DVDs are fun, but no repeat value? (1 Viewer)

[DeathStar1]

Just curious, but am I the only one who usually tends to watch a DVD only once and then it's hardly looked at again? Unless it's a great classic like Independance Day, or Ghostbusters, or the occasional holiday movie, most of mine tend to sit on my shelf... I guess I just don't have the time to watch 'em again as much as I'd like..

For instance, I had great fun watching the Looney Tunes Golden Collection, but I doubt I'll ever have time to drag it out and pop it in again...especially with Space Ghost and MArried With Children waiting in the wings to be viewed..

Anyone else have this 'problem'?

 

[Adam_WM]

I agree with you to some extent. I have bought some movies that I don't know that I'll watch regularly, but I'm sure I'll put them in some times. That is where your DVDs change from "practical" to "collection".

As for Independence Day being a "great classic", well...

EDIT: Don't mean to make fun of you, I own ID4 and I've watched it many times.

 

[Lev-S]

Yeah, "ID4" is anything but a classic.

 

[Patrick McCart]

It really depends. I watched Cast Away once. I've watched 8 1/2 and Lawrence of Arabia at least a dozen times all the way through.

a great classic like Independance Day

It's the best remake of Plan 9 From Outer Space I've ever seen.

 

[RyanChristoffel]

I don't have that problem at all but then again I don't have a full-time job.

 

[Estevan Lapena]

I tend to stay away from films I plan not to see more than once. Infact the repeat value IMO is high, because they're perfect for watching at friends house's, entertaining yourself, watching special features and gaining insight on film. The only titles I may not look at frequently would be those that I wish I had not bought due to blind buying. But I do not have a title as of yet that is like that.

I'm not going to make fun of you for the ID4 comment.

 

[george kaplan]

I have hundreds (about 700) dvds that all have repeat value. I wouldn't buy them otherwise. On the other hand, there are thousands of films I've seen that don't have repeat value from me, but I'd never buy them on dvd.

 

[Mike Frezon]

The only titles I may not look at frequently would be those that I wish I had not bought due to blind buying. But I do not have a title as of yet that is like that.

I do. Just happened. :frowning: Santa Clause 2. Blind buy. Hated it. Got it for four main reasons: Liked the original, great price, good review of the film here at the HTF (with subsequent posts that backed it up), and it had a movie coupon for the Disney Haunted Mansion movie. Hated the movie and doubt I'll ever watch it again.

Most of the DVDs on my shelf, though, (including ID4 ) get repeated viewing. I just wish I had MORE time to watch some of them!

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Yeah, "ID4" is anything but a classic.

Still, damned if it isn't rewatchable as all hell. One of the few early discs in regular rotation.

My early DVD purchasing days were frivolous; many of the impulse buys I'll never watch again. Gradually, I've gotten more selective, mainly as mounting education costs have limited my spending power. Most surprisingly, I tend to buy more TV on DVD than movies, and the replay value is absolutely there.

 

[Paul_Sjordal]

This is precisely why my DVD collection is fairly small. I only buy movies I'm sure I'll watch multiple times, so I own very few DVDs and I mostly rent.

 

[Bryan_Bortz]

It's the best remake of Plan 9 From Outer Space I've ever seen.

hahahahahaha

That is the first time in a long time someone has literally made me laugh out loud online

Thanks

-Owl

 

[Raymond_H]

This is precisely why my DVD collection is fairly small. I only buy movies I'm sure I'll watch multiple times, so I own very few DVDs and I mostly rent.

I am on the same terms as stated above. But if you click to see my collection, I still have quite a share of dvds that I think I have only seen once and will never see again. Those DVDs were bought before the heavens showed me the way to Netflix (shameless plug ) and before I had a life with money constraints.

So now, I just rent and buy usually 1 DVD per week that I *want* to own.

Raymond

 

[Todd Robertson]

I'm in the minority....and it's lonley here! I guess I'm one of the few people who enjoy having a library. who says we have to watch a dvd x # of times for it to be essential? thats nuts. my library is for not only personal enjoyment..anytime I like...but it's abundance of knowledge and historical value also come into play. go to a book library. maybe a book has been sitting there for 2 years, covered with dust and un-touched. is it a worthless book...ready for a garbage can? right here at this site, they try to convince you that dvds can last 50 to 300 years. hell, I'll be happy with 20 or 30 years. so whats the rush in watching everything over and over and over? sounds like a young persons attitude.

thrilled to not have this problem.

 

[CraigF]

Kinda in the Todd camp. The reason I buy a DVD is because I want to watch it, when and how I want. When I'm in the mood to pay attention and appreciate. So I can go back and watch a scene again. So I can pause and get a decent snack that doesn't cost more than the movie. So I can pop another beer. So I don't have to listen to people "explaining" the scene to their partner...or the part they missed while they went to the can.

I think ID4 is one of the worst and most pathetic low-brow movies I've ever seen. I've watched it several times now, more than any other DVD I own...

 

[Kai Zas]

I've been collecting dvd's since 1999 and I've never realy rewatched any of them. There's always a backlog of 40 of 50 dvd's waiting for me. I just can't take an old one of the shelve for a rewatch when there's so much new material just sitting there also. I'm a big fan of tv-on-dvd so there's loads of titles that'll take me a week or more to watch. Furthermore, I can't watch several things at once. Once I start with a season, I have to watch it all the way through before I start on another title. When I don't want to watch the series I'm going through at the moment, I hardly ever take out an unwatched movie. My other new hobbies like pc, xbox and gamecube games interfere also. The first couple of years this was managable, but there's so much good stuff coming out these days that I can hardly keep up.

