The Corner Penthouse

I have been a collector of optical discs for over 30 years now. I started off with audio CDs in the early 1990s, then acquired Laserdiscs in the mid-1990s, before moving on to DVDs in 1997. I remember going into Blockbuster Video at that time and asking them if they had DVDs, and none of the employees knew what I was talking about! The very first DVDs I bought were Beetlejuice and Mars Attacks!, bought together from Laser Exchange, the mail order company I used to buy Laserdiscs from. In 2009, I started collecting Blu-rays, with the first one being Monsters vs. Aliens, which I got for $5 upon release from Best Buy as part of a special deal with their Insignia Blu-ray player... and I got a free B.O.B. plushie with purchase of the movie! My 4K UHD disc collection started in late 2019 with the purchase of a 4K player on Black Friday.

In short, I have a collection of THOUSANDS of optical discs obtained over a 30+ year period. Most of my discs, even those CDs bought in the early 1990s, still play without an issue. However, I have found that some of my DVD and Blu-ray video discs have become defective over the course of the past decade.

Before I get into the heart of the matter, I have to admit that this is an article I should have written a few years ago when I first became aware of the problem. I noticed that every one of the dual-sided discs in my Warner Brothers' 4 Film Favorites collection were not playing anymore, even though every disc still looked absolutely flawless. All of these discs played perfectly when I first bought them brand new from Target (and the ilk) around 2006 to 2012, so I knew that the discs weren't originally defective. Yet, somehow, over the past 10 to 15 years, despite being very well cared for, every one of these discs was now unplayable.

When it comes to these discs, usually one of three things will happen:

1. The disc will not load at all.  The player will report the disc as unreadable.
2. The disc will load, but one or more of the extras will glitch or not play.
3. The movie will play at first, but then glitch and freeze up and be unplayable at some point (usually about halfway through).

After I notice a defective disc in my higher-end Panasonic 4K Blu-ray player, I then check it in my PlayStation 3 and my desktop computer to confirm that it's the disc and not the player. In every one of these instances, the disc would be defective in every player.

Over the past few years, I have found that this problem affects a lot of discs, both DVD and Blu-ray, that were manufactured from around 2006 to 2013, from a handful of studios. Here is just a small sampling of discs that I have personally found to be defective now, but were not defective originally. This is not a complete list because I have not been keeping track.

* Warner Brothers Single-Sided DVDs: The Exorcist ("Version You've Never Seen"; in snapper case from 2000), The Mask (2006 Platinum Series re-release in plastic case), Hairspray (2007) (item N11212), The Last Mimzy (Widescreen) (item N10916). The latter three are from the WB subdivision New Line Home Video.

* Warner Brothers Dual-Sided DVDs: All "4 Film Favorites" titles with 2 dual-sided discs, All "Double Feature" titles with 1 dual-sided disc.

* 20th Century Fox Blu-rays: Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked, The Poseidon Adventure (1972) [bought around 2016 from Best Buy for $5.99].

I should note that The Exorcist is the oddity here, as it was released in 2000 in a "snapper case", which Warner Brothers used from 1997 to 2004. All of the other discs were manufactured from around 2006 to 2012, which is the time period that seems to have produced the now-defective discs. Interestingly, my DVD of The Exorcist II, also in a snapper case and also manufactured around the same time as the first film, plays fine. All of the other Warner DVDs I have in snapper cases that were manufactured from around 1997 to 2004 all play fine, as well.

I have heard the phrase "disc rot" being used to describe Laserdiscs, DVDs, and Blu-rays that are now unplayable. In all cases where this phrase is used, the discs in question exhibit physical defects, often appearing "cloudy" or "bronzed". I'm hesitant to use the phrase "disc rot" to describe the discs I'm writing about because they all look 100% perfect! There is nothing about their physical appearance that would indicate that there is anything wrong with them. There are no signs of "rotting".

