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Is the Lost Tales DVD a DVD-R?

A

ag87

Member
Hi,

I am new to this site, so please forgive any mistakes in posting. Also, I looked for the answer to this question and did not see it, but I am not good at searches so may have missed it, in which case please point me to that post - thanks

I just purchased a copy of The Lost Tales DVD and while it looks fine overall (case and disk intact), the play surface of the disk is blue/purple, NOT the typical silver of a professional DVD. I seem to recall that blue/purple is the usual color for a home-made DVD. So I'm trying to figure out if Amazon accidentally sent me a bootleg copy and I should ask for a replacement or if this is in fact the correct, real product. The back of the box does mention "Warner Archive" and I know that they do produce some burn-on-demand disks, so I was thinking this could be the explanation, but I'm not sure. Can someone who also owns this tell me if your copy is also like this? (blue/purple play surface) - thanks

I did attempt to contact the company directly (Warner Archive), but so far I've had no success doing so.

Thanks

Gary
 
My copy, the play side is silver. The other side says DVD video, has the WB logo right beneath it. It has Babylon 5 logo. Under the word "BABYLON" it has "THE LOST TALES" and artwork showing the station with a nebula in the background. It has a copyright date of 2007.
 
Thanks, I appreciate your help on this

This tells me that my copy is definitely different, so it sounds like I need to do something about it, unfortunately. I do think I have one other possibility to contact the company (another email address I found), but if that doesn't work I may need to ask Amazon for a replacement. If the replacement is the same as what I currently have then it may just be how the newer disks are made or something (assuming that they don't have a large supply of bootleg disks or something). Unfortunately, doing so may end up being the only way to find out.
 
I checked with a Wiki website about how to spot a fake or pirated DVD.

This question/answer was on the page:
Question
Is it a possibility that some discs with a purple bottom--not silver--are authentic? If so, what are the circumstances?

Community Answer
Yes. If it is an "on-demand" DVD. Many studios use recordable media (DVD-R) for titles that are manufactured on demand. Universal's Vault Series and Warner Bros. Archives are a couple. These are usually only on movies that are older and do not sell in high enough volume to have thousands pressed.
Not Helpful 0
Click to expand...

It might be a non-fake.
 
Thanks! That is great evidence in favor of it likely being legitimate. Yesterday I did send an email to that other email address I found and it didn't immediately bounce (unlike the one I tried previously), so hopefully they will write back and confirm this.
 
Kraig said:
I checked with a Wiki website about how to spot a fake or pirated DVD.

This question/answer was on the page:
Question
Is it a possibility that some discs with a purple bottom--not silver--are authentic? If so, what are the circumstances?

Community Answer
Yes. If it is an "on-demand" DVD. Many studios use recordable media (DVD-R) for titles that are manufactured on demand. Universal's Vault Series and Warner Bros. Archives are a couple. These are usually only on movies that are older and do not sell in high enough volume to have thousands pressed.
Not Helpful 0
Click to expand...
It might be a non-fake.
Click to expand...


If it was direct from Amazon and not a re-seller, then I think it's likely legit. But Amazon returns are super easy if you want to trade it in for another copy.
 
I'm sure they have moved to the Made-To-Order format using burned discs. I wouldn't worry about it as long as it plays and you take care of it because those discs scratch when you look at them wrong. :wtf::eek::LOL:

SIDE NOTE: I believe I've told the story before but here it is again. My original LOST TALES DVD randomly stopped working. Pre-Ordered through Best when it was originally released and five years later it would not play on anything. No visible wear or damage (I have thousands of discs so I know how to treat them) and it just wouldn't work. I will check when I get back to Illinois because I have a couple of Lost Tales DVDs (because you can never have too many backups) and one of them might be Made-To-Order. ;)
 
Looney said:
SIDE NOTE: I believe I've told the story before but here it is again. My original LOST TALES DVD randomly stopped working. Pre-Ordered through Best when it was originally released and five years later it would not play on anything. No visible wear or damage (I have thousands of discs so I know how to treat them) and it just wouldn't work. I will check when I get back to Illinois because I have a couple of Lost Tales DVDs (because you can never have too many backups) and one of them might be Made-To-Order. ;)
Click to expand...




Same here. The BB Lost Tales DVD (with comic) was sitting in it's holder on a shelf, and years later pulled it for a B5 rewatch I was hosting - Toast. Gave it to a friend who had some recovery software to see what might come of it, and best he could do was view scrambled pixelated images. The term might be "DVD Rot", where the disc is so poorly made that it fails even if stored under near-perfect conditions. The non-BB version purchased as a replacement still works (for ? now). Purchased a "used" 3rd one - backups aplenty - that also came with the comic, and while it would Play All, wouldn't play the two episodes individually. All discs look silver-ish. As an extra extra backup, purchased the HD streaming version from Amazon, although that lacks bonus features. Unrelated TLT: Since I am dense, took me years to notice that the script for the never-produced Garibaldi Episode was included with the B5Book "TV Movies". :brickwall:
 
LateArrival said:
Same here. The BB Lost Tales DVD (with comic) was sitting in it's holder on a shelf, and years later pulled it for a B5 rewatch I was hosting - Toast. Gave it to a friend who had some recovery software to see what might come of it, and best he could do was view scrambled pixelated images. The term might be "DVD Rot", where the disc is so poorly made that it fails even if stored under near-perfect conditions.
Click to expand...

