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Criterion - disc rot/'bronzing'

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Criterion - disc rot/'bronzing'

Old 10-02-14, 06:43 PM
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Re: Criterion - disc rot/'bronzing'

I have the two pack of Yojimbo and Sanjuro, unopened. Did the two pack come long after the individual releases?
Old 10-02-14, 06:48 PM
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Re: Criterion - disc rot/'bronzing'

Nope. Same time as the individual releases.
Old 10-02-14, 06:57 PM
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Re: Criterion - disc rot/'bronzing'

Ok, so I have two victims of bronzing:

Summer Hours
Walkabout


I thought I owned Stagecoach but I guess I don't since it's not in my collection.


I'm now going to check the other ones that were not in bold.

BRB
Old 10-02-14, 07:22 PM
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Re: Criterion - disc rot/'bronzing'

I own all of the titles that were not in bold and none of those had bronzing, so we're good on that front for now.
Old 10-02-14, 07:33 PM
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Re: Criterion - disc rot/'bronzing'

Does anyone have a working Walkabout at this point? I'd say the chances an original pressing still plays are very slim.
Old 10-02-14, 09:13 PM
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Re: Criterion - disc rot/'bronzing'

Originally Posted by PhantomStranger
Does anyone have a working Walkabout at this point? I'd say the chances an original pressing still plays are very slim.
I haven't checked to see if it plays, but I have 15 out of the blu-rays listed in post #12 in this thread, and Walkabout is the only one of those that's "bronzing".
Old 10-02-14, 09:30 PM
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Re: Criterion - disc rot/'bronzing'

Popped open my Yojimbo and Sanjuro copies and they both look clean and perfect.
Old 10-02-14, 09:47 PM
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Re: Criterion - disc rot/'bronzing'

I'm pretty sure I have all of the titles listed in andicus' post. I have not looked at all of them, but I have at least visually inspected the ones in bold. Of those, the only two that definitely looked to have something going on with the disc surface were Walkabout and Summer Hours. I haven't attempted to play any of them. I guess that will be the real test.
Old 10-03-14, 12:59 AM
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Re: Criterion - disc rot/'bronzing'

My days of heaven looks normal, but I didn't buy it until maybe two years after it was released. Maybe it's just the early pressings that have this problem?
Old 10-03-14, 01:39 AM
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Re: Criterion - disc rot/'bronzing'

Originally Posted by Matt925
My days of heaven looks normal, but I didn't buy it until maybe two years after it was released. Maybe it's just the early pressings that have this problem?
Exactly.
Old 10-03-14, 04:45 AM
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Re: Criterion - disc rot/'bronzing'

Originally Posted by PhantomStranger
Does anyone have a working Walkabout at this point? I'd say the chances an original pressing still plays are very slim.
Mine is still working. I went to the 45 minute mark, watched about 7 minutes and then chapter skipped thru to the end. No locks or freezes.

The light in my HT isn't the greatest. There didn't seem to be any overt bronzing, but there may be a fine ringing forming along the very edge circumference. Hard to really see one way or the other.
I also visually checked
Seventh Seal (had to finally crack the shrinkwrap on it)
Vivre Sa Vie
Days Of Heaven
Revanche
Repulsion

Like Walkabout, nothing overt yet. I don't know that this makes much of a difference, but because of the humidity in the basement, and also because I sell much of my collection off frequently, I've been bagging my discs for several years now (putting the disc cases in comic book bags when I store them).
Old 10-03-14, 08:21 AM
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Re: Criterion - disc rot/'bronzing'

I'm afraid to check my Criterions, especially the ones that are OOP.

I guess I will have to do so this weekend
Old 10-03-14, 09:21 AM
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Re: Criterion - disc rot/'bronzing'

Disregard my post. I have a paltry BD collection.

