# What was the first DVD you bought? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 15, 2010, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-dvd-you-bought/550328 "2010-08-15T14:49:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![FordTaurusSHO94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f07891/32.png) [@FordTaurusSHO94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordTaurusSHO94)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-dvd-you-bought/550328/61 "2010-08-16T19:42:14Z")
I guess I’ll throw in a couple more: CD: Garth Brooks - The Hits HD-DVD: It came with 300 and a Bourne movie Blu-Ray: Wall-E ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-dvd-you-bought/550328/62 "2010-08-16T20:05:14Z")
> [@Student\_Driver](#): > > > [@Max\_Torque](#): > > > > I’m pretty sure there was a law that you had to buy **Twister** if you were getting a DVD player. > > I recall Twister being one of the big titles that were given away to folks who bought early DVD players. My mind still boggles when I see used copies for sale at a normal price, because in my mind, it’s like Super Mario Bros. for the NES-- a pack-in that’s far too common to be worth much. It was also a really poor choice to showcase DVD technology; early DVD compression techniques (and players’ decompression techniques) were pretty bad, and the rapidly moving objects in the movie just couldn’t be rendered properly. The movie has been remastered a couple of times since that initial release. Nail on the head, brother. I think, though, that it wasn’t so much the video as the sound that was the selling point for **Twister**. Dolby Digital 5.1 sound was the bleeding edge at the time, and as I recall DVD was the only way to get it. That’s one of the reasons the DVD player I chose was so expensive: it had the DD decoder built in (bumped the price up by about $100). Of course, to actually make _use_ of the decoder, I had to run six separate cables, one for each sound channel, from the player to my “Dolby Digital-ready” audio receiver. Not the most elegant way to make lovely sound happen, to say the least. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-dvd-you-bought/550328/63 "2010-08-16T20:06:24Z")
I don’t know the first DVD I bought. I received 5 free DVD’s with my first DVD player and one of them was Lost in Space. I gave away the other 4 without watching them. I do know the first VHS tape I purchased was Big Business. I received 20 free DVD rentals with the player too. The closest location for the rental chain was 200 miles away. This was not disclosed in the advertising and you only found out the promotion was worthless after you purchased the player. The place of purchase was actually 250 miles from the nearest rental location. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-dvd-you-bought/550328/64 "2010-08-16T20:44:43Z")
First DVDs I bought were a septet of the first season-and-a-half of South Park “volumes”, plus the SP movie. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-dvd-you-bought/550328/65 "2010-08-16T20:47:36Z")
The first DVD I bought was _Fast Times At Ridgemont High_. I froze the film at the key moment and left it on-screen for a couple of hours, just because I could. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-dvd-you-bought/550328/66 "2010-08-16T20:49:42Z")
Not sure. Could be The Who film “The Kids are Alright” or a concert performance by Muddy Waters “Live at the Chicago Blues Festival”. I know the DVD player contained a James Taylor concert film, which for Sweet Baby Wimp was only a 98% crapfest CD Tina Turner “Private Dancer” and Kinks “Living on the Edge” VHS “Opening of Misty Beethoven” 8 track Uriah Heep “Demons and Wizards” 45 Barry McGuire “Eve of Destruction” ---
**Author:** ![Mrs.Cake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2acd7d/32.png) [@Mrs.Cake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs.Cake)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-dvd-you-bought/550328/67 "2010-08-16T21:05:44Z")
Easy - I couldn’t afford the player yet, but I had to get the special limited edition “Wicker Man” with both theatrical and restored versions and lots of specials, in a very cool wooden box. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-dvd-you-bought/550328/68 "2010-08-16T21:28:40Z")
**Dr. No** and **Predator**. You can tell they’re really old ones b/c they just start. Not even a menu screen. Coincidentally, there’s a quick scene in Dr. No when Ursula Andress is on the decontamination conveyor belt on Crab Key (Caye?) - if you pause the DVD at the right spot you can see her completely naked. ---
**Author:** ![fusoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@fusoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fusoya)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-dvd-you-bought/550328/69 "2010-08-17T01:03:42Z")
May 1998. I bought _Pulp Fiction, Get Shorty and The Rock_, for $30 each. The latter two had a trailer as a special feature, and the former didn’t even have that. Still, it was OAR and looked BEAUTIFUL. Strangely enough, all 3 of those I later double dipped on for real Special Editions. My first (and so far only) Bluray is _Burn After Reading_, which I bought about a year ago to watch at my dad’s house. Still don’t have my own Bluray player… ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-dvd-you-bought/550328/70 "2010-08-17T01:41:20Z")
