# What was your first DVD/VHS purchase? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 23, 2005, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-dvd-vhs-purchase/295906 "2005-03-23T17:14:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![puppymeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@puppymeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puppymeister)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-dvd-vhs-purchase/295906/1 "2005-03-23T17:14:53Z")
That’s with your own money, rather than your parents buying you Snow White at the age of 3. Myself? It was Austin Powers and Tomorrow Never Dies on DVD when I was about 10 or 11. Still have Austin Powers. ---
**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:** [March 23, 2005, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-dvd-vhs-purchase/295906/2 "2005-03-23T17:18:16Z")
My first VHS purchase was _ **Blade Runner** _ (this was before the Director’s Cut). My first DVD purchase was _ **Three Kings** _, before I even bought a DVD player. You didn’t ask, but the first CD I purchased was The Police _ **Synchronicity** _. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-dvd-vhs-purchase/295906/3 "2005-03-23T17:25:13Z")
I think the first **VHS** I ever purchase was Led Zeppelin’s **The Song Remains the Same**. I bet in High School, I watched it about 150 times. I got **Koyaanisqatsi** about the same time. I was stoned a lot. First DVD, I think, was **Pulp Fiction**. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-dvd-vhs-purchase/295906/4 "2005-03-23T17:26:22Z")
_Army of Darkness_. To be completely fair, I didn’t pay for it. I got a $50 gift certificate when I was working at Best Buy for Christmas. Close enough. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-dvd-vhs-purchase/295906/5 "2005-03-23T17:33:03Z")
First VHS, I think, was **Young Frankenstein**. I bought my first DVDs, the Talking Heads movie **True Stories** and Bette Midler’s **Divine Madness** , when I got my first player in July of 2000. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-dvd-vhs-purchase/295906/6 "2005-03-23T17:38:07Z")
VHS, I think it may have been the restored Star Wars box set. I don’t know what it would have been for DVD, although I know I had DVD’s before I ever had a DVD player. (I had access to a computer which could play them.) –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![Jayn\_Newell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jayn\_Newell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayn_Newell)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-dvd-vhs-purchase/295906/7 "2005-03-23T17:41:20Z")
Never personally bought a VHS. First DVD was _Princess Mononoke_, about three years ago. ---
**Author:** ![dragongirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b38774/32.png) [@dragongirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dragongirl)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-dvd-vhs-purchase/295906/8 "2005-03-23T17:48:06Z")
A long, long time ago, my dad brought a betamax machine home from work. We were the first people in the neighborhood to have a VCR. We rented Footloose and I love it so much. I saved my money for a long time and bought the betamax verson to watch at home. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-dvd-vhs-purchase/295906/9 "2005-03-23T17:50:28Z")
My first DVD was _Sneakers_, bought it when I bought my first DVD player. Don’t remember what my first VHS was but it might have been _Men in Black_. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-dvd-vhs-purchase/295906/10 "2005-03-23T18:00:49Z")
First VHS puchase: _Purple Rain_. I believe I was in my senior year of high school at the time (which would make it 1983/84). I still have it somewhere at the back of a shelf full of old tapes. First DVD: Either _The English Patient_ or the first 4 episodes of _Farscape_. IIRC, I bought them on the same day. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-dvd-vhs-purchase/295906/11 "2005-03-23T18:15:06Z")
At least close to the first VHS I ever bought was a pre-rented copy of _Gandhi_. I think we shelled out about eighty bucks for it. This was in the olden days when renting was more common than buying. Very few titles were even intended to be sold to the general public, and **kaylasmom** and I felt fortunate that the store was willing to let go of one of their copies. And I’m certain that the manager of the store was grateful to have found a pair of patsies to complete the transaction. :smack: First DVDs were a couple of years ago, when we bought our player. Among the titles were _Young Frankenstein_, _The Black Stallion_, _Cast Away_, and _Monty Python and the Holy Grail_. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-dvd-vhs-purchase/295906/12 "2005-03-23T18:27:28Z")
First VHS tape: impossible to remember, but I recall being overjoyed to find _Taxi Driver_ for a whopping $20 at Suncoast, back when I was in 9th or 10th grade (around 1993 or '94). First CD: R.E.M.'s _Monster_. I was really late to adopt CD technology, buying cassettes steadily up until the mid-'90s. First DVD: _Snatch_ (the 2-disc special edition), immediately after getting my first DVD player as a gift. ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-dvd-vhs-purchase/295906/13 "2005-03-23T20:00:13Z")
VHS? Batman, I believe. Either that or Ghostbusters. DVD…Castle of Cagliostro. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-dvd-vhs-purchase/295906/14 "2005-03-23T20:06:41Z")
The first VHS that I bought is lost in time but I would guess that it may have been _Stop Making Sense_. I don’t remember the first DVD either, but I have teh feeling that it was _Goodfellas_. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-dvd-vhs-purchase/295906/15 "2005-03-23T20:13:04Z")
DVD: _Contact_. VHS: _Raiders of the Lost Ark_ CD: _Brothers in Arms_, Dire Straits ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-dvd-vhs-purchase/295906/16 "2005-03-23T20:33:00Z")
No one willing to admit that their first VHS tape was a porno? Well, me neither. Bought my first commercial VHS tape when I was living in France. I think it was _The Wages of Fear_. I inherited some tapes from a friend before that; I’m pretty sure the first one I watched was _To Have and Have Not_, with Bogie and Bacall. First DVD purchase was _2001: A Space Odyssey_. Thanks once again for this chance to empty out the closets of my mind. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-dvd-vhs-purchase/295906/17 "2005-03-23T20:37:04Z")
My first VHS purchase was, I think, Batman (1989). My first DVD purchase was three at once: Star Trek II, Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure, and Blue Velvet. Two of those have since become double-dips. What a racket. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-dvd-vhs-purchase/295906/18 "2005-03-23T21:22:07Z")
For VHS for the longest time I didn’t have anything and I think my first purchase was Raiders of the Lost Ark. For DVD, though, I was an early adopter and an anime fan. At the time I got my DVD player there were exactly two anime movies out (at least that I could find on shelves at Suncoast which was the only place selling those new fangled things that would never be as popular as Laserdisk 😉 ): Tenchi Muyo in Love and Tenchi Muyo in Love 2. I got the first one. ---
**Author:** ![UncaStuart](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uncastuart/32/404_2.png) [@UncaStuart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncaStuart)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-dvd-vhs-purchase/295906/19 "2005-03-23T21:48:06Z")
Got a Quasar VCR in the mid-70s using the VX format. Heh, that went nowhere. When I finally got a VHS-based machine, it was a number of years before I finally broke down and bought a commercial tape. As I recall, it was the first bundled Star Wars collection, pre cleanup. First DVD was the directior’s cut of Blade Runner. ---
**Author:** ![Spurious\_George](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Spurious\_George](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spurious_George)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-dvd-vhs-purchase/295906/20 "2005-03-23T21:59:19Z")
DVD: Twelve Monkeys [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-dvd-vhs-purchase/295906.md?page=2)