When was the last time you watched a movie on VHS? - General Discussion Discussion

[–] Mrmojo4700 (21722) 3 years ago

I buy VHS movies and VCRs frequently and the last one I watched was The Last Hunter (1980). I guess I watched it around a month ago.

reply

[–] PrimeMinisterX (8859) 3 years ago

So you stockpile VCRs?

reply

[–] Mrmojo4700 (21722) 3 years ago

I do lots of thrift store and garage sale shopping. If I see a nice VCR I buy it but there is also lots of junk out there. Most of the time I find them for under 10 dollars.

reply

[–] Kowalski (79156) 3 years ago

^THIS DUDE IS MY SOULMATE.😇

reply

[–] Mrmojo4700 (21722) 3 years ago

Remember I have pigeons and Chickens too! :)

reply

[–] Kowalski (79156) 3 years ago

WOW.🤯

reply

[–] PrimeMinisterX (8859) 3 years ago

Do you buy these VCRs just to make sure you always have one around that functions or is there some other purpose?

reply

[–] Mrmojo4700 (21722) 3 years ago

Well the thing is i've collected vinyl records for years and I have watched prices explode in recent years. The record shops are seeing a wave of young people come in these days too. For the first time recently more new vinyl records are being produced than new CD's. Ten years ago I wish I would have bought up every quality turn table I saw because now they are getting hard to come by and the prices are inflated.

I don't think the same thing will happen with VCRs because they will never decide to bring VHS back because of the quality of the format. But, just like vinyl records, there is a nostalgia factor attached to it. Prices on rare VHS tapes are moving up now as can be seen on Ebay. There are even films that were never released on any other format than VHS and sought out versions of films that are only avilable on VHS. In that same vein it's doubtful VCR's will ever be produced again so if you can still find good quality ones at cheap prices why not stock up?

Of course, all these movies that are on VHS format, and DVD for that matter, are probably going to be able to be found streaming for now. I like to collect physical copies of all my favorite films because with the way society is heading I don't want anyone telling me what I can watch and what I can't based on what's politically correct at the moment.

reply

[–] PrimeMinisterX (8859) 3 years ago

Indeed. I can understand that.

To me, that greatest tragedy of VHS is not the quality--even though it's not great, if you have a clean, well-functioning tape then the quality is watchable and the low-res has its own nostalgic value--but rather is the fact that VHS degrades over time.

As you no doubt know, tape gets a little more worn out with each use, and even if you never use it and store it under perfect conditions there's still a natural degradation process that occurs and eventually that tape will be unwatchable.

It's sad to think that the VHS format is slowly dying a truly natural death and there's nothing anyone can do about it except digitize the contents, and once you do that you're not watching on VHS anymore.

reply

[–] Rockman4 (1726) 3 years ago

It's been well over 10 years and around that time I had a DVD/VCR player but then I gave it away to my Aunt. She still has it but I don't know if she uses it or not and she still has her big collection of VHS tapes

reply

[–] PrimeMinisterX (8859) 3 years ago

Do you ever regret giving it to her?

reply

[–] Rockman4 (1726) 3 years ago

No not really. I can always borrow it if I ever feel like it

reply

[–] PrimeMinisterX (8859) 3 years ago

I was pretty surprised when I went to a friend's house a few years ago and learned that she still regularly has VHS tapes playing in her house. It's usually in the form of Disney movies and other kids' films for her daughter.

reply

[–] CKid (3842) 3 years ago

I believe it was back in 2011. That was the last year I owned a dual VHS/DVD player.

That being said, I feel like I could've said last year.
The reason for that is last year I bought Light of Day (1987) with Joan Jett and Michael J. Fox on DVD from Amazon.
I've always liked that film, but oh my god, you have no idea how awful the picture looked.
It actually looked like someone had burned the DVD from a videotape that had been recorded from an over-the-air broadcast of the film that was received by a TV with a rabbit-ear antenna in the middle of a thunderstorm rather than cable TV.

