Steve

That's very encouraging. Meet the Feebles (one of my favorites) has a really bad transfer without any supplements. And I can just imagine a SE of Brain-Dead!

dsa_shea

Meet the Feebles had one of the worst transfers, no chapter stops, and it came in a case that smelled like it came out of an oil vat.

Manzana

I think most people (like me) didn't pay attention to the minutes and seconds, but people are right that it's very near when she injects Michael J. Fox and puts him in the freezer. The change was noticeable on my player, but normal in length (about 2 seconds).

I think writers support this more often than readers do. I believe that Lite-On, BenQ, and NEC writers support PI/PO error scanning, and Pioneers don't. The others I don't know about since these are the only brands I'd touch. Nero CD-DVD Speed's Quality Scan will let you know because most of the useful scanning options will be unchecked and grayed out, but even if they are enabled certain drives do a poor job.

garmonbozia

and it wasn't OAR

cracksky

Just thought I'd report that I bought my copy of The Frighteners at Best Buy in Northern Virginia. It has a clear Made in Mexico sticker on the outer slipcase. I've watched the film, storyboards and trailer on Disc 1 so far and there were no problems on my dvd/vcr combo player from GoVideo (dvr 4275). Not even a hiccup at the layer change which is chapter 33 about 1:20:00 (approx.) into it.

Haven't had a look at the doc yet.

ThatGuamGuy

Caught a tiny little hiccup at the layer change on the commentary, which I only noticed because it was mid-word. Didn't notice a thing when it played regular, and I can usually hear the beat where it changes, if not always see it (if it's there).

dvd_luver

I haven't had a single problem at all with anything on either side, and my disc was made in mexico. Finally finished the whole 3 1/2 hr documentary.

mickey65

I just got my replacement disc from DDD today and I instantly went and checked the injection scene on this one - and to my relief, it played thru the scene without a pause or a skip! Whew!

Davy Mack

Well you know the old saying, "Fool me once..."
After my A+C Vol. 1 problems that I didn't notice til' after it was too late to return it to Tower video and reading of all of the problems with Uni. and their dvd-18s' I had pretty much decided not to buy any more til' they admitted this problem and fixed it. But the Free Kong tkt. and reading of some people's success stories with this DVD, I took the plunge. Well, sure enough, defective disc. At approximately the 25 minute mark in the storyboard section on side 1, it utterly froze on my JVC player. Upstairs on my newer oppo. it froze for a bit, then started stuttering and skipping and jumping ahead.
Universal, this is unacceptable. Now I have to use my lunch hour to go back to the damn store and roll the dice with another copy.

Btw, made in mexico...

edit: Anyone find out if the Japanese or Korean is the director's cut?


grr......!

Mickey, check the WHOLE disc! Both sides. These discs often have problems in random places.

Steve

I'm wondering if it is some of the older DVD players that are having the problem? I have an Oppo (which is relatively new I believe) and it seems to play everything fine that other people are having problems with. On my old Panasonic, some universal discs don't work.. hmm.

Davy Mack

I hear ya, Steve. My oppo plays EVERYTHING I have thown at it and eventually powered through but with pauses, skips and stutters. I'm sorry, but I didn't pay with defective $$, so I want a disc that plays all the way through without a problem.
I just walked 1 and a 1/2 miles in the rain to swap my defective copy. They didn't ask for the Kong ticket, (I had it with me) so I kept it. Tonite I will try the new copy. Fingers crossed...

OldBoy

how was the docu?

kwyjibear

I just tested it on 3 players/recorders (Sony, HP, and LG). On two of them, it stopped completely at the "injection" scene. On the third, it stopped for about 15 seconds and then continued a little later in the scene. Also had problems playing the trailer.
So this is where the dual layer switches over? I've never had a problem with any other dual layer dvd. I'm afraid I'm going to encounter this problem with every other replacement dvd of Frighteners I try to get.

