MGM Limited Edition Collection (Burn-On-Demand)

[SeanAx]

A great number of discs sold through the MGM Limited Edition Collections MOD program between March and April (at least) suffered from ghosting or haloing issues, most apparent on B&W films but also prominent on color film in scenes with dark objects or hard lines set against a bright or neutral backgrounds.

A lot of DVD reviewers either received discs without the problem or overlooked the problem in their reviews, and a few called attention to it, but there has been very little discussion of the issue so I followed it up myself. According to my contact at Fox, who spoke to Allied Vaughn, there was a faulty transcoder in the replication process which caused the ghosting. I don't have more details (I was not able to speak to anyone at Allied Vaughn directly) but I can say that Allied Vaughn has replaced the transcoder and I received replacement copies of "How I Won the War" and "The Captive City" which have no ghosting/haloing issues and in fact look sharper overall than the original discs I received.

I wrote up a news item on the issue and the resolution on my my DVD/Blu-ray column Videodrone on MSN http://social.entertainment.msn.com/mov ... e9cb1bd894, which has more details.

Has anyone else discovered this issue?

[jsteffe]

A reviewer on Amazon reports that the last 18 minutes from Part 1 are missing from The Murder of Mary Phagan:

This DVD reissue leaves out the scenes in which Gov. Slaton and prosecutor Dorsey are meeting with leading Jewish representatives over the anti-Semitic overtones in the trial proceedings, Leo Frank gives his statement to the court, Dorsey's summation to the jury and the reaction of Frank, Atlantans and Gov. Slaton to his conviction which give a powerful conclusion to the miniseries' Part 1.

Whom should I contact about this?

[SeanAx]

Allied Vaughn released a statement today promising to honor all replacements of faulty discs from the MGM Limited Edition Collection. You can get it replaced through the retailer from Allied directly, and they provided contact information:

Phone: 1-800-759-4087, ext 5
E-mail: [email protected]

I reported on it via my DVD column Videodrone
http://social.entertainment.msn.com/mov ... 9c&_nwpt=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Here is the complete press release.

Allied Vaughn has recently become aware of reports where consumers are seeing an unusual amount of "ghosting" when viewing select MGM Limited Edition Collection titles on certain combinations of television screens, DVD players, and discs. Allied Vaughn has successfully identified the problem which causes the “ghosting” and has taken all necessary steps to correct this issue. The discs reporting the issue were made between March 15 and May 3, 2011. No product manufactured after May 25th, 2011 should exhibit this affect.

Allied Vaughn stands behind the quality of the MGM Limited Edition Collection. Should a consumer experience excessive ghosting problems with those titles, we will replace that disc in accordance with our manufacturing warranty. Consumers may contact their retailer for replacement, or Allied Vaughn directly at 1-800-759-4087, ext 5, or via email at [email protected].

[jsteffe]

Has anyone picked up the MOD version of Sam Fuller's Park Row? If so, how is it? The only reviewer on Amazon claimed that despite the labeling, the disc he was sent contains another film altogether: Harry in Your Pocket (1973). I want to make sure that hasn't happened to anyone else before ordering this disc.

[Thomas Dukenfield]

Has anyone picked up the MOD version of Sam Fuller's Park Row? If so, how is it? The only reviewer on Amazon claimed that despite the labeling, the disc he was sent contains another film altogether: Harry in Your Pocket (1973). I want to make sure that hasn't happened to anyone else before ordering this disc.

I haven't, but the copies of Burn Witch Burn that have been reported apparently contain The Nun and the Sergeant instead (8 people alone on Amazon)! I would wait a couple of weeks, at least until they issue refunds and fix their current goofs.

[NABOB OF NOWHERE]

I got Park Row, Thousand Clowns and The Fearmakers from Screen Archives and all of them are what they say on the tin.

[Sandoz]

There's about a dozen titles I'd like to get from the MGM on-demands, but as many others have also mentioned, I absolutely refuse to pay close to $20 for these half-assed quality copies.

The WB Archives have a couple of sales throughout the year when they offer 50% off... has anyone seen this kind of sale at the MGM site (or for the Universals or the Columbia discs either)?

[Noiradelic]

Warner Archive has started selling the Columbia MOD titles through their site, so presumably (hope, hope...) any site-wide sale will include them as well. Deep Discount also periodically has the Columbia MODs on sale for $15.

[souvenir]

The Digital Fix reviews Park Row

[cdnchris]

For those interested that craptastic version of Captain America from 1990 is coming to DVD through the MGM Limited Edition Collection line on July 19th.

[Murdoch]

Now that I don’t mind being MOD

[domino harvey]

I do however mind it being MADE

[Matt]

I'm watching it on SyFy at this very moment. I can anticipate no way in which the new version can be any better than this.

[Murdoch]

I will say it has some crazy editing.

[Noiradelic]

The MGM Limited Edition Collection, ala Sony MODs, is now being offered through Warner Archive.

[dwk]

It seems MGM's MOD program is being put on hold

[Matt]

Our own Jameson281 (who is in a position to know these things) says in that linked thread, "One door is closing. Another is opening. Can't say, but I think fans will be happy."

[Jeff]

Must involve licensing a large chunk of deep catalog. I'm guessing somebody like Shout or Image -- worst case scenario maybe a Mill Creek or Echo Bridge. Hopefully they let Criterion take another couple dozen titles first. Even if you just look at the titles MGM already released as MoD discs, there are several that would have been "Criterion worthy" (Two for the Seesaw, The Green Room, The Landlord, Man of Iron, The Best Man, and Park Row all come to mind right away). Obviously it's a different region, so different agreements apply, but I'm wondering if Masters of Cinema have licensed Park Row from MGM and if other titles will follow.

[knives]

We already know that The Landlord is coming to R2 so I'm sure many are going to fill up there. I wouldn't be surprised if these weren't selling as well as they expected and so licensing is working better for them financially.

[Jeff]

We already know that The Landlord is coming to R2

I didn't know that until I read your post! Those crafty British keep waiting until I buy the MGM DVRs to make their announcements. Looks like another one I'll be replacing.

[knives]

They also recently released (different company if I remember rightly) Cassavetes' horrible A Child is Waiting in case that also has been DVRed. They've gotten a lot of juicy real releases across the last year or two.

[Cold Bishop]

Ashby's best film. I'd gladly double-dip on a Criterion.

[dwk]

It seems the MOD program isn't on hold. Their PR firm screwed up and said it was when they meant that distribution of screeners is on hold.

So it seems that the MOD program is still alive and, based on the forum where Jameson281 said that fans will be happy, MGM may have licensed some horror/sci-fi/cult films to a third party. (Shout does seem like a reasonable guess. Cliff Mac teased over at the AV Maniacs forum that "there are many titles coming in 2013 that have not had a DVD release before" and "You have no idea how great 2013 is going to be.")