I'm 31 now and this documentary really hit home. I remember when i was about 6 (So this would have been around 1990) we had a local video store my dad took me to. They had Video Game rentals. I would spend hours just picking each game up and looking on the back to find the video game that looked the coolest. When we would go to check out they had a Popcorn machine always going in the back and you could smell the popcorn, was amazing. I would also see my friends sometimes in the store at the same time. Even some kids i never met before. One kid (Name was Jason) was a local kid and i never seen him around. He was at the video store and we got to talking, picked up some video games and went back to my house to play. Long Story short i was in his wedding last year and have been friends for 20+ years now. I also remember this older lady would always give me a free bag of popcorn when i would use my dads card to rent video games or movies. I would walk home with my video game or movie and was sooooo excited. I have 3 kids now and my oldest is 6. The same exact age as i was when my dad took me to my first local video store. Sadly we have nothing like that in our area. He has no clue what a video store even is or that magic of a local video store. That magic is hard to explain. Anyway, sorry for the long comment. Very good Documentary.
Omg U just spoke what i feel about video stores. Im 32 and i always felt the magic going inside. Im soo soo sad that even in berlin they close one after another.. :(
Great story. I also have very fond memories of going to the video store with my father. I am a little older than you so I remember the days when they were VHS and Beta tapes for rent as well as 8-bit Nintendo games. My mom and dad were separated so every weekend my dad would pick me and my little sister up and I remember being so excited cuz I knew our first stop was the neighborhood video store. There was usually a 3 movies for $5 deal and we each got to pick one movie each and just as you described it it was a very magical experience especially looking back at it now. I remember renting classics such as the first Terminator movie alongside RoboCop, Rambo, Top Gun, Goonies, Back to the Future and A Nightmare on Elm Street just to name a few. Come to think of it my first job as a 14 year old kid was in my uncle's video store. I was responsible for putting the chips back under the display box. The chips that customers would have to take to the counter to rent their movies. perhaps that is one of the reasons why I have a place in my heart for old local video stores. Those sure were the good old days..
I used to go to the video store to rent out some SEGA games.It was always an adventure and a meaningful thing to do.Im sad that they all went out of business :( New isnt always better.If you take out the fun out of everything then everything loses its meaning.
What a deep and emotional connection we feel to these monuments of a bygone era. When I was a kid my favourite place in the world was this VHS rental store and arcade, next to a pizza place. We'd rent all the eighties classics there, movies I shouldn't have seen at that age. I will never forget the smell and feel of that place.
Now I'm crying... thanks Ben! This brought back so many wonderful memories of the 80s and 90s. Going to the video store was my favorite thing to do as a kid, and as an adult I am still a cinephile. I wish new technology could exist along with the old, instead of replacing it. My kids will never know what going out and renting movies was like, and it makes me really sad.
Who knew a documentary on a video store could be so emotional. But it was. Video stores were about culture and discovery and an experience. Kids today will never know what it feels like to pile into a car with your friends or family and enter a field of video shelves and literally discover movies that you never would of otherwise. So happy I grew up in the Video Store era. Awesome job on this man.
Very well produced. Very well edited. This production deserves more views; but then again, more views kinda adds ammo to why video stores are out of business today. But seriously... nice work.
2:37 The lady has such a good point! Video stores weren’t just places to rent a movie, it was a place to meet people that had shared interests. Having an employee recommend you a movie that was based on what you liked. Getting to know you rather than a terrible algorithm that just gives it to you. I really miss that.
I will never forget the smell of those old mom and pop video stores. There's nothing like it. Like many of these folks, I'd get off work at 10, and Showtime Video would sometimes stay open late looking for me. I'd grab 2 or 3 movies, stay up until 3 or 4am watching them all, take them back, and then start again. It's where I first began really appreciating film, directing, production, sfx, and cinematography. I remember the clerk telling me, "I wouldn't recommend that movie, it sucks....it's in black and white". Clerks, to this day, is my favorite Kevin Smith movie:)
Oh man, I never got a chance to really rent the PPVs (save for Wrestlemania 6). I watched every single wrestling video they had in the store at least 10 times as a kid.
we are closing our store this year after 34 years. I have owned it for the past 19 years. it will be a sad but we are going to out in style just like this have a big party on the last day. thanks for this.
token reminders of a bygone era: telephone booths, small town malls, neighborhood bookstores/gift shops/emporiums, record stores, video stores...a day spent in these cultural signposts truly involved time, effort & money...but it was all worth it for being much more meaningful & satisfying as an individual/communal experience...*sigh*...life was so much simpler then...why did those days ever have to go?...
Damn, how i feel sorry for the teenagers of today. What are they going to be nostalgia about. It is not like streaming movies on your phone is going to be replaced anytime.
They went because people are sheep. If enough people carried on using those things then they would still be around. Unfortunately most people follow the path society dictates.
Just watched the whole thing after seeing the link on the Tommy Edison vid. I loved this Ben, it was great seeing the different values and opinions from different people and customers all invested into the same shop.
Hey just sub. I am in Norway, and i am a 80s kid. I am still upset how much i miss my secound family. Yes my local video store. Now its a restaurant. And my kids will never know how great community place it was for me. We had a great community, we could talke about Movies and meet people. I was there, on closing day. I did cry when the door did close for good.
I think what he meant was that movies where coming to tv faster then they used when I was a kid new movies didn't come to tv until years after they were made
Bless this man for being so grateful. He's smiling on the last day of business, and right after saying he fully expected the business to last for much longer.
