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[NfoRcEr]

I have the first pressing of the first Blu-ray they made (if I remember correctly) The Last Emperor, back when they thought it was a good idea to use digipak style Blu-ray cases with slip covers. I think its from 2008 but again I may be wrong about that. Is there a chance that it could have the same issue? I haven't watched it in a good while, but I guess I'll need to go check it now.

 

[Steamlord]

It seems to be isolated to the batches of titles mentioned above that were released in a somewhat similar time period. Wouldn't worry about it too much outside of Pierrot Le Fou, Criterion will replace them. These titles are ones that have had an issue since 2010(I had to replace 2 copies of Walkabout), and they replaced them then.

mulvaney@criterion.com is the email for their detective discs/packaging help. He apparently hasn't been responding in the past week or two, it's likely they're preparing a mass trade-in/replacement program.

Good (unofficial) forum to keep track of responses. I have all of those outside of Summer Hours, so it's a bit of a bummer. It will be taken care of though.

I got in touch with him regarding the Eraserhead problem about a week ago, for what it's worth.

I'm kind of glad I just started collecting Criterion films in the last year or two. Hopefully this won't affect me.

 

[Lord Error]

Embrace your digital future overlords.

Or you can just rip BRDs for best quality / best of both worlds.

 

[Maninthemirror]

How does this happen to discs so early I have had discs since 2004 and they still are good

Must be a bad batch conversion

 

[Chance Hale]

I have the first pressing of the first Blu-ray they made (if I remember correctly) The Last Emperor, back when they thought it was a good idea to use digipak style Blu-ray cases with slip covers. I think its from 2008 but again I may be wrong about that. Is there a chance that it could have the same issue? I haven't watched it in a good while, but I guess I'll need to go check it now.

You can certainly check but by most accounts it's limited to a titles released in late 09/early10. Should be no issues.

 

[DOWN]

It's just a really bizarre thing to post. Going into a long rant about fandom and silly special editions(which is what 90% of the post is) has no baring. Criterion's packaging is study and provides context for the films in question with thick booklets filled with essays and other things. Such things are available online if you want them, but so are most things like books.

At the end of the day what isn't digital or readily out there outside of pirating the contents of the disk is the quality of a good blu-ray.

That's why my first line was:

EDIT: I am so sorry I just typed forever and it isn't even that relevant.

I just got into a long explanation saying this basically. Physical prints and special edition merch ain't cute y'all.

Embrace your digital future overlords.

 

[uniform]

Thanks for bringing this to people's attention. Lucky for me I purchased all my CC films on DVD and have been too cheap to upgrade. I only own Fish Tank and Yi Yi on BD. I'll make note of this next time I see any of the listed at a used movie store I frequently purchase from.

 

[Timeless]

How many GB per bluray, usually? And what's the lowest kind of compression to where the difference between the disc and the file is negligible?

Most movies are sold on 25 GB or 50 GB discs. That has to store the whole movie and any special features they choose to put on the same disc. Avatar is almost 50 GB. So is Seven Samurai. Ratatouille and Frozen are over 22 GB.

20 GB is a good guess for a typical movie. I bought a 3TB drive for $90. Remember that these are backup copies so you don't have to do every movie and you don't have to count on it fully.

FFmpeg recommends compressing files with default (level 18) compression for MKVs. 0 is lossless and they say anything below 9(?) is indistinguishable from lossless.

I don't know what size that corresponds to because half the point of a Blu-Ray is its lack of compression. I'll stream HDX on Vudu if I want a ~6 GB copy of a movie.

MakeMkv isn't perfect though, it doesn't let you 1:1 match so it always compresses a bit. I don't compress my rips, so I wouldn't know what the sweet spot for downsizing is.

I have not seen any evidence of this. It rips the movie, stored on the disc in several files, into one MKV file. Seven Samurai ends up as a 41.3 GB MKV - the rest is probably audio tracks or something I didn't copy.

