I think doing limited prints on vhs is a really cool collectors piece for certain movies. However, some new releases like from Bloodsick Productions where the whole thing is shot on tape makes a lot more sense. VHS 100% has a “filter” to it that you don’t get from clean blu-rays/4ks or even DVD. For me and my collection. VHS is pretty much just for tapes I had as a kid or films that would “look better” on tape. Ex. Power Rangers The Movie. I also think most of the time animation looks better on VHS as well. But Sci-fi/Horror movies from back in the day benefit a lot more from VHS than something like Alien Romulus would. But in that same vein, Terrifier 2 looks incredible on VHS. I think at this point any physical media release is a good thing and if we get limited runs of movies on VHS, it’s just a cool collectors piece and there’s probably no real push for the market to move past that.
The VHS resurgence really started maybe 10 years ago, particularly with horror films, and has been growing ever since. I have a bunch of movies on VHS that never came out on another format, so that's one reason to keep watching them. I would recommend watching them on a CRT and not a HD TV though. Cheers Elliot!
The best thing about VHS, at least for those of us from the old days, is seeing all the opening and closing material before and after the films, the old studio logos from studios and distributors that may no longer exist, the old law enforcement copyright warnings, the previews of things then in theaters and the various trailers or special feature bonus intros. As for the movies themselves, there's not much reason to watch the entire movie in fuzzy 480p. But yes, this is all a nostalgia thing, and since I have two working VCR/VHS players it's fun to collect and watch a few now and again. The real gold is finding VHS tapes at estate sales of things people taped from old TV networks and cable, for the old promos and interstitials and retro ads. There's a whole thing to this VHS phenom that have little to do with cinema.
When I copied over all my old VHS tapes, to DVDs. I set up interactive menus for each disc, on my computer. I kept the old introduction music for the VHS companies and the pre-views of other movies. Most people don't seem to realise that the term "trailers" refers to the movie adverts that came after the movie (They trail after the movie.) and "previews" are pre-viewings before the movie. Pre-view can also refer to showing part of a film, in an advert. When people refer to adverts of movies as "trailers", they should be saying advert or pre-view (because it's still a pre-viewing of part of the film.)
VHS is 360P at best. Many VHS are only 240P. DVD is 480P. Both formats are inferior to bluray. I'm guilty of not throwing out my VHS. It's in storage in my shed for multiple years, so it's questionable what kind of condition they'll be in if I try to play them. I have a VCR in my bedroom closet, that should still work but it isn't being used. I will not buy any new VHS or DVDs, especially when they're charging bluray money for the VHS tapes. I've watched a couple of things on RUclips that were played with the original commercials from late 80s, early 90s and it was interesting but after I saw the same ad twice, I skipped ahead, just like I would have done back then.
@@frommatorav1 You are confusing horizontal and vertical resolution. NTSC VHS has a vertical resolution of 480i, PAL VHS is 576i. That can not change, it is the physical property of the format. The fuzzy picture of VHS is caused by the greatly reduced HORIZONTAL resolution, which is 220-250 lines instead of the theoretical maximum of 640 lines for NTSC and 720 lines for PAL. SVHS is capable of about 400 lines of horizontal resolution.
@@mrnmrn1 At the end of the VHS era, I had SVHS VCR with 400 lines of resolution. It also had 6 heads (4 for video, 2 for stereo audio). Looked nice for about a year, until I could afford a DVD player. I could record with that but they didn't sell or rent movies at that resolution. Also, I think you're confusing DVD resolution or theoretical NTSC and PAL broadcast resolution with VHS resolution. DVD is 720x480 on NTSC at 30 fps and 720x576 on PAL at 25 fps. I googled that, just to make sure.
It’s a form of remembering and appreciating the past. Plus, VHS tapes, for all their A/V flaws, do have charm. As you said, it’s not replacing newer formats. It’s just for fun. Nothing wrong with that! Heck, it make me want to get a CRT/VHS combo to enjoy a few of these new issues!
