Buffy Season 3 problems ? (1 Viewer)

[Dan Rudolph]

I just tried this ep in my Xbox and it was fine. I didn't watch it through, only skipped along by chapter, though.

For me, disk 2 wasn't snapped in securely, but it wasn't floating. It seemed to stay in place until I unfolded everything. All other disks were snapped in place and they all look okay.

IMHO, the R1 packaging looks a lot better than the R2, so I'll stick with what I have.

 

[Adam_ME]

What are some of the mistakes in the 16:9 version of THE BODY?

On three separate occasions, some equipment enters into the edges of the frames. Me personally, I still prefer the widescreen aspect ratio for the episodes despite the occasional gaffes. It gives it more of a cinematic feel.

And BTW, for those who would rather have Seasons 4 and beyond in 4:3, wouldn't that mean those of us with widescreen TVs would be missing out on the benefits of an anamorphically enhanced image?

 

[Michael Reuben]

I'm still waiting on mine, but I thought everyone said the previouslies WERE included, at least on some of the episodes?

I've watched or checked seven episodes so far. Not one of those has the "previously on" intro, including episodes that I distinctly remember having them for broadcast.

M.

 

[John Bryant]

Happy to report I am now 3 for 3 in flawless Buffy sets, as far as packaging goes. I am about done with Season 2, and ready to move on to Season 3.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

I'm of the same opinion as Michael, if Buffy is intended to be seen in 4x3, why would I want to have the anamorphic enhancement? Also, "cinematic feel" or not, 16x9 is not the shows OAR therfore I don't want it that way, even though I have a widescreen set. 4x3 deserves the same respect that any other ratio does.
I'm pretty surprised at all these reports of loose and scratched discs! I don't remember the last two sets having these problems, at least the one's I bought were perfect, but I also don't recall any problem threads of this magnatude about them either.
I wonder what happened to cause so many discs to become loose? I can't imagine them just spontaniously popping loose in transit, my guess is that they weren't placed onto the hubs properly at the factory?
I'm also curious as to the causes of all the scratches being reported, are they the result of the disc's bouncing around inside the spiral's? That's doubtful IMO. True this most likely accounts for the scuffs, but full scratches?
I feel damn lucky the only problem I had was a loose disc #2 with no scratches! Although I haven't watched them all yet, I hope they all play. :frowning:

 

[Christian Preischl]

I hope with so many scratched discs something will be done about this situation. The number of returns must be huge. In the past 2 months I've had a total of 10 scratched DVD sets, some R2 some R1, and all of them were Digipaks! They were 3x24 Season 1, 1xLotr EE, 3xOne flew over the Cuckoo's Nest SE, 1xAmadeus DC and 2x Buffy Season 5. In all cases the disc were non-floaters. It really makes you wonder what's going on at those production facilities and it's high time something is done about it!
As for the previously segments, now I feel a little better that I'm missing out on some extras on the R2 sets, because at least those segments are intact. Still pissed off that I had to pay twice as much though.
Message to FOX: Please leave the previously segments alone. They are not just something that the network slapped on, they're scored and edited by the Buffy production team and are part of the show.
The previously segment on the Season 5 episode "The Gift" shows this very clearly. It's masterfully edited, showing clips from all 5 season, that come at you faster and faster, until they segue into the opening fight of the episode. The impact of this opening scene would suffer tremendously if the previously segment were missing.
Chris

 

[Grant H]

Correct. Again, even the lesser models run you as much as a new scaling DVD player. Only advantage I can see is if you can markedly improve your laserdisc or VHS viewing as well with an iScan, in which case you could conceivably run everything through it. Any experience with this?

 

[Dan Rudolph]

Chris, I agree. While the removal of the previouslies hasn't bothered me much so far, they better leave The Gift intact.

 

[Dean DeMass]

Received my Season 3 boxset from Amazon.ca yesterday and all discs were fine and intact on their hubs.
-Dean-

 

[StevenJ]

I bought the 3rd season of Buffy on Tuesday.

Yes the first two or three episodes it has a different theme song, but I would have never noticed if you guys hadn't pointed it out.

IT'S NOT A BIG DEAL!!!!!!!!

