Reciently the blockbuster video near my home has begun renting DVD's, of which I have rented quite a few. I have noticed one very unusual fact about nearly all of the DVD's that I've rented. They are all single sided, and have a gold sheen to the media (similar to CD-R disks).. I'm beginning to wonder if Blockbuster has an agreement with companies to mass copy disks for their personal use. Anyone have any information on this? I can't believe the DVD makers/movie studios would allow this. I rented 'A Bugs Life' last night, and it was single sided, yet according to DVDexpress, the actual released copy is dual sided. I was forced to watch the pan/scan version instead of the widescreen, which, needless to say, made me rather upset. Also, all of the disks seem to display a 'Macrovision' copy protection banner just before the requisite 'FBI warning'.. Does anyone else think this is strange? Should I contact someone to inform them about this? I know I'm not going to rent any more DVD's from Blockbuster, but the fact that they are doing this bothers me. Anyone else have any opinions on this?

DVD Express is often wrong on dual-layered/dual-sided discs. A Bug's Life is indeed single sided - however that gold sheen you're seeing is a dual-layered disc. This means there are two data layers on the one side of the disc which can hold up to 9gb, as opposed to a single layer which holds 5gb. Dual-layered discs are very common right now. Eventually there will be dual-layered, dual-sided - holding 18gb!

But that still doesn't sound right. Did the bug's life disc look "official", or was there anything else odd about it. How were you forced to watch the pan and scan version? On the copy I rented from Hollywood, it had a selection at the beginning for pan/scan vs widescreen. Something doesn't seem right here. All of the one's I have rented from Blockbuster, for 2 months now, have looked and acted very authentic.

Brian

I doubt the disc "forced" you to watch Pan & Scan. When it starts up the first screen it shows is the "standard" or "widescreen" menu. This will only stay on for 10 seconds or so. Without any user input, it will default and immediately start the full-screen version of the film. Every time you select the "play" command from the DVD Menu it will also bring up this screen.

Just a note, that the "gold sheen" is an indication that the DVD is a dual layer disc.

If it does not have the gold sheen, it is only a single layer.

Don't be too upset about the P&S version. Pixar didn't do the normal "take a photo of each frame" conversion to P&S. They actually went through the entire movie & used the computer to re-format the scene for the P&S shot. In some cases the P&S version actually has MORE detail than the original version (they added in scenery to fill out the new shot). Either version is an outstanding example of what can be done when you try to bring the best "version" to the format (they did some fixing on the widescreen version also) - hats off to Pixar!!