 

[Chance Hale]

I have not seen any evidence of this. It rips the movie, stored on the disc in several files, into one MKV file. Seven Samurai ends up as a 41.3 GB MKV - the rest is probably audio tracks or something I didn't copy.

Yeah, I'll give it another go later today. Must be something off on my end because there was always a 2-5GB difference in size.

 

[Timeless]

Yeah, I'll give it another go later today. Must be something off on my end because there was always a 2-5GB difference in size.

The menus and antipiracy warnings on the disc occupy some space. Everything on the Internet says MakeMKV is lossless.

 

[BaronLundi]

Subscribing to remind me to test the rest of my dodgy discs. So far, my copy of Days of Heaven seems ok.

 

[Lumix]

Upon inspecting my collection, only my copy of In the Realm of the Senses has that brownish disc rot.

The disc worked fine on my Oppo BDP-83, but could not be read by my PS3 (CECH-2001B).

Discs from that list that worked okay on both players, so far:
Ride with the Devil
Days of Heaven
Pierrot le Fou
Vivre Sa Vie



I will check some of my other discs later.

 

[Unicorn]

Are you kidding me?! So I'm going to have to open a ton of my still-sealed Blu's to see if they are fucked?!


More importantly, what does this say about Blu-ray as a medium? Is the lifespan even less than CD's (~20 years)? WTF Time to start ripping my collection to MKV or something.

 

[Pandacon]

This is coming sooner than I imagined, perhaps it's time for me to embrace the digital future >.>

 

[Chance Hale]

The menus and antipiracy warnings on the disc occupy some space. Everything on the Internet says MakeMKV is lossless.

I was comparing the size of the video file on the blu-ray to what the completed rip was. Obviously something on my end.

 

[Son of Cervantes]

Ugh, I just started upgrading my Criterion DVDs to Blu this year. I have the Yojimbo/Sanjuro discs, will have to check them when I get home to see if they're alright.

 

[overcast]

I bought my first Criterion late last year, and one of them is Vivre Sa Vie :[

 

[televator]

I think my Royal Tenenbaums disk is safe. It's the only criterion BD I have.

 

[NekoFever]

I checked mine from this time period and they all seem fine. I've got them ripped anyway so I don't stand to lose anything, but I like having my physical copies safe too.

MakeMkv isn't perfect though, it doesn't let you 1:1 match so it always compresses a bit. I don't compress my rips, so I wouldn't know what the sweet spot for downsizing is.

MakeMKV is lossless. The only way to get anything other than 1:1 is to turn on the advanced settings, where it can transcode audio to FLAC, which is still lossless.

You get some gains in file size over the original by stripping out unwanted audio and subtitle tracks, copyright notices, dummy video tracks, and generally transferring stuff to a more efficient container with very little overhead.

 

[KalBalboa]

Jesus. I Googled this and didn't see many people discussing the problem, so I wonder if it has any real chance to blow up (attention wise).

 

[TAJ]

Are you kidding me?! So I'm going to have to open a ton of my still-sealed Blu's to see if they are fucked?!


More importantly, what does this say about Blu-ray as a medium? Is the lifespan even less than CD's (~20 years)? WTF Time to start ripping my collection to MKV or something.

What are you talking about? I have several hundred CDs that were pressed in the '80s and they're all perfect. (I know because I just re-ripped them all within the last year
I've actually been actively replacing my remastered CDs of '60s to early-'90s albums with the original releases, some of them 30 years old.

 

[NR1]

The only Criterion disc I have is Benjamin Button-- I will have to check it out soon.

The only blu-rays that I own that I am aware of that have suffered from disc rot are Rambo Part 3, Superman Returns, and The Hitchhickers Guild to the Galaxy. From what I hear, those 3 movies are quite common for disc rot for some reason.

Blu-ray is the only format that I have ever had this type of problem. Never had a bad CD or DVD.

 

[NekoFever]

Blu-ray is the only format that I have ever had this type of problem. Never had a bad CD or DVD.

I've had several bad DVDs. All were MGM releases from the same 2-3 year window so I think they had a manufacturing defect going on for a while.