I realy like the Alien movies. I'm glad I get to buy the new box, that way I'll have another chance to see those movies again.

So... to me, new stuff comes first. I'm 27 now, have a full-time 6 days a week job. I guess I'll rewatch my collection when I get to my pension-age. Let's hope I don't get a bad case of dvd-rot before then

(God, imagine a real life came into play, I'd have to stop buying dvd's alltogether.)

By the way, I don't rent dvds. If there's a movie I want to see, I just go ahead and buy it. I do a little reconnaisance before I make a purchase, but it often only takes a good review by Ebert or a positive note from an HTF review to make me buy something. I live in Europe, and I don't want to wait half a year or more for a movie to appear in these parts.

 

[david kennedy]

I try to buy movies that i can many viewings out of.I have a few that i will not watch again like "Requiem for a Dream" loved the movie but i have to take a shower before and after watching that movie. Now on the other hand i have watched the movie "Ronin" about 15 times (and if my widescreen wasn't still in the shop Dammit ) i would pop it in now. "Deep Cover " and "Phantasm" i also watched many many times.

 

[Adam_S]

heh, and I was just thinking of coming over and posting something similar like "do you ever look at your collection and question the investment?"

I for one have done this several times with different things I"ve collected as a kid and teen. Star Wars ccg and books, hardcover books, and DVDs. I've gotten a lot of pleasure out of all of these, but my initial interest has always faded. I've found that as I'm approaching my third year of dvd buying in January that I'm buying fewer and fewer dvds and being much more discriminating (amazing hte changes a college budget + full time girlfriend can wreak). eighteen months ago I would have thought it impossible that I not buy the back to the future trilogy. They're some of my favorite movies from childhood, and I"d love to see them in widescreen. But I still don't have them, and haven't really been struck by the desire to see them over the last year. It seems clear I actually didn't need to pluck down $40 (which I didn't) for a set of movies I probably would not have yet watched (and have seen at least five times each before). There is always the library argument, but is it really such a hassle to have to drive five mintues each way to the video store if I get an uncontrollable urge to watch this movie?

For instance, a year and a half ago I'd have been drooling over the mere concept of a nine disc box of the alien movies. I remember reading with Relish Nick Nunziatas or Jeremy Conrads wish list of a new Alien box set around that time back at IGNDVD. I don't even really like the alien films, They're fun, and I"ve never seen three, but they're not really something I'd watch very often. But I'd still have bought this set a while back, and now I wouldn't dream of buying it!

However some blind buys have been most fortuitous, I got the Diehard and fantasia collections used, and the die hard movies have become a new years eve classic! Fantasia absolutely floored me when I rewatched it, as did fantasia 2002

My DVD purchasing has dropped dramatically this year, down to one major purchase a quarter now. In fact other than maybe two or three miscellaneous purchases all my dvds for this year have been:
The miyazaki films
Casablanca SE + Warner Legends films
Love Bug, 20000 Leagues under the sea, Sleeping beauty (I wouldn't have gotten these if I hadn't had to fulfill the disney movie club)
Looney Tunes Golden Collection

I would also add in the Disney Treasures DVDs, but those have been postponed.

However, everything I've bought this year has VERY high replay value for me. I'll be showing Looney Tunes to people all the time. I've loved my disney two discs so far, and the warner sets are just as amazing. Miyazaki is an almost mandatory yearly rewatching at some point. But my purchasing is now limited to high replay titles such as vintage cartoons, Great Classics (that I love and are given the satin glove treatment), and MOdern films that knock my socks off.

Adam

PS the only way I can stand so few purchases is that I damn well better get my Indy, Sparrow, and Smeagol on the 25th of December!

 

[David Von Pein]

think ID4 is one of the worst and most pathetic low-brow movies I've ever seen. I've watched it several times now, more than any other DVD I own...

Shouldn't this hither-then-yon post have been punctuated with a ---> ??

 

[Jeff D Han]

I have about 400 DVDs now, and I call myself both
a collector and a picky buyer. All of the movies
or TV series collections in my library have repeat
value for one reason or another. Some of my DVDs
get played quite often (Lord Of The Rings, Jackie
Brown, Seven, etc.) while others are there if I'm
in the mood. I don't make a habit out of blind
buying so I don't have to worry about having
something in my collection that will just sit there
and not get played again. This is my main hobby, and
I have no regrets about the size of my collection
and I don't give any thought to how much my purchases
get played. Barring any rot problems, my collection
will entertain me for a lifetime.

 

[Joseph Hoetzl]

If I think I am only going to watch a DVD once I will usually still purchase it, although it will usually be on sale. I figure it this way. If I buy a DVD "blind" for around $15, when newly released, and I hate it, I put it on Half and sell for $9 or $10. Someone usally buys a new release at that price, because if they didn't purchase it during the first week, the price is now $19.99.
And for me, it was like a $5 rental. If I like it, I didn't waste the $4.95 to rent it plus the $19.99 to purchase it.

I hate dealing with rentals, the scratches, skips, returns, late fees, etc...

And ever now and then, when I want to purchase a box set or something, I look over my collection and prune it on half or some auction as a group by genre.

Just some thought to keep the collection hover around 100...not including ones that will ever be pruned.