_The Matrix_ I remember being amazed at the main menu. ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-dvd-you-bought/550328/71 "2010-08-17T19:13:05Z")
I certainly bought my first DVD before I had a specific player; I remember watching DVDs on my PS2 quite a lot. It may have been Monty Python and Quest for the Holy Grail, which I bought intending to give as a gift, and then decided not to for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-dvd-you-bought/550328/72 "2010-08-17T19:48:01Z")
Either “The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly” or “Some Like It Hot”. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-dvd-you-bought/550328/73 "2010-08-17T19:50:19Z")
The first one I rented was _Young Frankenstein_. The first one I bought was _Fight Club_. I’d gotten this kick-ass 5 CD-DVD changer doo-hickey. Alas, it didn’t survive the trip from Cali to Maine. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-dvd-you-bought/550328/74 "2010-08-17T19:51:07Z")
> [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](#): > > > [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > > > [_Three Kings_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Kings_(film)). I actually bought it before I bought a DVD player. > > Oddly enough, this was one of the first two I bought as well. I think _Three Kings_ is hilarious. (Also, it depicts how we abandoned the Iraqi people after the war; but I don’t want to start a debate here.) I wish I could share it with my friend, a helicopter pilot for the 101st Airborne during the war, but she won’t watch it because she says it’s ‘too close’. ---
**Author:** ![Smitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Smitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smitty)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-dvd-you-bought/550328/75 "2010-08-17T20:28:36Z")
Pulp Fiction ---
**Author:** ![MTCicero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@MTCicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTCicero)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-dvd-you-bought/550328/76 "2010-08-17T20:33:06Z")
I don’t know if this was the very first DVD I ever purchased, but it was definitely one of the first three: **Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery**. ---
**Author:** ![MTCicero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@MTCicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTCicero)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-dvd-you-bought/550328/77 "2010-08-17T20:40:36Z")
First LP: **Barry Manilow Live** First casette: Billy Joel’s **An Innocent Man** First CD: **Golden Throats 2: More Celebrity Rock Oddities!** First VHS: **Thriller/The Making of Thriller** First DVD: See above. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-dvd-you-bought/550328/78 "2010-08-17T20:46:56Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > [_Three Kings_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Kings_(film)). I actually bought it before I bought a DVD player. Likewise, my first DVD purchase was ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic’ movie, “UHF”. I didn’t have a DVD player (or even a television) at the time, but it was out of print on VHS, I heard it was being released on DVD, and I suspected the DVD verson wouldn’t remain “in print” for very long, so I ordered it from Amazon while I could. Turns out you can still get it, but I wasn’t taking any chances. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-dvd-you-bought/550328/79 "2010-08-19T04:38:03Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > _Contact_ > > Bought a newfangled super-upgraded computer with a, gasp(!), DVD-ROM. This was the first movie I bought to watch and was not disappointed in the quality of the picture or sound. > > As to the ending however… well, that’s a different thread. Oh yeah, the very first DVDs we rented were watched on the computer - **Dark City** and **Clay Pigeons**. Turned out not to be a fun way to watch movies, so we bought a dvd player soon afterwards. ---
**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:** [August 19, 2010, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-dvd-you-bought/550328/80 "2010-08-19T12:22:53Z")
I believe it was Spaceballs. I was under the impression that all DVDs were double sided. The first DVD I bought with my own money was the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. And that was scholarship money. (Oh, and not the movie, the old BBC TV series. The movie was to come out in theaters the following year.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-dvd-you-bought/550328.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-dvd-you-bought/550328.md?page=5)