Universal Vault Series - Amazon.com exclusive DVD-Rs (1 Viewer)

[Gary OS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thomas T
The person who would love to have CAPTAIN NEMO AND THE UNDERWATER CITY (or fill in the blank of any MOD title) but won't indulge because it's MOD not pressed because he worries he won't be able to watch it in 10 or 20 years is the loser. He may not even be around in 10 or 20 years and there's every likelihood the MOD DVDr will get the last laugh and outlive him.

To each his own. I won't indulge in calling people losers who might disagree with me. /img/vbsmilies/htf/rolleyes.gif
Gary "I actually agree with Brad for the most part - if it's really important to me I'll indulge, but for anything that's on the fence I'll pass" O.

 

[Craig Beam]

Gary, the exact phrase Thomas used was "the loser," not "A loser," i.e. the person shunning the purchase is missing out. He never called anyone "a loser."

 

[Bradskey]

I'm young and I won't buy digital downloads either -- not now, not ever until they're DRM free like Amazon MP3 is for music. Most of them use Microsoft variety of DRM, which is total garbage. It breaks easily. I've had nightmares with this in the past with music services like Sprint's where it was contracted out to some vendor and your (only allowed one time) file download doesn't work because their site or servers are messed up one weekend, but it says you downloaded it once anyway. Trying to get through to anybody to let you try to download it again was completely futile, just SOL. Then there's the whole ridiculous license management thing. What if I get a new PC? What if I own 4 computers? What if my PC with the licenses crashes, my licenses weren't backed up or were backed up to a burned disc that failed? Why should I even have to put up with any of this nonsense? And I have to gather the family around the PC to watch, seriously? Granted I have a media PC hooked to a TV, but that's not the norm. I'll just buy the physical DVD and do as I blame well please with the content, keep the DVD as the backup.

 

[JoHud]

I hope titles in this collection have hopes of turning up later in either the Backlot series and the TCM Vault collections. Universal should just stick with those two.

 

[Sten F]

This DVD-r scheme is worst crap EVER from the studios!

For the love of movies, I cannot understand why anyone would buy just ONE of these shi. DVD-r´s!

Give us poper DVDs & Blu-rays, please....!!!!!!

 

[Gary OS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Craig Beam
Gary, the exact phrase Thomas used was "the loser," not "A loser," i.e. the person shunning the purchase is missing out. He never called anyone "a loser."

Craig, as to your post... Never mind, it's not worth it.
The point is that some people feel the DVD-R format is untested in terms of longevity. We were told early on that this type of format would last much longer than vhs, as long as 100 years. But we have had some reports of discs crapping out after just a few years. It might only be an anomaly. Or it might be something more significant. All I'm saying is that $20, for one film, on a format I'm not sure will necessarily last even one decade, isn't my cup of tea. But I've not once told other people here they going to be the losers if their discs stopped playing after a few years or foolish for buying in the first place. Heck, I've bought a few Warner Archives myself so I'm clearly not against the format altogether. There can be middle of the road opinions, and I think I have one.
OK, that's enough from my end. I don't want to see this thread that's supposed to be devoted to Universal Vault Series titles get side-tracked any more than it already is.
Gary "take care, everyone - no hard feelings" O.

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

I'll never buy anything in 2010 that is interlaced.

It's ridiculous that discs are still being released like this. That's all I care to comment.

If they fix this issue, they might have me for an additional customer.

 

[smithb]

Originally Posted by Sten F /forum/thread/296971/universal-vault-series-amazon-com-exclusive-dvd-rs/60#post_3651076
This DVD-r scheme is worst crap EVER from the studios!
For the love of movies, I cannot understand why anyone would buy just ONE of these shi. DVD-r´s!
Give us poper DVDs & Blu-rays, please....!!!!!!

For the very reason you stated "for the love of movies". Generally speaking, boycotting the MOD approach provides a slim to no chance of getting these movies deployed in any better format. So it simple comes down to which is the stronger emotion, your desire for the film or your distaste for the MOD approach.

