# So we can't rent movies anymore? How'd that happen? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 25, 2012, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-we-cant-rent-movies-anymore-howd-that-happen/623087 "2012-05-25T18:21:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-we-cant-rent-movies-anymore-howd-that-happen/623087/21 "2012-05-26T01:21:11Z")
I still have Netflix. One movie per month. No streaming, because my TV is not connected to the internet. Costs me something like $4 or $5 per month. It’s still the best option for getting hard-to-find movies. Redbox wouldn’t work for me as I don’t have mainstream/popular taste. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-we-cant-rent-movies-anymore-howd-that-happen/623087/22 "2012-05-26T01:28:14Z")
> [@Meltdown](#): > > Not sure what you mean here. I’m saying that less than the sum cinematic output of mankind is at your fingertips, unless you want to own it or get it illegally, neither of which I’m interested in. I know but most people interested in seeing a decades old fantasy film probably don’t care about the legality, which is why we are in this stupid situation. In other words I am saying there is too little demand. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-we-cant-rent-movies-anymore-howd-that-happen/623087/23 "2012-05-26T01:41:24Z")
> [@grude](#): > > I know but most people interested in seeing a decades old fantasy film probably don’t care about the legality, which is why we are in this stupid situation. In other words I am saying there is too little demand. You’ve also got to include the fact that the previous demand was artificially enhanced, anyway. In the video rental store model, there were only a limited number of the more popular movies, and there was very little cost to keeping older movies around that you’d already purchased. So the guy who was waiting on Lord of the Rings might rent Willow while he waited. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-we-cant-rent-movies-anymore-howd-that-happen/623087/24 "2012-05-26T01:43:20Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > If you hadn’t given up the Netflix mailing option, you’d get it. It has tons of movies available but not all of them are streaming. I gave up the Netflix streaming service and kept only the DVD-by-mail service because there are very few titles available only by streaming and many more available only on DVD (and not available for streaming). ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-we-cant-rent-movies-anymore-howd-that-happen/623087/25 "2012-05-26T04:59:50Z")
Cleveland Public Libraries has 44 copies available. Out of a possible 147. ---
**Author:** ![Chef\_Troy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Chef\_Troy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chef_Troy)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-we-cant-rent-movies-anymore-howd-that-happen/623087/26 "2012-05-26T05:25:30Z")
Damn it, now I want to watch Willow! ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-we-cant-rent-movies-anymore-howd-that-happen/623087/27 "2012-05-26T05:54:46Z")
Yes, the video stores going away is a definite loss to society. Red Box is great if you only want recent stuff. Netflix too if you can somehow pull off streaming to your TV or know what DVD you’ll want to watch far enough in advance for them to mail it to you. But something is just lost without being able to browse the aisles, looking for something to watch that night. Fortunately we do still have regional chain Family Video around here, but that’s it. Our Hollywood Video went away even before the entire chain went belly up, and out of the half dozen or so Blockbusters around in a reasonable driving distance, a grand total of ZERO are still open. Frankly I was shocked a few months ago when way across town, someplace too far to actually make it worth renting from, I saw an actual Blockbuster, still in operation. I thought all that was left of their brick and mortar business was the Red Box-like kiosks in a few grocery stores. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-we-cant-rent-movies-anymore-howd-that-happen/623087/28 "2012-05-26T08:17:30Z")
I’ve been renting movies on iTunes for a while now… ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-we-cant-rent-movies-anymore-howd-that-happen/623087/29 "2012-05-26T14:02:05Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > Yes, the video stores going away is a definite loss to society. Red Box is great if you only want recent stuff. Netflix too if you can somehow pull off streaming to your TV or know what DVD you’ll want to watch far enough in advance for them to mail it to you. But something is just lost without being able to browse the aisles, looking for something to watch that night. The video store didn’t go away, it just got absorbed into the purview of the public library. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-we-cant-rent-movies-anymore-howd-that-happen/623087/30 "2012-05-26T14:18:07Z")
