What’s Wrong with Home Video and How It Might Be Improved, 1988
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Basically they are talking about how movies are formatted as in pan and scan or cropping or letterboxing.
Thanks to andyfilm for transferring the video!
This episode has been justifiably famous for their campaign for letterboxed editions of movies on video. But nobody seems to point out how correct Roger is on how Hollywood’s blockbuster mentality affects video stores and video collectors. Thankfully, we do have streaming services like Netflix and Amazon. But are people really gonna bother watching offbeat films? It’s part of the reason why Roger keeps writing his books and creating his own website.
Uh, you know Roger died in 2013, right?
Yes I do. What I was saying is that the hit mentality in video stores is what partially led to Roger writing his books and creating his website. Still a shame that Roger died though.
Two of those movie companies mentioned at the end are still in business. (Movies Unlimited & Facets Multimedia)
I think I know the roots behind the hit mentality they were talking about. Back when movies on video were blossoming, they were very expensive to but or rent. Then Top Gun hit videos stores with a price of $26.95, showing signs that video companies are lowering their prices of their products. Once the prices were lowered on video versions of big blockbusters, the big video chains like Blockbuster and Hollywood video began to pander. As a result, the big chains seem to be interested in selling big hits, giving customers limited variety on what tapes or discs to buy.
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