 

[smithb]

As many have stated before, besides the MOD approach the next likely scenario for these titles would be digital downloads, and not pressed DVD's. So with that in mind, it will be interesting to see if competition does change the pricing model. Basically, WB has been able to keep the high pricing because they are the only game in town. With more studios using this approach to distribute these types of titles, maybe we can get to a $10 or less a title pricing model. That is the only way I can justify buying any except a few must haves.

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

I think it's clear that with the exception of Sony Pictures and boutique labels like Criterion... the DVD format is behind us. Only new releases will ever turn up and the occasional anniversary repackage of major "classics" like GWTTW to coincide with a Blu release. I've come to begrudgingly accept this. It's a shame but the future is moving so fast and before we know it digital downloads and streaming film libraries will be the standard. Blu Ray was born a niche market and will never develop. Home video is an ancient relic.

So I'm willing to accept MOD programs that allow us to own physical product with a few very basic exceptions, beginning with price. They are all way over marked!! A DVD-R by any means is a DVD-R and should not cost more than $10. That's my stance and I will never spend more for a burned disc. Second - I will NEVER but any film that's released with an interlaced transfer! It's simply a matter of properly mastering the discs and I can't enjoy films when viewed from any source that's not progressively flagged. It's idiotic that any studio would do this! Third simply comes down to the quality of the transfer and whether it's an older analog source or newer remastered print/transfer. It has to look better than TV broadcast for me to spend any money on it!

Once the studios adopt these same policies, I will reluctantly jump in. Mourning the death of the commercial DVD format will only leave us with smaller catalog of films in our libraries and there's still way too much to be released. I just hope more care and effort is made to continue doing so with higher quality standards than we're currently seeing, comparable with what we're used to from the 'good old days' when these products were on retail shelves.

 

[Jeff Willis]

My only wish is that we'd see more studios launch archive sites since the few movies that I'm waiting for, are from 3-4 different studios. So I have to wait for more than WB and Uni to get the few films that I''ve had on my list for years.

I do agree with the $20 base price point being high for DVD-r's and that's one reason I've not bought more titles from the WB site. The other reason is that my list is very small compared to my TV/DVD list.

That said, as I see the archive sites, it's the only way we'll see these movies get released to a physical format, imo. I'd have bet the farm that one of my favorite 60's movies "The Brass Bottle" would have had a pressed release by now but no soap. So that's the only way I'll be able to have this one on a DVD. I am concerned about the DVD-r lifetime but no one knows when or if their particular DVD-r movie will "die" on the shelf. There's not been enough data compiled (imo) to predict the issue. If most of these DVD-r's from the major archive sites last say...20 yrs, then that's all I could ask. If we're talking about ~10 yrs, then I'd be disappointed in the purchase. Sure, we'd all like a guarantee of a 50-100-yr lifetime but that's usually not how the real world operates with most things.

 

[Rob_Ray]

Originally Posted by Jeff Willis /forum/thread/296971/universal-vault-series-amazon-com-exclusive-dvd-rs/60#post_3651121
Sure, we'd all like a guarantee of a 50-100-yr lifetime but that's usually not how the real world operates with most things.

That's how the real world always *did* operate until the digital era. If you took proper care of your recorded media (piano rolls, cylinders then 78s then long-playing records, etc) and playback equipment, you could be guaranteed a lifetime of entertainment. I'm 53 and have records I bought when I was six and they play fine. Friends collect cylinders from the early 20th century and they play fine if you can find machines to play them on. I would say that even a 20-year lifespan for DVD-R is unacceptable.
Having said that, I've been burning DVD-Rs for six years now, have amassed hundreds upon hundreds of titles and have not found a single title to go bad over time. The few bad DVD-Rs I've had were bad from the start and were the result of using cheap store-branded media.

 

[Simon Howson]

Originally Posted by Rob_Ray /forum/thread/296971/universal-vault-series-amazon-com-exclusive-dvd-rs/60#post_3651129
That's how the real world always *did* operate until the digital era.

But that's a pointless comparison. There's no analog home video format that can present films in DVD let alone Blu-ray resolution.

 

[JeffMc]

People are still questioning the longevity of DVD-R media, hoping for 20 to 50 to 100 years. Good luck!