In my early 20's, I would get high as a kite and go to the local video store that was open 24/7. Ken's world of video. Miss those days. I'd spend a good 2 hours just looking at vhs/dvd covers. Then I'd rent the most god awful movie, take it home and fall asleep during the opening credits. The good ol days
Being in the technology field myself, I notice a lot that my field is a serious double edged sword. Technology has helped with so many advancements and achievements, but it has also taken away so much from us. As I watch this video and I look at one persons comment who said there were people still renting videos and who were unaware of the technological advances, it makes me think at how technology is leaving a large group of people in the past and who ultimately will never catch up.
The Blockbuster in Alaska is "name only" and exists because there are parts of Alaska where quality internet access is still unavailable. IE we don't have a fast enough connection to stream.
I understand about the technology issue. I'm nearly forty and sometimes it's hard to keep up but you have to because once you fall behind you are in a world of hurt in the twenty-first century. As technology causes things to shift you have to shift to, like it or not.
Awesome little documentary. It's so sad that video stores basically don't exist anymore. I grew up hanging out in my local video stores and can't put into words the impact it had on my life.
It's sad to watch the closing of a business, especially a family-run business, but it was good that you were there to document it. It's really interesting to watch now in 2020 at a time when streaming has pretty much taken over everything. Nowadays it's easy to reminisce about the good times we had at Blockbuster and forget that Blockbuster itself was the big bad wolf that wiped out a lot of smaller video stores and chains. I do miss video stores in general, but I really miss small family-run places like the one documented in your video. This was a very good documentary.
I found this video because I bought a Super Nintendo game that originally came from this video store and wanted to look the place up. Very cool that I found this video to give a little history on the place!
This felt very nostalgic to watch, as I loved going video rental stores as a kid and then the one in my whole time closed down and I was very sad. Video rental stores are something that we still need! Really enjoyed this great little film!
I remember when all this happened close of my video store,games,movie's, sweets,and real interaction with people chatting,as a grown man at 6,3 tall it brought a tear to my eye,how much the fabric of society is slowly been ripped apart, eventually no one interacts with anyone face to face😢
Thank you for making this! Nothing made me happier back in the day than to walk through a mom & pop video store (anything but Blockbuster). This movie is beautiful and sad.
What I don't understand, is how people don't understand that Netflix/streaming is NOT a viable replacement for rental stores. Without bringing my own personal qualms about streaming services (which i do use and like)...but with Netflix/Hulu/Prime, a lot of movie titles are repeated across those network. On top of that, half the titles are crappy straight to video stuff that came out in the last few years, and then we are limited on which new movies we can get. For old movies though? Show me where Netflix or Redbox has offered obscure movies like the Garbage Pail Kids or Mac & Me? Show me where Netflix or Redbox has that obscure horror film from 1983 that had limited distribution and never made it to DVD? Netflix, Redbox, on demand services are great and fine replacements for modern film, but for anything from like the 90s or earlier, it's not a good replacement. We are secluded to watch something that Netflix has in their current database. I'm curious what it will be like 10-20 years from now. Will those obscure VHS only titles make their way to some digital format? Even if/when they do, people growing up in today's generation of cinema probably won't care because they will be too distracted by the 12th installment of the Hunger Games or Captain America part 9.
VideoCop True. Blockbuster is still around just with a lot less stores. 15 . Most of which are in alaska. Hollywood video is gone. The only video store left in my state that i know of is Family video. I loved going to blockbuster as a kid . having friday movie nights with sushi ( in middle school). Use to get pokemon movies, and hello kitty. My baby sitter one of her sons worked at one, and gave my bro and I games from there as gifts. I went to hollywood video a few times. But blockbuster was my go to.
Mishichige Kaito Just because the movies are old doesn't mean they aren't any good. Plus video rentals have had new movies as soon as they released to dvd. Have you not ever been to one? Because it sounds like you haven't. Just the ignorance.. ugh . Plenty of people love grease, fucking breakfest club. Little mermaid, do I need to list shit?
The weelky trip to the video store from age 6-15 is some of the fondest memories i have of childhood. Me and my cousin always went straight to the horror section and looked for the most lurid box cover we could find, often this resulted in renting completely horrible movies, but fueled on jolt cola and a stack of 4 or 5 vhs's to get through in a weekend marathon, renting a few bad titles didnt matter. boy do I miss those times looking through the racks and racks of obscure horror titles to try and find just the right one. Once in a while we would discover little gems hidden in the horror rack, such as Sleepaway Camp, Evil Dead (1&2&AOD), & Romero flicks.
I miss going into my local blockbuster. Looking through all the different movie and also all the ps2 games I might never own. Back then I didn't have internet so that was it back then. Getting to look at almost every movie and the new releases.
My mother would shop at a paint and wallpaper store in the same building as a video store, where I would get dropped off at. I spent HOURS in that store and miss it. Great memories where I'd look at images and read the backs of the slip covers, only allowed to choose one each week. Good times.
I was confused until the little girl corrected her. Video Rental stores are far better than HBO. Video Rental stores you can pick the exact movie you want to see. HBO you had to wait for the movie that would interest you to come in at a certain time. Now, ever since DVR's, HBO got even crappier.
I'm not going to lie, Netflix and other streaming companies are great, but there was something very special of actually going to a videos store and pick up the movies you wanted. I grew up in the VHS era in the 80s and there was no better thing that going to the video club, pick of a few movies, order a pizza and invite a bunch of friends to watch some movies on a Friday night. The great thing about the VHS era is that it brought a bunch of movies that people had never even heard of and it changed the way we enjoyed movies. Great documentary, it is definitely the end of a great era. Video stores, like old cinemas, was about the community, just like the lady said in the doc, "Is not just a video store."
