Wizard of Oz SE Problems (1 Viewer)

In another thread (which I can't seem to find) I mentioned that I thought the quality of the MGM Wizard of Oz was substandard to The Ultimate OZ laserdisc. I was told by members that the Warner SE was up to par with the LD. So I bought it. The movie is fine, but we can't play the special features at all. When you select a feature, such as, a trailer or deleted scene, the screen breaks up like when a disc is scratched and freezes. I have checked the disc and there is no apparent damage, just opened it. I tried the disc on my bedroom player, family room player and computer DVD-ROM, all with the same results. Anyone else have this problem? The disc was purchased from Deep Discount DVD. I have never had to return a disc to them before. I just was wondering if this is a common problem before I go through the trouble of sending it back for a replacement. My kids are heartbroken as deleted scenes are usually their favorite part of the "extras". Any thoughts much appreciated.

I haven't had problems like that with it, but the Warners DVD is still inferior to the Ultimate Oz LD set, not just because the LD has the John Fricke commentary but the DVD totally screwed up the "Jitterbug" supplement by playing the choreography rehearsal track where flat-voiced Donna Massin stands in for Garland and Lahr and the rest just go through the motions, instead of the final mixed version intended for the film as the LD does. Because of this screwup I've refused to watch my copy of the DVD ever since.

No problem here Dave. What kind of DVD player do you have?

Kenwood in the bedroom (HTIB), Toshiba 2109 in family room and not sure on the DVD ROM, but problems are the same on all 3 machines. None of the special features will play, but film plays fine?????

David:

I just wanted it yesterday with my daughter, special features and all, on my Panasonic RP 91 and it played just fine. It also plays just fine on my Panasonic RP 80.

Parker

Thanks Parker, I will look into returning it. DDD claims a 30 day exchange policy. Of the many DVDs I have purchased from them, this is the first one I have had any problems with.

David, I had the exact same problem on both of my DVD players. I think perhaps the movie was on one layer and the features on the other and that layer was bad. Anyway, I exchanged it and the problem was solved.

All true. My Oz SE screws up in the menu/special features department in the manner described, though I have figured out Sony 7000 work-arounds. It's clearly an authoring issue. (BTW, The Harvey Girls will not play AT ALL on the 7000.)

And although we've been down this (yellow brick) road before, the picture quality of this disc is inferior both to the Ultimate Oz LD and the original MGM DVD (which pretty much duplicates the look of Ultimate Oz), with the exception that the slight blue cast of Ultimate is corrected here. Otherwise, it's too bright and hence, washed out. This can be corrected via your hardware settings, at least to some extent (it depends upon the hardware, of course).

I even like the sepia section of Ultimate Oz better, softness and all. It has more depth and is less grainy (though the short color-that-looks-like-sepia segment as Dorothy opens the door upon entering Oz is incorrectly reproduced in Ultimate--you can see that it's color--and looks right in the Warner DVD SE).

To these eyes, the Ultimate Oz was/is jaw-droppingly sumptuous, and the Warner SE is pale and flat.

Oh, and BTW, I don't like the look of any of the four Cole Porter discs I've seen either (no High Society yet). Soft, muddy, and blah, no zip.

And Kiss Me Kate is definitely too tight on the sides.

At least they're going easy on the EE.

PLEEEEZE don't let them screw up Robin Hood and Yankee Doodle Dandy!

MK

Same problem here, too. Special features won't play on Sony 7700, Apex cheapo, or PC. Haven't tried XBOX tho.

It's in the box and ready to go back as we speak.