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Why are Universal's DVD sets always defective?

posted 19 years ago by BijouBob8mm
15 replies | jump to latest

I've had so many incidents where I've bought a DVD set from Universal where the film locks up, breaks down into multi-colored dots, etc., and have read so many product reviews of Universal DVD sets that indicate I'm not alone in finding a total lack of quality control. So it was with no surprise I read reviews of the recently-released Hammer DVD set having playback problems. Sure enough, CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF skipped on one set, while BRIDES OF DRACULA froze up on another set. Is this because Universal tries to cram so much onto a double-sided DVD to cut corners and costs, or are they simply using inferior materials and facilities?

[–] cbulkin 19 years ago

I just returned my second copy of the new Hammer Horror Series - The Franchise Collection DVD set to Tower Records today. Same problems as you described above. I had a similar problem a few months back with Universal's The Mummy - Legacy Collection. The second disc (the double-sided one) froze up during the first bonus feature. I returned that set too. No more double sided DVDs from Universal from me. They need to resolve their quality assurance and quality control problems first.

[–] BijouBob8mm 19 years ago

Was reading a review that said the DVD set seems to have set a record for customer complaints about defective product.

[–] jjhumphrey 18 years ago

I bought this DVD set and found the same problems with pixelation and freezing when I watched "Curse of the Werewolf" on my JCI DVD player. I tried playing the DVD on my other 2 DVD players (Protron portable and Toshiba) and found that it worked fine on them. I also noticed that at the very end of the program it says the disc uses Macrovision copy protection. I think the combination of the compression to fit 2 movies on each side of the disc and the Macrovision encoding are difficult for some (not all) DVD players to decode.
If you exchange the box set but use the same player, you will probably keep having the same problems. Try playing the discs on a friend's DVD player, or even invest in a second player. Take the disc with you to test the players in the store before you buy one so you know it will play properly with the Macrovision encoding. I hope this helps.

[–] Slade-4 17 years ago

I also had trouble with the first disc in this set. I got my copy online from DVD Empire. My replacement had no problems. So it's a bad batch, and some players are just handling it better than others.

However, my experience with bad DVDs has been very rare. My worst experience was with that special, behind the scenes King Kong (2005) DVD set (not dual-sided) sold before the movie's release. The menus are pixelated - can't read the options. This Hammer set was my second worse. I also had a minor glitch on one Law & Order DVD (dual-sided).

I guess they are all Universal. I had no trouble with my Abbott and Costello sets which are all dual-sided Universal discs.

[–] crankenstyne 18 years ago

I guess I must have bought the right kind DVD player (SONY DVP-NS325) because I have not experienced any problems whatsoever from any Universal or any other DVDs.

http://www.dvdaficionado.com/dvds.html?cat=1&sub=All&id=squid_vicious

[–] lwa9921602-1 18 years ago

Yes, I too have had problems as described above.

For the record:

The problems occur on all of my regular DVD players.

They occur on my DVD-Rom when using Inter-video WinDVD software.

They do not occur when using Windows Media Player.

Windows Media Player affords me the least options during playback so I don't prefer to use it but if its the only way to view the films without problems, I guess that's what I have to do.

[–] YelBard1 18 years ago

Burn the movies that bought the set for onto seperate disks it worked for me

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] onnanob2 17 years ago

I guess I am also one of the lucky people who hasn't had any problems with this Hammer set. All eight films played fine on the two double-sided discs. I also have not had any problems with Universal's franchise series for the Airport films, but here they only have one film on each side of the two discs. I have been using a Magnavox dvd player. However, this doesn't mean I don't have any complaints about these sets. For one thing, I do not like how Universal has fit (or crammed) so many movies onto one disc. In fact, I would have payed a little more to have the films spread out onto more discs, and to be able to see a nice graphic on each disc (instead of having silver on both sides of a disc, which only makes the discs even more susceptible to scratches and fingerprints. Also, having both sides full of movies and being silver only makes the set look chintzy!) Another thing I'd like to mention is the lack of trailers for each film on the Hammer set. I recently purchased the Warner Bros. double feature "The Curse Of Frankenstein," and "Taste The Blood Of Dracula." There's a film on each side of the disc, so both sides are plain, boring silver. However, the company at least included the trailers for both films.

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] vamtim 17 years ago

Does anyone know of any good software to transfer these DVD's onto region free discs?
many thanks.

[–] Adec 13 years ago

Yeah I got a bad set as well, but for me it was Evil of Frankenstein and Night Creatures that was...problematic. I was having a Hammer Frankenstein marathon at the time, and so this discovery was very frustrating, especially as the errors didn't begin until 30 minutes into the film. Even worse, it had been quite a while since I had purchased the set, and also being that I imported it from overseas, I was kind of screwed every which way.

These great films, and the fans themselves, deserve better treatment than this from Universal, who, let's face it, is rather notorious for this kind of thing.

[–] phoyah 13 years ago

Bought this set again as my first set had a crack in it(no problems in playing any of the eight movies) but finishing on Evil tonight I watched in horror as Peter Cushing in Evil first froze then pixilated and this is a top class player...

Shut the door Mary.......

[–] DavidW1947 13 years ago

I received my copy of The Hammer Horror Series DVD set a few days ago, I have just finished playing all eight titles and I'm happy to say that the set I received was not faulty in any way and all the films played perfectly. Maybe the fact that I waited a few years before I bought this set off amazon gave Universal time to recall all the faulty sets and replace them with non-faulty ones. Whatever happened, the discs I received play faultlessly on my equipment and what marvelous films all eight titles are. At least, it has given me a chance to see Captain Clegg (Night Creatures) again for the first time in forty-nine years. Last time I saw that was on a double-bill with The Phantom of the Opera at the cinema when I was 15, way back in 1962.

[–] Adec 13 years ago

Happy to hear you got a good set. Too often with sets like this it is a bit 'luck of the draw'...and yeah, Night Creatures/Captain Clegg is my personal favourite in the set. Great little film, and Cushing is wonderful.