Warner DVD's not working thread - watch to make sure they still play (4 Viewers)

[TheSteig]

Bordertown, which I hadnt watched since 2010 played fine. And its a great movie !

 

[Thomas T]

Bordertown, which I hadnt watched since 2010 played fine. And its a great movie !

I stand to be corrected but Bordertown is a MOD title rather than a pressed title. The problem isn't with Warners MOD discs which began in 2009 and so far have not shown any problems with films going bad (original pressing bad, yes but not good pressings going bad after several years). Ironically, I remember the hue and cry when the program started that MOD discs will just stop playing after several years yet it's the pressed discs that have proven the problem!

 

[TheSteig]

I had one MOD disc go bad actually but I think it was an isolated issue. Its the DVDs that we need to check. Bordertown is an MOD , that is correct
And no harm in checking movies that we like

 

[Matt Hough]

My DVD of A Free Soul officially died tonight. I had watched The Divorcee a few months ago, and it played fine, but tonight A Free Soul (on the same disc) froze up at the MGM logo and wouldn't proceed further.

Sick of all this crap, I went to VUDU and bought the HD version of A Free Soul for $9.99 and then watched it. I looked very, very good.

 

[Aunt Peg]

Just watched The Sea Hawke (1940) and it played fine.

 

[TheSteig]

My DVD with Laurel and Hardy in Air Raid Wardens and Nothing But Trouble played fine. Not the new MOD release

 

[Aunt Peg]

I've had some problems with The Fountainhead (1949) Would not skip past chapter 21 on a very old DVD player. When I tried it in a new Blu Ray player is skipped from chapter to chapter fine.

Last tried to watch the film in an old Blu Ray blu player and it simply wouldn't work. Than popped it into a newer player and it played fine all the way through.

Worth noting that the disc had 'fogged up' but I was able to clean it without any problems. The disc was also in a very thin case - I do recall it being part of some Warners box set a purchased years ago.

 

[Matt Hough]

I reported a week ago that A Free Soul was no longer working from the Forbidden Hollywood set. It's on the same disc with Norma Shearer's The Divorcee. A Free Soul would not play at all last week, but The Divorcee played perfectly this evening, so I guess so far only one layer on this DVD has gone bad.

 

[Darby67]

I in the process of gradually acquiring the 4 volumes of the Warner Brothers Gangsters Collection on Ebay. I bought Volumes 2 and 3 recently and just purchased Volume 1 today; I will purchase Volume 4 in the next week or so. My viewing so far:

Volume 2:

Plays Fine:
San Quentin
City for Conquest
Each Dawn I Die

Volume 3:

Plays Fine:
The Mayor of Hell
Brother Orchid
Smart Money
Picture Snatcher

Freezes Up:
Black Legion (I've ordered the individual release from Amazon as a replacement)

I will provide further update as I finish out Volumes 2 and 3 and start on Volumes 1 and 4.

I am also in the market for the 5 volumes of Warner Brothers Film Noir Classic Collection but these tend to be pricier than the Gangsters Collection so it will take a bit longer to acquire the full set.

 

[TheSteig]

You couldve contacted Sherri Bogard for a free replacement !

 

[Travis87]

I knew for some time a handful of my Errol Flynn titles wouldn't play. Went through this weekend and discovered a few more that won't play. I've inquired about replacements so we'll see.

Act of Violence / Mystery Street (Only Plays Mystery Street)
Illegal / The BIg Steal (only plays Illegal)
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
They Died With Their Boots On
Captain Blood
The Dawn Patrol
The All New Super Friends Hour Volume 1 - Disc 2 won't load at all

 

[Aunt Peg]

Well I tested my Gentlemen Jim disc a few months back on a very old DVD player and it worked fine.

Last night I watched it on a very old and dying Blu Ray player and it played fine until about chapter 23 or so.

I ejected the disc and placed it in my latest Blu Ray player which is only a few months old and it played fine.

