I've just been informed that the Japanese soundtrack to the new Ponyo DVD and Blu-Ray are perfectly fine, without the Disney remixed song at the end. I appreciate the help in taking the time to look, which I was unable to do because my PC's DVD software is a hideous mess.
I've deleted the post I wrote late last night, since it's no longer needed.
Now can someone tell me why I can't play movies on my computer? Is Power DVD a bug-ridden mess, or is this Windows XP's fault? Goodness knows I'm not about to reinstall the operating system yet again. No thanks.
10 comments:
I use Power DVD version 4 with no problems on XP.
As with most computer glitches, the culprit could be almost anything.
PowerDVD with AnyDVD on Windows XP is what I've been running for seven years without issues. Don't know why your install would have such flaky playback problems Daniel, but it shouldn't be because of this combination of apps and platform.
everything being fine with the soundtrack is a (welcome) surprise to me, because for the English dub they slowed down the end roll to allow more credits on.
Also, seeing how it's going to be either forever or never until we see the 12-hour ponyo documentary, how are the extras on the DVD?
Daniel, here are two Blu-Ray reviews
http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/41208/ponyo-on-the-cliff-by-the-sea/
http://ultimatedisney.com/ponyo.html
I believe the extras on both the DVD and Blu-Ray versions are the same, although these reviews cover the Blu-Ray/DVD combo set. The bonus features are decent, but of course could be better. I really wish they could have gotten Lasseter and somebody else to do a Commentary for the film
My problems with DVD software on my PC has been around for a long time, and it's frustrating, because this is how I've always watched movies (my brother is the owner of our ancient 19" tv set). I ended up reinstalling Windows XP just to sort everything out, and that did work for a while. But it's not working anymore...again. Oh, well.
Thanks for sharing the links to the Ponyo and Ghibli DVD reviews. I've seen a few so far and might list them in a blog post.
Tonight, I'll sit down and go through my new DVDs. I was consumed by my stereo system last night (new phono stage preamp, Radio Shack power unit, working on the Sony PS-X5's tonearm), and now that I've finished, I can get back to the movies.
May I suggest you use VLC or K-Lite Codec Pack Media Player. Both are free and have the latest codecs available to play DVD's and other media correctly.
Sadly PowerDVD has become an antiquated dinosaur.
Yeah, I actually have VLC. I use it as my standard media player these days. Unfortunately, it's not running DVDs for me, not without the extreme glitching.
I used to rely on MSI DVD, which was the software that came with my DVD-ROM years ago, and sometime a couple years ago, it just glitched out, and that's when my PC just stopped playing movies. Strange. Like I've said, Windows sucks.
Oh, and one more complaint. VLC crashes every time you attempt to snap a screenshot. That's a real pain. Have I mentioned that I don't like PC's anymore? Heh heh.
Hi Daniel,
That's weird...vlc is supposed to be the best media player out there. Anyway, give mplayer a try, it should do the job. You can download it from here:
http://downloads.sourceforge.net/smplayer/smplayer-0.6.8-win32.exe
I have been following your blog for quite a while now, and in this time, my love for Ghibli movies and animation, in general, has grown a lot. Thanks for all the wise words, keep up the good work! :)
Good timing! I was just messing around with my video files. I do have SM Player, and that's what I'm currently using to take screenshots of movies - video files on my hard drive, of course. I'll have to see if it recognizes the DVD drive.
VLC Player has been handicapped with a bizarre screenshot bug for a long time. If you try to snap a photo, the program crashes. This wasn't an issue with older versions, so why it's a problem now is a mystery. Whatever. It's free, so I can't complain.
The BD-ROM drive is a real pain. First, Windows recognizes it as a "CD Drive." No idea why that is. The PC also won't recognize the Blu-Ray disc inside. Second, PowerDVD won't recognize the drive if you have a Blu-Ray inside. Third, the program freezes and crashes if there's a DVD inside the drive.
Needless to say, this royally sucks. I'm stunned that BD is so underused on PCs. There is still only one disc manufacturer, and only a couple software programs. Microsoft won't touch the format (they're pushing for digital downloads), and the industry is either too focused on BD units for your tv set, or they're afraid of users ripping their discs on their computers.
Good Lord, what a mess. I'll try to reinstall PowerDVD and see if that works.
The quickest, easiest and most reliable solution for media playback would be CCCP, see http://www.cccp-project.net/ - it includes a version of the Media Player Home Classic, and no, it does not make you Communist in the process.
Thanks for your great coverage of all things Ghibli, by the way. Much appreciated.
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