Because I like the film so much, I actually kept it rather than return it to Amazon.
However, should they ever release a "real" DVD or Blu-ray, I shall buy the film again and relegate this piece of crap to the trash bin.
Or perhaps send it to Kowalski, should he ever decide to open a DVD Hall of Shame as part of his vast collection.

reply

[–] Kowalski (79156) 3 years ago

OH YES,LIGHT OF DAY...GOOD FLICK...NEVER ACTUALLY RELEASED TO DVD...THE DISCS THAT EXISTS ARE VHS TRANSFER AND EXTREMELY CHEAPLY PRODUCED...GOOD CANDIDATE FOR A BLU RAY RELEASE.

reply

[–] [deleted] 3 years ago

I think it was in 2001 that I last watched a movie on vhs.

reply

[–] spacecomedy (2062) 3 years ago

Your post reminded me of a fun documentary called Rewind This!
https://moviechat.org/tt2395970/Rewind-This

I don't have any VHS tapes anymore, but I treasure my DVD library. There's so much quality stuff that isn't available in the streaming world.

reply

[–] TheMan18 (13188) 3 years ago

A few weeks ago, when I watched the "much spoken about by me" direct to video psychological police thriller film "Someone to Die For" (1995) by Clay Borris and with Corbin Bernsen in it.

reply

[–] PrimeMinisterX (8859) 3 years ago

I watched Rewind This. It was pretty good.

Out of curiosity, what films do you have on DVD that aren't available on streaming?

reply

[–] spacecomedy (2062) 3 years ago

These are a few I've never been able to find via streaming...
All That Jazz (1979)
French Kiss (1995)
PCU (1994)
Strange Days (1995)
To Live and Die in L.A. (1985)
Prime Cut (1972)

reply

[–] [deleted] 3 years ago

prime cut is on movieland (roku)

reply

[–] spacecomedy (2062) 3 years ago

Good to know, but I've never been interested in multiple streaming subscriptions. One is enough for me.

reply

[–] [deleted] 3 years ago

it's a free app.

reply

[–] PrimeMinisterX (8859) 3 years ago

That's quite surprising about To Live and Die in LA. That's not an insubstantial film.

reply

[–] TheMan18 (13188) 3 years ago

Is that a question for me (Oh my God) Mr PRIME MINISTER?

reply

[–] PrimeMinisterX (8859) 3 years ago

Well, it wasn't, but I'll be happy to hear your answer.

reply

[–] TheMan18 (13188) 3 years ago

Its alright, I did reply above. 3 hours ago.

reply

[–] TheMan18 (13188) 3 years ago

Hahaha, I wonder though, will YOU ever see that movie OP and on VHS to boot (it isn't available much to date in another format.)

reply

[–] TimMC (9143) 3 years ago

A few years ago I put in Batman and Robin, you know the good one, LOL.

Just to see how badly it would look on a 50 inch TV.

Wasn't horrible. Neither was the movie.

Lightning has since fried my VCR. I don't want to buy another so I may have to do without.

reply

[–] PrimeMinisterX (8859) 3 years ago

A few films I can remember watching in recent memory on VHS include Independence Day, The Mummy and Sleepy Hollow.

I believe this was on a 43" TV. My assessment was mostly the same: Wasn't horrible. Obviously it wasn't HD or even DVD quality but I found them all perfectly watchable.

I wonder what they would look like today on a 25" CRT TV.

reply

[–] [deleted] 3 years ago

2011. I lived in a place with a tv and VCR and actually bought a bunch of second hand VHS from the local flea market. Sometimes 3 for a dollar. It was fun. But I moved and left it.

reply

[–] Kowalski (79156) 3 years ago

DID YOUR MOM LET YOU BRING YOUR SWEET ASS SWAZTIKA BANNER AT LEAST?🤔

reply

[–] PrimeMinisterX (8859) 3 years ago

That sounds like a good memory.

I actually bought a VCR sometime around 2010 after not having one for a long while. I think the last place I lived that had one before that was when I roomed with a friend circa 2004. He had a whole collection of movies on VHS and we watched them regularly.

Your flea market story reminds me of how after buying my VCR I found out that there were some used bookstores in the area that sold used VHS tapes. Periodically I would drop in and walk out with a sack full. It was a real crapshoot though, as I would always get home to find that MANY of the tapes either did not work at all or were so worn out that the audio or video (or both) were of such poor quality as to render the films unwatchable. It was always a joy to pop a tape in and find that the audio and video quality were good enough to actually watch the movie.

reply

[–] [deleted] 3 years ago

What's amazing for me is that all of my videos seemed like they were only watched once. They played perfectly.

I ended up with about 30 tapes. Kinda sad that I left them.

reply