Davy Mack

I think my replacement is ok. I scanned through both sides without a hitch. My problem part was 23 minutes into the storyboard doc.

d

Steve

btw- just finished watching the movie and 1/2 of the docu.

1) the movie seems MUCH better than when I remember seeing it in theaters. Not impressed when I first saw it, but really enjoyed it this time. No - no masterpiece and still think it's Jackson's weakest film - but still a very good film.. Perhaps the additional scenes, perhaps the passage of time, who knows? But really enjoyed it - and think it was actually one of Michael J. Fox's better performances.

2) the docu is insane. highly enjoyable by itself... Really helped me appreciate the film better and definitely showed me that The Frighteners was the transitional film for Jackson and WETA before they went to LOTR. and I am only 1/2 way thru!

Incredible value for all of this material, imho. Just wish it was spread over 2 discs instead of the blasted DVD 18...

Movies-2-Go

I bought this as a blind buy. I watched the movie and enjoyed it, however I watched it after my daughter went to bed so the sound wasn't very loud. I'm looking forward to watching the film again but at a higher volume and the doc. ( Hmm, maybe I'll watch the doc tonight)

sparks

Just played it on my Panny RP-82 (one of the best) and it started breaking up and pixelating at the out of body experience in the freezer.

I then tried it on my Pioneer DVL-700 (LD/DVD player) and it froze up at the injection scene and all over the place. I couldn't get it to play thru.

Went upstairs and we have a one year old PS2 (the thicker model) and it played straight thru the freezer scene perfectly.

Went back downstairs and tried it again on the RP-82 and it played perfectly thru the freezer scene.

This is the first disc that I've ever had that has done this. I'll try to return it tomorrow, but I dropped it while putting it into another player, now I have a large gash on the "B" side. It played thru okay by fast forwarding it.

Maybe they'll do it anyway and I'll let them keep the King Kong ticket.

fmian

CDWOW finally shipped my german version. I'll be out of the country when it arrives though so I'll have to wait even longer to watch it. It'll be worth the wait though.

dvd_luver

I have seen some of the pictures of the German version, and I wish Universal in the region 1 market had given the film that exact same treatment!

I wouldn't have minded coughing up an extra $20 or 2 for it.

nickdawgy

Ok I just bought this off of eBay from a seller with high feedback. I got it today, and I am thinking this is bootleg or some foreign version, but I could be wrong.

His description says all DVD's are legit and not backups or bootlegs, but maybe you guys can help me figure it out.

There is no insert, not sure if it had one anyway. No King Kong ticket. The DVD was sealed, but only with shrinkwrap, and it was alot stronger then the kind you usually find on DVD's. It looked not completely sealed at the bottom. It also didn't have the "security device enclosed" stickers on it anywhere.

The case feels funny, like a textured/sand type of feel. The actual DVD has Japanese writing at the top of it under the title.

The DVD has the following writing on it:

C095 Dolby Digital 1+3X, dts, DVD-9.

Did I get ripped off? I paid $10 for it, but I'd rather pay more for a legit version. I haven't contacted him yet, but his description said he does offer a money back guarantee, and he already refunded my $4 shipping because he shipped late.

Let me know what you think.

GoldenJCJ

I think it's a bootleg, the Japanese writing is a tipoff (none on my legit copy)
also mine doesn't have:
CO95 Dolby Digital 1+3X, dts, DVD-9.

R1 version has no DTS

TomOpus

$10 + $4 shipping?

If you can get your money back, I would.

Slowpc

Yea ... it sounds like a bootleg to me.

nickdawgy

Apparently his feedback is 100% but he has granted alot of refunds due to copies or whatnot. I emailed him and said if he refunded me, I wouldn't leave him negative feedback, even though he lied in his description. I might leave a neutral, but I'll probably leave a positive with a note saying it was a copy.

How can he do this, though? Isn't it illegal?

AJAX

I want to finally pick this title up, however I remember all the problems people had with picture freezing/skipping at the injection scene. Did Universal ever fix the problem with future prints or does this still remain?