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Films released exclusively on pressed discs in Warner Brothers' 4 Film DVD sets

Hills of Home (Fred M Wilcox 1948)
Included in TCM Greatest Classic Film Collection: Lassie
2 double-sided discs (flippers)

Instant Love / Pão de Açúcar (Paul Sylbert 1964)
Included in TCM Greatest Classic Films: Romantic Affairs
Disc layout unknown

International Velvet (Bryan Forbes 1978)
Included in 4 Film Favorites: Classic Horse Films
2 double-sided discs (flippers)

Invitation to the Dance (Gene Kelly 1956)
Included in 4 Film Favorites: Gene Kelly
4 single-sided discs (no flippers)

Kirk Douglas: Before I Forget (Jeff Kanew 2009)
Included in TCM Greatest Classic Legends: Kirk Douglas
Disc layout unknown

Feego wrote:In an interesting development, Invitation to the Dance will be released in a 4 Film Favorites: Gene Kelly set in October along with Summer Stock, For Me and My Gal, and On the Town. The four films will be on two double-sided discs, but they will be pressed. Hopefully this means more films from the Archive will make it to pressed discs.

Is a double-sided disc actually better than a burned disc?

Yes.

And why is that? (I'm not trying to be a smartass, I do want to know the answer since I've never had access to an Archive burned on-demand disc)

The big difference is that these double sided discs will last longer and surprisingly scratch less easily.

Another advantage is the price. You'll pay less for this four-film set than you will for the single DVD-R.

knives wrote:The big difference is that these double sided discs will last longer and surprisingly scratch less easily.

How longer does it last exactly?

A decade or two.

I see. And how long is a burned disc expected to last?

No good answer, it really depends. A good DVD-R that was burned well then stored and handled with care will last longer than a lifetime. (By that, I mean it would remain playable - errors could pop up, but any decent player will be able to overcome that with error correction so it won't be noticeable.)

But if they use cheap media, if the the data isn't encoded well (a weak laser, burning too fast so that the 'pits' created in the dye/substrate aren't as well defined), if the disc is exposed to excessive light or heat which will degrade the dye/substrate, etc. the life of the disc will be effected dramatically.

Anecdotally, the only single-sided disc that has given me excessive problems in the last twelve years was not a burned disc, but a pressed disc, the Tom and Jerry bluray disc one. I'd blame it on the lack of silkscreening on the front of the disc (most of the disc is see through), but that seems silly. I've had plenty of problems with double sided disc, but most of those were from early on in the DVD life cycle, and I assume have to do with manufacturing problems since over come.

Warners still sometimes releases things on pressed DVD. Things like:



Saw this advertised on a Barnes and Noble display. Comes out July 29th and while all these films are already out (and a couple on Blu), it includes a seventh disc with a documentary on Kelly that I'm not sure has been out on DVD

Figured it was worth creating a thread to address this, please see first post for list of exclusive titles. Also to clarify earlier discussion, I can confirm that the Gene Kelly set actually comes with four pressed discs stacked on top of each other in a spindle, so Invitation to the Dance is not in fact a flipper. If I missed any exclusive releases, please let me know

Well, Instant Love (1964) - a Brazilian set romantic comedy - was available exclusively on one of TCM Greatest Classic Films collections; the exact title of the collection it belonged to escapes me, but I do know that Alfred Hitchcock's Mr. and Mrs. Smith was part of that collection as well.

Thanks for the heads-up on that one. That set's all of $8 new via Amazon fulfilled Marketplace FYI

20 film Elizabeth Taylor set contains quite a few films previously only available via MOD.

EDIT According to the Amazon listing, the box will have twenty discs, so no flippers or shoving several films onto one disc ala Universal

domino harvey wrote:20 film Elizabeth Taylor set contains quite a few films previously only available via MOD.

EDIT According to the Amazon listing, the box will have twenty discs, so no flippers or shoving several films onto one disc ala Universal

Just got this in and since there are no reviews anywhere: it's 20 individual discs in two double-wide clear Amarays (same packaging as other Warner TV DVD sets). All discs are the original discs with same artwork etc from first release (so the Richard Burton / Taylor box can be sold in whole so long as you have the Virginia Woolf Blu for the extras from the second disc), all Archive titles are now pressed. BUtterfield 8 is still a flipper, all others are single-sided. My copy was missing Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, which fazed me none but I would've been irate if one of the exclusive titles were absent!