DVD rot?

[mpclark31]

I went to watch Carlito's Way (the orginial release disc) and I get a "disk not loaded" error. I tried on my bedroom DVD player and got the same thing. Both of the DVD-ROM's in my PC cannot read it either. There are no scuffs, marks, scratches, dust, finger prints, etc. on the surface of the disc. If you saw it, you'd think it was new. I can't see any fogging but it appears to be dual layer (gold colored surface). What could cause it to not be read, except DVD rot? This is the Universal disc with a 1998 copyright date on it.

My only solace is that I got this cheaply from a store going out of the DVD business and that the "ultimate" edition is coming out next month. Otherwise, I'm pissed.

Any info or ideas are appreciated!

Mike

[limacharliewhiskey]

Sounds like a clear cut case of DVD rot. When a single disc has the exact same problem in multiple players, most often, the problem is with the disc.

I've had a small number of titles that have gone bad, most recently a Playboy title in my collection. Bought in 2002 and working fine at that time, I recently watched it in 2004, and had major pixellation on the menus (first time I've ever seen that) along with at least the first 5 minutes of the disc. When I decided to check it again a couple of months ago, it wouldn't even load up to the main menu. It's now a dead disc that won't even start up. I've since bought a new copy of the disc, and it works perfectly fine, so the issue with my bad disc is definitely not a player compatibility problem.

If it does happen, DVD rot seems to be occurring consistently within the 2-3 year period of being manufactured. If your discs are likely to fail due to DVD rot, it will happen within the first 3 years of owning it. If you've had a disc for that long and it still plays fine, it'll likely play for the next 50 years with no problems.

Just curious, when did you buy the Carlito's Way disc, and when did you last watch it when it was working fine?

I think other people have reported certain issues with Universal discs going bad. One of them was a Hitchcock title, but I can't remember which movie.

Unfortunately, I think you're out of luck, and will have to simply buy a new copy.

[plissken99]

Yep, the rotting has happened to me twice. First with Dracula 2000, at chapter 10 it started pixelating, then froze, you could only skip to the end scene(not proud of how I replaced it, lets just say Blockbuster was involved ). Next was Cable Guy, tried to play it, only to find nothing but a mass of frozen green pixelization, thankfully it was only $6 to replace.

[mpclark31]

Originally Posted by limacharliewhis

If it does happen, DVD rot seems to be occurring consistently within the 2-3 year period of being manufactured. If your discs are likely to fail due to DVD rot, it will happen within the first 3 years of owning it. If you've had a disc for that long and it still plays fine, it'll likely play for the next 50 years with no problems.

Just curious, when did you buy the Carlito's Way disc, and when did you last watch it when it was working fine?

Interesting question. I purchased the disc maybe 5 years ago and I know I've watched it in the last year or so. I got scared when this happened and checked my copy of The Thing which is also dual layer from Universal and has a 1998 copyright date. Fortunately, that came up OK. I know Gladiator has/had a reputation for DVD rot as well, but that disc is OK too. Guess I need to check my discs more often.

Mike

[Moonraker]

Originally Posted by limacharliewhis

I think other people have reported certain issues with Universal discs going bad. One of them was a Hitchcock title, but I can't remember which movie.

Vertigo, the first printing, has had wide reports of DVD Rot.

[ninfan81]

I think its definitely a Universal thing. My copy of Pitch Black Unrated and Carlito's Way both rotted away. They both came up as no disc on two dvd players. No other studios have given me this problem.....knock on wood.

[Jeff003]

I was hoping this problem wasn't happening anymore on disc produced after 2002.It's ashame so many Universal dvds are going bad because if it happens on any of their tv boxsets they will be expensive to replace.It sounds like the problem with Universal is the plant that is manufacting their disc.

[Volcane]

My region 2 copy of The Terminator has rotted with horrible smearing all over BOTH discs, thankfully there's finally a new ultimate edition out soon.

But, My Terminator 2 ULTIMATE EDITION that has been long since deleted has ROT on the first disc and the film is unplayable from 50mins onwards. I could buy the extreme edition but it feels/looks like an inferior product but ultimately I may have no choice....

[Eddie2u]

It looks like National Lampoon's Vacation 20th Anniversary Special edition is starting to rot on me.

At first the dvd refused to load.
I checked the bottom of the disc and noticed lines from the inside of the disc webbing outward towards the edge.
I wiped the bottom of the disc with a soft cloth and the lines vanished like it rebonded.
This is only the 2nd time watching the disc since I bought it.

[ITDEFX]

hmm this is intresting.
bought the batman box set (the new one) in oct
played through all 4 movies just fine.
later on played them again , this time around 50 mins into the movie , the disc starts pixelating, skipping, then fast forwards roughly 8 chapter ...returned it to best buy within 30 days. Still sealed and on my shelf..afraid to open it

War of the worlds(2005)...played through fine first time.
second time 50 mins into the movie, SAME problems, skips, pixelation, fast forward several chapters. played the disc on diffrent players from a 5 disc player, to single to a PS2, all showed same pixelation problem. I had to return it TWICE..movie is still sealed and unused.

Haven't seen any problems with tv show dvds.

[limacharliewhiskey]

Originally Posted by ITDEFX

hmm this is intresting.
bought the batman box set (the new one) in oct
played through all 4 movies just fine.
later on played them again , this time around 50 mins into the movie , the disc starts pixelating, skipping, then fast forwards roughly 8 chapter ...returned it to best buy within 30 days. Still sealed and on my shelf..afraid to open it

War of the worlds(2005)...played through fine first time.
second time 50 mins into the movie, SAME problems, skips, pixelation, fast forward several chapters. played the disc on diffrent players from a 5 disc player, to single to a PS2, all showed same pixelation problem. I had to return it TWICE..movie is still sealed and unused.

Haven't seen any problems with tv show dvds.

I guess I should play my Batman SE disc to make sure it's OK. Just haven't had the time, as I've been watching other DVDs. I've had very few problems with Warner Bros. discs in the past. Did all 4 discs go bad, or was it just one particular disc?

With the War of the Worlds, it sounds like a bad batch of discs, especially when the same problem occurs on multiple players. My last glitchy disc was another Dreamworks release like War of the Worlds, Shrek 2,which had a pixellation problem at one point in the middle of the movie. Replacement disc was fine, but I haven't played it since to see if it's still OK.

[ITDEFX]

Originally Posted by limacharliewhis

I guess I should play my Batman SE disc to make sure it's OK. Just haven't had the time, as I've been watching other DVDs. I've had very few problems with Warner Bros. discs in the past. Did all 4 discs go bad, or was it just one particular disc?

With the War of the Worlds, it sounds like a bad batch of discs, especially when the same problem occurs on multiple players. My last glitchy disc was another Dreamworks release like War of the Worlds, Shrek 2,which had a pixellation problem at one point in the middle of the movie. Replacement disc was fine, but I haven't played it since to see if it's still OK.

yes all of the main movies showed problems after 50 mins of play. I think your right about the bad batch, it might be limited to the collectors edition.
I've only gone through Shrek 2 once. I'm starting to think that manfacturers are going cheap in the process during the ladder end of standard dvd life as HD-DVD/BR is right around the corner. Who has the time to go through years of dvds and dvd tv show box sets to look for dvd rot...not me :| and I think that company's are counting on that, thinking that we will throw away our old dvds for the new higher defenition discs. I expect to see a similar problem of dvd rot on these first generation release discs 5 or so years after there release. we will see.