As quite a few of us have already mentioned about the WA titles, there have been many reports of these discs being BAD right off the press. Some pixelate or freeze, won't read at all, or whatever. If this is supposedly the top technology and the best DVD-R reproduction system available, why are there so many defective discs right now? Even homemade ones usually play OK right out of the burner. I've already had several that needed replacing (and Warners' customer service is excellent, I will admit), but still, that just doesn't bode well for these things to last even 20 years if a lot of them don't even play now.

I'm still a customer, though, and will continue to be as I really want some of these films and this is the current reality. Accept it or not, we're in DVD-R land low. I'd just be a lot happier and confident in the lifespan of this media if they consistely played fine right off the press. I can't even imagine 20 years.

 

[DeWilson]

Originally Posted by JeffMc /forum/thread/296971/universal-vault-series-amazon-com-exclusive-dvd-rs/60#post_3651156
People are still questioning the longevity of DVD-R media, hoping for 20 to 50 to 100 years. Good luck!
As quite a few of us have already mentioned about the WA titles, there have been many reports of these discs being BAD right off the press. Some pixelate or freeze, won't read at all, or whatever. If this is supposedly the top technology and the best DVD-R reproduction system available, why are there so many defective discs right now? Even homemade ones usually play OK right out of the burner. I've already had several that needed replacing (and Warners' customer service is excellent, I will admit), but still, that just doesn't bode well for these things to last even 20 years if a lot of them don't even play now.
I'm still a customer, though, and will continue to be as I really want some of these films and this is the current reality. Accept it or not, we're in DVD-R land low. I'd just be a lot happier and confident in the lifespan of this media if they consistely played fine right off the press. I can't even imagine 20 years.

The problem with DVD-R is two fold - the quality of the media and the quality of the burn.
Good media properly burned will have no problem with playback. Doesn't mater how good the equipment or technology in creating these DVD-Rs are if the media is not good quality.

 

[Bob Cashill]

CHALK GARDEN is a disappointment on the anamorphic front but ADRIAN MESSENGER, GAMBIT, and RESURRECTION are 16:9-encoded.

 

[Simon Howson]

The solution to DVD-Rs is simple, back everything up that you buy to ISO images using DVD Decrypter.

Hard discs are now less than $100 per Terabyte. A 1 TB drive can hold about 230 single layer DVD-R images, assuming the entire capacity of the DVD is used (which sadly with Warner Archive discs isn't always the case).

 

[ahollis]

KITTEN WITH A WHIP is a good transfer and is widescreen anamorphic. Sound is also very clear in this Ann-Margret cult film. The color THE BLACK SHIELD OF FALWORTH is vibrant in the outdoor scenes, but the interior shots have a slight blueish tint. The best of the bunch I got was THE LAST REMAKE OF BEAU GESTE. The color was bright and and the transfer was clear. The worse of the bunch was SPAWN OF THE NORTH, but was due to age of the print and no work for the transfer. TELL THEM WILLIE BOY IS HERE is letterboxed anamorphic, but the title sequence is windowboxed due to the credits being placed right next to the edge of the frame. Again good color and transfer. DRAGNET (1954) is presented flat (1.33:1), but IMDB lists it presented in 1.77:1. It does appear that it was composed for 1.33. I guess it could have been shot that way and presented in theatres as Widescreen but I think top and bottom information would have been lost. Anyone know for sure what this was shot in?

On a whole I am very happy with the titles I received and plan to go back to the well again.

 

[Mark B]

Originally Posted by Bob Cashill /forum/thread/296971/universal-vault-series-amazon-com-exclusive-dvd-rs/60#post_3651520
CHALK GARDEN is a disappointment on the anamorphic front but ADRIAN MESSENGER, GAMBIT, and RESURRECTION are 16:9-encoded.

Good to hear GAMBIT is anamorphic. I love that film.

 

[Douglas Monce]

Originally Posted by jdee28 /forum/thread/296971/universal-vault-series-amazon-com-exclusive-dvd-rs#post_3648755






Maybe if we don't support these products, they'll introduce higher standards for these MOD discs, or maybe even lower their price to bring them more in line with the quality of what they're offering?

More likely they just won't make the films available. Honestly I don't care what format its on as long as the film is out there to own. I have 5 or 6 titles from the Warner Archive and they are very good quality, particularly I Was A Communist For The FBI and Jack the Ripper.
Doug