Page 1 of sony davs 500

will my recently purchased dvd player play films recorded on dvdr discs. i just borrowed one but all it would do was start to play and after about 10 seconds it would stop playing.
the disc was not even succesful on my pc or another dvd player.
am i waisting my time purchasing films on dvdrs or was it a bad disc( i think it was a bulkpaq disc)

any help would be much appreciated
thanx