Are some Criterion blu-rays going "bad"?

[s.w.a.c.]

Shades of DVD/laser rot, posters on this forum claim that some early Criterion blu-rays are suffering from a simlar malady, better check yours just in case:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=903866" target="_blank" target="_blank

I've got that Pierrot le Fou BD, which is now out of print, I'd be p.o.'d to discover it was now unplayable.

[coolcatdaddy]

There's a thread a blu-ray.com on the same issue:

http://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=249210

I can verify that it's true - I checked the titles this evening and my copy of "Walkabout" is visibly "bronzed" and won't play. The other titles on the list look a little darker than normal blu-rays, but seem to play fine, at least the ones I spot-checked.

I'm guessing that a factory had some problem with their chemicals or processing when these discs were made. According to the threads, some titles made during the same time period from other distributors have turned up bronzed.

[drednm]

WAC had a similar problem with DVDs a year or so ago but was able to replace all disks. SCARY

[coolcatdaddy]

If you have Criterions on the list floating around the web, I'd encourage you to try playing them.

I started pulling discs from the list, playing each one and trying to go to different chapters, and turned up another "Seventh Seal". It won't play past the mid-point of the movie.

The disc may start to play just fine, but fail when it goes to the second layer.

[David Alp]

So what are you supposed to do if your years guarantee is up? Here in the UK, (as long as you keep the receipt) everything is guaranteed for one year; (that is the Consumer Act). But what if the disc rot doesn't click in till 2 or 3 years later? Where do we stand then?

[sc1957]

So what are you supposed to do if your years guarantee is up? Here in the UK, (as long as you keep the receipt) everything is guaranteed for one year; (that is the Consumer Act). But what if the disc rot doesn't click in till 2 or 3 years later? Where do we stand then?

Probably with the idea that it's a piece of plastic, and that nothing lasts forever.

[David Alp]

So what are you supposed to do if your years guarantee is up? Here in the UK, (as long as you keep the receipt) everything is guaranteed for one year; (that is the Consumer Act). But what if the disc rot doesn't click in till 2 or 3 years later? Where do we stand then?

Probably with the idea that it's a piece of plastic, and that nothing lasts forever.

That's not fair really though is it. You expect something to last longer than a year! VHS tapes were better than this seemingly!

[Rick Lanham]

So what are you supposed to do if your years guarantee is up? Here in the UK, (as long as you keep the receipt) everything is guaranteed for one year; (that is the Consumer Act). But what if the disc rot doesn't click in till 2 or 3 years later? Where do we stand then?

Probably with the idea that it's a piece of plastic, and that nothing lasts forever.

That's not fair really though is it. You expect something to last longer than a year! VHS tapes were better than this seemingly!

1. The blu-rays reported to be bad are much older, from 2009/2010.
2. As far as I know, Criterion has not said what they will or won't do in response to the problems.

Rick

[Nick_M]

One of mine turned brown. This seems really fast. I missed out on LDs; how fast did laser rot happen?

[Rick Lanham]

Criterion will replace the bad discs with new ones, upon return of the bad one.
Here's a link to one of the discussions about that:

http://forum.dvdtalk.com/dvd-talk/62274 ... ogram.html" target="_blank

Rick