My inner Millennial just recreated the Blockbuster experience

Summary

Thrifting echoes video store vibes.
Buying second-hand will give you a more diverse selection.
Physical media quality is unmatched.

If you’re a Millennial like me, then a big portion of your childhood probably involves memories of going to Blockbuster and scouring the aisles looking for the perfect movie to watch that night. While the heyday of video stores has come and gone, I found out how to get a similar feeling if you miss going out to pick out a movie instead of scrolling endlessly through Netflix.

The answer to my problem is thrift stores. You’re likely familiar with places like the Salvation Army and Goodwill, but I found that places that specialize in used movies and video games have a much larger selection. Disc Replay, a chain store that you may have already heard of, frequently runs sales that give you a big discount on movies, and, in some cases, you can come away with many of them free of charge. It varies by what you’re looking for, and you’re more likely to find better deals on DVDs, but you can find Blu-rays and 4K discs as well. All in all, it scratches the itch quite nicely.

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Thrifting still captures that magic

It’s different, but has a similar vibe

A drawing of a boy standing on a giant robot's outstretched hand.

Warner Bros. Entertainment / Pocket-lint

The major difference I can think of between going to Blockbuster and thrifting is that I typically find older movies instead of new ones. Blockbuster stocked recent releases while thrift stores tend to have whatever somebody else decided to trade in or donate. That’s not a bad thing, however, as you can sometimes find crazy good deals on things. For example, I picked up the first two seasons of Monk on DVD for $5, a price that’s very hard to beat. Of course, the problem with TV shows is completing the sets, but that’s another issue entirely.

The fun of thrifting is you never really know what you’ll find each time you walk inside.

Just because I don’t find a lot of new stuff there doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy it. I’ve been able to find all sorts of things I haven’t thought about in years, like Weekend at Bernie’s, The Aviator, and even Sam Raimi’s Oz movie, even if that latter one wasn’t particularly well received. The fun of thrifting is you never really know what you’ll find each time you walk inside. It’s easy to spend an hour just exploring, and that’s the closest thing I can find today to the video stores of old.

A lot of people get the browsing out of their system by scrolling through Netflix, Max, Prime Video, etc., but I can speak from experience when I say seeing physical movies on a shelf is much more satisfying. There’s something about holding something in your hand versus it appearing on a screen — I know not everybody feels the same way, but anybody who laments the loss of video stores owes it to themselves to head out to a used movie store to see what the fuss is about. Chances are solid you already have a way to play any movie you pick up if you own a PS5 or Xbox, provided you have a model with a disc drive. You might even be shocked to see how much you can pick up for $20 or so.

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Quality has improved, too

Physical is better than digital

Netflix sports screen on a gradient background.

Pocket-lint / Netflix

If you care about how a movie looks or sounds, then you might be interested in going physical. Streaming movies can still look great, especially if you have a rock-solid connection with a good streaming device like an Apple TV 4K, but even the best streams can’t match the quality of a disc. Even if the picture quality looks good to you, sound is where you’ll make the biggest gains. Streaming audio is typically compressed, and if you have a good sound system, you could certainly notice the difference between a disc and a stream. It’s not as big of a difference if you use your built-in TV speakers, as those aren’t anything that would set the world on fire in the first place.

I’ve found that it’s often cheaper to pick up your favorite movies and shows than it would be to stay subscribed to services. You also don’t have to spend time researching where movies and TV shows go month to month. I don’t want to sound like I’m dunking on streaming too much, because there are still some clear benefits — the most significant being that a streaming and digital library don’t take up physical space. I had to buy a few extra bookshelves to hold everything, and I’m lucky I have the space for it all. I can imagine it’d become a big issue if you’re tight on space or in an apartment where you can’t easily make adjustments. On the other hand, you always have to worry about whether your digital library could be snatched out from under you.

After you spend enough time thrifting, it might be tough to keep track of what you have bought already, so I use the app Letterboxd to document everything. I made a list of everything I own, so I can easily reference it if I’m unsure about what I have at home sitting on my shelf.

Letterboxd

Letterboxd is a movie app that lets you keep track of everything you watch and own.

Why Letterboxd is the perfect app for movie lovers

Letterboxd is a place where movie lovers like myself can come together to praise or hate on what they’re watching.

Making the most of a bad situation

A changing world

Sony

While the genie is out of the bottle, there are still some ways to capture the magic. There likely won’t be a way to bring these video stores back to life, especially since even other rental places like Redbox have since gone out of business.

As it stands, physical media is shrinking by the year, and big box retailers like Best Buy don’t even carry movies anymore. The load has been picked up by boutique shops like the Criterion Collection and Arrow, but those companies still rely on you actually buying things. With fewer ways to find physical media, it’s important to support the industry while you can.

While we might not see the resurgence of physical movies as we have with vinyl records, we might be able to at least maintain the status quo and ensure the latest releases continue to get physical releases. It’s not perfect, but it’s the best we can do unless stores and studios reverse their decisions and commit to releasing physical media again.