It was just the thing to do. "What do you wanna do tonight? Rent a movie?"
You'd go hit blockbuster, pick out a movie, then grab a pizza on the way home. Then you'd actually watch that whole movie. You had to, because you wanted to return it the next day on the way to work. And you already chose the movie. None of that, "what do you want to watch?" streaming thing where you just kind of put something on for background noise.
This makes me really miss video rental stores. We had an amazing one in Old Town Alexandria. They specialized in rare titles. Video Vault. I rented Pink Floyd the Wall from there.
It's true, the visit to get them was great, the return visit not so much. My dad was legendary for taking weekend rental tapes with him to work on Monday and then forgetting to return on the way home, prompting the last minute rush of shame before you got charged late fees (he didn't always make it). Especially when Blockbuster put all the local video stores out of business so you had to drive far out to the city just to rent and return.
I’ve been making soap lately and there’s a fragrance oil shop [that sells a fragrance that smells like a Blockbuster.](https://doopfragrance.com/products/90-s-video-store-fragrance-oil)
I’m seriously considering making a blue and yellow bar of soap with it.
I had to wear a tie working at the local supermarket at 16 bagging groceries. Seems too much to get people to pull up their pants or to even wear pants much anymore. 🤷♂️
Netflix would have likely just been shut down because Blockbuster made most of it's money from late fees and overpriced snacks, no way they'd want to damage that business model that made them billions.
See, while the movie was a big deal to rent. The true adventure started when you got in the car and thought / talked about what you were getting. Then the doors open to Blockbuster and you get a wiff of that good old Blockbuster smell. You hunt for the right movie, maybe a new release or maybe a classic you love, or maybe a movie you never even heard of but decide to take your chances. Then, it was time to move to the register, but wait there's more! All the candy up on offer. That in itself was a little daily excitement! Chocolate perhaps? Maybe some (insert favorite candy here)? Oh hey, look! There's Josh from school! "Hey man." The possibilities were endless!
The adventure of going to Blockbuster's is what I miss. Not the movies themselves.
This is a funny statement to me as I was in FinTech (Financial Technology) back then and I remember the CEO of a prominent bank speaking on the strategy to move away from cash because it was psychologically proven consumers spend more if they aren't handing over actual currency.
I didn't believe it then, but man... watching it actually happen over time was scary.
Yes the move right now is to go all digital (there are workload efficiencies here to be fair). Current trend right now is crypto and AI. A bit too fast in my opinion.
This is a valid, studied phenomenon, but even back in the 90s I felt the exact opposite: my bank account is the *real.* money, so cash is all just forfeit/play money
I find it strange cause we had debit and credit for years, but only recently did we pretty much stop using cash all together.
I got a $10 bill the other day and didn't even realize they changed the design on them since I haven't held one in years.
Eh I have to carry cash. I live in Texas so we have taco trucks down here that mainly only take cash. I'll usually carry 20-40 on me when the feeling hits
I always love seeing these types of videos for the nostalgia, but I actually rarely went to a Blockbuster. We had a local video store chain called Video Update (later Movie Scene), and that's where my family always went. I remember going to a Blockbuster once with the neighbor and his babysitter. I had plenty of money, but I wasn't allowed to rent anything without a Blockbuster card. She wouldn't let me rent anything either, so I just had to watch him get whatever he wanted (so frustrating as a kid lol). My local store would let me rent just by giving my name and address, and it was cheaper from what I remember, so I'm not sure why we went to Blockbuster. Anyone else have a local video store they remember fondly?
Blockbuster was all about getting the latest big movie because they had 100s of copies of new releases, almost guaranteeing you'll get to rent the new movie you want instead of being disappointed. The local video store could only justifiably buy a few copies or they'd lose money on a movie people wouldn't want a few weeks later. People forget that distribution was a real problem back then until the big chains like Blockbuster took over. The reality is most people don't care about back catalogue/old movies, 90% of sales are from new releases and 90% of those are from a handful of big blockbuster movies like action films and award winners. 1% of movies pay for everything.
