A Few Words About A few words about...™ The Poseidon Adventure -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[PMF]

My Blu ray copy of The Poseidon Adventure has frozen. Ironically the freeze takes place exactly where Nonnie freezes on the ladder. I tried all the trouble-shooting techniques and suggestions. Thereafter, I skipped ahead to the next chapter on the disc and the freeze continued.

Wondering if anyone can address other possible reasons, such as rot or other decays, in a collection well cared for and always stored within the correct room temperature.

This Blu Ray disc was pressed in 2012.

 

[PMF]

Does anyone have the Japanese Blu ray edition of The Poseidon Adventure?

Better yet, has anyone been able to do a comparison of the Japanese edition versus the U.S edition?

Time for a replacement disc.

 

[warthree]

My Blu ray copy of The Poseidon Adventure has frozen. Ironically the freeze takes place exactly where Nonnie freezes on the ladder. I tried all the trouble-shooting techniques and suggestions. Thereafter, I skipped ahead to the next chapter on the disc and the freeze continued.

Wondering if anyone can address other possible reasons, such as rot or other decays, in a collection well cared for and always stored within the correct room temperature.

This Blu Ray disc was pressed in 2012.

My 2012 copy started freezing up several years ago. I am just making do with the digital for now.

 

[PMF]

My 2012 copy started freezing up several years ago. I am just making do with the digital for now.

I wonder if a manufacturing cause is known, and if this is limited only to The Poseidon Adventure; or does it expand to all Fox discs pressed in 2012?

Hmmmm-m-m-m.

 

[Robert Saccone]

I played my original not too long ago and it was fine. I also bought a duplicate of TPA and Towering Inferno a couple of years ago when they went on sale. Haven't opened them yet. I hope we aren't facing a disc rot issue given how Disney sits on the Fox library.

 

[Ethan Riley]

I wonder if a manufacturing cause is known, and if this is limited only to The Poseidon Adventure; or does it expand to all Fox discs pressed in 2012?

Hmmmm-m-m-m.

I don't know, but my Poseidon Adventure blu also freezes now. I'm probably going to throw it out. Just waiting on a 4k anyway.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Wondering if anyone can address other possible reasons, such as rot or other decays, in a collection well cared for and always stored within the correct room temperature.

Unfortunately physical media movie discs just aren’t an archival medium - they’re not made to last. They’re not intentionally made to self destruct but most discs are multilayer, which means that it’s actually basically two or more discs glued together at the replication factory. That glue isn’t completely inert and through no fault of yours isn’t guaranteed to be shelf-stable. Most discs will last fine for the long haul. Some won’t. As much as some have tried to find answers looking at manufacturer codes to track down pressing facilities trying to find rhyme or reason to it, I don’t think there ultimately is any rhyme or reason. All it takes is a microscopic change in glue adhesion and the player can’t fully read it anymore.

I don’t think it’s a question of manufacturers and studios acting in bad faith. It’s just inherent in the nature of the product design that some will cease to work over time.

It’s one of the reasons that when I’m buying an out of print disc, for example, I’d rather buy a used/open copy that’s been tested to work over a new/sealed copy. (It’s not totally dissimilar from buying secondhand vinyl records where a sealed copy isn’t necessarily your best bet because the record could be warped or otherwise damaged within the packaging, it’s often better to buy used but verified to be in good condition.)

 

[PMF]

First and foremost, I agree that neither the studios nor the manufacturers were acting in bad faith. Sometimes, such defects of any once new invention does not become present until there is a passage of time.

As you have put it, discs are not an archival medium, which does gives one pause. Going in, so many years ago; especially when purchasing something that contained a true restoration; one could easily feel that “archival” was also somehow part of the disc invention and deal, at hand. Nonetheless, once stated by you in this context - and of these passing years of collecting - it is an observation that makes instant sense without having to further ponder.

Indeed, glue regretfully does dry and rot. Sadly, I have sporadically read of such reports by other HTF members. Concerning news, no doubt - and never rampant - but always a different experience when it happens for the first time in our own moment of personal disappointment. Mine, in this case, was The Poseidon Adventure; to which I’ve since ordered a Japanese pressing as a replacement.

Also, Josh, you have made an astute argument for the purchasing of “used” DVDs, BDs and vinyl records which shall come in very handy, down the road.

Cheers.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

As you have put it, discs are not an archival medium, which does gives one pause. Going in, so many years ago; especially when purchasing something that contained a “true” restoration; one could easily feel that archival was also somehow part of the invention, at hand.

Absolutely. I’m sure I’m not the only person who has purchased Blu-rays at some point and thought “this will be the last time I ever have to pay for this title” only to find out that that’s not the case. But I also think that when disc sales were at the height of their popularity, so many people were buying titles thinking more about watching them once or giving them as a gift that the idea it might not work in 10 or 20 years wasn’t really a big deal, if it was something even thought of. Most disc buyers then were not collectors in the same sense that you and I are.

