Anyone else miss Blockbuster video?

[Ashley755]

I had to ask. Tell me I'm not the only one.

And if anyone has a story they want to share, absolutely feel free. It seems like a lot of people have good memories of going to the video store back in the day.

 

[Stranger36147]

Who doesn't love to reminisce about the old days? The way things use to be?

I didn't rent a lot of movies back in the day, but I did own a lot of VHS tapes. So there are definitely some fond memories there.

So yeah, VHS tapes were a big part of my childhood. Wow, that seems so long ago. When I look back, it was almost like it was a previous life.

 

[Anthony2019]

I remember Blockbuster Video. They had branches in most of our local towns and cities and rented out some decent films.

It was a little bit like going into a library, except the librarian wasn't someone sitting in a dusty chair, peeking over their glasses, waving a finger and saying "be quiet" every time you breathed for air.

The staff wore trendy teashirts and a cheesy smile. But they still liked to charge you if you were late returning your item. It was all part of the service.

 

[LynnSmith]

Totally miss!!
Friday nights would be pizza and renting movies.
Yes On Demand or Netflix is very convenient now but not the same.

 

[Danthemailman]

Blockbuster Video is one company that in the beginning, really soared like an eagle, but in the end, crashed and burned!

 

[FenderTL5]

I never really cared for the exercise of going to the video store.
On the other hand you could probably count on fingers/toes to number of movies I've actually watched since their demise.

 

[Ashley755]

Blockbuster Video is one company that in the beginning, really soared like an eagle, but in the end, crashed and burned!

But at least it was fun while it lasted, haha

 

[“Paisios”]

I had to ask. Tell me I'm not the only one.

And if anyone has a story they want to share, absolutely feel free. It seems like a lot of people have good memories of going to the video store back in the day.

I miss Blockbuster a bit, but they mostly carried the mainstream, current popular titles. I remember the old Mom & Pop vidéo stores that Blockbuster put out of business, with dusty old VHS clamshell cases, and selections of which few people had ever known. I found a lot of rare gems in those stores, and it was always a lot of fun browsing through the shelves to see what was there.

I remember one place in Thunder Bay, ON, Canada, that had a laundromat, sub shop and convenience store with the video store all rolled into one. It was a fun place to go.

 

[archer75]

I remember when they opened in our town, it seemed like a miracle.

 

[“Paisios”]

Totally miss!!
Friday nights would be pizza and renting movies.
Yes On Demand or Netflix is very convenient now but not the same.

I have found that the selection on Netflix is just awful. I keep my account for my wife and children, but I really can’t find anything that I want to watch on it. I am told when they sent out hard copies on DVD that they had a much better selection, especially of rarer movies, but I didn’t subscribe to that service then. I still tend to buy DVD/BluRays, even though more expensive, because I can find more interesting titles. I am not sure what I’ll do when those media are extinct.

 

[Anthony2019]

I have found that the selection on Netflix is just awful. I keep my account for my wife and children, but I really can’t find anything that I want to watch on it. I am told when they sent out hard copies on DVD that they had a much better selection, especially of rarer movies, but I didn’t subscribe to that service then. I still tend to buy DVD/BluRays, even though more expensive, because I can find more interesting titles. I am not sure what I’ll do when those media are extinct.

I got rid of Netflix some time ago. There's nothing on it that really interested me. These days I use my freeview digital channels, a Roku box with digital prescription package for catch up TV and films with Amazon Prime Video. I'm not a couch potato, but I'm slowly getting there :-(

 

[Kenny'sID]

Who doesn't love to reminisce about the old days? The way things use to be?

Exactly, and it could be anything we did a lot, but I can see how BB would work quit well in the area of "good ol' days". Going to BB was often only the start of an enjoyable evening, making spirits high when going, and enough of that equals good memories.

 

[paul1149]

I don't personally miss the local video store. The technology today is much better, and the selection back then was hit or miss. However, your question reminds me of something I've been thinking about lately, as I've had to order a bunch of stuff from Amazon.

We are losing the local connection. Brick and mortar is deeply wounded, as retailers find it cheaper to warehouse goods and distribute by shipping. The selection is now much better. Prices tend to be much better too. When I was working computer repair in Staples, people would come in to see product and decide on what they want, then go online and find the best deal. All perfectly legal, but no store can sustain itself under that dynamic.

So it's become more impersonal, and people are more isolated. The only compensation is social media, which accordingly is booming.

I'm not that much of a moviegoer anyway, and have never used Netflix. It concerns me that one company can have that much power (I have the same concern with Amazon, and use it only as a last resort). The only movie I've gone to the theater for in several years is Unplanned. I generally buy the DVD, often used on ebay, of films I'm interested in.

 

[Sparagmos]

I had to ask. Tell me I'm not the only one.

And if anyone has a story they want to share, absolutely feel free. It seems like a lot of people have good memories of going to the video store back in the day.

Goodness no. Making two trips just to watch a movie at home was a pain in the butt. Now I have way more choices and don’t have to leave my house.

 

[Bobber]

Funny but I was talking about this a few weeks ago. It was an interesting period of time with entertainment technology . I recall in my city when the first video store opened up. Wasn't Blockbuster but some local company. Then you even rented the video machine to take home. It was a party night at a friends and everyone thought it was so interesting to have a hard copy of a film to watch in the home.

Of course things changed the market grew bigger, Blockbuster came about etc,etc. In some ways I think the business of it was somewhat difficult as so many would be late many days with films and the poor staff had to deal with people getting upset with late charges. We know Blockbuster tried different policies to work around it but still always a problem. What boggled me was how many would sign up to buy the VHS tapes to own.

How many Titanic VHS tapes have you seen at yard sales. VHS tapes...big, cumbersome, would make a living room look ugly with racks of them everywhere. But it was an interesting time of technology but see no reason to keep it hanging around. I will say one thing however. It seemed to me so much easier to record things casually off television and have my own hard copy. That's about the only thing I miss.

 

[Bobber]

Goodness no. Making two trips just to watch a movie at home was a pain in the butt. Now I have way more choices and don’t have to leave my house.

Not to mention you get there and they tell you they're all rented out.

 

[JCFantasy23]

No, I liked the old mom and pop types, but I always hated Blockbuster. They were controlling when they were on top to a detestable degree. They would strong-arm with the MPAA for ratings for R rated films, took advantage of shutting down the competition and being one of the only resources available with exorbitant fees, and didn't mind doing as many limits as they could since they were in the position to be people's only choice. I really think that is one reason they collapsed so quickly with internet competition - they didn't have much customer loyalty points racked up.

 

[Rubiks]

I remember renting games for my Nintendo 64!