Its sad I remember as a kid a hometown video store that really linked me to my obsession with the 80s despite me being born in the 90s. I hated blockbuster for pushing them out of business but now I miss blockbuster too. The whole video rental experience is something that cannot be replicated today. Even though its so much easier to watch whatever we want now it just doesn't have the same feeling.
It's just a mentality of "look at me I'm a rebel and I hate technology and advancement" but if you ask anyone if they would will get rid of their smart phones and smart devices or even stop buying anything online, they won't do it.
This is a rather sad documentary. I actually started to tear up a little bit watching this while they were closing the store during its final day. I loved old video stores. It made growing up in the 80s and 90s special and from reading the comment section below I realize so many people feel the same way about our old neighborhood video stores. Maybe one day they will make a comeback when people realize how unique the experiences was to go out to your local video store, mingle amongst your neighbors to talk about movies and make that rental and actually hold the product in your hand and carry it home with the anxiousness and excitement of placing the movie in your DVD player and having a somewhat sense of accomplishment knowing that this was a task that you pulled off that took some effort other than just typing in your selection or talking to your remote control or television. I'm starting to believe our modern day technology is starting to dehumanize us just like in the science fiction movies that we grew up watching. So how many steps does it take to get to your local corner video store? The world may never know...
This is a big reason why I've been buying movies and T.V. series for the past few decades. A bunch of the movies I have are the only copies I've ever come across, so I'm glad I grabbed them while I could.
One of my fondest memories as a teenager in the 80's was my Dad going out for the night, giving me some money to rent a movie and get some sweets. Our local video store was run by an Indian gentlemen, he never gave a crap about the ratings system, so outside of probably porn, I could rent anything! I'd spend up to an hour picking out one or two movies, usually horror or martial art movies. Then on the way home stop at the corner store to get a big bag of hand-picked candy from the tray of sweets as well as some crisps and a chocolate bar. Every at the house was out, so I had the whole place to myself, just me, my candy and my movies. It was absolute bliss!
Very poignant video. I was so wrapped up in the emotion of the local people losing a store, a place that was so familiar to them, where they'd bump into friends, neighbours and say hi, that I completely forgot how I felt when my local, independent video store shut down in the UK. A place where you'd look forward to renting out new movies or checking out oldies that you hadn't seen. I used to rent out video games, too, as being young I wasn't exactly flourishing in regards to my finances. Damn, it certainly set me on a path of nostalgia and sentimentality for the day. Makes you realise how finite everything is. Nothing lasts, but our memories of places, people, loved ones, et al. Great video. Kudos! Oh, and to add some levity to this sombre tale, being an aficionado of callipygian anatomy and all - Nicole is banging in the callipygian anatomy department. Damn!
What a beautiful doc , Ed seems like a genuinely good guy. This made me really sad. I’m glad you were there to capture this important moment for the future generations!
This is so sad! I'm from Buenos Aires, Argentina and i worked at Blockbuster Video for 9 years and almost 1 more year in a local video store. I've been throu this. Closing the store, packing the movies in boxes, send it to another stores, covering the windows with newspapers... Even all the "out of business" thing here. So sad. Luckily i buyed some Blockbuster's furnitures and stuff and i made a mini Block in my house. Pure nostalgia.
I remember watching this years ago before working at my local Family Video and thinking it’d never happen to them. Even though I wasn’t working there when it shut down, it still pained me to see it go. Some of the best memories I’ll ever have were in that store.
2024 here. I buy up all the dvds I can find and have taught my 3 year old daughter the value of a physical movies. She cherishes every video box like a toy or doll. Just because society abandons something doesn’t mean you have to.
Great work! Reminds me of my own local video store that closed last year. I have very fond memories of riding my bike up to the store every summer as a kid and renting all sorts of movies and video games.
This was very well done and brought a Tear to my Eye even though I have never been to this Video Store. I can remember in the mid to late 70s when VHS first came out. I was into Super 8mm and 16mm features and remember how VHS killed watching Movies on a larger Screen being projected. I hated the idea of watching Movies on a small TV Screen. I later accepted VHS and DVD. Seeing Video Stores closing down is like watching the death of Film all over again. I would give anything to be able to relive the days of going to my local Mom and Pop video store and renting the latest releases on VHS, DVD and Bluray. It's truly the end on an era.
I'm so happy this little Doc is here for me to watch. It felt so cozy and nostalgic. I could almost SMELL this and other video rental stores from my childhood
This is a fantastic short documentary. It is a sad day in which we live, seeing all of these stores going out of business. The video store is part of many special memories not only growing up, but in the life of my own children. The fact that he lasted as long as he did in the age of Blockbuster and Hollywood Video and later internet piracy and legitimate web services like Netflix and Hulu. Good for him. Sorry that he had to go out of business. Not only sorry for him, but also for his community. We have a similar store here. It's pretty far away from me, but I do like to get down there and at least look around and talk to people. That particular store still does pretty good business. I hope they don't go out of business.
Outstanding video! I love physical media and I miss the rental stores. There’s nothing like walking around talking to people about movies and video games. I was born in 80 and rented movies from a lot of stores like Video World. I’m glad I got to have this awesome experience being an 80s kid 😎
You did a great job! I'm also from Connecticut, 1 Margaret street. walking distance from Stew Leonards! This film was really excellent too. Great job!!!