So yes mine was the Best Buy edition with the comic. Also only pixelated images could be recovered. You know I thought with "DVD Rot" you could tell something looked a little discolored or off, but that disc looks brand new like I just bought it.
 
babylonfan said:
Could you give an outline of that story? Or maybe even a link to the script?
Click to expand...



Only online reference I know of was on the B5Books entry which mentioned the Unproduced Episode being in that particular book. Read the script just once a few years ago.
At the time was more focused on the front cover somehow peeling off and trying to glue it back into place.


https://b5books.com/babylon-5-scripts-volume-16-straczynski/

-- Babylon 5: The Scripts of J. Michael Straczynski, TV Movies
The lost tale from The Lost Tales. Did you know that there were originally three lost tales, not two?
The middle segment, never produced due to production considerations, featured Michael Garibaldi making
a startling discovery on Mars. Only a handful of people involved in the production have ever read this
script, but now you can enjoy this "lost" installment.



The TV Movies book can be found "used" on Ebay by various sellers at various times at various prices, and also on Amazon.
Just another treasure that Captain J and Company included when compiling the original B5Books series!!


Guessing the plot isn't a secret, so will try to give it a Blurb summary...

Apologies if I get details wrong or forget key points.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Garibaldi is on Mars running Edgars Industries, and he isn't happy. :(

He is contacted as one of the many Edgars Industries projects is searching Mars for evidence of past civilizations. Lots of false alarms, but this time It's For Real. He and One Other Person (?) go to check the dig site, but Bad Stuff Happens when some rival/Not-Nice group attacks leaving Garibaldi and the Other Person as the only Good Guys still alive. Might also involve a destroyed mine elevator, but the Good Guys end up being trapped in the underground dig site - help won't be arriving anytime soon and they are too far underground, etc...

Garibaldi and the Other Person are separated. Garibaldi is fine but the Other Person is injured/immobilized, although he can still communicate with Garibaldi via radio. They talk about stuff, and the underlying message is that "A Parent Needs to Step Away So The Child Can Grow On Their Own." Garibaldi discovers/explores an underground cavern (?) which contains an ancient Martian city. I can't recall if the Not-Nice People are still involved at this point, but the focus is on Garibaldi and his newfound sense of wonder exploring the lost city and communicating this via radio to the Other Person. While exploring he picks up an Artifact (?) and places it in his pocket.

More Stuff Happens, and... ...the entire city/cavern (?) Goes Whoosh as the ancients are STILL Sort of Around and keeping an eye on humanity, like a Parent keeping an eye on their Child. Child cannot Grow if it thinks the Parent is still there to influence things, and concrete proof of a previous civilization would influence humanity's development, etc.

THE TWIST:
Garibaldi is eventually rescued, and he asks about the Other Person. Turns out the Other Person had been dead for A Long Time, and so :confused: who :confused: was Garibaldi speaking with on the radio? Garibaldi reaches into his pocket (?) and pulls out the Artifact that didn't Go Whoosh with everything else. At least he knows what he saw/heard wasn't his imagination. Refreshed by this amazing experience, Garibaldi has a new perspective on things and is happy. :)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My mind is mush, but guess one reason this segment didn't get produced was the expense of the sets, so we ended up with two out of three stories on the DVD.
 
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Aren't DVD-Rs supposed to be more prone to DVD rot than the silvered normal DVDs? If that's true then it might be best to try and avoid them anyway.

Or just keep fingers and everything else crossed for a blu-ray boxset (yes I'm still holding out for that - if the reboot goes into production they've got to release the old show on blu-ray?)

I'd forgotten the third 'Lost Tale' is in the movies script book too, will have to dig my copy out of storage...
 
Springer said:
Aren't DVD-Rs supposed to be more prone to DVD rot than the silvered normal DVDs? If that's true then it might be best to try and avoid them anyway.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure about that one. I just know DVD-Rs are very easily scratched.
 
Thank you for all the great info about this, I really appreciate it!

Based on this, I will probably go ahead and keep the disk rather than requesting a replacement since it sounds like the legitimate item from the company. I've been hoping for a reply to the email I sent to the company, but the most likely result of that based on similar experiences I've had in the past with other companies is that they won't end up responding. But if they do, I'll of course follow up and add a post to this thread with their answer.

As for disk rot: I know a little bit about this, or at least, I've read a lot about it over the years. Anyway, I've read more than once that home-made disks like DVDR are much more likely to have this happen than professional disks because they are manfactured in an entirely different manner (I think I recall reading that the professional disks are "pressed" or something like that, but I don't know that for sure). I've had audio CD's from the 80's still work fine and disks I've made myself much more recently go bad, so that's also been my personal experience. That said, I don't remember reading anything that said the same can't also happen to professional disks, as well, just that it is less likely.
 
Yeah I would say that DVD-R is just how it is being released now. Because I said I would I did check my all my LOST TALES DVDs and they are not DVD-Rs, but that doesn't really mean anything. I'm certain the one you received is legitimate.
 
On a semi-related note. As my Lost Tales DVD #1 died and #2 is iffy, purchased the low res streaming version and later the HD (?!) version too, although streaming lacks Bonus Features. Wondered how/why the there was an HD version when pre-2021 B5 material seemed to be SD only. Just read about the HD release of TLT and Xbox Live. Maybe that's why the HD streaming version exists? :)

https://news.microsoft.com/2007/03/...o-the-online-games-and-entertainment-network/

" Also, for the first time, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment will be releasing its direct-to-video movies exclusively in high definition on Xbox LIVE simultaneous with their availability on DVD, starting with “Sublime” and later “Babylon 5: The Lost Tales.” "
 
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