Laserdisc was where disc rot became a known issue, but I have quite a few LDs and have never lost one.

Never a bad CD or Blu-ray.

 

[Androidsleeps]

Wut. What if the rotted disc is out of print? What if I bought mine from eBay?

 

[spawnsniper]

Sucks to hear, ill check some of my collection tomorrow..

What I really wanna know is, if this will affect my GAMES library.. no one has said anything about that (except for the one that said his mgs4 blu had waves, then didn't respond) and it really would be a bummer.

 

[Scavenger]

Sucks to hear, ill check some of my collection tomorrow..

What I really wanna know is, if this will affect my GAMES library.. no one has said anything about that (except for the one that said his mgs4 blu had waves, then didn't respond) and it really would be a bummer.

Waves just simply mean that it's a dual layered disc.

 

[sixteen-bit]

So the premium price doesn't get you a premium product?

Epic fail.

Sucks to hear, ill check some of my collection tomorrow..

What I really wanna know is, if this will affect my GAMES library.. no one has said anything about that (except for the one that said his mgs4 blu had waves, then didn't respond) and it really would be a bummer.

Disc rot is a concern for older CD games made in the 1980s and 1990s, apparently
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=131942621&postcount=9318

 

[amnesiac]

Jesus. I Googled this and didn't see many people discussing the problem, so I wonder if it has any real chance to blow up (attention wise).

Well there is an 11 page thread on the Blu-Ray forum on it, so it's at least getting some attention.

Really sucks if you have this problem, especially if the movies are out of print. Fortunately mine seem to be okay, but I haven't checked my copy of Royal Tenenbaums yet.

 

[J2d]

Fuck... I have to check my movies tonight, I live outside of the us too so if there was some sort of program to echange faulty discs I'm probably fucked..

 

[andymcc]

I have about 40 criterion blu-rays (a lot from 2008 - 2010) so I guess I need to check my discs.

 

[Freedom = $1.05]

Shit, i have 2 shelves of Criterion Blus at home. Gonna check them out tonight : /

 

[RedTurbo]

FFmpeg recommends compressing files with default (level 18) compression for MKVs. 0 is lossless and they say anything below 9(?) is indistinguishable from lossless.

I don't know what size that corresponds to because half the point of a Blu-Ray is its lack of compression. I'll stream HDX on Vudu if I want a ~6 GB copy of a movie

I've usually gotten good results using handbrake and Xvid4PSP. Xvid4PSP has given me the best results in terms of GB compression to video quality.

Sucks that this is happening, it just gives more fuel to say we shouldn't be using discs anymore.

 

[Cormano]

Have you tried to contact Criterion?

I just bought "Tie me up, Tie me down" & "Y tu mamá también", now I kinda want to return them.

 

[Freedom = $1.05]

I've usually gotten good results using handbrake and Xvid4PSP. Xvid4PSP has given me the best results in terms of GB compression to video quality.

Sucks that this is happening, it just gives more fuel to say we shouldn't be using discs anymore.

Hard Drives are prone to failure and with streaming you are at the mercy of licensing and bandwidth issues. Discs are the best method of having an uncompromised copy of a film on hand, and these rot issues are really rare. Seems like a production fuck up on Criterion's end.

 

[RedTurbo]

Hard Drives are prone to failure and with streaming you are at the mercy of licensing and bandwidth issues. Discs are the best method of having an uncompromised copy of a film on hand, and these rot issues are really rare.

I know that but try telling that to everybody else that doesn't seem to care or can't tell the difference :/

 

[Fox Mulder]

Wow, what bullshit.

these are pricy and go OOP, but I only own Godzilla and Thief.

 

[mattiewheels]

Hard Drives are prone to failure and with streaming you are at the mercy of licensing and bandwidth issues. Discs are the best method of having an uncompromised copy of a film on hand, and these rot issues are really rare. Seems like a production fuck up on Criterion's end.

I can't wait till terabyte SD cards are a (affordable) thing. Goodbye blurays when that day comes.