I was born in '79. In 1986 my parents bought a small video store here in southern B.C., Canada. The store grew and we had to move to a bigger location. For a good deal of time we had the largest square footage of any business on main st. of our town (about 4500 people). We had tonnes of the old school gaming systems and games as well as a selection of about 3000 titles on VHS but eventually over 4000 on DVD and Blu-ray. We made it until October of 2015 so we made it darn close to 30 years! Times change........(and boo to Netflix!!!! lol!) {oh yeah great little doc by the way!!!}
44 and i shed a tear watching this. back in the 90's my parents had a restaurant and we closed it on tuesdays,i use to skip class and just go rent a bunch of movies and stay home,that is how much i love movies in general. what i remember the most is the trip to the video store,browsing,looking and choosing the movies was an event in itself. makes me sad that those days are gone,little things like returning a movie and talking to your friend who worked there was part of the appeal,oh well i guess that is just the way life is.
great video ....brings back some great memories....heading down the local video store and spending ages looking at all the films....trying to decide which one to get....and more often than likely ending up getting both tapes...i guess the youth of today will never get to experience this...what a shame
I have watched this a few times now & every time it touches me, The time just seems to fly by, the style is very calm & thoughtful , easy to watch , Thanks very much.
Fantastic. My first job was at a local mom 'n pop video store back in '99. Worked there until I went off to college a year later, and the store shut down a month after that. I always mourn the fact I wasn't there when they closed shop; would have loved to celebrate the store's history like Ed and his staff did with Video World.
God Bless you Friend, you done all your customers as well as hardcore, hardened Video Shoppe loyalists very proud! Consider yourself a early pioneer who's career was quite successful and definitely well meaning....
saw this on the Blumhouse productions homepage. love it. nothing will ever compare to the video store. it made me the die hard horror fan that I am today. great video.
My local video store is still going strong and there's two of them on opposite sides of town. They both are doing great. Even during the rona pandemic, people were still getting movies.
I work for Family Video and I feel the same way as a lot of people in this documentary do. I have made so many amazing connections and great friendships with regular customers, and that is something I will miss when I move onto my real career.
Wow great documentary, actually started shedding tears at the end when I realized that my niece (who is 2) will never experience the magic and frustration of looking at a wall of movies and try really hard to figure out what she wants to watch lol.
Short but good. I feel really bad that he had to close his business after 23 years. Such a shame that something that was so important to our culture in the 80's and 90's could just disappear like that. I really miss going to rent videos!
i didn't know that in 15 minutes i could find myself so attached to a store and then feel sad when the last day arrived
+masterboby1 IKR :(
same here. :(
masterboby1 facts
Yeah. I didn't even step foot in that video store and I miss it because of this video. This makes me somewhat dislike technological advances.
well said
I'm 31 now and this documentary really hit home. I remember when i was about 6 (So this would have been around 1990) we had a local video store my dad took me to. They had Video Game rentals. I would spend hours just picking each game up and looking on the back to find the video game that looked the coolest. When we would go to check out they had a Popcorn machine always going in the back and you could smell the popcorn, was amazing. I would also see my friends sometimes in the store at the same time. Even some kids i never met before. One kid (Name was Jason) was a local kid and i never seen him around. He was at the video store and we got to talking, picked up some video games and went back to my house to play. Long Story short i was in his wedding last year and have been friends for 20+ years now.
I also remember this older lady would always give me a free bag of popcorn when i would use my dads card to rent video games or movies. I would walk home with my video game or movie and was sooooo excited. I have 3 kids now and my oldest is 6. The same exact age as i was when my dad took me to my first local video store. Sadly we have nothing like that in our area. He has no clue what a video store even is or that magic of a local video store. That magic is hard to explain.
Anyway, sorry for the long comment. Very good Documentary.
Omg U just spoke what i feel about video stores. Im 32 and i always felt the magic going inside. Im soo soo sad that even in berlin they close one after another..
:(
Great story. I also have very fond memories of going to the video store with my father. I am a little older than you so I remember the days when they were VHS and Beta tapes for rent as well as 8-bit Nintendo games. My mom and dad were separated so every weekend my dad would pick me and my little sister up and I remember being so excited cuz I knew our first stop was the neighborhood video store. There was usually a 3 movies for $5 deal and we each got to pick one movie each and just as you described it it was a very magical experience especially looking back at it now. I remember renting classics such as the first Terminator movie alongside RoboCop, Rambo, Top Gun, Goonies, Back to the Future and A Nightmare on Elm Street just to name a few. Come to think of it my first job as a 14 year old kid was in my uncle's video store. I was responsible for putting the chips back under the display box. The chips that customers would have to take to the counter to rent their movies. perhaps that is one of the reasons why I have a place in my heart for old local video stores. Those sure were the good old days..
i've never been to a video store, but they seemed so cool
That was the best comment I've ever have been reading. A real compliment to the documentary 👏
Awwee! Your video store story is what brought tears to my eyes. So beautiful.
Wow, an 8 year old documentary about a video store thousands of miles away from me has me all up in my feelings
R.I.P to all video stores everywhere.
there are still a few, I rented from one today
I think that book stores on their way out now, which is sad.
@CHRISTOPHER LEE I made advertistments for starting your own video library.
Family video has over 7 hundred stores and is still thriving
There’s always hope if you open a coffee shop ☕️ 🤭🥰💕💋❤️
I miss those days, you just can't beat physically holding and choosing a videotape! The artwork, reading the back, talking to the staff - unbeatable!