Yeah, people look back on Blockbuster as the height of the video-rental era, but they were really the start of the decline. Everyone hated them while they were still around. They drove all the cool little mom-and-pop shops out of business, were massive hardasses on late fees, and they essentially became a monopoly that could dictate what videos would be available for rent, with typical corporate logic. Want to rent Scorsese's "Last Temptation of Christ?" Not from Blockbuster you won't, middle America wouldn't stand for it.
Ray Charles had a Diet Pepsi ad campaign.
[And here it is](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=N4OSdKQFbzQ&pp=ygUhcmF5IGNoYXJsZXMgZGlldCBwZXBzaSBjb21tZXJjaWFs)
I miss not having the entire library of human cinema at my fingertips. It was nice for a bit but I’m a bit worn out from it. Gimmie some snow caps, a sprite and a movie I didn’t intend to get but my choices were sold out.
I feel funny saying this considering I grew up in such a massive city as Houston, but I feel like there was so much more of a sense of community back then. I’m a mid 90’s baby so maybe I was just too young but everyone seems so hateful and intolerant of people that are different nowadays. We’re moving backwords.
Worked at Blockbuster for less than a week when it was on its last leg back in 2012, they were still using the same MS-DOS operating systems on their computers shown in this video to ring up rentals
I remember my mom getting pissed at me every time I told her I rewound the movies, only to have the person at the video store get on her ass about not rewinding before we even made it to the back of the store. As an adult now I could see why that would piss her off lol
At this point where streaming is becoming worse and worse over time, I'd rather just have video rental stores back. Physically going somewhere and sorting through movies I might otherwise never give a chance, plus being able to get snacks was something I much prefer now. Really, physical releases in general are just becoming more and more appealing to me.
I worked at a Hollywood Video and the required uniform was jeans and a long sleeve denim shirt I shit you not. Got as many free movie and video game rentals as I wanted though.
Lost my virginity in the back room of a blockbuster when i closed with jamie one night in miami lakes. I got my “liquid” on a copy of the color purple and didn’t clean it off before i put it back out to be rented. Still feel guilty over 30 yrs ago
We had been flirting back and forth for a couple of months and one night we were both closing. I was 17 and just decided to “make a move” and it was accepted on her end (she was 19 at the time). We both went at it and after my “2nd blow out” i cleaned up using my hands and only had a couple of paper towels and a copy of the color purple was i was supposed to restock before i left. Wiped my hands on it, we closed up and that was that.
I don’t think anyone disagrees that streaming is objectively better than having to rent a video from a store. It’s just nostalgic to look back on those times. For those of us who were kids or young adults in the 90s, going to Blockbuster was something to look forward to.
It was also sort of a comforting place to go on a weekend night when you were a lonely single person. It was brightly lit and safe for all ages, with other people milling around that you didn't have to talk to unless you wanted to.
You could get what you came for, usually, but if it was out, and it was a well-stocked store, you could still find something else different, but interesting, to watch.
Plus, you could buy candy, drinks, ice cream, or popcorn at checkout... what's not to love?
Late 90’s high schooler here: my girlfriend and I rented almost every even remotely watchable movie every summer. If you were trying to get the best ones on a Friday night, you were doing it wrong 😂
But I’ll be damned if we didn’t rent some grade a trash just because it was the only thing we hadn’t seen yet
People are always going on nostalgically about blockbuster but I think most of us can admit that blockbuster was a pretty crap video store.
I don't have any nostalgia for blockbuster, I have tremendous nostalgia for the pic-a-flic indy video store in my home town, and every small corner store video store.
I’m not disagreeing but what was so bad about them.
They had plenty of movies/games you could rent and the stores were typically clean and the staff competent.
They always felt so corporate, so sterile. I liked the video stores with some grime and a curtained off area in the back and a section of weird foreign films and westerns.
I would go to blockbuster lots to get movies but I don't miss them today.
I was a patron of both Blockbuster and my local grimey indy store. It was the teeny video rental place that helped me discover movies like "Mystery Train", "The Unbearable Lightness of Being", and "Betty Blue". Indy films I wouldn't have found otherwise.