The point isn’t Iron Man, it’s any movie. Older movies like Willow. Or Legend, or The Last Unicorn. We have one Family Video with a thousand copies of whatever recent trash is out, and a wide selection of what looks like straight-to-video no-name horror movies, and a handful of ‘classics’. The chances of finding something older are slim. I love old movies and THANK GOD for TCM. They even showed Withnail & I a couple of times in the middle of the night. I’ve taped a ton of my old favorites on the old-fashioned VCR which hopefully last me till I kick it. But for Iron Man and such, well, I guess Netflix DVD by mail? is the only option. Sometimes the library will stock movies. You may have to wait a good long time, though. The White Buffalo, 1977, with Charles Bronson - can be found for $20 + ! Now why can’t something obscure like that be sitting on the shelf, unloved, at Family Video, for $1 a night rental?? It doesn’t seem right to have to pay over $5 to see a movie, or have to buy it outright. There are tons of used DVDs for sale cheap everywhere, but I can’t stand there all day sorting out a couple kernels of wheat from a bushel of chaff. When I do buy a DVD I find Amazon or Alibris will have them, new or used, cheap. I consider it getting a bargain if I don’t think about shipping costs! ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-we-cant-rent-movies-anymore-howd-that-happen/623087/31 "2012-05-26T15:24:57Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > Sometimes the library will stock movies. You may have to wait a good long time, though. I can’t remember where I read it, but a Library Journal or ALA study found that something like 95% of all public libraries have a movie section. Many with collections that would put the local Blockbuster (at its peak) to shame. How many copies could the average Blockbuster carry? 10,000? Maybe 15. When you’ve got 50 copies of the newest release, that doesn’t leave much room for older titles (of which there are usually only 1-3 copies, the same as a library). ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-we-cant-rent-movies-anymore-howd-that-happen/623087/32 "2012-05-26T16:03:30Z")
Consider going to Amazon and _buying_ a _used_ copy. Often _very_ cheap, & you can re-sell it later, if you don’t like it. ---
**Author:** ![Hero\_From\_Sector\_7G](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@Hero\_From\_Sector\_7G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hero_From_Sector_7G)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-we-cant-rent-movies-anymore-howd-that-happen/623087/33 "2012-05-26T18:46:48Z")
#OldPeopleProblems ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-we-cant-rent-movies-anymore-howd-that-happen/623087/34 "2012-05-26T19:45:21Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > The White Buffalo, 1977, with Charles Bronson - can be found for $20 + ! Now why can’t something obscure like that be sitting on the shelf, unloved, at Family Video, for $1 a night rental?? Because Family Video is a business and wants to make money? They could keep an “unloved” video on the shelves that maybe once in a blue moon someone with pay a buck to rent, or they could use the same space for a movie that’s actually popular. I miss video stores too, but they’re basically a dead business now because they stopped being profitable. Most people obviously prefer to obtain movies in one of the many other ways now available. Several people in this thread have said they feel the closing of brick and mortar video stores has decreased their options, but we have a lot _more_ options for obtaining movies now than we did back when the local Blockbuster was the _only_ place to get movies. You can rent DVDs from Red Box or Netflix. You can watch them online through Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, or iTunes. You can get them on demand through your cable service. You can _buy_ new and used DVDs at a pretty reasonable price. You can get them for free from the library. Some people may not like some of these options – there are several I’ve never used myself – but they do exist. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-we-cant-rent-movies-anymore-howd-that-happen/623087/35 "2012-05-26T21:46:21Z")
> [@Meltdown](#): > > The local grocery store has Redbox, but the selection is very limited. Beating a dead horse here: I just checked at [redbox.com](http://www.redbox.com) and there are 4 kiosks in my locale that have _Iron Man_. It’s listed at “back again” no doubt due to the release of the Avengers movie. As for less popular and/or not so recent movies, I rarely found anything I wanted to see at the old Blockbuster type stores. In my experience, movie watching (at home) options have increased significantly in recent years. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-we-cant-rent-movies-anymore-howd-that-happen/623087/36 "2012-05-26T21:56:10Z")
