RIP Blockbuster Video

[Henry88]

RIP Blockbuster Video
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/en ... z2jsYCjEaR

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB1 ... 3996821712

sometimes I hate the digital age.

[Silver Kamen]

Sadly, this was a long time coming.

But they will be missed.

[Russzilla]

Not surprising news here. A little personal for me because I once managed a Blockbuster store back in my younger days.

[klen7]

I was discussing this with the Mrs, and how were we going to explain to the little one the concept of video rental stores 5 or 10 years from now.

[lhb412]

Biggest Blockbuster memories for me as a kid: renting Godzilla 1985 every time I was given the option to rent something for myself, and (in 1998) seeing Tristar's VHS releases of the Heisei films that I had no idea existed. Imagine seeing several Godzilla movies you've never heard of on the shelf!

[Henry88]

[Hybrid Gojira]

Eh, def nostalgic for me. Just like many of you, I grew up with video stores. I actually rented a Sega Dreamcast from Blockbuster and that's how I decided I wanted that for Christmas one year. It's crazy that most movies and older game systems (via ROMs/Emulator) can now be found online. Most of the local places closed a few years ago, but one called West Coast Video always had Godzilla 1985 (my first Goji movie).

[Benjamin Haines]

The first times I ever saw Godzilla vs. Megalon and Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah were Blockbuster rentals. Probably a few others, too.

I think it's a shame that video rental stores in general have largely gone by the wayside, but I can't pretend I don't share responsibility for that. It's been YEARS since the last time I rented a movie from a video store... either 2007 or 2008. I actually tried to rent Star Trek Into Darkness from a local shop called Movie Time Video a couple months ago but they wouldn't let me unless I signed up for some kind of membership with them, so I just went and rented it from a Redbox kiosk instead.

When I was a kid, I frequented a mom-and-pop rental store called Video Express in Wichita Falls, Texas. I saw a lot of Godzilla movies for the first time thanks to that place. After moving to North Carolina in 1999, I rented movies from a lot of different places, and I can recall at least three of those small-time rental stores locally that went out of business years ago (A-1 Video, Movie Gallery, Premieres Video). Those mom-and-pop shops were forced to close while national brands like Blockbuster thrived, so I really can't say I'm sad to see this one-time giant suffer the same fate.

To be honest, I didn't realize there were even any Blockbuster outlets left. I certainly haven't seen any near where I live for a long, long time.

I think this episode of South Park is appropriate for this occasion: http://www.southparkstudios.com/full-ep ... -face-time

[jellydonut25]

I'm gonna run a f*cking train on local stores as they attempt to clear inventory

[Russzilla]

[Tom R VanSlambrouck]

It sucks it's going under but thats the cycle of things. I'm not attached to Blockbuster that much because we didn't get our Blockbuster until the early 2000s and it wasn't a very good store. The only national chain I miss was Hollywood Video such a great place and I knew a bunch of the people that worked there.

In the town I live in we have a mom and pop store but its small and I never go there and the other town that I live by we have one video rental chain left called Family video which I haven't been too in a year or so.

[klen7]

[Silver Kamen]

When mine closed down I got some extra copies of Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. Which reminds me of how many Sony Godzilla titles they carried...

[jellydonut25]

SOME copies?
Why do you need more than one?

[Tom R VanSlambrouck]

I find it funny that people will start grabbing stuff when it's only like 10% if you wait a week or two you can get upwards of 50% off. I worked at a Toys R Us that closed down and all our "big ticket" items sold with in a week. If it was me I would have waited until prices where like 50% off or more before picking up a video game console or big wheel power car.

[Psycho Soldier]

Blockbuster bit the dust in Canada a couple years ago, so this news doesn't affect me quite as much. Still, it was through Blockbuster that I first saw many of the Godzilla movies, among other quality cinema. It's disappointing to hear that they couldn't hold out in America much longer.

[The Top Crusader]

[Henry88]