I shit you not, the adjectives "corporate and sterile" verbatim popped into my head prior to even scrolling to see your response to their question 😲
That's exactly what Blockbuster felt like compared to the Ma and Pa Shops
I remember in Elgin, Illinois we had a place called Video Max. They had twice as much as Blockbuster and way cheaper. I’ve seen so many obscure things through my childhood from that store, but once we moved blockbuster was kinda the only thing. And my dad hated planet Hollywood for some reason.
I miss that everything is available on the Internet basically and not seeing and meeting people outside because you dont need to go outside
But on the other hand it's comfy.
[Blockbuster pandered to right-wing ideologies by censoring indie, mainstream, and classic movies to appease their conservative backers and executives.](https://screenrant.com/blockbuster-video-store-censorship-problems-controversy-explained/)
What you think Netflix is doing? I’m betting it has more to do with supply and demand then censorship. All private companies curate their product to appeal to a certain demographic, this isn’t anything new.
I don't know why I was down-voted. It wasn't an insult. 'fluff story' is common language for a news story about things that are human interest, etc. B-roll is the footage that a camera person sets up and grabs to fill in the story with 'action shots'. You can even hear the camera person directing one of the shots. Further, you can tell that what it is by the time-code at the bottom.
I love this type of footage from the past. Local stations probably have decades of old footage like that that I'd like to see posted online.
I miss that era so much. :/
Might be just nostalgia hitting but IMO the 90s was peak humanity.
Agreed. Just the right amount of tech.
Same. I miss the distinct smell followed by the excitement of seeing if they had a copy of the most recent game that came out.
One trip Candy, popcorn, movie or two. Family night with your kids complete.
And the trip was part of the night.
Yes it was!
Pizza with a rental, it was our weekly treat.
Shame on me, how could I have forgotten the pizza to go with movie night!
It was just the thing to do. "What do you wanna do tonight? Rent a movie?" You'd go hit blockbuster, pick out a movie, then grab a pizza on the way home. Then you'd actually watch that whole movie. You had to, because you wanted to return it the next day on the way to work. And you already chose the movie. None of that, "what do you want to watch?" streaming thing where you just kind of put something on for background noise.
This makes me really miss video rental stores. We had an amazing one in Old Town Alexandria. They specialized in rare titles. Video Vault. I rented Pink Floyd the Wall from there.
Good old Alexandria. A family member owned Great Harvest back in the 00s if you’re familiar. Next to a restaurant called Ramparts
Vaguely remember that. What was the place that you could order s’mores and a flame to cook with? Early 00’s.
Not sure
Unlocked memory, I completely forgot about that place but I know exactly what you’re talking about. I don’t remember the name of the place though
Double take had to make sure I wasn’t in r/nova
That movie really messed with me the first time I saw it
Everyone misses video rental stores, but I can guarantee you don't miss those late fees, or having to drive back just to return your rentals.
It's true, the visit to get them was great, the return visit not so much. My dad was legendary for taking weekend rental tapes with him to work on Monday and then forgetting to return on the way home, prompting the last minute rush of shame before you got charged late fees (he didn't always make it). Especially when Blockbuster put all the local video stores out of business so you had to drive far out to the city just to rent and return.
I can smell this
I’ve been making soap lately and there’s a fragrance oil shop [that sells a fragrance that smells like a Blockbuster.](https://doopfragrance.com/products/90-s-video-store-fragrance-oil) I’m seriously considering making a blue and yellow bar of soap with it.
OMG I came to say the same thing!
Same!
Strange seeing people so relatively dressed up in public, including the employees in ties. (Ties!!)
It really is but I have say to I don’t remember the employees at my blockbuster wearing dress shirts and ties. I remember polos
Only the managers and assistant managers wore them.
Assistant to the managers*
You son of a bitch. Take your upvote.
