Video/Dvd rental stores missed?

[Thunderbolt]

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I’ve just found my old membership card from my local independent rental video/dvd shop which closed down about 8 years ago. Finding this has sent me on a trip down memory lane. Does anyone else actually miss the days of going out to rent a movie?

[John-Connor]

Absolutely, I miss those 'straight to video releases' that sometimes turn into massive cult classics. Some say Netflix movies are the new 'straight to video' movies in terms of quality but it's just not the same.

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[gandalf26]

Frankly, just about every movie is a click away now. Seconds is how long it takes to watch anything vs getting ready, going out to a video shop browsing for ages then coming back, a 10-20 minute trip +.

The modern way is better but obviously that's a shame for stores that close etc.

[gandalf26]

Absolutely, I miss those 'straight to video releases' that sometimes turn into massive cult classics. Some say Netflix movies are the new 'straight to video' movies in terms of quality but it's just not the same.

https://66.media.tumblr.com/6af2842748b4f0c5b2ad91bc92d8b109/tumblr_nasbp3uB3v1tdo66yo1_500.gif

I don't think Netflix movies are as bad as the straight to video set, especially if we're talking about recent Steven Seagal or Nick Cage offerings etc. Especially not in terms of "quality" of production, if that's what you mean.

Virtually all of the Netflix movies in terms of how good they are simply fall into that 5-7/10 "OK" category. I think "The Irishman" was the first to break the mold and put itself out there as a serious contender vs quality studio produced films.

[skizzerflake]

I definitely miss the video store. I had one a short walk from my house and enjoyed the act of walking down there, interacting, having a movie discussion with the manager and leaving with a couple movies in my hot little hand. It wasn't much of a walk, but it was like having other neighborhood businesses in that you got out of the house, walked around, burned a few calories, said hello to a few neighbors and noticed the nice sunset.

All things considered, streaming seems like yet another component of the social forces that want us to stay locked into our basements, doors locked, windows taped shut, consuming content that results in a process that takes money from our accounts while a delivery truck also drops off a new bag of fresh underpants on our door step. The Boss, whoever that is, knows what we stream, when we did it and is working on the means to know what brand of beer you drank while you were watching the movie. This devolution isn't just recent, but has been going on for some years.

[Chypmunk]

Not really, no.

When it was VHS more often than not the tape had to be rewound before it could be watched and when DVD took over it was all too often dirty marks that needed cleaning off and/or scratches/gouges that impacted on playback. I swear half the people round here used to hire them as dual purpose entertainment - watch the fillum and then keep either the dog or the snapper amused/quiet with it :D Plus there'd more often than not be some hormonal teenager behind the counter that was far more interested in popping a field of zits or gassing to one or more of their friends than actually serve a customer.

On the other hand though I guess it was kinda fun looking through the racks before deciding on which one you'd attempt to watch that evening :)

[Thunderbolt]

I certainly understand the convenience of streaming movies these days. Most films are at the click of a button. It's like most things in life now, you don't have to get off the sofa to do anything. I miss the anticipation of what I might find. Society has its ways of making you conform. If you don't like the new ways then you have to go without.

[Citizen Rules]

Late fees...Crummy selection and actually paying to watch a movie:eek: Nah, I don't miss the old video rental store. Well...except in the early days back in the 1980s when you could rent 5 VHS tapes for 5 bucks. I'd hit up the sci fi section and ended up seeing everything they had there. Of course the video store didn't have Tarkovsky or any 1950s b sci fis....Video rental stores: a fun memory but in reality quite limiting in what one could watch.

[skizzerflake]

I was lucky enough to have a really good Blockbuster. The clientele was selective, so they had foreign films, indies, etc, not just multiple copies of the Lethal Weapon franchise. It's also something that I don't think Americans appreciate until they lose it. Many don't even have it now. They will never even know that there's another way to live, other than sitting in your house, streaming your life away, doing telework. It seems like a comfortable prison. I've been a big city guy for most of my life and being out and around is the reason why you do live in the city. Each time we take a step toward sessile life, we give up something. It doesn't even have to be in the city since small towns and rural areas can have plenty of reasons to get out of the house.

