How Now Brown Blu-rays

[captveg]

I have full confidence that they will address my personal email when they have the opportunity, and that they'll make a public statement when they have more concrete information. Causing a "run on the bank" panic via Twitter hashtagging seems like it would only slow their response down even further.

[Drucker]

There's also absolutely no urgency to this situation (unless a browning disc goes out of print between now and when they can get replacement discs made.) Patience, folks.

[David M.]

There is now a #BrownDisc hashtag on Twitter. Please tweet using it, please mention @Criterion in your tweets. Please be civil, please post pictures of your brown Blu-Rays, please do it. Unfortunately forums like ours are mainstream invisible. Twitter is, very, very visible.

https://twitter.com/hashtag/BrownDisc

If enough of you do it, Criterion will have to respond publicly.

Bad idea - this is just going to create hysteria. Criterion are already looking into the situation, they are not ignoring it.

[ShellOilJunior]

I have full confidence that they will address my personal email when they have the opportunity, and that they'll make a public statement when they have more concrete information. Causing a "run on the bank" panic via Twitter hashtagging seems like it would only slow their response down even further.

Agreed. Going to Twitter with hash tags and pictures would exacerbate the problem.

I read a post on blu-ray.com where the Criterion rep recommended identifying the discs with issues and labeling them with small sticky notes (with brief description of the disc's issues). This makes it easy for a small company to make good on replacing the blu-rays.

[MichaelB]

I don't envy Criterion's position in all this- aside from all the legitimately defective discs, they will certainly be bombarded by droves of people who see slight variations in color as evidence that their discs are going bad. Finding the right balance between correcting legitimate mistakes and screening out technical hypocondriacs is going to be a PR nightmare. I'd urge everybody here to actually check your discs for playback errors rather than just going off coloration.

I have every imaginable sympathy for them - this must be a boutique label's worst nightmare. All signs are that it's not remotely their fault, but of course they'll get clobbered with the PR fallout.

And I also completely understand why they haven't said anything concrete yet bar a tacit acknowledgement that they're well aware of the problem (they could hardly not be by now!). They're clearly going to want to know the full extent of the problem first before proposing remedies.

[knives]

Is it a possibility this is affecting any other companies' Blus? Presumably the factory that did these did other companies too.

[MichaelB]

Is it a possibility this is affecting any other companies' Blus? Presumably the factory that did these did other companies too.

A likelihood, I'd say, unless Criterion used a proprietary factory. Which seems wildly implausible.

[captveg]

Someone on blu-ray.com has posted a picture of a browned The Getaway (1972), which was a Warner release in 2007.

[aox]

That Twitter campaign is ridiculous, reckless, and irresponsible.

I have full confidence that they will address my personal email when they have the opportunity, and that they'll make a public statement when they have more concrete information. Causing a "run on the bank" panic via Twitter hashtagging seems like it would only slow their response down even further.

There's also absolutely no urgency to this situation (unless a browning disc goes out of print between now and when they can get replacement discs made.) Patience, folks.

Yeah, I'll send them an email around the New Year. I have about three defective discs (Pierrot, 8 1/2, and M), but I really don't want to add to their stress or get in the way of people who actually need these replaced immediately (e.g. professors). I'm in no rush. I have thousands of other films to watch or rewatch in the next few months.

[tenia]

Obviously, it'll be much better for Criterion to wait and have the most numerous intels in their hands before publishing a half-assed report which will need to get amended every day, with all the contradictory statements this will imply.

[Ted Todorov]

Why should they have to respond publicly given that the detailed information that they've shared with individual customers (like what captveg just posted) is being widely distributed?
...
I also work for a small company, and if I even have to deal with 20 emails in a day, it's a bad day.

So it is better for small company to answer 1000+ emails, one by one, than it is for them to post one tweet or one blog post -- even if to say -- "we are looking into it, expect more info in about xx days/weeks/months"?

Meanwhile for those advocating patience, the first post on this thread is from 2010 - four years ago. Criterion has had 4 years to do something about it, and they haven't, which makes me complete unsympathetic to pleas for patience while public radio silence continues. All making this public will do is concentrate some minds and rearrange some priorities at Criterion. Again, they've had four years.

I love Criterion. I have hundreds of Criterion DVDs and Blu-rays - I am one of their best customers. Note my join date on this forum: I have been buying Criterion DVDs since the first ones were released, I've bought numerous titles multiple times. I do not wish to hurt them. But they are a business, and a business that is failing their best customers the most right now.

[swo17]

Ha, four years ago was when these titles first came out. A small portion of people reported problems with their discs and Criterion took care of each of them one by one. This latest entitlement fest only started a few weeks ago. Criterion could make a public statement now, but it wouldn't indicate anything other than the very helpful information that's already been posted in this thread and elsewhere. What more do you need?

[warren oates]

Meanwhile for those advocating patience, the first post on this thread is from 2010 - four years ago. Criterion has had 4 years to do something about it, and they haven't, which makes me complete unsympathetic to pleas for patience while public radio silence continues. All making this public will do is concentrate some minds and rearrange some priorities at Criterion. Again, they've had four years.