 

[Az987]

Well that's disappointing. I checked all my copies that weren't sealed from that time period and none appeared to be browning but I guess I'll have to actually watch them to be sure.

 

[Porcile]

This happened to a bunch of data DVD's burned years ago. It's really annoying. I hope British label BR's like BFI and Masters of Cinema aren't effected.

 

[Sorcerer]

Criterion stated in 2011 that all the extras on the blu-rays and dvds would soon be available with their digital streaming copies.

What ever happened with that?

I want the new Eraserhead Blu-ray but I have Criterion Eraserhead through I-tunes.

Apple now has extras viewable through the Apple TV.

I would love my digital copy to suddenly show up with the extra stuff.

 

[Scavenger]

I just bought "Tie me up, Tie me down" & "Y tu mamá también", now I kinda want to return them.

Criterion discs from this year are manufactured by Sony, so there's probably no need to worry.

 

[Freedom = $1.05]

I saw Hunger about a month ago and my copy was fine, so there's hope that it's limited to only a handful or so movies. But man, that list in the OP...I have 22 of those movies : /

 

[Fox Mulder]

Blu-ray is the only format that I have ever had this type of problem. Never had a bad CD or DVD.

well congrats.

I've had plenty of cds and DVDs go bad, shit happens. I hate dual sided dvds due to flaws I've ran into.

 

[WEGGLES]

I can't wait till terabyte SD cards are a (affordable) thing. Goodbye blurays when that day comes.

I mean, you could look into SSDs?

What would you do? Copy the file off the SD card and play it off your HDD? Or are SDs fast enough now to handle that much bandwidth?

 

[StuBurns]

I have Days of Heaven and Shame from that list, they both look perfect.

I don't have a region-free player, so I can't watch them, but there's no brown shit.

 

[Sera O]

Anyone contacted Criterion and gotten a response yet?

I need to scan through my BRDs to check them when I get home tonight - I only had a few minutes last night to see if they were going brown. It didn't seem like it, but the light was poor so I need to check again.

I have Days of Heaven which is on the list :| Also need to check the Wong Kar Wai, Truffaut and Kurosawa movies. I wish I'd waited on upgrading them to blu ray now...

edit - damn just saw Der Himmel Uber Berlin is on that list too. The thing that sucks the most about this is, even if I find the discs to be fine upon testing, I'll be constantly paranoid about them going off at any second.

 

[Downhome]

Here is the first report about a non-Criterion release from the same time period...

http://www.criterionforum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=494972#p494972

I just noticed my Well Go USA blu of the Shaw's Web of Death exhibits the same bronzing we are finding with the criterions. This disc was sealed until a few days ago. I just tested it and had no issues with playback but now I fear this may not last forever. Has anyone found examples of this from other companies yet?

 

[DeadTrees]

http://www.criterion.com/current/posts/3317-exchanging-defective-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:

Jon Mulvaney
The Criterion Collection
215 Park Avenue South
5th floor
New York, NY 10003

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.

 

[Downhome]

This issue expanding. It seems the problem stems from a specific pressing plant. Any studio that used the same plant are likely going to end up with a number of their discs being screwed up.

If you have any Well Go USA BDs from April 2010 to October 2011, check those as well. As word on this issue with the Criterions spread more and more is coming out. The following Well Go USA BDs have been reported as experiencing the exact same thing as the previously mentioned Criterion titles...

Blood (03/22/2011)

Brothers Five (04/27/2010)

Delightful Forest (04/27/2010)

The Heroic Ones (04/27/2010)

Ip Man (07/27/2010)
(This disc also freezes during the Main Menu on some BD players.)

Ip Man 2 (04/19/2011)

Kung Fu Dunk (05/03/2011)

Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen (06/14/2011)

The Man From Nowhere (03/08/2011)

Shaolin (10/25/2011)

Web of Death (02/15/2011)

White Wall (05/25/2010)

 

[Loofy]

That sucks, I need to rip my blu rays onto a harddrive pretty soon then.