Do you miss Blockbuster?

This topic has 27 replies, 12 voices, and was last updated 2 years, 8 months ago by DragonLady.

Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 28 total)

1 2 →

Author

Posts
August 12, 2020 at 12:30 pm #183325
Anonymous
I am sitting here thinking and remembering. I grew up in the 80s and 90s. That is when I went to high school and college. I actually really miss Blockbuster.

Yep, today I can get anything with a couple of keystrokes, but there was something about going out with your girlfriend and picking out a movie. I also liked digging through the bargain bin for a hidden gem. Plus, many times you would go out to Applebee’s and pick up a movie on the way home. Back then all the restaurant chains that pretty much suck now used to be unreal. Take Olive Garden for example. It was so good back in the 90s. Now the food just seems cheap and generic.

Anyhow, now, I can download trash woke films at the push of a button and it sucks. The youth of today have absolutely no idea how good the 80s and early 90s were. Hell, now that I look back on it, sitting in mall traffic at Christmas time was more fun that what goes on today.
August 12, 2020 at 12:47 pm #183328
Ryder_the_Great
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/627437/worlds-last-blockbuster-airbnb

Well, the world’s last Blockbuster, which is in Bend, Oregon, is now an Airbnb. So if you’ve ever wanted to sleep inside a Blockbuster, now you can
August 12, 2020 at 12:57 pm #183329
VinzingerG
I remember Blockbuster although I didn’t grew up in the 80s nor 90s but I was born the 90s(1997). I remember Blockbuster and I used to go to Blockbuster since I was a kid. I really Blockbuster.
August 12, 2020 at 1:13 pm #183338
Anonymous
Yeah, blockbuster first came out in 1985. It started to really get good around 1988 or so. It is sad to see things like malls and video stores go away. Soon there isn’t really going to be places to go and do stuff.

Places like Applebees, Olive Garden, BlockBuster, etc….. all got their start in the 80s. I think I got lucky in the fact I was just starting to leave the house when all those things hit their stride.
August 12, 2020 at 1:14 pm #183340
Anonymous
That is crazy and it only costs $4 a night!
August 12, 2020 at 1:32 pm #183345
Legatus_Legionis
I recall how when we could not afford to go as a family to see a film in the theaters, we would wait till it came out on VHS.

Then it was a family night were we all got to eat/drink what we wanted – and not the over-priced/few selections of a theater.

And if the movie was worth additional viewing beyond our rental time (1-day, 3-days, 1-week), then it was something we would buy.

Nowadays, with the time between theater and DVD release, unless it is a true must see in theaters (I am talking about you, LOTR), I will wait till the DVD release, and then only when the price is right.

And yay, I am one who wants to own the physical version (not electronic one).
August 12, 2020 at 1:46 pm #183352
Shiftygism
Renting was too expensive and many times the rentals wouldn’t even work in my case thanks to piss poor condition or the occasional weird tape that wouldn’t play for whatever reason…(there was a line of Paramount videos that would never play in my brand of VCR and X-men 1.5 dvd had some weird encoding that would make it skip scenes on the OG XBOX), today there’s much less hassle and no need to go out, especially considering you can get mostly anything you want for next to nothing by swapping codes around.
August 12, 2020 at 2:05 pm #183360
Anonymous
That is one thing that always irritated me about movie theaters. The lack of candy selection. I would have dropped the candy prices and brought in more different types. I would have literally built a candy store in the movie theater.

Even when I got much older and was making decent money, I would have my girlfriends sneak candy in the theaters in their purses. I like things like Necco Wafers and Banana taffy, etc. Frankly, I think movie theaters could have made a killing by dropping candy prices and increasing variety.
August 12, 2020 at 2:06 pm #183361
Anonymous
You can get pretty much every movie ever made for free really. This is yet another reason Hollywood should not be going woke and pissing off customers.
August 12, 2020 at 2:44 pm #183370
Ryder_the_Great
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fhcg8nFHtOg

An old Blockbuster Video commercial from 1992
August 12, 2020 at 3:07 pm #183380
Scuttlest
Premium
I was born in 1990, and I have plenty of memories of Blockbuster. For me it was far more video game rentals then movie rentals.

It was like a precursor to video game demos, in a way. Just much, much meatier then any demo could ever be. I was sold on so many games I was on the fence about, like Paper Mario.

Funny story about Paper Mario. The save data for N64 games isn’t on the system nor on memory cards, the save data is on the cartridge itself. So when I returned the game to Blockbuster, I knew that if I rented it again I’d likely get a different Paper Mario cartridge. That didn’t stop me from renting Paper Mario again… by some stroke of luck/fate, it was the same cartridge, and I was able to pick up from where I left off. I beat the game the second time I rented it.

I stopped going to Blockbuster mostly because I moved (against my will, mind you, damn parents and their morbid fascination with downgrading our living conditions) and there just wasn’t a Blockbuster within reasonable driving distance anymore. I’m not putting up with a 40 minute drive just to browse for rentals.
August 12, 2020 at 3:15 pm #183385
DigiCat
Moderator
When i was a kid there was a Blockbuster across the road from my school, it was a regular hangout spot for us kids as we hoped our parents would let us rent a VHS or DVD, i was in tears when it closed down

Recently i went to take a look at the abbandoned shop, turns out it got turned into a gym
August 15, 2020 at 7:23 am #183811
lavosslayer
Blockbuster was one of my most favorite places to go growing up. We/I always stopped by there at some point during the weekend to get a movie or rent a game. I placed 2nd (originally was notified as 1st but some funny business happened and bumped me down to 2nd…I’m almost certain I got cheated) in regionals at 12 years old at the Blockbuster Video World Video Game Championship Tournament and got free game rentals for a year and a bunch of other cool stuff. It was just a place I associated with fun and good memories.
August 16, 2020 at 3:59 pm #184093
FallenOmegaStar
James Rolfe did a great video a couple months back: The last Blockbuster is basically a tourist destination.

I never actually went to a Blockbuster when I had the chance. My parents weren’t really into rental and just bought the films they wanted outright. If there was a film I wanted to see, bam, they got the VHS. I guess they spoiled me a little bit in that regard (I used to have quite the collection of animated Disney films).

But I can understand the appeal. Digital media is more convenient but it lacks the novelty.
August 16, 2020 at 4:13 pm #184094
Ryder_the_Great
It’s interesting that Blockbuster was approached by Enron in 2000 to create a VOD/streaming service, a whole six years before Netflix did it. But Blockbuster turned it down, wanting to stick to what they knew, which was video rental. Blockbuster also turned down the opportunity to buy Netflix that same year for $50 million (about $75 million today). And so, Enron went bankrupt in 2001, Netflix blew Blockbuster out of the water, which led to it’s bankruptcy in 2010 and shutdown in 2014. It’s cool to wonder about what the world would be like if Blockbuster went to streaming first, or if they bought Netflix
Author

Posts