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Author Topic: Warner Brothers Archive service question Claude S. Ayakawa Film God Posts: 2738 From: Waipahu, Hawaii, USA Registered: Aug 2002 posted 11-10-2009 01:15 PM                        Warner Brothers has been offering specially pressed DVD-R movies at a new online. division of theirs called the Werner Brother Archive for almost a year now and I have a few questions about the discs they are selling. I have heard people are very pleased with the quality of the DVD-R discs discs from Warner's Archive service but how stable is the image storage of commercially produced DVD-Rs like the ones Warners is selling compared to regular DVDs? Is it of comparable quality or less? Good or bad, how long can one expect the discs to last? The movies offered so far from Warner Brothers at their Archive site is very impressive but very expensive at about $20.00 each plus shipping. I understand the WB Archive movies are ones that were selected for online sale because they are 'In Demand' movies by limited amount of fans but might not sell well if commercially pressed on DVD and sold in stores. If any of you had bought movies from Warner Archive, how was the quality of the movies on the disc and their service? -Claude  |  IP: Logged Stephen Furley Film God Posts: 3059 From: Coulsdon, Croydon, England Registered: May 2002 posted 11-10-2009 01:53 PM                     $20.00 sounds extremely cheap for something which sells in quantities too small to have even the smallest quantity of proper pressed DVDs made. They've got to pay the cost of the discs themselves, the packaging, the preparation and encoding of the content in a format suitable for DVD, the duplication and the distribution, with those costs spread over a very small sales volume, before you even start to pay anything for the actual content. If anything similar was available here at anything like that price I'd certainly be interested in using it. Interestingly, these discs can't have CSS content protection on them, because it cannot be used on DVD-R discs of either the General or the Authoring type. One of the reasons I was told a few years ago that such a service could not be offered here for some of the material in the BFI archives was that such protection could not be used. Maybe attitudes are changing.  |  IP: Logged Joe Tommassello Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 547 From: Coatesville, PA, USA Registered: Jan 2008 posted 11-10-2009 02:02 PM                  I have one of their "archive" discs. The quality is comparable to a regular DVD release. Of course the source material will vary but from a mastering standpoint they are fine. It is 16x9 enhanced. The packaging is nice. A standard Amaray-style case with a laser-printed sleeve has the same design and information that you would get with a mass-produced title. Being "burned" discs you will want to take a few extra precautions - primarily keeping them out of direct sunlight or extreme heat and not pausing on them for long periods of time.  |  IP: Logged Claude S. Ayakawa Film God Posts: 2738 From: Waipahu, Hawaii, USA Registered: Aug 2002 posted 11-10-2009 06:41 PM                        How long is long when you say "not pausing for a long time", Joe? If there is a movie I like and a scene I would like to pause often, will doing it repeatedly damage the disc over a period of time? -Claude  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 11-10-2009 06:50 PM                        I never heard of pausing an optical disk for long periods causing any damage...what happens? And how long is a "long period?"  |  IP: Logged Bill Gabel Film God Posts: 3873 From: Technicolor / Postworks NY, USA Registered: Jan 2002 posted 11-10-2009 08:26 PM                     I have 8 discs from Archive Collection. The quality is very good on picture depending on the era and good on sound. (No Remastering)Some of the titles comes with a trailer. I'm was happy getting a few of these titles. And they run deals and sales too. All the Marbles Freebie and the Bean Our Gang Collection (MGM 1939-1944) Reckless Skin Game Soldier in the Rain Too Hot to Handle Wonder Bar  |  IP: Logged Joe Tommassello Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 547 From: Coatesville, PA, USA Registered: Jan 2008 posted 11-11-2009 10:38 AM                  quote: Mike Blakesley I never heard of pausing an optical disk for long periods causing any damage...what happens? And how long is a "long period?" Do burned discs technically qualify as optical discs? Burned discs are just that...the laser that "burns" the data is in fact melting a heat-sensitive layer in the disc. This laser has a higher temperature than it's playback-only counterpart in a typical DVD player. The theory is that if you leave such a disc on pause for too long - possibly even in a standard DVD playback unit - there is a chance you can develop enough heat to cause damage on that piece of data. I don't know if it's true but it's not an unreasonable concept. I know of one DVD review site that wouldn't pause a Warner Archive disc even long enough to take screen caps for the online review. There was a time back in the days of LP records when we were told that playing the same side of the record twice in a row - or worse a 45 since it was so short - caused additional wear on the grooves than if you waited a while as the vinyl was still warm from the previous play and as a result more susceptible to wear. The concept of damaging burned CDs and DVDs is similar. What would be a long period of time? I really don't know but I would think that varies depending on the laser. I can state that I have had burned discs (not WB) deteriorate over time so as a precaution I just don't pause those discs.  |  IP: Logged Claude S. Ayakawa Film God Posts: 2738 From: Waipahu, Hawaii, USA Registered: Aug 2002 posted 11-18-2009 07:56 PM                        I just received a shipment of all of the Gordon Scott Tarzan movies from Warner Archives. Among them are two that are considered the best Tarzan movie ever made with three and four star critic ratings. They are TARZAN'S GREATEST ADVENTURE and TARZAN THE MAGNIFICENT. TARZAN"s GREATEST ADVENTURE was not only good but it included in it's cast Anthony Quayle who went on to play a part in LAWRENCE OF ARABIA and other films and a very young Sean Connery. Connery promised to make more Tarzan films but he got another offer to play a government agent with a license to kill a few years later that made him a super star. Alfred Hitchcock had planned to use Vera Miles in VERTIGO but her marriage to Gordon Scott after starring with him in TARZAN'S HIDDEN JUNGLE did not pan out because she became pregnant with their child. After watching these Tarzan movies on television all these years, it is refreshing to see them on DVD-R discs the way they looked in theatres when I first saw them. I spot checked all the discs and the picture quality is excellent and the color does not look too bad on some of them. The ones Scott made in B&W are gorgeous and very film like. I checked all of the other available titles WArner Archives is offering and it is very difficult to decide what to buy from them because there are so many great movies I want. -Claude  |  IP: Logged Frank Angel Film God Posts: 5305 From: Brooklyn NY USA Registered: Dec 1999 posted 11-19-2009 07:50 AM                        Yes there is a stability question about all DVD-R media. Heat is a big buggaboo. Ever see what happens to a receipt that is printed on heat-sensitive paper after a year or two? Not this this is exactly the same, but the concept is there. The BEST thing about these discs is that the are not saddled with the pesky CSS copy protection. Do like they used to tell you to do with software on floppy disks -- make a protection copy before you do anything else. The first time you watch it, simultaniously make a protection copy and put it away in a dark, cool place. Should the rumors about the questionable stability of the recordable discs be true, once you see defects in the playback of your original, you are still good to go, only then back up the back up.  |  IP: Logged Claude S. Ayakawa Film God Posts: 2738 From: Waipahu, Hawaii, USA Registered: Aug 2002 posted 11-19-2009 01:50 PM                        Frank, My TARZAN movies from Warner Archive came in nice sturdy black Amway cases so that should protect the discs when they not being played. As far as heat is concerned, I have found a part in my house where it is always nice and cool so that is where I will store my WB archive discs. I was very impressed with the quality of the first set of discs I received from WBA and plan to buy more. If I have problems with any of my discs in the future, I am sure WB has a free replacement policy as long as the discs do not look like they have been abused. -Claude  |  IP: Logged Frank Angel Film God Posts: 5305 From: Brooklyn NY USA Registered: Dec 1999 posted 11-19-2009 05:15 PM                        quote: Claude S. Ayakawa I am sure WB has a free replacement policy as long as the discs do not look like they have been abused. Claude, Claude, Claude....I so admire your optimism in human beings. And I wish I had some of yours, but allow my Brooklyn cynicism to mention Laserdisc ROT! I have LOTS of very expensive Laserdiscs which now are very expensive and very BIG coasters or frisbees or whatever else you can think to do with them, except of course play them. Lots of those rotted pieces of plastic are WB titles. And I can attest that the House Of Bugs replaced not a single one of them even, though they are in pristine condition. They just turned to kaka on their own thru no fault of mine -- I had to buy all of them again, and then again on DVD, and now again on Blu-Ray. I'm thinking I practically own that title by now!  |  IP: Logged Claude S. Ayakawa Film God Posts: 2738 From: Waipahu, Hawaii, USA Registered: Aug 2002 posted 11-19-2009 07:15 PM                        Frank, I am not sure about Warner Home Video but Criterion recently replaced a DVD copy of A NIGHT TO REMEMBER I had for years. It played fine when I bought it and when I decided watch the movie again a couple of years later, it would not play. I contacted their customer service department by email when I realized I had a defective disc and they promptly replied with an apology and asked me to send only the disc to them and they promised to send me a replacement free of charge immediately. They did and that is the reason I am expecting to be treated the same way by Warner Archive especially when it is a known fact that DVD-R might not be as reliable as pressed DVD when it comes to long term storage. Yes, I too had my share of laser rotted laserdiscs and Tower Video at the time was good about replacing them free of charge. It is unfortunate you were not treated right but I have never been at a loss when it came time to get defective products replaced because I have always established a good relationship with the stores I shop at because they know I am a valuable customer and want to keep me happy and a loyal customer. -Claude  |  IP: Logged Bill Gabel Film God Posts: 3873 From: Technicolor / Postworks NY, USA Registered: Jan 2002 posted 02-11-2010 12:07 PM                     Over the weekend I was on Imdb looking at the info on "Blue Collar". The Universal film was once availible from Anchor Bay on dvd. Someone made a comment saying it was availible from Amazon. I looked and found afew more Universal titles listed as Amazon exclusive under their Vault Series. And MGM (through Fox Home Video) has few titles also. The order came in today, they look like DVD-R discs. Like the Warner titles with cover artwork, Anamorphic transfers. The MGM title "Trapeze", the cover artwork looks alittle cheaper. I got "The List of Adrian Messenger", "Blue Collar" and "40 Pounds of Trouble" under the Unversal Vault Series and "Trapeze" from MGM.  |  IP: Logged Wayne Keyser Master Film Handler Posts: 272 From: Arlington, Virginia, USA Registered: May 2004 posted 02-14-2010 01:14 AM                     If you're moved to, back up your burned disk.  |  IP: Logged Claude S. Ayakawa Film God Posts: 2738 From: Waipahu, Hawaii, USA Registered: Aug 2002 posted 02-15-2010 12:32 PM                        Bill, I always wanted to have THE LIST OF ADRIAN MESSENGER on DVD. It was a very good movie and I thought it was very cool the way all the major cast members came on screen after the end of the movie and removed their heavy makeup revealing who they were. Beside George C. Scott, I can only remember Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis in the movie but there were many other major stars in the film. I will have to get this movie and thanks for the 'heads up'. -Claude  |  IP: Logged

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