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[EviLore]

The convenience of streaming services has been supplanted by fragmentation and ever-increasing premiums. For the price of the typical streaming subscriptions, e.g. Netflix, HBO Max, Disney+, Prime Video, you can buy multiple physical releases per month and actually own something--in substantially higher quality, at least in the case of films.

Physical media also requires one to be more intentional. Listening to an album, watching a movie, for decades this was not a matter of doomscrolling or letting an algorithm choose for you. It was a ritual, curating a library to suit your tastes and drawing from it, a reflection of your character and identity.

Now, even as big box retailers stop carrying physical movies, boutique distributors like Criterion and Arrow are still restoring films in handsome editions. Physical music sales are also up, vinyl and CDs (even cassettes) making a major comeback.

Rituals are important. Ownership is important. Living intentionally is important.

Let's talk physical media here.

 

[poppabk]

Yeah I already did this twice. First on VHS, at least 200 movies all went in the trash, I probably watched 10 more than once. I didn't buy as many DVD's but I ripped them all and have them on a plex server. But I will scour streaming services for them before resorting to the DVD version.
I know now we may have finally reached the point where you have as good as a copy as it's possible to make - but I'm just burnt out on it.

 

[EviLore]

Yeah I already did this twice. First on VHS, at least 200 movies all went in the trash, I probably watched 10 more than once. I didn't buy as many DVD's but I ripped them all and have them on a plex server. But I will scour streaming services for them before resorting to the DVD version.
I know now we may have finally reached the point where you have as good as a copy as it's possible to make - but I'm just burnt out on it.

Yes, the DVD to Bluray to 4K format transitions have been brutal and demoralizing at times when you have a substantial movie collection. It's not like books or music where the content itself is more or less in ideal form from the start. With movies you can spend thousands collecting for years, then see most of it become worthless and obsolete. I didn't want to go through that again either, so I went digital for a number of years with streaming services and iTunes (with its auto 4K upgrades).

But we are at the end of that road now, more or less.

 

[ZehDon]

Yeah I already did this twice. First on VHS, at least 200 movies all went in the trash, I probably watched 10 more than once. I didn't buy as many DVD's but I ripped them all and have them on a plex server. But I will scour streaming services for them before resorting to the DVD version.
I know now we may have finally reached the point where you have as good as a copy as it's possible to make - but I'm just burnt out on it.

Yep, I went full plex as well. Buy it physically, rip it to plex. For some films where the visuals are important to me - Dune, The Revanant - I stick with the 4K disc exclusivey.
My general rule of thumb is if I bought it on DVD, I don't buy it again unless it's a new master, or some kind of Director's Cut. I'm not going to double or triple dip.

 

[nush]

My physical movie journey went like this,

VHS, Laserdisc, DVD, Blu Ray, Blu Ray 3D, 4K UHD. DVD was the big jump though and the menus and extras were at their peak it's been diminishing returns since then. The higher the formats went in quality the more selective I am in rebuying as it's mostly films I've already owned so it's the best of the best and things I know I'll rewatch.

I've tried streaming at friends houses and it's doomscrolling to find something to watch and other time a movie you want to watch isn't on the service.

 

[Digital-Aftertaste]

My physical movie journey went like this,

VHS, Laserdisc, DVD, Blu Ray, Blu Ray 3D, 4K UHD. DVD was the big jump though and the menus and extras were at their peak it's been diminishing returns since then. The higher the formats went in quality the more selective I am in rebuying as it's mostly films I've already owned so it's the best of the best and things I know I'll rewatch.

I've tried streaming at friends houses and it's doomscrolling to find something to watch and other time a movie you want to watch isn't on the service.

Its still worth collecting the DVD's in my opinion, the special features and commentary tracks were a gold mine for me.

 

[Soodanim]

I've always been a fan of owning films I want, it's just that streaming cuts out the "I wouldn't mind seeing that again" ones where it's probably not worth the space on my shelf just to watch once.

I can't remember the last time I bought a new film on disc. I tend to buy older ones and I'm not the biggest film fan in the world.

 

[Trunx81]

My dad used to have our basement full with VHS, all perfectly organized in a hand written folder. Not bought, mind you, but grabbed from TV, with the commercials cut out. Sometimes five movies with Longplay on one cassette. He later transfered all of his hand written data onto a SHARP computer and later a Palm Pilot. Want to watch a movie with Harrison Ford? Here you are. A movie directed by Spielberg? Say no more! Oh and you can read what movie critics say about it in the cut out review he pasted into the physical folder.

When DVD arrived, he tried the same with a HDD recorder and DVD burner, but the first 100 discs are garbage now as he even printed individual labels for each one that deformed under the heat of the player ...

Myself I had a smaller collection which I sold 4 years ago. Thank god this trait didn´t catch on with me.

 

[Windle Poons]

It never went away in my life.

 

[CGNoire]

Have over 1000 films in HD now I own. Fuck the all digital future.

 

[winjer]

A lot of people are now realizing that the streaming future is not as bright as it once looked.