Seriously, can someone explain what the heck is going on at Universal? (1 Viewer)

[Patrick McCart]

Just like Jurassic Park. Whenever you talk about DTS, it's Jurassic Park that was it's defining moment in theatrical history, so what did Universal do when transferring JP to DVD? They F'ed up the DTS track!

They also fixed it.

 

[Gary->dee]

Here it is, Jimmy:

Gina Carter
Universal Music Group
10 Universal City Plaza, Ste. #350
Universal City, CA 91608"


Send her your DVD. Unlike the way they're handling the BTTF DVD's, there's no free mailer you can get. Universal also told me to: include a note stating your DVD player name,model #, problem your having with DVD, place of purchase, mailing address, daytime phone #. Please allow 6 weeks for replacement to be delivered.

If they send you another bad copy then I'd send her an email. I have her email address and if you need it you can PM me because I'm not sure I can post it here. But hopefully they got their act straight now. Emphasis on "hopefully".

 

[Travis_W]

These are the only things I hate about Universal:

1. The constant flooding of the market with useless full frame releases (this goes for WB and Paramount as well) of every new movie. If the studios could educate people about widescreen they could save money by releasing only ONE version of a movie.
2. Forced trailers
3. Unused Catalouge. It seems they're getting into gear but I'll have to wait and see.
4. Non-Anamorphic versions of Scarface, Deer Hunter, and The Thing. They've been out for awhile and still not 16x9 enhanced.

Other than these complaints Universal does issue good transfers and great sound. They're not my favorite studio (New Line takes that title) but they're certainly not the worst.

Personally I'm more interested in what is going on at Columbia.

 

[MarkHastings]

They also fixed it.

So. Making good on a bad track record doesn't negate the fact that they have a bad track record.

 

[Gary->dee]

"Universal: We Do It Right. Eventually."

:p)

 

[MarkHastings]

"Universal: We Do It Right. Eventually."

LMAO!

All new Universal titles should be marked down $1.15 to offset the eventual cost of shipping the bad disc back to them for a replacement.

 

[Gary->dee]

Well looky here I just received an update from Gina@Universal:

It seems there was a bit of a mix-up at the warehouse which caused me to receive the uncorrected version of the DVD. I have placed a new order for the corrected version and hope to have some in hand next week. I'll definitely get a copy out to you as soon as they arrive.

 

[JimmyK]

Thanks Gary->dee.

It has been awhile since I've seen this title, so I got it out last night and skimmed through it.

It does indeed have the misspelled "Gimmie, Gimmie, Gimmie". As far as video and sound quality, the whole disc is pretty much below par. I've found this to be the case with most music video DVDs I have. I don't understand why companies don't put more effort in making music videos sound/look better. I also found that "When I Kissed the Teacher" gets jerky with audio dropouts during the song on my Pioneer 414. It doesn't do this on my Tosh 6200.

I would love to hear you impressions of any "improvements" when you receive your corrected copy and if it was worth the trouble/cost to get it replaced.

When you return the DVD, did you send the case too, or just the disc itself?

Thanks!
JimmyK

 

[Ted Todorov]

Hey thanks for alerting me that a fixed ABBA DVD exists -- my DVD player was having trouble with it, and the link you provided points that out as well.

Could you give us the Universal contact info for getting it replaced?

Thanks!

Ted

 

[Gary->dee]

Ted, here's the contact info:

Gina Carter
Universal Music Group
10 Universal City Plaza, Ste. #350
Universal City, CA 91608


Along with the DVD, include a note stating your DVD player name, model #, problem your having with DVD, place of purchase, mailing address, daytime phone #. Allow 6 weeks for replacement to be delivered.


Jimmy, I sent my DVD in the case. I'll post what I think of the fixed copy and any updates.

 

[MarkHastings]

Jimmy, I sent my DVD in the case.