Not to take us too far off topic but this knowledge has subtlety altered my purchasing patterns. In more recent years, I’ve went from buying discs when they were at low prices with no urgency about watching them anytime soon, to only buying discs when I know it’s something I will be interested in viewing at the time of purchase. That won’t help me if a disc goes bad in ten years, of course, but it’s more about trying to get the best return on my investment in reducing the number of titles I’m holding on to that haven’t been seen at all. At least if a disc goes bad on me now, I’ll have seen it at least once. I can live with that easier than having shelves of things I mean to watch one day that have gone bad before I get the chance to. This won’t work for everyone but for me, if it means I occasionally miss out on the best price, overall I’m saving because I’m now buying more for functionality than collectability. I’m less willing to spend fortunes on limited editions or out of print titles than I once was.

Ultimately there is no infallible way to collect films. Discs can go bad in rare occasions. Digital purchases can have accessibility issues in rare occasions. All we can do is make the purchasing decisions that we’re most comfortable with and try to manage the expectation that this next purchase is guaranteed to be the last.

You could spend thousands to set up a media server to create backups of your material accessible on a local network, but between the costs of the hardware, the storage drives, backup drives and the sheer amount of your time it’ll take up, it’s probably more efficient to just replace the occasional bad egg as it arises - and I say this a crazy person who did set up a media server. I can’t in good conscience recommend that approach to most people!

 

[PMF]

Absolutely. I’m sure I’m not the only person who has purchased Blu-rays at some point and thought “this will be the last time I ever have to pay for this title” only to find out that that’s not the case. But I also think that when disc sales were at the height of their popularity, so many people were buying titles thinking more about watching them once or giving them as a gift that the idea it might not work in 10 or 20 years wasn’t really a big deal, if it was something even thought of. Most disc buyers then were not collectors in the same sense that you and I are.

Not to take us too far off topic but this knowledge has subtlety altered my purchasing patterns. In more recent years, I’ve went from buying discs when they were at low prices with no urgency about watching them anytime soon, to only buying discs when I know it’s something I will be interested in viewing at the time of purchase. That won’t help me if a disc goes bad in ten years, of course, but it’s more about trying to get the best return on my investment in reducing the number of titles I’m holding on to that haven’t been seen at all. At least if a disc goes bad on me now, I’ll have seen it at least once. I can live with that easier than having shelves of things I mean to watch one day that have gone bad before I get the chance to. This won’t work for everyone but for me, if it means I occasionally miss out on the best price, overall I’m saving because I’m now buying more for functionality than collectability. I’m less willing to spend fortunes on limited editions or out of print titles than I once was.

Ultimately there is no infallible way to collect films. Discs can go bad in rare occasions. Digital purchases can have accessibility issues in rare occasions. All we can do is make the purchasing decisions that we’re most comfortable with and try to manage the expectation that this next purchase is guaranteed to be the last.

You could spend thousands to set up a media server to create backups of your material accessible on a local network, but between the costs of the hardware, the storage drives, backup drives and the sheer amount of your time it’ll take up, it’s probably more efficient to just replace the occasional bad egg as it arises - and I say this a crazy person who did set up a media server. I can’t in good conscience recommend that approach to most people!

May our mutual passions for film - despite its multitudes of ever changing formats and preferences - remain bonding and held together strong by a newer glue which never dries nor rots.

 

[Indy Guy]

As a lifetime collector, I think back to my 8mm & 16mm collecting. Every time I showed a prized feature there was a good chance I would discover a new scratch marring a major portion of the film. It made watching less than a purely pleasurable experience. No matter how careful you were with the film gate and sprockets just a bit of splicing tape or bit of gunk was enough to ruin a print. Some were irreplaceable (Show Boat 16mm IB Tech) while others Sleeping Beauty Duran Films Super 8mm stereo scope was too expensive ($250) to rebuy! Condensed versions running 20 minutes in color were about $50 (Ben Hur/Dr Zhivago) and practically all were printed on cheap color film stock, and faded to red/brown or pink within a few years
What I described above were factors for virtually evey film you purchased! The disappointment of an occasional long term disc failure is relatively small by comparison. It can even be a catylist to see if over the years (12 years for Poseodon Adventure) an upgrade is available and that makes it something to once again look forward to viewing.
When you discovered a brown 8mm copy of Ben Hur, you knew 100% of the copies in circulation were all bad and there was no chance of an upgrade. So my glass is half full rather than half empty on disc problems.

 

[James Luckard]

I wonder if a manufacturing cause is known, and if this is limited only to The Poseidon Adventure; or does it expand to all Fox discs pressed in 2012?

Hmmmm-m-m-m.

My Annie Hall disc rotted and I had to replace it. That was also a 2012 Fox disc (they handled MGM at the time).

And other people have reported their 2012 Manhattan discs rotting. I think some people also said their 2012 Fox Hitchcock BDs had issues (Rebecca, Spellbound, Notorious).

There was definitely some trouble with 2012 vintage Fox discs.

 

[Robert Saccone]

I checked both of my copies. One stops working about half way through. The other plays fine. Hoping the second doesn't stop at some point because I am doubtful there will ever be another release of this. I did make a backup of it (along with The Towering Inferno) when I first got it as a precaution against this very issue.