Canberra’s last video store – Network Video Charnwood – closed in 2019. Photo: Daniella Jukic.
You can’t watch the classic 1980s science fiction movie Cocoon on Netflix, Stan, Amazon or any other streaming service. Nor the now controversial comedy Soul Man, about a law student who took too many tanning pills to get a black scholarship to Harvard. Same goes for the Hitchcock thriller Rebecca, Kevin Smith’s Dogma and Michael Caine in Sleuth.
So many old favourites are either hard to find or completely missing in the digital era. I honestly feel my old local Erindale Video Ezy provided more choice, enjoyment and better value than the multiple online options we have today.
Logic suggests that having thousands of films, TV series and documentaries to watch at the touch of a remote is far more convenient than driving to a physical store, renting your selection and then needing to make another trip to return it.
In practice, though, it seemed to be easier to find what I wanted in that bygone era.
Suppose I had a hankering to binge on the Police Academy series of movies. Back in the day, I’d go to my Erindale store, and all seven would be neatly arranged in a row in the comedy section. You’d get great deals on anything that wasn’t a new release and be able to hire the whole set for about $10 and keep them for a week. If, say, Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol happened to be unavailable, Civic Video Wanniassa was also five minutes from my place and would inevitably have it in their stock.
Fast forward to today. I tried to watch just the first Police Academy last weekend, but it wasn’t on Netflix, Stan or Disney+ – the three services for which I already pay a subscription. To watch my favourite slapstick comedy, I would’ve had to subscribe to Amazon, which would’ve meant a fourth lot of monthly payments. It’s not worth it for one film, so I didn’t bother. So much for progress.
Nothing beat browsing the colourful maze of video store aisles. Photo: Region.
Streaming services seem to be biased towards never-ending dystopian TV series that require you to watch 80 episodes. However, so many familiar films are missing from online platforms, particularly classics from the 1980s and 1990s.
Perhaps there’s a reluctance to promote such dated and politically incorrect content. Police Academy was once on Netflix but didn’t last long. The scene in which Steven Guttenberg pretends to be a police officer, approaches Kim Cattrall from behind and asks her to show him her thighs would no doubt send many younger viewers into a cancel campaign rage.
But really, people under 30 don’t appreciate what they missed out on by never getting to hire a DVD, Blu-ray disc or VHS tape.
Friday movie night is nowhere near as enjoyable as it used to be when we made that trip to a Blockbuster, Network, Civic or Video Ezy. Walking from aisle to aisle in the colourful maze was exciting as I moved from drama to horror to Australian to adventure (but never adult – there was enough random nudity in 80s comedies). If you went to the store with a partner or friend, you’d inevitably get into a fight about what to hire, adding more spice to the evening.
Physically renting a video also seemed like a real investment – especially if I splurged $7 on a new release that had to be returned the next morning. It would mean I felt obliged to watch the whole thing, even if it started a little slow. On Netflix, I’m too quick to switch off or scroll on my phone if something doesn’t grab me within the first five minutes.
It seems odd to pine for something that seems both inconvenient and environmentally unfriendly. But I don’t think I’m alone. Would anyone else like to see the return of the video store, too?
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