If it's the same deal as the Jurassic Park DVD, it's probably not a good idea to send the case. They specifically said (with JP) not to send the case. They sent my new JP disc in a CD jewel case.

 

[Arnie G]

I love my ABBA DVD & couldn't tell there was anything wrong with it.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Me too. What is wrong with the Abba discs that the new version so clearly fixes? I'd really like to know if the PQ of the new disc is any different before I send in the old.

thanks!

dave

 

[Charles Ms]

The only problem i' ve got with Universal is the mystery surrounding re-releases of the withdrawn Ex-Image Entertainment licensed DVD titles: It's nearly 2 years since the vanishing of all Marx Brothers Movies under the Universal Label. There hasn't been any information from their side since they went to court against Image Entertainment. That is a crime. There are millions of Groucho Fans waiting all over the world of getting this films in their hands !!!!

I hope they are cleaning them all up in the meantime and are preparing a big bang rerelease of a Collector's Boxset.

Amen

 

[Kevin M]

What was this "E.T. Fiasco"? I thought it was a rather nice set and offered the original cut in DTS as well.

 

[JimmyK]

Anyone get the corrected version yet??

I was hoping someone could let us know what improvements can be seen in the new version before I send mine in.

Thanks!
JimmyK

 

[Gary->dee]

Nope, haven't gotten mine yet. I received an email from the nice lady at Universal last Thursday informing me that she'd have the corrected copies in on Friday or Monday(yesterday) and that she'd ship me out one as soon as she got it. Some time this week I reckon.

 

[Gary->dee]

Ok I got my second(and hopefully corrected) ABBA DVD from Universal in the mail today here at the j.o.b. I'll check it out tonight and give the low down here.

 

[Gary->dee]

Try once more like you did before
Sing a new song, Chiquitita

Ok good news, Universal sent me a corrected ABBA DVD! Seems routine, I mean why wouldn't they send me a corrected version of a DVD they'd previously published that was defective upon its initial release. Well because I'd tried to attain a corrected version and was sent another botched copy(see first page). Ah but apparently the warehouse screwed up and now I have this mythical corrected version of the ABBA Definitive Collection DVD.

Currently there's a big deal with another Universal title(s), the Back to the Future movies, specifically discs/movies 2 & 3. In my opinion this corrected ABBA disc represents a much more substantial correction in terms of quality. With the BTTF discs there's only issues of framing but with the ABBA disc we're talking issues of transfer quality. Music videos which should look prestine and crystal clear looked like crap because someone applied a film grain filter, or something like that during the making of the disc. So while I personally don't think the BTTF discs will be a giant leap towards correcting a huge mistake, to me this ABBA disc is a giant leap forward. Ok enough comparison between defective titles, here's the skinny on ABBA.

When I put the ABBA disc in the first thing I wanted to check was the spelling of the song/video "Gimme Gimme Gimme" on the menu. Hey, it's spelled right! No extra "i" before the 'e'. The first music video I wanted to see was Chiquitita, a mundane video but great song. This would be the true test to see if this was indeed the corrected version or not. I pull up the video... wow. What a friggin' difference! Total, complete clarity. None of that horse manure they smeared on top of the image for the initial run of the disc. Nope. Prestine, crystal clear, sharp images as originally recorded on videotape for the Chiquitita video. And I mean Sharp. This was the main video I wanted to see as originally recorded in video. This would be the true test and it passed with flying color in terms of identifying this DVD as a corrected version. The video looks like a live feed from Switzerland or wherever they shot it. Ok then I grabbed a beer(Oregon Honey Beer) because I knew I finally had accomplished this goal of attaining a fixed copy and settled in to check out the other videos that had technical issues with them.

