So, they don't seem to understand the Persona problem at all. Thanks MGM.

"It's 1.33: 1, therefore its OAR"

There is no problem with the Persona disc.

It is not framed incorrectly, just framed *differently*. Every different transfer is going to have slight differences in framing. Even Criterion's versions of Beauty and the Beast and The 400 Blows are framed differently.

I believe I used a more recent example earlier in this thread:

In most scenes, even upon close inspection the framing differences are completely unnoticeable.

I don't care what Disney does with 'Alice' - its their property to use or misuse.

If we are losing 11% of the image then yeah, the disc is framed incorrectly - unless the argument is that the previous releases were framed incorrectly. And from side-by-side comparisons the feeling is that the MGM disc has got it wrong.

11% doesn't sound 'unnoticeable' to me.

I don't know where the 11% came from - probably the DVD Beaver site, which is inaccurate.

In any case, it's less than 2% by my calculations - you'll lose more than that in overscan.

Advance copies of the corrected Ingmar Bergman set have become available. There appears to be a very simple way to tell if a store has the new or old one:

The new version has a new UPC: 0 27616 91137 7. Also, in place of the ISBN is what appears to be a new catalog number, 1006999. Both numbers are on a white sticker that has been placed over the spot where the old UPC is printed on the bottom of the box.

(The old UPC is 0 27616 90225 2. The old catalog number is 1005996.)

If buying the titles individually:

The new UPC for Hour of the Wolf is 0 27616 91135 3.
(The old UPC is 0 27616 86787 2.)

The new UPC for Shame is 0 27616 91136 0.
(The old UPC is 0 27616 90224 5.)

The UPCs of the other individual titles are the same.

Got the new box set today. I'll watch the films and report latter, but right off I can say that this is the stupidest packaging ever. The box has this slip over translusent sleeve that serves no purpose whatsoever.

Ever thought about aesthetical reasons? I do quite like it. :-)

Cheers

Mark Renton

Can you post a photo please?

Has anyone gotten their replacements yet? MGM seems to be moving awfully slow on this.

I haven't even gotten a response to my email.

Rick M.

I had special ordered this set at a local Hastings store, and I picked it up today.

It seems that they're still selling the recalled sets. Depending on how long MGM takes to respond to my emails, I may just go ahead and return it. An exchange (at Hastings) probably wouldn't work, as I'd no doubt get another recalled set.

Gotta love that.

Three more weeks have passed and I have just sent them a THIRD email and still no response!

Has anyone received a response yet?

I only bought "Persona", but I've rented most of these titles. Yesterday I watched the new transfer of "Hour of the Wolf", rented from Netflix (yes, I was surprised to get the proper OAR disc--thought for sure it would be the 16x9 version). I was paying close attention to the framing, and I can't imagine the 1.66:1 (1.85:1?) version being acceptable at all. Far too many shots have important images framed at the upper and lower edges of the screen, though not quite as extensive as a film like "The Passion of Joan of Arc"'s use of the margins.

I have a question along these lines for anyone who's seen the cropped version: referring to the scene where Johan is painting on the slope and the (Count? Baron?) drives up to invite him to the castle, was it reframed so that one can see the Count/Baron's car in the upper left corner of the screen or is it cropped out?

MGM listed a toll-free phone number, which I posted earlier in this thread. If you're in the United States (and Canada, I believe), it would be much more productive to call, not email.

I have been calling that number. You just get a taped message telling you to send an email.

Yikes. That's good to know. Thanks.

I just wanted to update this thread incase there was someone out there like me who hasn't gotten their replacements yet and doesn't want to go through the email/phonecall process.

I emailed as they said to [email protected]. This was their reply (within a few hours):

Dear Customer,

We do realize that there are unique circumstances in which the customer is not at fault and the situation warrants a replacement disk(s). MGM apologizes for any inconvenience that the defective DVD may have caused you. If you return your DVD we will exchange it for a new one. Please include your return address, your email, your phone number, and a short detailed description of the problem somewhere within the package.

The address to return your DVD is:

MGM Home Entertainment
Attn: Kevin Matheis
2450 Colorado Street
Santa Monica, CA 90404

Sincerely,

Kevin Matheis
MGM Home Entertainment
Customer Service Department

It does not mention whether or not to ship back all the packaging or if we should just include the defective discs. Its a little poor that they make us foot the shipping outselves, but I just want fixed discs. Hope this helps out some of you.

Anyone received replacements from MGM directly?

I received the following email on 6/30/04. I'm also a bit confused on sending the disks (only), or also the cases (I know the corrected version has a differant upc #).

I'd also appreciate any input from you folks that sent/received your new disks.

my email!

Dear Customer,

Thank you for purchasing our product. We are aware that our Ingmar Bergman Collection contains some defects. MGM apologizes for any inconvenience that this may have caused you. We want to make returning your order as easy as possible. We will send you a prepaid UPS shipping label right away so you can exchange the defective DVD(s) for the corrected version. As soon as we receive your disk, we will send out the new one.

Sincerely,

Kevin Matheis
MGM Home Entertainment
Customer Service Department

I kind of forgot about this......

Has anyone sent theirs back for replacement? Did you send the disks only, or the keepcases as well?

Thanks!

I sent mine 3 or so months ago. I sent only the discs, and they returned sealed copies. Turn around was fairly quick as I remember. Make sure to email MGM regarding a UPS label so you don't pay the return postage.

It took them a long time to respond to my emails, but once they did, the process was quick.