Tag Archives: Blockbuster

General

One last time…

I’m driving home Saturday and, by chance, notice one of those many -at least in these parts- employees standing at the side of the road advertising a store.  There were two of them, actually.  One was carrying a banner for Little Caesar’s Pizza, advertising the new “Deep Deep” dish pizzas.

Next to him was another man, carrying a sign for the soon to go out of business Blockbuster, and the “final sale” of all stock and inventory.

Blockbuster Finally Ending DVD Service

Though the above isn’t a photo of the particular store I went to, it looks very, very similar, complete with the “Store Closing” sign in front of it.

Having nothing much to do at the moment, I turned into the strip mall, parked my car, and was inside the store.  It occurred to me this was the first time I set foot into a Blockbuster in many, many years.  Perhaps as many as five.  Perhaps even more.

I was surprised by this as well as the fact that so little changed within the store.  You had the “new arrivals” sections and walls of DVD films, BluRay films, and videos.  Toward the front you had the “snacks”, including plenty of chocolates and candies along with various microwavable popcorns.

I approached the “new” section and picked up BluRay copies of The Heat and Pacific Rim, both selling at closeout (ie non-returnable) prices of $12.99 each.  I liked The Heat quite a bit and was willing, especially for the extras and “unrated cut”, to pick up the BluRay, though I didn’t have that much of an intention of getting the film for my personal collection (some films you enjoy and want to have them for your personal collection, others you may like quite a bit but don’t necessarily want to own them…The Heat fell in that later category).  I hadn’t seen Pacific Rim yet, so that was a “new” feature.  I then examined the video games section but I suspect I was a little too late to take advantage.  The games that remained held little interest, and were still priced rather high.

I then went through the TV on DVD section and, though there were some intriguing works to be found, none were worth pursuing.  Most were relatively new and popular shows, from 24 to Lost to The Big Bang Theory.

Lastly, I looked over the BluRay section and there, I wound up picking up two more BluRays, Cabin in the Woods and Star Trek: Into Darkness.  Cabin cost me $6.99 while Star Trek was $12.99.  If you’ve followed my reviews, I wasn’t all that impressed with Cabin, especially the ending, but for that price I was willing to give it a second look.  As for Star Trek: Into Darkness, I’ve noted before that I enjoyed seeing it in the theaters but wasn’t all that wild about it afterwards.  Again, for that bargain price I was willing to pick it up.

All that was left to see were the snacks and candies.  There, I wound up buying some microwaveable popcorn for less than a buck each.

By this point my search through this fresh corpse was effectively done and I gave the store one more -one last– look.  I didn’t think I’d be back, and memories of past years, when Blockbuster mattered, came back.  There was a time a good friend of mine worked in the store.  There was a time I frequented the place every few days, looking for not just new films but films from the past.

Blockbuster, like Borders and Circuit City before them, fell prey to being too large in a time when the internet simply murdered their product.  Why go to a Blockbuster when you can stream a film?  Or order it through Netflix?  Or simply buy it as the prices of movies have become pretty reasonable.

Blockbuster remained Blockbuster even when the world found a better way to get her services.  And now, she was done.

I felt bad for those four or five employees -all with pleasant smiles on their faces- behind the counter.  Every one of them were about to lose their jobs, and in these tough economic times, that is a big problem indeed.

I walked out and headed to the car.  After opening the door, I took another look at the store.  Soon, there would be an empty space there, and I wondered what would come next.

Books/Literature, General, Movies, Music

Blockbuster, RIP

Interesting article by Dana Stevens for Slate magazine regarding the news that the owners of Blockbuster are closing all remaining retail centers, effectively ending the era of the big video rental stores:

http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/movies/2013/11/blockbuster_closing_why_even-those_of_us_who_hated_the_chain_will_miss_it.html

When Blockbuster first came along, there were more than a few “Mom & Pop” video stores around renting those pre-historic VHS tapes for film fans to watch.  Those who weren’t around back then don’t remember the way the film market used to be.  Recent movies took forever to be released to the home market and, when they were, they cost a lot to buy.  It wasn’t unheard of to see “new release” films go for as much as $50-85.  Further, that “new” film often took over a year -sometimes much more- before it even reached the home video market.  I distinctly recall the amazed reaction by many when the original Tim Burton directed Batman film was “quickly” released to video.  I can’t recall the exact time it took for the film to be released, but it was perhaps three to six months or so after its theatrical release, a turnaround that was completely unheard of back then but not so much now.

But this was the exception that eventually proved to be the rule.  Again, at the time and given the high price of films, video stores were a necessity.  If you didn’t rent and only bought the films you wanted, you would very quickly go quite broke.  When Blockbuster showed up, the Mom & Pop stores in my area were doomed.  These small stores couldn’t compete against the sheer bulk of material Blockbuster offered.

Even then, one had to be quick as even if Blockbuster had a large number of the latest “new” film available for rent, there were plenty of others trying to get their hands on it as well.

But for me the greatest thing about Blockbuster wasn’t so much the new and desired films, but their vast library of older classic films..  It was thanks to Blockbuster that I became aware of the movies of Stanley Kubrick.  It was also where I discovered Metropolis (the Giorgio Moroder version, which of course lead me to eventually want to see the original, uncut version) and Orpheus, two of my all time favorite films.

I could go on and on…

For all its flaws (and there were many) Blockbuster was a great place for its time.  The first big signs of trouble for the company probably came from the arrival of the DVD and the significant lowering of movie prices.  You could rent a film from Blockbuster for about $5 for three nights, but for another ten dollars or less you could purchase the DVD and own the film outright.

The straw that broke the camel’s back was likely the same as the one that killed music stores (and, sadly, looks to be doing the same to bookstores): computers and the internet.  Not to mention more choices in general.

Why would one go out to a Blockbuster to rent a film when you could Netflix it or stream it or Pay on Demand?  For those far less honest, you could steal a film via downloading it through one of many torrent sites.

So no, I’m not at all surprised Blockbuster has seen its end.  It was expected and, if anything, the only surprise one feels is that it lasted as long as it did.  Yet like Borders, like Circuit City, and like Peaches, I’ll miss her and the era she inhabited.

The world moves on and all that remains are the memories of what once was.