Don't forget that movie rental store smell
I used to go to our local video shop...used to rent a game and a film and get some treats on a Saturday night was the best times cool documentary
What do you do now?
I used to go to the video store to rent out some SEGA games.It was always an adventure and a meaningful thing to do.Im sad that they all went out of business :( New isnt always better.If you take out the fun out of everything then everything loses its meaning.
I hope Ed is doing well today. He seemed like one of the nicest guys and it was sad to see his passion get taken away by the times
What a deep and emotional connection we feel to these monuments of a bygone era. When I was a kid my favourite place in the world was this VHS rental store and arcade, next to a pizza place. We'd rent all the eighties classics there, movies I shouldn't have seen at that age. I will never forget the smell and feel of that place.
Same here. I rented every cult/obscure horror flick I could. Still miss Delmar Video.
Now I'm crying... thanks Ben! This brought back so many wonderful memories of the 80s and 90s. Going to the video store was my favorite thing to do as a kid, and as an adult I am still a cinephile. I wish new technology could exist along with the old, instead of replacing it. My kids will never know what going out and renting movies was like, and it makes me really sad.
Who knew a documentary on a video store could be so emotional. But it was. Video stores were about culture and discovery and an experience. Kids today will never know what it feels like to pile into a car with your friends or family and enter a field of video shelves and literally discover movies that you never would of otherwise. So happy I grew up in the Video Store era. Awesome job on this man.
Very well produced.
Very well edited.
This production deserves more views; but then again, more views kinda adds ammo to why video stores are out of business today.
But seriously... nice work.
2:37 The lady has such a good point! Video stores weren’t just places to rent a movie, it was a place to meet people that had shared interests. Having an employee recommend you a movie that was based on what you liked. Getting to know you rather than a terrible algorithm that just gives it to you. I really miss that.
I will never forget the smell of those old mom and pop video stores. There's nothing like it. Like many of these folks, I'd get off work at 10, and Showtime Video would sometimes stay open late looking for me. I'd grab 2 or 3 movies, stay up until 3 or 4am watching them all, take them back, and then start again. It's where I first began really appreciating film, directing, production, sfx, and cinematography. I remember the clerk telling me, "I wouldn't recommend that movie, it sucks....it's in black and white". Clerks, to this day, is my favorite Kevin Smith movie:)
I used to rent so many wrestling tapes from Hollywood Video. That and I loved their "Cult Classic" section
Oh man, I never got a chance to really rent the PPVs (save for Wrestlemania 6). I watched every single wrestling video they had in the store at least 10 times as a kid.
we are closing our store this year after 34 years. I have owned it for the past 19 years. it will be a sad but we are going to out in style just like this have a big party on the last day. thanks for this.
James Peter blessed be you, sir. May God be with you, and your family.
token reminders of a bygone era: telephone booths, small town malls, neighborhood bookstores/gift shops/emporiums, record stores, video stores...a day spent in these cultural signposts truly involved time, effort & money...but it was all worth it for being much more meaningful & satisfying as an individual/communal experience...*sigh*...life was so much simpler then...why did those days ever have to go?...
Amen
Damn, how i feel sorry for the teenagers of today. What are they going to be nostalgia about. It is not like streaming movies on your phone is going to be replaced anytime.
Book stores are still a thing
They went because people are sheep.
If enough people carried on using those things then they would still be around. Unfortunately most people follow the path society dictates.
I still watch DVDs every night
Just watched the whole thing after seeing the link on the Tommy Edison vid. I loved this Ben, it was great seeing the different values and opinions from different people and customers all invested into the same shop.
One of the best docos I've ever seen. So sad to see video stores dying.
Thank You...
Hey just sub. I am in Norway, and i am a 80s kid. I am still upset how much i miss my secound family. Yes my local video store. Now its a restaurant. And my kids will never know how great community place it was for me. We had a great community, we could talke about Movies and meet people. I was there, on closing day. I did cry when the door did close for good.
The guy at 5:02: Dude! TV stations have been putting movies on TV ever since TV first started!
"They try to uh.. knock em out" 😂 he means well tho! lol
I think what he meant was that movies where coming to tv faster then they used when I was a kid new movies didn't come to tv until years after they were made
Its always so sad to see a store close 😢
5:28 "Soon they will be piping videos directly into your TV." Fast forward 10 years later, smart TVs.
RIP video rental stores. It is the end of an era. Nice little video. Well done
That has to be a rough transition, from owning your own business, to working a shitty customer service job at a grocery store.
yeah I felt bad, he deserves more
I still rent movies from my local Library and I won't stop
I get the impression if he is helping customers he is a happy man, whether they are his or another businesses
Well he has to work after that massive financial loss
@@sliat1981 Which financial loss?
I miss the video stores so much fun to go walk the rows and have that exciting moment when you find that obscure movie that looked good...
Boy did this hit home....seeing this happen in this country is hard on the heart! Excellent film....
Bless this man for being so grateful. He's smiling on the last day of business, and right after saying he fully expected the business to last for much longer.
Thanks for this.
I blame Digital version movies like Netflix and hulu
This is being recommended to me 8 years later and I'm not even mad.
In my early 20's, I would get high as a kite and go to the local video store that was open 24/7. Ken's world of video. Miss those days. I'd spend a good 2 hours just looking at vhs/dvd covers. Then I'd rent the most god awful movie, take it home and fall asleep during the opening credits. The good ol days
Jamal Greasy Hell yea me too! I still have a few laying around
Same here. The store I went to sadly closed in 2015. The massive collection of cult/obscure horror was so great. Still miss it.