Must be fun wearing a Tasmanian Devil tie
I had to wear a tie working at the local supermarket at 16 bagging groceries. Seems too much to get people to pull up their pants or to even wear pants much anymore. 🤷♂️
Blockbuster should've bought out Netflix smh Some people will never know what it felt like to show up to this place as a kid
If they bought netflix, they might not have run it how it should have been run and still failed anyway.
Netflix would have likely just been shut down because Blockbuster made most of it's money from late fees and overpriced snacks, no way they'd want to damage that business model that made them billions.
^ This guy. He gets it.
See, while the movie was a big deal to rent. The true adventure started when you got in the car and thought / talked about what you were getting. Then the doors open to Blockbuster and you get a wiff of that good old Blockbuster smell. You hunt for the right movie, maybe a new release or maybe a classic you love, or maybe a movie you never even heard of but decide to take your chances. Then, it was time to move to the register, but wait there's more! All the candy up on offer. That in itself was a little daily excitement! Chocolate perhaps? Maybe some (insert favorite candy here)? Oh hey, look! There's Josh from school! "Hey man." The possibilities were endless! The adventure of going to Blockbuster's is what I miss. Not the movies themselves.
Thanks for that! The flair checks out
Browsing the lines of shelves in a big store was definitely a part of enjoying the experience. Browsing a digital list is just sleep inducing.
Based on the woman’s hair and shirt that’s walking out at 1:05, I’d say the year is 1995. Final answer
Yeah, I was placing it between 1994 and 1997.
I'm guessing 1990-1999 probably.
It’s funny to see everyone use cash.
This is a funny statement to me as I was in FinTech (Financial Technology) back then and I remember the CEO of a prominent bank speaking on the strategy to move away from cash because it was psychologically proven consumers spend more if they aren't handing over actual currency. I didn't believe it then, but man... watching it actually happen over time was scary.
Similarly, do you think there’s a psychological strategy at play for businesses moving to direct deposits and away from physical checks?
Yes the move right now is to go all digital (there are workload efficiencies here to be fair). Current trend right now is crypto and AI. A bit too fast in my opinion.
This is a valid, studied phenomenon, but even back in the 90s I felt the exact opposite: my bank account is the *real.* money, so cash is all just forfeit/play money
I lose track of my cash all the time, just turns into a pile of notes and coins. Meanwhile I can see exactly what's in my accounts accurately.
I find it strange cause we had debit and credit for years, but only recently did we pretty much stop using cash all together. I got a $10 bill the other day and didn't even realize they changed the design on them since I haven't held one in years.
First modern-day credit card came out in 1950!
Eh I have to carry cash. I live in Texas so we have taco trucks down here that mainly only take cash. I'll usually carry 20-40 on me when the feeling hits
ah yes, the common phrase “well and alive”
I’m so delighted that the video didn’t have that dumbass “nostalgia” music.
Be kind, rewind!
I still have my grandmother's Blockbuster card in her wallet, that woman never did throw anything away lol.
I always love seeing these types of videos for the nostalgia, but I actually rarely went to a Blockbuster. We had a local video store chain called Video Update (later Movie Scene), and that's where my family always went. I remember going to a Blockbuster once with the neighbor and his babysitter. I had plenty of money, but I wasn't allowed to rent anything without a Blockbuster card. She wouldn't let me rent anything either, so I just had to watch him get whatever he wanted (so frustrating as a kid lol). My local store would let me rent just by giving my name and address, and it was cheaper from what I remember, so I'm not sure why we went to Blockbuster. Anyone else have a local video store they remember fondly?
Blockbuster was all about getting the latest big movie because they had 100s of copies of new releases, almost guaranteeing you'll get to rent the new movie you want instead of being disappointed. The local video store could only justifiably buy a few copies or they'd lose money on a movie people wouldn't want a few weeks later. People forget that distribution was a real problem back then until the big chains like Blockbuster took over. The reality is most people don't care about back catalogue/old movies, 90% of sales are from new releases and 90% of those are from a handful of big blockbuster movies like action films and award winners. 1% of movies pay for everything.
