Vertigo DVD DIED!!! (1 Viewer)

[GeorgeDelmerico]

Hi all,

I joined this forum today because something really really strange happened to me--and my downstairs neighbor, Ken. And I wondered if anyone besides me and him have experienced this truly weird development. :frowning:

I haven't watched my copy of the restored "Vertigo" DVD--the original release from a few years ago with the orange cover--for a few months. It had always played beautifully. But Ken called me today and said, "Put in your Vertigo disk and see if it works. I tried to watch my copy last night. Mine's died. It won't play in either of my players!"

Naturally, Vertigo being one of my favorite movies too, I tried to play the disk again myself. IT WOULD NOT PLAY in either of my 2 Panasonics OR my Mac G4 Superdrive, which spat it out!

So we think this is truly bizarre--sort of like some DIVX ghost--and I'm wondering--has anyone else experienced this sudden change from a perfectly fine DVD to an unplayable coaster? (No, I haven't changed players or anything lately, and I take very, very good care of my disks, and so does Ken.)

Actually we would both buy a new "Vertigo" if Universal decides to make an anamorphic transfer finally available. But this kind of obsolescence without warning is something I've never heard of. Anyone else find this has happened with their original "Vertigo"? (Not the new Jimmy-Stewart-dangling-on-the-cover one.)

Thanks,
George

 

[Glenn Overholt]

Welcome!

Vertigo was re-released when it was discovered that the first batch that had been run off was bad. You aren't alone in this and several other Universal titles have done the same thing.

I have already returned my 'bad' copy of "the Jackel" to them when it died just like yours did. Last week, my copy of 'The Thing' did the same thing.

No scratches, no abuse - they just die! You can get it replaced with the newer version by contacting them at the link below:

http://www.universalstudios.com/home...ml/contact_us/

It might take 8 weeks, but it is relatively painless. If you don't have the receipt, tell them that you'll send yours back to them. (It doesn't do you any good now, right?)
I get a 6" x 9" envelope and slap 5 stamps on it.
If you will do a search I am sure that you will find the other threads regarding this.

Glenn

 

[RickardL]

Is there any way to tell if I have "bad" one?
UPC or spine matrix number or any marking?
I watched mine about 6 weeks ago and it played fine
except for some minor video artifact.

 

[Ross M]

We had several folks, in a recent discussion regarding several OOP Universal titles, comment on their inability to play several of the older ones:

Universal titles that won't play

 

[Patrick H.]

Oh yes, this is the ONLY disc I've ever had a rot-related issue with. I remember finding the old orange-cover version on the shelf at Borders one day, and thinking "Gee, aren't I lucky...this cover is so much better than the reissue!" In short, I was not lucky. That sucker went back for an exchange the following day...I can live with the purple cover as long as the disc plays.

 

[Vince Maskeeper]

Anyone who gets a new copy and wants to sell me their original case, drop me an email. Will pay good money for the orange swirl version.

-V

 

[Craig Beam]

Happily, my copy still plays flawlessly... and it's from the original run, with orange cover. But I'll be periodically checking it now....

 

[Patrick H.]

Damn!

 

[george kaplan]

I just checked mine, and it plays fine. However, you guys have me worried, so I've burned a backup copy.

 

[Bradley-E]

Ditto for me. Both Vertigo and Apollo 13 are dead titles in my collection.

 

[Matt Butler]

I have the orange swirl version. I checked it a couple weeks ago and its fine.

 

[Sean A]

Just got back from Universal my replacement copies of Vertigo and Psycho , both of which just died on me . I e-mailed them with the info, and they gave me an address to mail the discs back to . It took about 6 weeks to get the replacements .

It seeems that a few early Universal titles have had similar problems . You'll find a few threads on this site about this issue

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

Are they requiring that the whole package be returned, or just the discs? Since I have pretty much every early Universal release, I hope I'm not required to ship 20 or 30 full DVDs back to them.

 

[Kain_C]

I think my Vertigo is about to die as well. I let my friend borrow it and he says it won't play in his player! Mine is also the one with the orange cover.

Great

 

[Glenn Overholt]

I don't think that there are that many titles that are 'bad'. Outside of the ones that have already been mentioned, I'd suspect anything that came in a jewel case and a few more that had new releases a year after.

I came up with - Apostle, Babe & Babe 2, Battlestar Galactica (original TV movie), Beethoven 1 & 2, Born on the Fourth of July, the Breakfast Club and Cats.

I haven't verified any of those, though. If anybody has them, I guess it would be nice to know.

Glenn

 

[Sean A]

Jeff- I returned the whole package. They replaced the discs , and sent them back in my original cases. So I still have my original Vertigo orange cover

 

[Colby]

Has anyone else had a problem with American Graffiti (the original '98 release)? I put mine in last night and it didn't work. I put it in a player today and that didn't work either. I've got another drive and a player to test it in just to be certain, but I suspect that it may just be "dead".

EDIT: Nevermind. I tried it on another player at it worked just fine. Go figure.