Unfortunately, I do not know, for certain, why these discs have "time-bombed", like the DIVX rental discs of 1998-1999 or the Flexplay rental discs of 2003-2011. I did a little bit of research, and the best guess I have, is that discs that were manufactured between roughly 2006 and 2012 at Cinram's plant in Olyphant, Pennsylvania were not manufactured properly. They may have passed quality control at the time, but something in the chemical make-up of these discs doesn't last over time. Discs that have been manufactured at Thomson/Technicolor's Mexico plant, or a plant in Germany, do not have this problem. If "Disc Made in Mexico" or "Disc Made in Germany" is printed on the back of the case, you should be good.

These faulty discs are STILL out there, and old stock that was originally manufactured 10 to 15 years ago is still being sold as "new" in some places. I purchased a brand new factory-sealed copy of the Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked Blu-ray from an Amazon Marketplace seller in mid-2023, and I can tell from the dirt on the plastic wrap that it had been made a decade earlier. That was the first defective Fox Blu-ray I would find, and just like The Poseidon Adventure Blu-ray that I bought in 2016 from the $5.99 Blu-ray budget bin at my local Best Buy, but wouldn't watch until 2023, it was originally released in 2012. I do not think that's a coincidence.


Faulty Warner Brothers discs are still out there, too. On September 22, 2023, I purchased Warner's Firewall/16 Blocks Double Feature DVD from the Rite Aid store/pharmacy in Oceanside, NY for $3.99 (half off the original $7.99 price). The Rite Aid stores that still sell DVDs and Blu-rays got them from Dynamic Disc, a distributor of secondary market stock, which are old titles that the major retailers couldn't sell years ago or that were marked for promotional purposes with a slash through the UPC. When I held this item in my hands, I wondered if it would be a faulty dual-sided disc or two good single-sided discs inside the case. Unfortunately, Warners doesn't usually indicate the number of discs on the case, and if they do, it may not be correct. (Some of the "4 Film Favorites" titles that were originally released as two dual-sided discs were later re-released as four single-sided discs, but the small print on the back of the case still references "Disc 1, Side A" and so on.) Had I had my glasses on and noticed the 2008 compilation copyright date on the back, I would have known what was inside.


I have no idea how long it sat in a warehouse, and then sat on Rite Aid's shelf, other than the fact it's been sitting somewhere for a total of 15 years before I bought it. Yes, it only cost me $4 due to a 50% off sale, but that still doesn't change the fact that I bought a brand new disc that doesn't work. The Firewall side of the disc originally stopped after the Warner Brothers logo played on boot. I used the Top Menu button to skip to the main menu, but then I found that the "Decoded" extra glitched at the start, and the "Writing A Thriller" extra didn't play at all. The 16 Blocks side seemed to play fine.

There are small markings on the underside of the faulty discs that help identify where there were manufactured. These are called Mould SID Codes, and the one for this Firewall/16 Blocks disc is "IFPI L908". An October 2020 post by Christopher Dirks on the Home Theater Forum (and also on the Nitrateville forum) mentioned that "the numerous 2006-2008 [Warner] DVDs that fail read-error tests usually have one or more of the following numbers etched on the underside inner ring: IFPI L906 or IFPI L907 or IFPI L908" (emphasis mine).


Christopher Dirks also summarized what he thinks the problem is, at least with the Warner discs: "I discovered that - over time - double-layer pressings of many WHV releases from mid-to-late 2006 through mid-2008 begin to show read-error issues/problems and 'come apart internally' ... the double-layer transition deteriorates. DVDs PRIOR to this time period, and AFTER this time period, do not (generally) show read errors. I've surmised that Warner Home Video used a specific manufacturing plant during this period of time and likely used faulty/defective double-layer DVD materials. At some point (sometime in mid-2008), WHV apparently stopped using that facility." That sounds about right, though I believe the time frame for badly-manufactured discs is actually something like 2006/2007 to 2012/2013, overall.

Although I'm sure that all of the studios that used the Pennsylvania plant during this timeframe are aware of the problem, not all of them are willing to make things right. Criterion replaced discs back in 2014, but I'm not sure if they will still do it today for affected titles. Disney customer service (contactus@disneystudiohelp.com, TWDS.Global.Communications@disney.com), who owns 20th Century Fox, refused to help, claiming that the "Disc Replacement Program" that they advertised on nearly EVERY Disney DVD I own ended in 2017.

