Customer Reviews on Amazon.com

1. 6 of 6 people found this review helpful

   By lovetheflickers on Amazon.com 16 April, 2012

   a review of this BURNED dvd, not the film (great film!)

   Format:DVD

   Never written a review before but I thought I should warn other potential Scorsese fans that this is a BURNED dvd-r, not the original official pressed DVD (that a friend has). Some dvd players do not play these types of discs well, so please be aware of that (my Sony CD player does not play burned CDs, for example).
   
   Also I should note that burned DVDs (like CDs) are not archival quality and do not last forever. So I really don't feel like I've purchased something that will sit in my collection and can be watched 20 years from now...
   
   That's only the beginning of the problems I had with this...
   
   I was *very* excited to purchase this because I watched it years ago and it's so inspiring hearing Scorsese talk about the films he grew up with that influenced him. I did not purchase this knowing that it's a burned DVD, since from what I can see, there is only 1 line mentioning this and it's squeezed in between a lot of information.
   
   I will say they did a nice job of the packaging. Definitely looks professional. The glue they used was kind of cheap, or something, because the plastic wrap actually stuck to the side of my DVD (i have a lot of discs at home and never had this ever happen). When I put in 'disc 1' i was treated to "part 3" of the film, which confused my friend and I... I then proceeded to put in 'disc 2', which had the beginning of the film. Strike one.
   
   Strike two came when after viewing part 1, we could NOT find part 2 of the film! The original release of this DVD had part 1 and 2 on both sides of the disc, so the menu says to 'flip over the disc for part 2'. This release has printed stickers on both discs, thus part 2 is missing. so 1/3rd of the film is not present...
   
   Also I should note that there were a few artifact errors in several places in the film. This is also a reflection of the DVD process (burned vs pressed). If you've ever burned your own DVD video discs, you'll have seen this from time to time. Not a huge deal, but also not the quality you would be getting from a retail pressed release.
   
   Needless to say, I'm trying to figure out how to get my money back and also will be actively looking for these "DVD-R Note: This product is manufactured on demand when ordered from Amazon.com." notes!
   
   As a film, I think this is an amazing experience for film/Scorsese lovers. There's nothing like an honest trip down memory lane with one of the greatest living American filmmakers. Scorsese is known as a film encyclopedia and this demonstrates his knowledge with a personal touch. Highly, highly recommended!
   
   Hope this was helpful to someone!
2. 4 of 4 people found this review helpful

   By Alonso Díaz De Vega on Amazon.com 19 April, 2012

   Don't buy the Amazon DVD-R version!

   Format:DVD

   There is absolutely nothing wrong about Martin Scorsese's passionate, beautiful documentary. The problem is the DVD-R copy Amazon is selling because not only is this kind of disc going to wear out within a few viewings, but also it does not include Part 2 of the documentary. Watch out!
3. 6 of 7 people found this review helpful

   By J. Reed on Amazon.com 9 March, 2012

   If only they would ship the complete product

   Format:DVD

   Parts 1 and 3 of this documentary are excellent. If only Part 2 was included in this pressing, it would be worth 4 or 5 stars. Unfortunately I'll never know. As an earlier reviewer noted, this version of the DVD comes with only 2 discs. When the first disc (more on this later) is inserted in a player, it presents a message stating "to view Part 2, turn this dvd over and play the other side". Ironically, it's a single-sided disc with a printed label on the side you're supposed to load to view Part 2. Is part 2 on there hidden below a silk-screened label? Who knows. Just to be sure I wasn't crazy, I did what it said and of course neither disc could be read once flipped.
   
   To make things MORE annoying, the discs are mislabeled. Disc 1 is labeled Disc 2, and vice versa. Awesome. So not only is the second part missing entirely (aparently about the director's path to technical mastery - the main reason I wanted to view this series) but even the parts I got aren't easy to view.
   
   I've returned this item twice. Once after getting the first copy and finding the problems stated, and once after getting a replacement with the exact same problems. Clearly Amazon has a bad batch of these dvds. Maybe they can tell Miramax about the issues and get a new shipment. Or maybe all of Miramax's copies are also screwed up. Such a bummer.
4. 5 of 6 people found this review helpful

   By Victor on Amazon.com 4 March, 2012

   Missing Part II

   Format:DVD

   One of the episodes was missing, it said to play one of the CDs on the other side to access Part II but that did not work. It's a three part set.
5. By Trying To Help on Amazon.com 1 February, 2013

   Part 2 really is defective!

   Format:DVD

   I thought other reviewers had just had bad luck with this set. NOPE! My second disc (part2) is screwed up in several places not the least of which is 5 missing minutes toward the end. If I return it , I'm sure the replacement will be the same. The thing that makes me most angry is that Amazon must know of this problem and continues to sell them.
6. By rarebear on Amazon.com 3 October, 2012

   Amazon should step up to the plate!!!!!

   Format:DVD

   Amazon should step up to the plate and refund, replace or at least credit customers who purchased the defective 2 disc version of this great documentary. I purchased this dvd earlier this year but had seen my son's version before so I didn't watch it right away. When I did try to watch it,I was more than pissed to find that it is missing Part 2 which is supposed to be on the flip side of Disc 1. This is a defective dvd sold by Amazon and they should stand by their product regardless of when it was purchased.
7. By rarebear on Amazon.com 3 October, 2012

   Amazon should step up to the plate!!!!!

   Format:DVD

   Amazon should step up to the plate and refund, replace or at least credit customers who purchased the defective 2 disc version of this great documentary regardless of when it was purchased. I purchased this dvd earlier this year but had seen my son's version before so I didn't watch it right away. When I did try to watch it,I was more than perturbed to find that it is missing Part 2 which is supposed to be on the flip side of Disc 1. This is a defective dvd sold by Amazon and they should stand by their product!
8. By discosurrealist on Amazon.com 15 September, 2012

   Review of Amazon-distributed DV-R (5-star film)

   Format:DVD

   I have never written a review for a product on Amazon before, but after my experience with this product I feel compelled to say something. I have been wanting to own a copy of this DVD set for several years now, and was delighted earlier in 2012 when I noticed that Amazon was distributing new copies, since it had been out-of-print for some time from Miramax and used copies were running upwards of $100.00. Then it arrived in the mail: as several other reviewers have noted, not only is it in the significantly lesser DV-R format, but initially, disc 2 of the 3-disc set (the original Miramax edition consisted of two discs, one double-sided and the other single-sided) was missing altogether. When I noticed that Amazon corrected this error and was offering a 3-disc edition, I eagerly re-ordered; when it arrived this second time, all of the discs were slightly scuffed, and when I tried watching disc 2, it froze at the 1 hr 12 min mark! I sent it back and (foolishly) asked for a replacement, only to discover that every Amazon-distributed copy must suffer from the same defect. After all these misadventures, I finally found a priced-to-sell copy of the original Miramax release on e-bay ($27.99+shipping) and just bit the bullet. Long story short: Don't waste your time with these DV-R's (which Amazon is selling more and more of, both in their CD's and DVD's--earlier this year I unwittingly received a cheap-o Amazon-created copy of a live Glenn Gould CD), go ahead and splurge on the real McCoy.