How VHS Rental Stores Made Movies Iconic (Before Streaming Ruined Everything)

Some movies I discovered at Blockbuster was the live action Mario Brothers movie and Popeye starring Robin Williams. Not good movies perse but walking around the video not knowing these movie existed interested me to rent them both at the same time.

I was and still am interested in sharks. Maybe not as much as I was back when I was kid. But I remember my grandpa and dad saying to 7 year old me if you like sharks so much you should watch Jaws. My dad took me straight to Blockbuster and we rented it. Scared the fuck out of me. Watched it a few more times one of which were with my two older sisters who aslo were scared but enjoyed the movie. Needless to say Jaws is my favorite movie of all time. I owned the DVD, I have the bluray and I now have the 4k too. I love that movie. I lost count how many times I've seen it. I do also own the sequels on bluray as well. Jaws 2 is an underrated movie imo. Not as good as the classic first film but still an enjoyable enough movie. I love the opening and the scene with the helicopter

I hate streaming. If it were up to me I wouldnt have any streaming services. But my dad loves Netflix (I still live at home with him cant sfford to move out yet). I've been collecting blurays since 2012 and I dont think I'll be stopping anytime soon. I have 2400+ different titles.

It took me like 3 or 4 watches to fully appreciate The Thing. My most recent viewing which was a few months ago actually was the time I grew to love the movie. I always hated the movie before then. Now I'm like this movie is great. Silly high school me didnt know what he was talking about.

You are so cute with that wonderful smile

The browsing experience of streaming sucks compared to the video store. They used to hire professionals to create compelling box art and copywriters to write the blurb on the back to SELL YOU on the movie. Now they just randomly grab a screenshot or one of the actor's faces for a thumbnail and combine with a generic blurb written by AI or an illiterate third-worlder. I am constantly swiping past great movies on streaming because they look like shit, and then only once I recognize the title do I remember it was good. And I never, ever, discover anything new.

This was the best era , literally judging a book by its cover or a vhs . Sometimes they were weird by rarely were we disappointed. We had no idea this would extinguish its self really fast .

Glad I live through the 80’s heyday of video rentals, it was a unique place in time that invoked a magical feeling in movies that will never be found again.

We had a local place called "Video Showcase" and they had a 7 for 7 deal. So for $7 you could rent 7 movies and keep them for 7 days (not first run movies obviously).
And on your birthday you would get a free rental. So my Dad and I shared a birthday, in the summer, and that's when he would let me partake in the 7 for 7 and technically get 9 movies for $7 and keep them 7 days. He would get 3 or 4, and I would get to pick out the rest. Usually it would be some Charles Bronson, Chuck Norris, Arnie for him and I would get Stand By Me, The Breakfast Club, Grease 2, The Neverending Story....some of my favs. haha!

I remember renting The Big Lebowski for the first time out of curiosity and at first I wasn't a big fan of it, but some time later I rented it again and started liking it, so much in fact that I eventually bought the 10th Anniversary special edition dvd (which I ended up giving to my dad after one of my buddies bought me the steel book blu ray for one of my birthdays many, many years ago).

Even as recent as the Redbox era had the pull of the cover art and physical purchase commitments that make movies more personal definitely found some gems on there. And you’re on point with Ernest as an icon I loved all his movies growing up!

I’ve watched a number of your videos and enjoyed most of them but this was on another level — your passion made me want to go on a Crusade. Some of the VhS cover art that really grabbed me : Xtro, The Company of Wolves, Krull , Fright Night. Death Ship freaked me out as a young kid.

Streaming Services make me cringe and rage. I miss the days when DVDs, Blu Rays and VHS were king. I will always go to my physical movie collection and I will never stream. The only time I go digital is when I want to watch a favorite Youtube channel like this one here. Ironically, Youtube may be helping me to preserve my physical media collection because I write a lot. Great video. You have given clarity as to why physical media matters

Critters 1986, this was a staple of my childhood.

I still remember. It was wonderful. Excellent video my friend.

I was Born 1986 U.K. and used to love browsing the Video Shop. 😂

I miss the days of the video rental stores. I used to love walking up to the New Release section every week and not knowing what I was going to find.

I also use to rent vhs and dvd from rental stores. I also use to buy alot of them when video stores went out of business.

The independent stores or regional franchises were the best stores because they had all the unrated/weird videos that you would NEVER find at Blockbuster of Hollywood Video. And also p*rn. It was like a cave of wonders, but you didn't care about the magic lamp because everything else in the store was so cool.
Nobody born in this century will ever know the phenomenon that was RE-ANIMATOR back in the day.

I loved your points and passion. Mine was probably Clive Barkers Lord of Illusions and The Evil Dead. Some of my alltime favorites were on TV. Movies like The Thing, It's Alive, and Basket Case, The Fly remake, Predator, and Big Trouble.But then I'd rent them to see them uncensored. Keep up the great work. 👍

Thank-you!

You my friend are absolutely right… Sad those days are long gone but I’m happy to relive those moments with my collection and your awesome videos. My first horror movie I discovered at my local mom and pop video store was Return of the Living Dead and so many others…

I think you said vhs 100 times in this video 😅

Yep. For me it was 1983 Scarface Pacino's finest work, and 1988 Bloodsport which made Van Damme a martial arts superstar.

Missi8ng the whole experience of video rentals. That excitement of a movie you knew about and wanting to watch so badly, the new release of a movie you seen advertised "Out Now", or those times meeting a random person who sometimes suggested a movie. And all those awesome, creative box covers catching your attention. Oh and the video game renting was just the same.
I wish I was a kid in the 90's again. I remember my parents rented a VCR, as we did not own one at the time (busted I believe), and how it came in a hard-made briefcase. If my memory serves me right, those we rented had a "expire date" programmed into them, that after the time of rent was up, they stopped functioning and only the rental-stores could make them operate again. That was like magic to my kid knowledge.

Also the fact how many movies that mabey flopped or proved just even in the cinemas could rebounce on video sales/rentals or how straight-to-video movies launched great careers for many directors anf actors, is now gone. Now if a movie flops, it can't be rebound by video sales like in the past, as that ended after the DVD era. Only in smaller numbers and mostly from real movie fans that wants them on Blu-ray or DVD.

Kids today are major spolied with all instant access, thus have no real appreciation for the movies or shows.

Highlander. Barely a blip at the box office, massively popular on VHS!

Discover Japanese anime from the 80s youth restricted viewing stickers

There were so many good movies to choose from . These days I don't even watch movies ,to me they're not worth a damn.I don't know who the actors are anymore, if I watch anything it's film or shows from back then.

Been listening for a while because I drive for work but I gotta tell you it really throws me off that you changed from “I gotch you” to “I got you”. I like the old way better😂. Keep up the good work.

Great Video! Fun and painful at the same time because 80s kids miss the video rental days. Sir the video that caught attention back then(VHS) Class of Nuke em High.. Good God what a Sh** show but a whole lot a fun.. it also cost me an a** woopin from my mom when she found out.. 😆

Hey man do you have a tick tock by chance or a Facebook came across your first video really enjoyed it

The 80s & 90s were absolutely EPIC, definable & BETTER times 🫶 It ain’t nostalgia - it’s truth 🤷‍♂️ Thanks for this video, greatly enjoyed it 🥳🙏