find no DVD. How do you explain that to the clerk at the store?
I've had two duds thus far: My copy of T2: The Ultimate Edition (the prior dual-sided dual-layer THX DVD in the metal case--not the current one) kept freezing my player somewhere around chapter 44, despite the fact there was no visible flaw on the disc. More recently, the first disc of The Four Historic Ed Sullivan Shows Featuring The Beatles wouldn't play at all, not even so much as reaching the main menu. Fortunately, I got both titles replaced with no further problems.
I've never had a problem with a new DVD. Sometimes rentals act up due to scratches or dirt. Porno seems especially prone
Did you try exiting to the chapter selection menu and starting chapter 29 from there? Sometimes that works.
Yellow Submarine DVD, for some reason, the last 1/3 of the disc was untrackable. I waited a while and got a replacement on half.com for $13.
One of my favorite guilty pleasure movies came out on DVD a couple years ago 'The Devil and Max Devlin' with Elliot Gould and Bill Cosby. I happily ordered it from Amazon at the very reasonable price of $9.99. When I got the disc I put it in my machine and it wouldn't even load the menu screen. Instead I got an error message saying something to the effect that this disc is 'not compatible with this player.' What???? A DVD that won't play on a DVD player? I checked the back.....yep, it was region 1 made in the USA, no problem there. I sent an email to Amazon and they promptly sent out a replacement copy. When I received it, I put it in my player and the exact same thing happened. It wouldn't load the menu or play the disc and I got the same error message. I took the 2 discs to my friend's house and, sure enough, they both loaded and played perfectly. My DVD player is an RCA model purchased in 1999, and to this day I don't understand why it won't recognize 'The Devil and Max Devlin.' Since this Disney movie was put out on DVD by Anchor Bay, maybe my DVD player also recognizes what a stinker of a movie it is!
I find that DVD's are more sensitive to dirt and scratches then CD's (more information in much smaller space). Out of the hundreds I've bought I only had a problem with one disk of an X-files season. After cleaning the disk a couple of times and the disk still stopped at the beginning of an episode, I noticed some foreign substance had formed a pit in the disk. I exchanged the entire set and had no problem with the new one. However I do find one annoying problem in many disks I have bought. Throughout the movie there are brief appearances of white spots. They appear only for a brief second and if you blink you can miss it. I can see it and I can go back and freeze frame it. These are not blemishes or flaws in the print of the film itself but from the disk. Does anybody else notice this?
I have 2 DVD's in my collection that will not play. my copy of "Woodstock" will not play the B side and a Rhino disk "The Bubble" which is 3D flick will only play on my computer DVD player.
Its a great way to see a porno....rent them at DVD Overnight.com Like Netflix...they send them in a discreet envelope which you can keep for a week...then send the DVD back.
Zack dixon, would you describe those spots as short streaks? I've seen that on a few disks, but my questions as to what that defect is named have so far gone unaswered. Voicebug, Anchor Bay had serious mastering problems for several years, and some players wouldn't play a lot of their titles. I had personal experience with four of five. I eventually gave up buying Anchor Bay disks released upto 2003-3
They are not streaks but white specks that appear for a split second.They can be in any place on the frame and if you blink you can miss it. On a Star Trek TNG set that I bought I noticed it on a number of episodes. I rented one of the disks from Netflix and it had the specks in the exact same place. Some people might not notice them but when they appear every few seconds, I find them distracting.
No, I am aware of what that looks like and it usually appears on the right top corner. I find these white specks in movies and TV shows (no print codes on TV shows). It is true that I have not played these disks on other players so I don't know if it is something to do with my player. But I only find these on a few disks. Mighty strange.
My Repo Man will not play in my original DVD player, although it used to. It plays fine in other players, though!
Update on dud disc: After it wouldn't play in my girlfriend's Panasonic multi-disc changer, I took it home and hooked up a tv to try it out on my two Sony players, and it played fine. Brought it back, but Panasonic was still a no-go. The Panasonic has played every other DVD we've thrown at it, so go figure.
Speaking of Woodstock, isn't it about time to re-do that one? I actually like the older "pan and scan" version, rather than having 2 tiny pictures on the screen. It should at least offer dts. Should have kept my LD box set.