You should be upset if the show itself is screwed up

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

That's the thing Steven, most here DO consider the opening as being part of the show itself and are rightly upset.

As for me, it doesn't really bother me all that much, but I can see how it would bother others though.

I have a theory about the omission of the "previously on..." openings. Is it possible that they were considered unnecessary by Fox because they figured that anyone who bought these season sets so far has probably obviously watched them all and knows what's going on in the show? I mean the whole purpose of those openings in the first place was to bring people up to speed on what they may have missed in the last couple of weeks on the show right?

Again, it's just something I was thinkng about.

 

[Adam_ME]

I have a theory about the omission of the "previously on..." openings. Is it possible that they were considered unnecessary by Fox because they figured that anyone who bought these season sets so far has probably obviously watched them all and knows what's going on in the show?

I've got a theory. It could be bunnies. Oops, sorry. Actually, I agree that this is probably the reason Fox(in Region 1 anyway) has continuously removed the "Previously on..." intros to all their TV shows. And in the unlikely event that anyone does forget what happened in the last few episodes, they can always flip through the booklet that comes with the box set.

That being said, I still prefer watching the show as it was originally broadcast, and that includes the "Previously on..." segments. Especially when they're as epic as the one for The Gift.

 

[Martin Rendall]

My disc one was a floater. No scratches. Interestingly, another disc was almost off, but both take a fair amount of pressure to get back on the spindle. I suspect that the are being assembled incorrectly.

My B5 set had 1 and 3 floating (and scratched to hell). Went back to the store for exchange... opened the next set, and 2 and 4 where floating and scratched. A bit of swapping later, and one good set, and one bad set with 4 scratched discs left at the store.

Martin.

 

[Chet_F]

Anyone want to start a poll???
Chalk up another tally for the #2 disc being loose in the case and scratched pretty bad. Fortunatley I have read about all of the problems with digipacks(thanks guys ) and looked at the discs prior to going home.
Seriously, how can studios keep doing this(poor quality control). I am in the same train of thought that others have said "Production facilities not getting the discs on the hub correctly, especially #2). Must be the bottom line, i.e. cheaper to release faulty digipacks and get returns then do higher quality control and fewer returns. Not a big deal for me but a pain for the retailers I would think.
And to comment on the 16:9 issue for the next season sets:
OAR is OAR regardles of equipment, desire, cinematic feel, etc, etc, etc, etc. SO I WANT OAR!!!!!!!!!!
Chet

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Chet,
about the final line of your post...

 

[Grant H]

Sorry to beat a dead horse, but for those of you potentially interested in the new Philips DVD 963SA (a CES Innovation Award winner), the www.philips.com site lists in regards to zoom and aspect ratio control this info:
Zoom (x1.33, x 2, x 4) with picture enhancement.
Aspect Ratio Conversion (16:9, 4:3 letterbox, 4:3 pan and scan)
Now, whether the aspect ratio conversion modes are automatic or flag dependent or can be done manually I still don't know.
Once we star seeing reviews of this player maybe we'll know if we've found a good model for watching 4:3 DVD's on fussy HDTV sets.

 

[Barry Woodward]

I tried to return my faulty set today at Wal-Mart and I was told they did a recall and that they had no copies in the store at the time. I then asked for my money back and the customer service lady said, "Sorry we're not allowed to give money back on opened DVDs. It's against copyright law." What the hell does that mean? Then I asked for store credit and she said I couldn't get that either. I asked to see the manager and she told me the same thing. She said I could give her the faulty set and my name and they would call me when a new shipment comes in or I can hold onto it and bring it back later. That's the last time I'll ever shop there.

 

[Dave F]

Barry.

Same thing happened to me at Target with season 1. It doesn't help you at all, but they are lying about the copyright issue.

-Dave

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Sorry to hear about that Barry. :frowning: It sounds like Wal-Fart's really playing their role as the anti-dvd superstore to the absolute hilt!
Does anyone else know anything about this recall Barry mentioned?

 

[Jason Quillen]

I went back to Best Buy today to return my set and the guy told me they were sold out and to come back tomorrow - nothing about a recall though...
JQ