I think we have it better now. Just about any old movie, I have **some means** of getting it now. Even if I can’t find a digital rental, I can find a digital purchase option or a physical purchase option through an online merchant. I remember when video rental stores first came out, buying VHS movies was very expensive (at least to me), so there was great value in these stores. The problem was very limited selection. You generally had all your new releases, then (at least the various places I lived) you had a static selection of older movies. So what happened was your local video store’s collection of old films **defined** which old films you saw. I even remember renting some old movies multiple times because it was still cheaper than buying them and hey, it was something to kill an evening. (Plus, back then being able to find an older film for purchase was extremely hit or miss.) In some select cases we’ve lost out on convenience of brick and mortar stores, but I feel I have a massively larger selection available to me through a combination of different avenues now, whereas before the limited selection at my local video store essentially defined which older movies I could see. An HBO subscription and cable also exposed you to some older movies that maybe you couldn’t find at the rental store, but if you didn’t have your VCR ready to tape them then those were one time things. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-we-cant-rent-movies-anymore-howd-that-happen/623087/37 "2012-05-26T23:39:01Z")
I’m lucky to have a great independent rental place in town. They have lots of popular to obscure DVDs and Blue Rays for rent. Open 365 days a year. When the DVD rental business slowed down they began buying and selling used movies and games. They always seem to be fairly busy. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-we-cant-rent-movies-anymore-howd-that-happen/623087/38 "2012-05-26T23:52:47Z")
> [@Chef\_Troy](#): > > Damn it, now I want to watch Willow! [Used copies on Amazon](http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B000NJMJGG/ref=dp_olp_used?ie=UTF8&condition=used) running around $4-$5, plus shipping. Not much more expensive than a rental, and then you own it forever. ---
**Author:** ![ruprechtthemonkeyboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6de8d8/32.png) [@ruprechtthemonkeyboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruprechtthemonkeyboy)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2012, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-we-cant-rent-movies-anymore-howd-that-happen/623087/39 "2012-05-27T00:01:42Z")
I hear a lot of people saying that there are many options around today. Yet I run around to 12 venues every time I want a film and still can’t find the one I want most of the time, and these are not obscure titles. Yes, there is Netflix, but since the movie companies clawed back their contracts for streaming movies a couple of years ago, all you can see via streaming membership are a few recent hot films and some horribly awful old ones no one’s ever heard of. To rent anything you’d want to see that’s not on the top 20 list, you have to wait days via mail. (Perhaps I could take a train to the company’s headquarters and watch it there?) Yes, there is iTunes, but I’ve been very underwhelmed (and I’m a generally a big fan of Apple) by their movie selection. RedBox and Blockbuster kiosks are specifically made for the top 40 films and a couple of random older but very popular movies. You can buy online, but the point is that you recall a film you haven’t seen in a while (or may not have seen but is older) and would like to see once, not own. And yes, you can set your DVR to wait til “Stranger Than Fiction” happens to come onto cable, but that could be months or years. If your DVR even has the ‘record this particular title whenever it appears’ feature. There are illegal means of course, but I believe that most people still don’t prefer to do this. I’ve never downloaded a movie illegally and wouldn’t know how. Only if it were the only way to get a movie would I start stealing it. My question, and I think perhaps the original poster’s question, is why don’t the movie companies make use of their massive store of value and gain some profit from it? It would be trivially inexpensive for them to allow some company to digitize their films and let people rent them. Then what do they care if only 100 people nationwide rent “Willow” each month? It’s 100 more rentals than they would have gotten. Make these backlist titles rent at $2 apiece streaming and I’ll guarantee there’ll be more than 100 rentals a month. I’m afraid that the answer is the same as it was for the record companies years back: excessive greed. They don’t want to short-change themselves accidentally, so they’re willing to not sell this stuff at all until they can figure the way to absolutely maximize the profitmaking on it. Meanwhile, we go through a period where we can’t see “Inception” or “The Spanish Prisoner” or “Big Fish” (just examples) when we want and we get more and more aggravated. And just like with the record companies, this inaction-by-greed is going to encourage theft when people can’t get what they want by paying for immediate rental. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2012, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-we-cant-rent-movies-anymore-howd-that-happen/623087/40 "2012-05-27T01:30:48Z")
> [@Hero\_From\_Sector\_7G](#): > > #OldPeopleProblems A-fuckin-men. It’s like listening to Andy Rooney complain about the bygone soda fountains. 20oz-ers are everywhere, old man. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-we-cant-rent-movies-anymore-howd-that-happen/623087.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-we-cant-rent-movies-anymore-howd-that-happen/623087.md?page=3)