Blockbuster Video Puts Themselves Up For Sale (aka The Death of the Video Store) :-(

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/21/us-blockbuster-idUSTRE71K5SO20110221

Ok, this makes me exceptionally sad today for a few reasons. I'm a 32 year old film junkie which means that I grew up in video stores. My fathers good friend ran a Movie Gallery in my hometown which opened when I was 6 and I spent a good portion of my time there, then when Blockbuster opened near my house I would ride my bike there every day and wait for hours for whatever video I was waiting for someone to bring back. When I was (almost) 15, they hired me to work for them since my knowledge was greater than anyone else in the store. For the next 10 years I was with them and, while at times I wanted to blow my brains out having to deal with the people, it was still a great time in my life. When I first moved to NYC there were dozens of Blockbusters here. Now there are 3, I believe. I still rent from the store on 50th & 8th all the time to support them, but I know they won't be there long. I can't say I'm innocent in this because I do stream movies from Netflix and rent from them as well as having used Redbox on occasion.

But to me and so many others my age, nothing will ever compare to walking up and down the aisles of a video store looking at cover boxes and spending two hours trying to decide what to watch while hoping someone brings back the hot new release that's all checked out. Those days are long gone now and I might sound silly for wishing they'd come back since, really, who wants to stand around and wait all day for a movie when luckily that's something you just don't have to do anymore. But I guess I'm just a very nostalgic person.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V092fX76FLI

It was suffering for awhile. Once netflix came on the scene it was all over for them. Bookstores will also fall to the almighty kindle.

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Which one is that that's closing?

Exactly.

Blockbuster killed Mom & Pop stores. Netflix killed Blockbuster . It may very well be that something will come along one day to kill Netflix. It is the law of nature come to video. Survival of the fittest.

If you have Netflix, why pay for on demand movies on cable?

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Updated On: 2/21/11 at 08:32 PM

People have always acted as if Mom & Pop video stores had been around for generations before Blockbuster came along but in reality Blockbuster opened it's first stores only a few years after actual video stores popped up. In the early 80's videos were rented out everywhere - grocery stores, gas stations, even movie theaters tried their hands at it, before actual stores started renting them, which was when BBV jumped on the bandwagon. The "Mom & Pop" shop was not a national institution that was demolished, but that's the way it'll be remembered.

I've been going to Blockbuster since I was four and I was saddened when I found out they were struggling.

I remember when I was a kid, the big thing we did on Friday nights after school was go to Blockbuster, go home and watch whatever we rented over and over again. I always rented things like Fraggle Rock, Tiny Toons, Pee-Wee, Wee-Sing videos....then when everything converted to DVD, we kind of just stopped going. It didn't have the same feeling. That's kind of when Blockbuster died to me. I miss it, though.

harris007, Blockbuster definitely edits some videos. One such example is Requiem for a Dream. It even has a big "Edited Version" over the title card during the opening credits.

As for this news, I find it quite saddening. I have been going to Blockbuster since I was a child. There is a location here in Las Vegas that I have been visiting since I moved here in 2001. As I also have a Blockbuster online account, I get a lot of movies and have found them to be a great company for some time. It will be a sad day when I can no longer use my blue card.

Updated On: 2/22/11 at 01:44 AM

I want to talk about this myth of Blockbuster editing movies. it's not true. The studios edit their movies and Blockbuster chooses on occasion to carry those versions of their films. It's not fair to put all the blame on BBV. It would be wonderful if the studios said "No, we're not editing our products" but even they know it's a business and I feel that more of the blame should be on them for it.

Jordan, you're right. I should have said that they carry the edited videos, not that they edit the movies themselves. Either way though, (in most cases) only having the edited video available isn't the best thing when you're the type of person who still goes to the store to find a flick. Plus a lot of the edited movies still show up as R and don't even say that they are the altered versions on the cases.

C'mon, for every thousand movies released, maybe one of them had an alternate censored version.

The truth is that practice is all bit dead now anyways. Since DVDs can have three or four versions of the film now, it's not necessary.

At this point I mostly use Netflix Instant on my Xbox so I rarely even get films through the mail anymore.
I'm not talking about censored versions of movies Jordan. They just wouldn't carry certain movies at all. When I was in college there was a great "mom and pop" video store that had a great collection of cult classics, obscure horror movies, even a gay and lesbian section...which was kind of a big deal at the time. Blockbuster opened across the street and the smaller video store was gone within 6 months. Blockbuster's idea of a cult classic was She-Devil. Not to mention their prohibitive late fees. Didn't they get in a class action lawsuit over that.

I never realized it cost so much money, or any at all for these stores to carry the movies that they do. It makes sense though. Yeah, the independent movie rental stores by me only let you rent it overnight. If the Blockbuster by me closes, I'll have to rent from Redbox, which can be a ripoff if you don't return the movie right away, or checking the library.

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