Last edited by Frozen; 10-03-14 at 06:38 PM.
Old 10-03-14, 10:46 AM
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Re: Criterion - disc rot/'bronzing'

Originally Posted by Frozen
I noticed the type of light bulb you have has an impact on what the surface of the Blu-ray looks like. I was checking my Criterions near a regular incandescent 60 watt bulb. The Criterions looked a tad darker than the BD I was comparing them to so I took them to the bathroom. I have 2 of the curly compact fluorescent bulbs in there, 12 watts each. The surface of the Criterions immediately looked different. All the Criterions, regardless of the year they were printed, had wavy, irregularly shaped concentric rings radiating out from the center hub. Tilting the disc just a little makes the rings look pretty trippy. I checked them again near a long fluorescent bulb and the rings didn't jump out so much. The same wavy effect was present on Blu-rays from Sony, Twilight Time and Criterion. I also checked BDs from Warner, MGM, Olive, Kino, Starz, Arrow, Eureka, Universal, the US, the UK and France and the surface of those discs looked normal (not wavy) regardless of what kind of light bulb was used. Maybe the wavy discs were manufactured by the same plant. I just thought it was an odd thing that was worth mentioning.
Fluorescent bulbs put out different types of light waves than incandescent. That waviness you see is just the way the disc surface reflects that type of light. It's not actually part of the disc, and has nothing to do with this rotting problem.
Old 10-03-14, 10:47 AM
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Re: Criterion - disc rot/'bronzing'

Originally Posted by hdnmickey
I have the two pack of Yojimbo and Sanjuro, unopened. Did the two pack come long after the individual releases?
They came out at the same time. I have the two-pack, and both discs show bronzing but seem to play OK so far.
Old 10-03-14, 10:49 AM
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Re: Criterion - disc rot/'bronzing'

Originally Posted by PhantomStranger
Does anyone have a working Walkabout at this point? I'd say the chances an original pressing still plays are very slim.
My copy of Walkabout does not appear bronzed, and it played OK when I chapter skipped through it. I don't recall when I bought the disc. It might have been a year or more after release, so it could be from a different pressing run.
Old 10-03-14, 11:42 AM
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Re: Criterion - disc rot/'bronzing'

Originally Posted by Josh Z
My copy of Walkabout does not appear bronzed, and it played OK when I chapter skipped through it. I don't recall when I bought the disc. It might have been a year or more after release, so it could be from a different pressing run.
I checked my copy of Walkabout -- purchased the week it was released -- and it looked fine. No bronzing. I've also never experienced the skipping issue others have reported with this title. I think I did keep it in a plastic manga bag for a while, which may have helped to prolong its life. I think I'm going to make a backup while I still can just to be safe.
Old 10-03-14, 01:21 PM
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Re: Criterion - disc rot/'bronzing'

I counted my Blu-rays. I just have 47 so I'm going to keep my mouth hole shut.

Last edited by Frozen; 10-03-14 at 06:31 PM.
Old 10-03-14, 01:59 PM
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Re: Criterion - disc rot/'bronzing'

Originally Posted by Frozen
I didn't say it has anything to do with rotting. The refraction of light waves DOES have something to do with the way the BDs are manufactured. As I said, it's only visible on all my Blu-rays from Criterion, Sony and Twilight Time. All other BDs are trippy rippling wave-free. It would be pretty funny if that was a simple indicator of when material is prone to failure. As the material breaks down it would change how light is refracted.
Possible some of those discs are single-layer and some are dual-layer? Maybe different studios use a different scratch coating? There are a lot of possibilities why different discs might reflect the light differently.