When it comes to movies, yeah, I'm streaming now like everybody else, mainly because there's no video store and because actual theaters are locked down too, but I really hope that people wake up at some point when the current situation has passed safely and don't get stuck here. Right now, I'd almost sell my soul to the devil to go downtown, have dinner, walk around, and take in some obscure indy film.

[gbgoodies]

I miss the days of browsing the shelves in the video store to try to find movies that looked interesting based on the picture on the cover, or the people who starred in the movie.

I used to work a few doors away from a local video rental store, so I became good friends with the owners. We made a deal where I had a free membership, and I could rent 1 or 2 movies every night at no charge, as long as I brought them back the next day.

We used to discuss movies all the time, and they would recommend movies that they thought I would like. I miss those days. I watched a lot of good movies that I never even would have thought to watch without their recommendations.

[Iroquois]

I definitely don't miss damaged tapes or DVDs, but that's probably the only thing I do miss Another thing that gets lost in the transition to streaming is that the journey and price incentivises you to make a decision and get something that was worth the trouble, whereas with streaming services I feel like there's too much listless scrolling and indecision. I pick up some rentals from a shop, I make sure they're ones I'm going to watch and I watch them post-haste. I see a movie I want to see on Netflix, I add it to my watchlist and more often than not just forget to watch it. I guess that's the new version of browsing through hard copies, but this time it's like you bring the movies home and let them sit in a corner until it's time to return them. At least when video stores planned on getting rid of their stock, they'd usually have little ex-rental stands where you could pick up anything you missed or wanted to keep - when a streaming service gets rid of stuff, it just disappears down the memory hole and stays there indefinitely. I think it also helped that there was an indie video store in my city that had a weird and wonderful selection of all sorts of B-movies, world cinema, and whatever else that went beyond the standards of your average Blockbuster. So yeah, I definitely miss them.

[Wyldesyde19]

I’m lucky that my town (Hagerstown,MD) has a video rental not far from me. The moment I discovered it, I was like a kid in a candy store. Spent hours browsing all of the titles available, with a nice selection of foreign and anime films as well. I mostly stream, but there’s nothing like the memories I had of spending every weekend browsing the new releases and such in Hollywood Video when I was younger. This place I frequent allows me to relive that.
It’ll help when I make my run to finish off the 2020 movie challenge.

[John McClane]

I miss renting video games. That's the only thing I miss about Blockbuster. That and the Pokemon Snap photo printer. :D

[TheUsualSuspect]

I worked at a Blockbuster....best job I ever had.

[Iroquois]

Oh, yeah, how could I forget renting videogames? That was a far too efficient system to last where you could spend like $5 to rent a game that would cost up to $100 to own. I'm pretty sure you can't do that these days - you can rent movies online but it seems you still have to pay full-price to own games (though I guess that's down to how modern games pretty much require some degree of installation on your console/computer so it's not the same as renting a movie anymore anyway).

[Cobra]

I had one near my home, I saved a blockbuster rental case from it.

[mudwater]

I loved to rent movies from the local video club which now has only a few movies and has become an e-shop.So sad. :(

[MovieBuffering]

We had a Movie Gallery right in the heart of our small town in middle school and high school. So fun to go there on the weekend and run into everyone and pick out a movie or video game.

[Cobra]

Definitely, used to have a Blockbuster near me, loved renting from there.

[fuentesmax]

Blockbuster was good but netflix is the king actually

[ynwtf]

I remember Blockbuster being crazy expensive. Sure, you got a movie for three days or whatever, but how many times did I need to watch that movie to justify the time with it? Local shops were cheaper and were usually in stock.

[Chypmunk]

I got barred from our local Blockbuster 'cos I kept going in and asking if "I could have a pee please Bob" :(

*Those from this side of the pond will understand.

[ynwtf]

why not just pee in the pond?

[Chypmunk]

For God's sake think of the fish!

[xSookieStackhouse]

gosh i missed blockbuster and videoezy and civic video back in the days

[Chypmunk]

scam
spam
Don't quote it - use the 'report' option.

[xSookieStackhouse]

Don't quote it - use the 'report' option.

i just did

[Cobra]

I'd open a video store if I could get the money together, all BETAMAX, VHS, Laserdisc and DVD.