For over two months now, Warner Brothers customer service (whv@wbd.com) has promised me a replacement for the Firewall/16 Blocks Double Feature, whether another dual-sided disc, two individual DVDs, or (I could wish) Blu-rays of the two individual movies if the DVDs are no longer in print. Anything would be better than this useless coaster.

In the past, whenever I had an issue with a Warner Brothers disc, I would contact Sherri Bogard. She was always fantastic, but she no longer works there, so I have to deal with the standard customer service. They promised to help me on September 26th after I gave them photos and information they requested. A month later, on November 22nd, I inquired about the status, and was told, "We are still in the process of sourcing your titles, as we receive the titles, we will ship accordingly. We will advise which titles are no longer available." On November 28th and December 11th, I e-mailed again for a status update. I heard back on December 12th with, "I will resubmit your order under URGENT!" We'll see what happens from here, but in all likelihood, I will have to throw out this double feature disc, take the loss (thankfully only $4 plus tax), and move on to other things.

It would be nice if the studios who used the plant(s) that manufactured these time-bombed discs would acknowledge the problem and replace all of the affected discs that are still out there.

[UPDATE - 12/30/2023]
I've just discovered that the Hairspray (2007) DVD I've owned for the past 15 years is no longer playable. My player starts to play it, but before any video is actually played, such as the opening WB logo, it stops. I can quickly use Top Menu to get to the main menu, but if I try to play any of the videos (movie or previews; there are no extras), it just stops.


The disc was manufactured in 2008 and carries Mould SID Codes of IFPI L906 and IFPI L907 (the latter printed in reverse on the left).


As previously noted, IFPI L906 and IFPI L907 are the other two codes found on error-prone discs, with IFPI L908 being the other code. So, Hairspray has both of the first two codes, and Firewall/16 Blocks has the last one.

Speaking off. I have still not gotten any sort of replacement disc(s) from Warners for the defective Firewall/16 Blocks DVD I bought back in September. Looks like I'll have to accept the loss on that one.

[UPDATE - 2/4/2024]
Warner Brothers has no interest in replacing these time-bombed DVDs they manufactured 15 years ago. Since I first contacted them on September 25th about the time-bombed Firewall/16 Blocks Double Feature DVD, I have not received any kind of replacement, be it two separate DVDs of both movies or even two separate Blu-rays of both movies; since they don't publish the original dual-sided disc anymore. The most recent reply I received from WB support is a January 11th e-mail in which an unknown rep said, "I will submit for a Blu-ray." No further details and nothing received. At this point, I give up. I'm throwing out the DVD and moving on. At least this bad DVD only cost me $4, though that's still $4 too much for a product that never worked properly.

[UPDATE - 11/25/2024]
Last month, I e-mailed my PR contact at Warner to ask about Firewall and 16 Blocks, since he was able to quickly help me with The New Scooby-Doo Movies: Almost Complete Collection Blu-ray. Unfortunately, he couldn't help with Firewall and 16 Blocks because they are old titles that aren't manufactured anymore; not even the Blu-ray versions, apparently. Oh well, looks like if I want new DVDs (or even Blu-rays) for them, I'll have to pay again for them.

Also, I found another "time-bombed" DVD to add to the list: The Last Mimzy, the "Widescreen" DVD with Item #N10916. (A "Fullscreen" DVD [Item #N10693] I also have plays fine, but it could have been manufactured later.) With the Widescreen DVD, my Panasonic 4K plays gives a "can't read disc" error, while my PlayStation 3 just endlessly tries to read the disc.


The disc was manufactured in 2007 and carries Mould SID Codes of IFPI L906 and IFPI L908 (the latter printed in reverse under the first). As previously noted, IFPI L906 and IFPI L908 are the other two codes found on error-prone discs, with IFPI L907 being the other code.


Sadly, The Last Mimzy was never released on Blu-ray, so the only way this could be replaced is if there happens to be a disc manufactured later, and I can magically find it.