I've seen this wavy rippling effect on CDs, DVDs and Laserdiscs held under fluorescent light. It's not something unique to Criterion, Sony or Twilight Time.
Old 10-03-14, 05:43 PM
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Re: Criterion - disc rot/'bronzing'

Criterion has now acknowledged the problem on at least seven different titles and plans to offer some kind of exchange program for defective Blu-rays. I suspect this is a fluid situation with the final words yet to be written.
Old 10-03-14, 06:47 PM
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Re: Criterion - disc rot/'bronzing'

Posted to Criterion's blog.

http://www.criterion.com/current/pos...efective-discs

We have confirmed that certain Blu-ray discs pressed at a replication facility that we used for a period in 2010 have become defective, showing a noticeable bronze discoloration on the underside and developing playback problems. We have confirmed the problem on seven titles, though not on all copies of those titles. All of these titles have since been re-pressed at a different pressing plant, and the vast majority of discs in circulation should not be affected.

The potentially affected Blu-ray titles are:

Howards End
M
Paris, Texas
Pierrot le fou
The Seventh Seal
Summer Hours
Walkabout

If you have found that your Blu-ray copy of one of these titles does not play, please send your disc to the following address for a replacement:

Please include only your disc—no packaging—along with the address to which you’d like us to mail your replacement. We will not be replacing or exchanging packaging. There is no need to email us in addition.

If we learn that other titles are similarly defective, we will add them to this list and continue to replace them as well.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.
According to the alphanumeric codes on the discs, it appears that most of the bad discs were manufactured by Sonopress (aka Arvato Digital Services).
IFPI 10xx Weaverville, USA

Look for codes starting with L0 or LB0 .

M-LB42
Summer Hours -LB42
Walkabout-LB42
Paris, Texas
Pierrot le fou
The Seventh Seal
Howards End

Would not be surprised if they added more tittles to list.As they have about
10 more CC listed on blu-ray.cum that are either bronzing or peeling.

I own 6 of the 7 listed so far with problems.

M-okay,have 2ND printing(BVDL
Walkabout-watch once A few years ago with no problems.Now it has gone brown and will not play.
Paris, Texas(OKAY,watched once,L1DO22)
Pierrot le fou(OKAY,was sealed,L1DO22)
The Seventh Seal(OKAY,watched more then once,DO22)

Howards End(L0D25)
Not sure about this one,was sealed.disc looks fine.But the code starts with L0.

Also have A extra copies of Pierrot le fou and The Seventh Seal that need to
be open and check.Was planning on trading them or selling them sooner or latter.

Last edited by JoeySeven; 10-03-14 at 07:00 PM.
Old 10-03-14, 08:16 PM
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Re: Criterion - disc rot/'bronzing'

I imagine the final list of defective titles will expand.
Old 10-03-14, 08:32 PM
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Re: Criterion - disc rot/'bronzing'

I don't understand the codes:

there are two on the Howard's End disc: L1 DO26 and L0 D 25

the number I only see on Walkabout is 402 nothing else.

Pierrot: L1DO22

Seventh Seal: L1 DO 22

I don't even see a number on my Summer Hours disc - I'm looking at it with a magnifying glass - however the inner ring does have a bronzed look.

??
Old 10-03-14, 08:48 PM
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Re: Criterion - disc rot/'bronzing'

Well, upon first glance, all of the titles I own on that list look fine.
Of course, that's just looking at the discs. I'll have to put them in and see how they play to know for sure.
No visible bronzing though, which makes me hopeful.
Old 10-04-14, 02:49 AM
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Re: Criterion - disc rot/'bronzing'

Originally Posted by Giles
I don't understand the codes:

there are two on the Howard's End disc: L1 DO26 and L0 D 25

the number I only see on Walkabout is 402 nothing else.

Pierrot: L1DO22

Seventh Seal: L1 DO 22

I don't even see a number on my Summer Hours disc - I'm looking at it with a magnifying glass - however the inner ring does have a bronzed look.

??
The numbers and letters on most of these disc are very hard to see.I'm not even sure if the codes I posted are 100% right.
My bad Walkabout disc is the worse to try to read.I'm not even going yo
try to read anymore any time soon.Unless I find another bad disc or someone on the forums needs to compare codes for brown disc.

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