Pardon me but that just sounds so cray cray. Four years ago EVERYBODY thought this was a limited manufacturing defect that was in no way widespread or progressive. Just a little while back in this very thread somebody mentions that their initial Walkabout replacement disc is now browning and unplayable. Why would Criterion have sent that out if they had then understood the extent of the problem, an issue that seems defined by its slow creeping randomness over time and among what could be about a dozen titles.

I don't know, this thread is beginning to feel like a Rorschach test whose true existential subtext is the denial of death.

[RobertB]

Got a proper reply today:

I hope this email finds you well. Thank you for writing in regarding a discoloration and playability problem with one or more of your Criterion discs. We are aware of this issue, which appears to affect a number of titles pressed four or five years ago at a pressing plant that we no longer use, and we are currently working on a solution. Please be assured that we are dedicated to your satisfaction and will be replacing defective discs. As soon as we have a system in place to handle exchanges efficiently, we will send out a link with instructions on how to receive replacement discs. Thank you for your patience and understanding while we work through this issue.

All the best and thanks for supporting Criterion!

Jon Mulvaney

[warren oates]

I just now got the exact same email.

[Minkin]

But I just lit my torch and grabbed my pitchfork. Now what do I do with my life?

[Arrow]

But I just lit my torch and grabbed my pitchfork. Now what do I do with my life?

Depends on if you're one of their "best customers" or not.

[Ted Todorov]

Meanwhile for those advocating patience, the first post on this thread is from 2010 - four years ago. Criterion has had 4 years to do something about it, and they haven't, which makes me complete unsympathetic to pleas for patience while public radio silence continues. All making this public will do is concentrate some minds and rearrange some priorities at Criterion. Again, they've had four years.

Pardon me but that just sounds so cray cray. Four years ago EVERYBODY thought this was a limited manufacturing defect that was in no way widespread or progressive. Just a little while back in this very thread somebody mentions that their initial Walkabout replacement disc is now browning and unplayable. Why would Criterion have sent that out if they had then understood the extent of the problem, an issue that seems defined by its slow creeping randomness over time and among what could be about a dozen titles.

I don't know, this thread is beginning to feel like a Rorschach test whose true existential subtext is the denial of death.

Clearly I haven't been reading the forums enough -- honestly (and you can see from my posting history) I have had better things to do the last few years. I only stumbled into this because I emailed "Mulvaney" over a week ago about an utterly unplayable Paris, Texas Blu-ray, did not receive any sort of response and then stumbled into this - noticed that Paris, Texas was indeed turning brown, and the first other BD I looked at -- Summer Hours was totally brown as well. I am in the middle of the NYFF, and don't have the time or the heart to go through my collection. I wasn't even aware of the Blu-ray forum's existence until now.

But I don't see why people need to stumble onto this one by one, and waste their time emailing Criterion and then getting upset when they don't receive an answer: so much time, and so much upset can be solved by a public statement.

Also, if this is a major format issue with Blu-ray, far beyond Criterion, I understand, but there are other solutions that I (maybe not others) would find perfectly acceptable, such as a a code for free iTunes download of films on defective discs for Criterion Customers (so long as all the extras are included). That would probably be my preferred solution in fact: if my hard drive fails, I can re-download the movie from iTunes as often as I like...

[Drucker]

But I just lit my torch and grabbed my pitchfork. Now what do I do with my life?

Maybe It Happened One Night will have an audio sync problem. Don't worry.

[Ted Todorov]

But I just lit my torch and grabbed my pitchfork. Now what do I do with my life?

Depends on if you're one of their "best customers" or not.

Droll, very droll.

So politely asking for comment on Twitter is the equivalent of "lit my torch and grabbed my pitchfork"? Seriously?

And by the way, if this is a major Blu-ray wide problem, there is nothing like the here and now to air it out, before the industry moves to yet another spinning disk format with 4K Blu-ray.

[warren oates]

Clearly I haven't been reading the forums enough -- honestly (and you can see from my posting history) I have had better things to do the last few years... I am in the middle of the NYFF, and don't have the time or the heart to go through my collection. I wasn't even aware of the Blu-ray forum's existence until now.

"Too busy to read even the last few entries in this thread, so busy watching films at fancy fests that I can't check my collection or my email.* Just dropping by to add yet another overheated uninformed rant."

*Which will very likely very soon contain a response identical to the one quoted by RobertB above if it does not already.

[captveg]

Aside from the OOP titles, I never feared Criterion making right on replacing these once it was obvious some manufacturing issue was at fault. What concerns me more is if the plant pressed titles for other companies for discs that I own also turn out to have the same problem, as I doubt many of the larger home video labels will have the same courteous customer service for releases from 4-5 years back.

[swo17]

So is this why WB has to keep rereleasing The Wizard of Oz?

[jindianajonz]

But I don't see why people need to stumble onto this one by one, and waste their time emailing Criterion and then getting upset when they don't receive an answer: so much time, and so much upset can be solved by a public statement.

Well hopefully the people who stumble across this issue would take the time to read the threads about it and see that Criterion is aware of the problem and has been addressing it on a case by case-

Clearly I haven't been reading the forums enough -- honestly (and you can see from my posting history) I have had better things to do the last few years.

Oh.

[swo17]

You don't get to be one of Criterion's best customers by just sitting around reading forums all day!