I said no it is not, because one of the reels in question (#6) had bad lab work.... dark blotchy areas, the picture even completely faded to black at a couple of spots during the ending of the movie, so to me that is not acceptable. Also the other three reels all had perf damage and damaged (crumpled) footage in spots.

But this led me to think...

What is their definition of playable? Is it "it will run thru the projector without jamming?" or more like "it looks perfect in nearly every way" or something between?
And, does "non-playable" make them handle the replacements on more of a priority basis?

Actually I was quite impressed with the service this time... film arrived on Wednesday, I put it together Wed. nite, called for the replacements about 11:00 PM and had them by 4:00 the next day.

I'm actually glad a rep ask if the print was damaged; sounds like they are at least trying to narrow down who damaged it.

Film exchanges probably don't want to get into "who damaged this print" kind of arguments. Everyone who had it will say; "Not me!" To find out will cost more money than it's worth- then they have to try and actually get the replacement cost.

I'm guessing that if a theater has a reputation for damaging prints, (and I bet the film exchanges DO have some idea of who those places are) they will just "forget" to send a replacement reel or print, until someone really screams about it.

I thought a certification course (like the Dolby/SDDS/DTS course) for projectionists would be a good thing. That way, if a certified projectionist called about a replacement reel, the lab/exchange would know that the projectionist knew *something* about what he was talking about.

But, that would be making the job of a projectionist more professional, and most owners don't want to pay for a professional.

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