@@fft9917 was it the Addison one? I would go there and bensenville
This had me in tears. Thanks for sharing and making this.
Being in the technology field myself, I notice a lot that my field is a serious double edged sword. Technology has helped with so many advancements and achievements, but it has also taken away so much from us. As I watch this video and I look at one persons comment who said there were people still renting videos and who were unaware of the technological advances, it makes me think at how technology is leaving a large group of people in the past and who ultimately will never catch up.
There is still Blockbuster in Alaska.
The Blockbuster in Alaska is "name only" and exists because there are parts of Alaska where quality internet access is still unavailable. IE we don't have a fast enough connection to stream.
I understand about the technology issue. I'm nearly forty and sometimes it's hard to keep up but you have to because once you fall behind you are in a world of hurt in the twenty-first century. As technology causes things to shift you have to shift to, like it or not.
This was great but rather sad... Seeing it in the year 2022 made this feel real nostalgic.
I loved video stores. Those were some great times renting out movies.
Awesome little documentary. It's so sad that video stores basically don't exist anymore. I grew up hanging out in my local video stores and can't put into words the impact it had on my life.
You're so right ❤ I miss everything of it. Renting video games, we would play at home or movies we would watch...
It's sad to watch the closing of a business, especially a family-run business, but it was good that you were there to document it. It's really interesting to watch now in 2020 at a time when streaming has pretty much taken over everything. Nowadays it's easy to reminisce about the good times we had at Blockbuster and forget that Blockbuster itself was the big bad wolf that wiped out a lot of smaller video stores and chains. I do miss video stores in general, but I really miss small family-run places like the one documented in your video. This was a very good documentary.
I found this video because I bought a Super Nintendo game that originally came from this video store and wanted to look the place up. Very cool that I found this video to give a little history on the place!
Nice! What game was it?
Just beautifully done
I shed tears to this. Im 42 and its makes me sad the world isnt what it was back then.
This felt very nostalgic to watch, as I loved going video rental stores as a kid and then the one in my whole time closed down and I was very sad. Video rental stores are something that we still need! Really enjoyed this great little film!
Aw that’s really sad. I wish video stores are popular again. 😞
I remember when all this happened close of my video store,games,movie's, sweets,and real interaction with people chatting,as a grown man at 6,3 tall it brought a tear to my eye,how much the fabric of society is slowly been ripped apart, eventually no one interacts with anyone face to face😢
Thank you for making this! Nothing made me happier back in the day than to walk through a mom & pop video store (anything but Blockbuster). This movie is beautiful and sad.
What I don't understand, is how people don't understand that Netflix/streaming is NOT a viable replacement for rental stores. Without bringing my own personal qualms about streaming services (which i do use and like)...but with Netflix/Hulu/Prime, a lot of movie titles are repeated across those network. On top of that, half the titles are crappy straight to video stuff that came out in the last few years, and then we are limited on which new movies we can get. For old movies though? Show me where Netflix or Redbox has offered obscure movies like the Garbage Pail Kids or Mac & Me? Show me where Netflix or Redbox has that obscure horror film from 1983 that had limited distribution and never made it to DVD?
Netflix, Redbox, on demand services are great and fine replacements for modern film, but for anything from like the 90s or earlier, it's not a good replacement. We are secluded to watch something that Netflix has in their current database. I'm curious what it will be like 10-20 years from now. Will those obscure VHS only titles make their way to some digital format? Even if/when they do, people growing up in today's generation of cinema probably won't care because they will be too distracted by the 12th installment of the Hunger Games or Captain America part 9.
VideoCop True. Blockbuster is still around just with a lot less stores. 15 . Most of which are in alaska. Hollywood video is gone. The only video store left in my state that i know of is Family video. I loved going to blockbuster as a kid . having friday movie nights with sushi ( in middle school). Use to get pokemon movies, and hello kitty. My baby sitter one of her sons worked at one, and gave my bro and I games from there as gifts. I went to hollywood video a few times. But blockbuster was my go to.
Mishichige Kaito Just because the movies are old doesn't mean they aren't any good. Plus video rentals have had new movies as soon as they released to dvd. Have you not ever been to one? Because it sounds like you haven't. Just the ignorance.. ugh . Plenty of people love grease, fucking breakfest club. Little mermaid, do I need to list shit?
***** Alright fair enough.
@VideoCop: Who the fuck wants to watch, Garbage Pail Kids or Mac and Me? How stupid are you?
The question is how stupid are you that you watch all those fake reality TV shows and Justin Beiber?
The weelky trip to the video store from age 6-15 is some of the fondest memories i have of childhood. Me and my cousin always went straight to the horror section and looked for the most lurid box cover we could find, often this resulted in renting completely horrible movies, but fueled on jolt cola and a stack of 4 or 5 vhs's to get through in a weekend marathon, renting a few bad titles didnt matter. boy do I miss those times looking through the racks and racks of obscure horror titles to try and find just the right one. Once in a while we would discover little gems hidden in the horror rack, such as Sleepaway Camp, Evil Dead (1&2&AOD), & Romero flicks.
Ours had mf tanning beds in the back lol
Very true. You wont find these movies on netflix/prime/disney +. The hardcore horror could only be found in the video store
I miss going into my local blockbuster. Looking through all the different movie and also all the ps2 games I might never own. Back then I didn't have internet so that was it back then. Getting to look at almost every movie and the new releases.
My mother would shop at a paint and wallpaper store in the same building as a video store, where I would get dropped off at. I spent HOURS in that store and miss it. Great memories where I'd look at images and read the backs of the slip covers, only allowed to choose one each week. Good times.