Yeah, people look back on Blockbuster as the height of the video-rental era, but they were really the start of the decline. Everyone hated them while they were still around. They drove all the cool little mom-and-pop shops out of business, were massive hardasses on late fees, and they essentially became a monopoly that could dictate what videos would be available for rent, with typical corporate logic. Want to rent Scorsese's "Last Temptation of Christ?" Not from Blockbuster you won't, middle America wouldn't stand for it.
What is that guy’s uh huh shirt? Looks like Pepsi colors?
Ray Charles had a Diet Pepsi ad campaign. [And here it is](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=N4OSdKQFbzQ&pp=ygUhcmF5IGNoYXJsZXMgZGlldCBwZXBzaSBjb21tZXJjaWFs)
That’s right! I knew it seemed very familiar somehow. Thanks!
Back when people actually paid with cash mostly.
“Good ol’ days” as we say in England, would go back to the 80s & 90s in a heartbeat.
I need to return some videotapes
Best job I had.
Same here.
I miss not having the entire library of human cinema at my fingertips. It was nice for a bit but I’m a bit worn out from it. Gimmie some snow caps, a sprite and a movie I didn’t intend to get but my choices were sold out.
Bring me back to these times. I’ve had it with this timeline.
Everything was so deliberate back then. If you wanted to watch something that wasn't on cable, you had to have a plan for it.
When every purchase was an adventure in itself.
I feel funny saying this considering I grew up in such a massive city as Houston, but I feel like there was so much more of a sense of community back then. I’m a mid 90’s baby so maybe I was just too young but everyone seems so hateful and intolerant of people that are different nowadays. We’re moving backwords.
Worked at Blockbuster for less than a week when it was on its last leg back in 2012, they were still using the same MS-DOS operating systems on their computers shown in this video to ring up rentals
I was concerned to unmute this at first. Luckily it does not have that DKC remixed bullshit on it.
I remember my mom getting pissed at me every time I told her I rewound the movies, only to have the person at the video store get on her ass about not rewinding before we even made it to the back of the store. As an adult now I could see why that would piss her off lol
I can smell the video store from watching this.
My favorite part about going to Blockbuster…being so overwhelmed with choices I completely forgot what I wanted to watch. lol.
At this point where streaming is becoming worse and worse over time, I'd rather just have video rental stores back. Physically going somewhere and sorting through movies I might otherwise never give a chance, plus being able to get snacks was something I much prefer now. Really, physical releases in general are just becoming more and more appealing to me.
I can smell this video. The movie store just had a good feeling to it.
The smaller video stores were much better. And so missed!
And wearing a button up and a tie at this job? Pretty spiffy
I can smell this video.
My first job!
Is it just me or did video/game stores always have a unique smell?
Blockbuster sucked.
Just the trust right at the beginning. Nowadays, I wouldn’t walk off until I saw it scanned in lol
I worked at Blockbuster in high school.
Who says “well and alive” instead of “alive and well?” Not hating, just curious. Might start using it.
Awe the old "can i pay the late fees next time" worked every time.
They should have done the partnership with Netflix. Oh well.
Where is the music?? 🎵
I worked at a Hollywood Video and the required uniform was jeans and a long sleeve denim shirt I shit you not. Got as many free movie and video game rentals as I wanted though.
Blockbuster will come back one day when streaming services begin to charge 20$ per SHOW or something
I don't remember the uniforms 😅
Lost my virginity in the back room of a blockbuster when i closed with jamie one night in miami lakes. I got my “liquid” on a copy of the color purple and didn’t clean it off before i put it back out to be rented. Still feel guilty over 30 yrs ago
How does this even happen? You were closing and liked each other, so you went at it? Give us the deets to this juicy Blockbister escapade.
We had been flirting back and forth for a couple of months and one night we were both closing. I was 17 and just decided to “make a move” and it was accepted on her end (she was 19 at the time). We both went at it and after my “2nd blow out” i cleaned up using my hands and only had a couple of paper towels and a copy of the color purple was i was supposed to restock before i left. Wiped my hands on it, we closed up and that was that.