I watched the video for Eagle next. Once again, crystal clear as recorded on videotape. None of that smudgy stuff like with the initial batch. Agnetha looks beautiful in sharp picture quality. Regardless of picture quality she's a sight, but this was the first time I'd seen the Eagle video in the way it was originall recorded. Or atleast if I'd seen Eagle clip as a kid in Sydney(which I wouldn't doubt) I'd forgotten about it! The Chiquitita video didn't feature as many close-ups of Agnetha so the Eagle clip had me checking her out in beautiful video quality. I should mention I have a component video hook-up so that probably adds to the quality of the videos. But besides that I was watching unblemished, unaltered transfers.

I moved on to Thank You For The Music, wow, once again prestine video clarity very much the opposite of the poor picture quality on the initial defective batch. I got to drool over razor sharp images of Agnetha again.

The One Man, One Woman video looks much better, again because it was shot on video and doesn't feature any additional filtering. I didn't notice much of a difference in the Day Before You Came video. It looks practically the same. Perhaps I might try a comparison since I still have the old DVD. The version of Ring Ring used in the video is different, which I assume is the 1974 single remix as mentioned on the ABBAmail article about the corrected disc. It doesn't start out loud and blarring as it used to.

Something else that was wrong with the initial batch of the ABBA disc, which I'm not sure was due to the disc itself or perhaps me playing it on my PS2, was that it would freeze up when I viewed the picture gallery. The images would first cycle through with Dancing Queen playing, then it would move on to play Head Over Heels as the pictures displayed. But in less than a minute after the second song began the image froze and the music stopped and I'd have to reset my machine. No longer. Head Over Heels continues along with the images. So I take it that this was another issue that wasn't widely known or at least reportered. Not exactly sure but no more issues with the picture gallery. The Head Over Heels video itself looks almost the same if not slightly better, it's hard to tell at this point.

So that's basically my review of the corrected ABBA DVD. Was it worth it for me? In two words: hell yes. Chiquitita is one of the my favorite songs and it was important for me to see this video unaltered without any film grain gimmicks applied. Eagle and Thank You look outstanding now too so I'm happy with that. Now I feel that I have this great DVD as it should be seen. I almost felt like I had a beta version of it before with the technical issues. Now I feel that I have the archival version. And with as much trouble I had with trying to get this thing...it's my precious as the One Ring is to Gollum! :p)

Is it worth it to you to pursue getting a corrected ABBA disc? Depends. I can't speak for you and what you feel is adequate picture quality. Some might feel what they have is fine. Me, I'm a perfectionist and when I pay for something I expect the maximum quality available. If what I've written seems like it's worth pursuing either by purchasing it or contacting Universal to get a corrected disc then by all means go for it. I personally recommend it. And as I mentioned, to me anyway, this corrected disc represents a more substantial increase in quality or correction than the BTTF discs will. In short the ABBA DVD is more important to me because it doesn't involve minor framing issues, it deals with picture quality. Two different things.

I'd like to thank Universal and I will in my email to the nice lady over there that's helped and dealt with me with this issue. I'm sure she's happy for me to be out of her hair! But there's still people lined up waiting to get their own corrected version from her and other Universal sites around the world. Unfortuntately there is no means by which a corrected version of the ABBA DVD can be identified in stores like the 'v2' on the BTTF packaging, so if you decide to purchase the disc you're taking a chance. Speaking of which I was in a few stores this past weekend and on a lark I picked up some BTTF boxed sets to see if I could see a 'v2' on the back but I didn't see any, which makes me think the v2's aren't in stores yet. That's my next mission to accomplish; sending in my BTTF discs to Universal. But I understand that what I get back won't be as big a quantum leap in difference as I have with the ABBA disc so I have far less enthusiam for that goal.

Universal

 

[JimmyK]

Thanks for the info and the overview of the corrected version.

Now that I know they have the corrected versions, I will be sending mine in for replacement also.

In addition to the problems you and others have noted about the old version, I also experienced audio dropouts and stuttering video on "When I kissed the Teacher". And at the end of "Dancing Queen", instead of seeing credits, the "Dancing Queen" video would just keep playing over and over.

Hopefully, the new version will correct these problems as well.

JimmyK