The Rock (CC): Playing Problem (1 Viewer)

New disc, looks pristine, won't play past 1:09:50 (approx.), the beginning of chapter 17. Freezes, then pixilates, distorts, stalls, etc. Also can't skip or FF past this point. I am sure I read about problems with some copies of this disc before I ordered it, so it wasn't a *total* surprise, but I can't find the info now. Anyone recall this? If so, what was the remedy? Thanks.

This isn't posted as a known problem on Criterion's site, but I believe it *is* a known problem...at least to me and some others. I can't return it to the dealer as I bought this a few months ago I think (but just opened it tonight), and somehow it got *way* down the pile...a shame, as I really liked what I saw and its quitting was really disappointing. The player is a Panny RP82, other discs play fine, so IMO it's the disc.

It's kinda in the middle of the film which leads me to believe it is a layer problem. You probably need to exchange the disc (either at the retailer or email The Criterion Collection).

Mine does the same thing but I bought it soooo long ago. I've seen other posts detailing similar problems.

I haven't found those exact posts yet (searching on "rock" gives a *lot* of results), but yes I believe it is related to layer change, seems about where it might occur. Interestingly, the only other glitch or layer change issue I've ever had is with another CC disc, Traffic, where the disc stalled for about 5 seconds at layer change...but it only did that once. Sometimes when I loaded The Rock the player display would show it playing past chapter 17 but there was no video or audio output.

Edit: Found a thread where the problem was mentioned a couple times. One guy said Criterion refused to replace his disc...hope I have better luck with them, this disc was fairly expensive and I never got to watch it even once.

I'd ask Jon Mulvaney
http://www.criterionco.com/asp/ask_form.asp

He's been very helpful to me in the past.

I haven't had a problem with mine.

I've posted here on this problem as well. It's happened both on the original that I bought from DVD Empire and the replacement BVHE sent me!

This is definitely a problem with this title. It's not limited to STB players, either. X-Box, PS2, and HTPC all choke at the exact same point with the problems from the original poster. Remember to call BVHE (Disney), do not bother Criterion or Mr. Mulvaney, as they are not the distributors of the discs.

OK thanks, noticed the tiny green BVHE logo on the shrinkwrap...could explain why Criterion doesn't mention the problem on their site, if it's a manufacturing one and they don't do the manufacturing (?). But still, they should take some onus re stuff being sold under their banner on their pricing scheme (they explain why it's higher in their FAQ) and not BVHE's. And it *is* a known problem, at least with a certain large batch, has been known for quite a while, so kinda disappointed BVHE is still selling these...or maybe they have no way to tell who got the bad batch. Have any contact info that is toll-free? I haven't found anything that sounds good yet. And certainly don't want another unplayable copy. BTW, I tried this disc on 4 DVD players so far, all different brands, and they all won't play it through...in fact, 2 players ejected the disc shortly after chapter 17 started. Thanks again. Anyway, from the half I did see, this movie presentation easily lives up to the PQ/AQ "hype".

Edit: After doing even *more* detective work on some other sites, I think it's only fair to say that Criterion did in fact replace some of the bad discs. I also noted that numerous people with bad ones got them from the same well-known retailer as I did, so we know where a good portion of the defective batch went...this retailer was still selling from that same bad batch 9 months later, even though they knew they were defective, and were even sending out bad ones as replacements. That's nice to replace them, but the retailer deserves a bit of a jab when they should have figured out there was a problem and dealt with it themselves...that said, I have had excellent service from them, but it's pointless to deal with them on this if they're just going to send me another defective disc.

Damn! I just got this a month or so ago and hadn't watched it yet. Sure enough, mine froze exactly at chpater 17 on several players. I guess I'll try and exchange mine tomorrow at my point of purchase.

Update: Got a second copy at another store this morning as my original store did not have it. Took it home-same problem. One more store in the chain in my area had it, so I picked it up it on the way to work. It seems OK on my work player which is usually very touchy, so I'm hoping third time is the charm on this one. I got the impression it's against rules to mention what chain, so if anyone is curious just pm me.

I am being sent a *tested* copy of the complete set. They apparently do not want my unplayable disc 1 to test. The studio knows of the problem, but hasn't determined exactly what the cause of the problem is. They were very nice, and said they *want* people to tell them of problems so they can be nipped in the bud. By the time problematical discs filter in from retailers, perhaps via distributors, and the studio finds out, the problem has had more time to spread around...like from in a bad production batch.

Once I have a disc 1 that I can play I will resurrect this thread with some info you can use. Some people have got replacement discs recently, from different sources, that also won't play through, so I'll wait until I have "the solution" before posting details.

Andrew: It's OK to mention retailers (except for breaking street date), but in this case there's a lot of retailers who got some of the bad batch, so I guess mentioning the source doesn't really help anyway, it's not like it's the retailer's fault or anything. But you are right: if the disc plays on a computer player, there's an excellent chance it'll be fine on a stand-alone player. Computer players are exceptionally finicky, so many variations of hardware and software. My two computer DVD drives at home totally reject the disc after the layer change: the software quits (PowerDVD).

I have received the replacement set. The feature plays fine, not even the slightest stutter at the layer change. I got the replacement from BVHE at 1-800-723-4763. They will probably put you through to a tech person who knows about the problem, and who knows to test the disc before mailing it...so it may take a little longer.

There are no identifying marks that I can see to distinguish the good and bad discs, except the one from the bad batch does have a small "06" in the shiney side label ring, all other numbers match. If anybody still has one that behaves like I originally mentioned, and it *doesn't* have a "06" (for instance, my good one has "02"), then I'll delete this bit about this possible identifier.