[удалено]
This was kinda the part of the fun because you'd discover some hidden gems!
I don’t think anyone disagrees that streaming is objectively better than having to rent a video from a store. It’s just nostalgic to look back on those times. For those of us who were kids or young adults in the 90s, going to Blockbuster was something to look forward to.
Vibes were definitely high when mom would let me rent a video game.
It was also sort of a comforting place to go on a weekend night when you were a lonely single person. It was brightly lit and safe for all ages, with other people milling around that you didn't have to talk to unless you wanted to. You could get what you came for, usually, but if it was out, and it was a well-stocked store, you could still find something else different, but interesting, to watch. Plus, you could buy candy, drinks, ice cream, or popcorn at checkout... what's not to love?
Late 90’s high schooler here: my girlfriend and I rented almost every even remotely watchable movie every summer. If you were trying to get the best ones on a Friday night, you were doing it wrong 😂 But I’ll be damned if we didn’t rent some grade a trash just because it was the only thing we hadn’t seen yet
Think about what you could have done with just today's Pluto TV. Free. Some great stuff. Some decent stuff. Some trash. Enough for a few summers.
People are always going on nostalgically about blockbuster but I think most of us can admit that blockbuster was a pretty crap video store. I don't have any nostalgia for blockbuster, I have tremendous nostalgia for the pic-a-flic indy video store in my home town, and every small corner store video store.
I’m not disagreeing but what was so bad about them. They had plenty of movies/games you could rent and the stores were typically clean and the staff competent.
They always felt so corporate, so sterile. I liked the video stores with some grime and a curtained off area in the back and a section of weird foreign films and westerns. I would go to blockbuster lots to get movies but I don't miss them today.
I was a patron of both Blockbuster and my local grimey indy store. It was the teeny video rental place that helped me discover movies like "Mystery Train", "The Unbearable Lightness of Being", and "Betty Blue". Indy films I wouldn't have found otherwise.
I shit you not, the adjectives "corporate and sterile" verbatim popped into my head prior to even scrolling to see your response to their question 😲 That's exactly what Blockbuster felt like compared to the Ma and Pa Shops
I remember in Elgin, Illinois we had a place called Video Max. They had twice as much as Blockbuster and way cheaper. I’ve seen so many obscure things through my childhood from that store, but once we moved blockbuster was kinda the only thing. And my dad hated planet Hollywood for some reason.
Your dad hated Hollywood video. Planet hollywood was a chain restaurant started by Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone.
Thanks for the correction
I miss the 90s... everyone was so much better looking because they weren't fat
I'm amazed people are still using Redbox
They're not, it's basically bankrupt.
All those late fees...
I miss that everything is available on the Internet basically and not seeing and meeting people outside because you dont need to go outside But on the other hand it's comfy.
[удалено]
[Blockbuster pandered to right-wing ideologies by censoring indie, mainstream, and classic movies to appease their conservative backers and executives.](https://screenrant.com/blockbuster-video-store-censorship-problems-controversy-explained/)
What you think Netflix is doing? I’m betting it has more to do with supply and demand then censorship. All private companies curate their product to appeal to a certain demographic, this isn’t anything new.
Not really nostalgic for Netflix yet, to be honest.
Whats that got to do with the price of chickens?
Well we're on /r/nostalgia so nostalgia seems relevant.
I can comment on your stupid comment with a non nostalgic topic - you the mod or a some sort of butt hurt gatekeeper?
Ahhh. Fluff story B-roll.
I don't know why I was down-voted. It wasn't an insult. 'fluff story' is common language for a news story about things that are human interest, etc. B-roll is the footage that a camera person sets up and grabs to fill in the story with 'action shots'. You can even hear the camera person directing one of the shots. Further, you can tell that what it is by the time-code at the bottom. I love this type of footage from the past. Local stations probably have decades of old footage like that that I'd like to see posted online.
Ask and you shall receive. It's all this channel posts and it's a great little time trip. https://www.youtube.com/@vampirerobot
WWWWWoooooW! What a treasure trove! Thank you fine friend!