I could not stop laughing at 5:24.
"My husband got HBO"
"No, Netflix"
And the guy that said that tv stations are showing movies now. I was like "Dude! They have ever since TV first started!"
I was confused until the little girl corrected her. Video Rental stores are far better than HBO. Video Rental stores you can pick the exact movie you want to see. HBO you had to wait for the movie that would interest you to come in at a certain time.
Now, ever since DVR's, HBO got even crappier.
I'm not going to lie, Netflix and other streaming companies are great, but there was something very special of actually going to a videos store and pick up the movies you wanted. I grew up in the VHS era in the 80s and there was no better thing that going to the video club, pick of a few movies, order a pizza and invite a bunch of friends to watch some movies on a Friday night. The great thing about the VHS era is that it brought a bunch of movies that people had never even heard of and it changed the way we enjoyed movies. Great documentary, it is definitely the end of a great era. Video stores, like old cinemas, was about the community, just like the lady said in the doc, "Is not just a video store."
Its sad I remember as a kid a hometown video store that really linked me to my obsession with the 80s despite me being born in the 90s. I hated blockbuster for pushing them out of business but now I miss blockbuster too. The whole video rental experience is something that cannot be replicated today. Even though its so much easier to watch whatever we want now it just doesn't have the same feeling.
It's just a mentality of "look at me I'm a rebel and I hate technology and advancement" but if you ask anyone if they would will get rid of their smart phones and smart devices or even stop buying anything online, they won't do it.
and then 4k media comes out. without the bandwidth to stream it and we will need video stores again
More people need to watch this. Saw it a long time ago and came back to watch again.
This is a rather sad documentary. I actually started to tear up a little bit watching this while they were closing the store during its final day. I loved old video stores. It made growing up in the 80s and 90s special and from reading the comment section below I realize so many people feel the same way about our old neighborhood video stores. Maybe one day they will make a comeback when people realize how unique the experiences was to go out to your local video store, mingle amongst your neighbors to talk about movies and make that rental and actually hold the product in your hand and carry it home with the anxiousness and excitement of placing the movie in your DVD player and having a somewhat sense of accomplishment knowing that this was a task that you pulled off that took some effort other than just typing in your selection or talking to your remote control or television. I'm starting to believe our modern day technology is starting to dehumanize us just like in the science fiction movies that we grew up watching. So how many steps does it take to get to your local corner video store? The world may never know...
I love this. ❤️ I grew up with video stores and it breaks my heart to see them go. ✌🏼
This is a big reason why I've been buying movies and T.V. series for the past few decades. A bunch of the movies I have are the only copies I've ever come across, so I'm glad I grabbed them while I could.
One of my fondest memories as a teenager in the 80's was my Dad going out for the night, giving me some money to rent a movie and get some sweets. Our local video store was run by an Indian gentlemen, he never gave a crap about the ratings system, so outside of probably porn, I could rent anything! I'd spend up to an hour picking out one or two movies, usually horror or martial art movies. Then on the way home stop at the corner store to get a big bag of hand-picked candy from the tray of sweets as well as some crisps and a chocolate bar. Every at the house was out, so I had the whole place to myself, just me, my candy and my movies. It was absolute bliss!
After all those years to end up in customer service at a grocery store . I wish the world could go back to what it was!!
heart breaking this, ill always miss the buzz from browsing the video store, it was one of the best feelings ever
Very poignant video. I was so wrapped up in the emotion of the local people losing a store, a place that was so familiar to them, where they'd bump into friends, neighbours and say hi, that I completely forgot how I felt when my local, independent video store shut down in the UK. A place where you'd look forward to renting out new movies or checking out oldies that you hadn't seen. I used to rent out video games, too, as being young I wasn't exactly flourishing in regards to my finances. Damn, it certainly set me on a path of nostalgia and sentimentality for the day. Makes you realise how finite everything is. Nothing lasts, but our memories of places, people, loved ones, et al.
Great video. Kudos!
Oh, and to add some levity to this sombre tale, being an aficionado of callipygian anatomy and all - Nicole is banging in the callipygian anatomy department. Damn!
Great filmmaking, excellent video.
So sad to see this, great video Ben, I've got the happiest memories from my childhood visiting the video store on a Friday night with my dad.
What a beautiful doc , Ed seems like a genuinely good guy. This made me really sad. I’m glad you were there to capture this important moment for the future generations!
the great days of renting a video or 2 on a friday or saturday night. or maybe both was an highlight way back when. thanks for upload.
I hope Ed starts up another store some day, his movie recommendations are so important and will live on with people standing the test of time. 💖
I want video stores back!!
This is so sad! I'm from Buenos Aires, Argentina and i worked at Blockbuster Video for 9 years and almost 1 more year in a local video store. I've been throu this. Closing the store, packing the movies in boxes, send it to another stores, covering the windows with newspapers... Even all the "out of business" thing here. So sad. Luckily i buyed some Blockbuster's furnitures and stuff and i made a mini Block in my house. Pure nostalgia.
Very well done Ben, I must admit I do miss those days.
I remember watching this years ago before working at my local Family Video and thinking it’d never happen to them. Even though I wasn’t working there when it shut down, it still pained me to see it go. Some of the best memories I’ll ever have were in that store.
I miss family video.
2024 here. I buy up all the dvds I can find and have taught my 3 year old daughter the value of a physical movies. She cherishes every video box like a toy or doll. Just because society abandons something doesn’t mean you have to.