So my Gentlemen Jim disc whilst still technically working won't be some time in the future. From the sounds of Travis' post Captain Blood will need to be Warners next watch.

 

[Thomas T]

Not a Warners movie but in 2007 Warner Bros. home entertainment pressed and distributed a box set of BBC productions of Henrik Ibsen called The Henrik Ibsen Collection consisting of 10 plays. A recent view of the collection showed that two of those productions would no longer play: the 1988 The Master Builder and the 1974 Lady From The Sea. Both are paired with other plays on the same disc but those plays (the 1958 The Master Builder and 1962 Hedda Gabler) played fine. Unfortunately that set is now out of print but I was able to score a copy off of e-bay to replace the 2 discs.

 

[Douglas R]

I knew for some time a handful of my Errol Flynn titles wouldn't play. Went through this weekend and discovered a few more that won't play. I've inquired about replacements so we'll see.

Act of Violence / Mystery Street (Only Plays Mystery Street)
Illegal / The BIg Steal (only plays Illegal)
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
They Died With Their Boots On
Captain Blood
The Dawn Patrol
The All New Super Friends Hour Volume 1 - Disc 2 won't load at all

I had exactly the same experience with Illegal / The Big Steal as I said in post 95

Looks like I’ll have to check all my Errol Flynn titles as well.

 

[Arthur Powell]

My first Errol Flynn set from 2005 is fine ("Captain Blood", "They Died with Their Boots on", etc.). The second set, purchased in 2007, is toast (getting ready to send Sherri an email about that and other affected titles). My experience with the "Gentleman Jim" disc from that set mirrors Aunt Peg's report. Oddly enough, I never got around to purchasing the Flynn WWII films set, but in retrospect that did save me from some aggravation I suppose.

If you're having problems with titles from the first Flynn set, you likely have discs from reprintings during the affected years. Oddly enough, around 2007 I purchased from Costco copies of the 1937 "The Prince and the Pauper" and "Arsenic and Old Lace." Since they were in snapper cases, I figured that Costco likely got its hands on some old stock. Until recently I hadn't bothered to examine them since I thought it was pretty self-evident that they had to be pre-2005 in origin. Guess what - I looked at them and they were clearly rotted. My point is - any Warner title purchased after 2006 needs to be examined.

 

[Pete York]

I thought Forbidden Hollywood Vol. 2 was the worst set of all-time for this garbage (I was able to put together a complete set from two different boxes that each had different discs go bad). Looks like Film Noir Vol. 4 rivals it. My WHERE DANGER LIVES / TENSION has a huge blotch on the surface, although I was able to chapter skip all the way through both movies.

Flynns (Vol. 1, 2, Adventures and Westerns) thankfully were fine, but DON JUAN has cloudy smears on it, so I guess its days are numbered.

 

[Darby67]

I finished watching Volumes 2 and 3 of the Warner Gangsters Collection and can report the following:

Volume 2, all of the following films played fine:
Bullets or Ballots
Each Dawn I Die
G Men
San Quentin
A Slight Case of Murder
City for Conquest

Volume 3:

Played fine:
Picture Snatcher
Smart Money
Mayor of Hell
Brother Orchid

Froze:
Black Legion
Lady Killer

Both films will be sent to to Sherri Bogard to be exchanged along with any defective ones that show up in Volumes 1 and 4.

Starting on Volume 1 tonight and when I finish that I will watch Volume 4.

Still in the market for all 5 volumes of Warner's Film Noir Classic Collection but there have been reports of defective discs among them as well.

 

[Douglas R]

My first Errol Flynn set (Captain Blood etc) played fine as did Vol 2 (Adventures of Don Juan etc). Vol 2 is a slim pack set. Is that how all they all appeared for Vol 2 or is it a later pressing?

 

[Travis87]

Not sure if they were all the same but mine is also the slim pack. Dawn Patrol was the only one of the bunch I had an issue with.

 

[Aunt Peg]

Just watched Bringing Up Baby which was pressed in 2005 so I don't think it falls into the category of potential problem films, but it played fine.