I really miss these days. For me it was two places. Classic Video and John Wayne Video.
I worked at two video stores in Queens NYC back in the 80's... Those were magical times that I sure do miss.
I miss the video stores :(:(:(
Me too :-(
Digital services killed the video stores..😬
@@kngkrmson2179 nope, family video still has 750 stores and is thriving
Mee too :( :(
We all just sit around in our homes today feeling depressed with nothing to do.Going out to the video store was a life saver.
Great work! Reminds me of my own local video store that closed last year. I have very fond memories of riding my bike up to the store every summer as a kid and renting all sorts of movies and video games.
thank you for making this great doc. I'm a huge fan of vhs and miss the video store , this is so awesome.
Great documentary this should have millions of views.
This was very well done and brought a Tear to my Eye even though I have never been to this Video Store. I can remember in the mid to late 70s when VHS first came out. I was into Super 8mm and 16mm features and remember how VHS killed watching Movies on a larger Screen being projected. I hated the idea of watching Movies on a small TV Screen. I later accepted VHS and DVD. Seeing Video Stores closing down is like watching the death of Film all over again. I would give anything to be able to relive the days of going to my local Mom and Pop video store and renting the latest releases on VHS, DVD and Bluray. It's truly the end on an era.
Great nostalgia trip, thank you for taking me for the ride.
I'm so happy this little Doc is here for me to watch. It felt so cozy and nostalgic. I could almost SMELL this and other video rental stores from my childhood
This is why I support Disc Replays, I don't want physical media to go away.
Everyone in this town seems very wholesome, stuck in the year 1999. I love it
This is a fantastic short documentary. It is a sad day in which we live, seeing all of these stores going out of business. The video store is part of many special memories not only growing up, but in the life of my own children. The fact that he lasted as long as he did in the age of Blockbuster and Hollywood Video and later internet piracy and legitimate web services like Netflix and Hulu. Good for him. Sorry that he had to go out of business. Not only sorry for him, but also for his community.
We have a similar store here. It's pretty far away from me, but I do like to get down there and at least look around and talk to people. That particular store still does pretty good business. I hope they don't go out of business.
Thanks for sharing I used to help my wife close the mom and pops store she work at in Bath Pennsylvania
Sad. *sighs* Great Documentary! Brought me back to a much happier, less stressed time in my life. Need to 'visit' there more often
Outstanding video! I love physical media and I miss the rental stores. There’s nothing like walking around talking to people about movies and video games. I was born in 80 and rented movies from a lot of stores like Video World. I’m glad I got to have this awesome experience being an 80s kid 😎
A great peek into a bygone era. Charming to watch. Thanks!
You did a great job! I'm also from Connecticut, 1 Margaret street. walking distance from Stew Leonards! This film was really excellent too. Great job!!!
I was born in '79. In 1986 my parents bought a small video store here in southern B.C., Canada. The store grew and we had to move to a bigger location. For a good deal of time we had the largest square footage of any business on main st. of our town (about 4500 people). We had tonnes of the old school gaming systems and games as well as a selection of about 3000 titles on VHS but eventually over 4000 on DVD and Blu-ray. We made it until October of 2015 so we made it darn close to 30 years! Times change........(and boo to Netflix!!!! lol!) {oh yeah great little doc by the way!!!}
Beautiful documentary, I miss video stores, that used to be my weekend,
44 and i shed a tear watching this.
back in the 90's my parents had a restaurant and we closed it on tuesdays,i use to skip class and just go rent a bunch of movies and stay home,that is how much i love movies in general.
what i remember the most is the trip to the video store,browsing,looking and choosing the movies was an event in itself.
makes me sad that those days are gone,little things like returning a movie and talking to your friend who worked there was part of the appeal,oh well i guess that is just the way life is.
just a great piece of how one business's last days illustrated the passing of a whole era
great video ....brings back some great memories....heading down the local video store and spending ages looking at all the films....trying to decide which one to get....and more often than likely ending up getting both tapes...i guess the youth of today will never get to experience this...what a shame
Discovering this film now. Awesome work. Thanks a ton for chronicling this story which is just another piece of our collective experience.
I have watched this a few times now & every time it touches me, The time just seems to fly by, the style is very calm & thoughtful , easy to watch , Thanks very much.
Fantastic. My first job was at a local mom 'n pop video store back in '99. Worked there until I went off to college a year later, and the store shut down a month after that. I always mourn the fact I wasn't there when they closed shop; would have loved to celebrate the store's history like Ed and his staff did with Video World.
God Bless you Friend, you done all your customers as well as hardcore, hardened Video Shoppe loyalists very proud! Consider yourself a early pioneer who's career was quite successful and definitely well meaning....
saw this on the Blumhouse productions homepage. love it. nothing will ever compare to the video store. it made me the die hard horror fan that I am today. great video.
This is beautiful and so sad at the same time...
My local video store is still going strong and there's two of them on opposite sides of town. They both are doing great. Even during the rona pandemic, people were still getting movies.
I work for Family Video and I feel the same way as a lot of people in this documentary do. I have made so many amazing connections and great friendships with regular customers, and that is something I will miss when I move onto my real career.
Wow great documentary, actually started shedding tears at the end when I realized that my niece (who is 2) will never experience the magic and frustration of looking at a wall of movies and try really hard to figure out what she wants to watch lol.
Short but good. I feel really bad that he had to close his business after 23 years. Such a shame that something that was so important to our culture in the 80's and 90's could just disappear like that. I really miss going to rent videos!