I deal with VHS daily, mostly digitizing tapes to archive lost media. Some thoughts: 1. For the most part, like with Romulus, it's entirely a gimmick. Modern movies won't look good on VHS at all. Older films like Suspiria (in some ways) would be fine, but obviously not as better as in bluray or 4K. 2. VHS is surprisingly robust. I've restored footage from moldy tapes as far back as 1982. Discs otoh suffer from disc rot and other issues in just a few years. 3. VHS audio, while limited to stereo, is amazing. Totally not a victim of age at all and holds up today. 4. Some cuts are available on VHS only. The original cut of Friday The 13th Pt. II doesn't exist on any other medium, just the OOP VHS. I believe Ace Ventura also has scenes that are on the VHS only that you won't see on Netflix or bluray.
There's a ton of stuff that only ever made it to VHS and never to DVD, not because they're somehow bad or inferior productions but mainly rights issues of say many classic TV movies that are still stuck on VHS. I love the old format, I actually record random news or sports stuff more than actually watch movies on it these days because it's easier that way for me as the VCR is still hooked up and connected. Still have loads of LaserDiscs too, for movie watching in general I do prefer DVD even more than Blu-ray sometimes as I find that DVD on a good Blu-ray player that upscales I get a great gritty detailed picture that can surpass Blu-ray - to my eyes anyway, it is as always all about the experience of a favorite movie and in the eyes of the beholder not what others tell you is supposed to be superior somehow. So I totally understand the love of VHS coziness, I like that we have a variety of different formats to choose from so one's favorite classics don't necessarily have to always look a certain way forever and a latest release is set in stone as the one you should get or prefer. -No way, I'll make that decision. 📼📀
As a video producer of 34 years, I wished and prayed for a day that video quality would look a whole lot better than the days of VHS (and even analog pro formats of the time like U-Matic and Betacam SP, although all things considered, the latter didn't look _too_ shabby) - and don't even get me started on tube-based cameras. And while video formats have DRASTICALLY improved to look super clean and sharp and close to 35mm film quality, some people are wanting to go back to the crappy look of the old days of video. If I still had hair left, I'd tear it out!
About a year ago I bought a vhs converter. I was able to digitize and watch all the old bought vhs’s and stuff I recorded off tv. Which brought back a lot of happy memories about things I had initially forgotten. Plus I was able to digitize old home movies of my own and my friends and family. So we all got to see birthdays, weddings, holidays etc from 30 plus years ago. And the people in my family/friends who are between 8 and 25 were able to see their parents/grandparents/aunts/uncles etc. and they learnt stories about family they know or don’t know. And it brought so much joy to everyone. Save VHS/DVDs. And their players.
Loved this overview. I think you nailed it - VHS has a distinct nostalgic feel. It's not about quality but texture. As clunky as it was, an entire generation educated themselves on this format - it was a vital film school.
@richpieces That... or we used it because it was the best available format we could afford at the time. I would have loved to have used Laser Disc format, but I didn't think it was economically viable. The discs were huge and expensive and could only be used with store bought discs. VHS could be rented for much cheaper. I also had the option to record movies off cable/satellite. I had dozens of VCR recorded movies on VHS. That technology wasn't available for Laser Disc format. I bought higher end VCRs with 4 heads and stereo to get the best quality possible in SD. I recorded content from DirecTV satellite instead of cable or OTA antenna. Plus, they had NFL Sunday ticket, when it was actually reasonably priced. Until cable went digital HD, the picture looked like shit. By that time, we were way past VHS. I was using DVD and recording content with an AIO capture card on my computer, instead of a VCR. Once I bought an HDTV in 2010, it was on to bluray instead of DVD and cable instead of satellite. With satellite back then, you had to buy your own equipment, unlike now.
If you want to buy VHS as a display piece, go ahead, but don't try and convince me that watching it is a better experience. Nostalgia will never blind me to that extent. Heck, even if I were blind, I could still hear that the bluray sounded better.
Is it truly better to watch an older horror film in crystal clear 4K just to clearly see that that everything is just ketchup, masks and makeup? I think for some films, not seeing everything in the highest fidelity can be maybe not a better experience, but still one also worth experiencing.
@SP1CEANDW0LF Horror in 4k looks good to me. You can choose to upgrade resolution without being crystal clear, like Late Night With the Devil to intentionally give it a 70s vibe. I have no issues with Halloween, The Thing, Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street and The Exorcist in 4k. I think a movie like Basket Case was better in HD than on VHS. It drove me nuts that I couldn't see Belisle clearly, when he was finally revealed on VHS.
I think this all is about the nostalgia and "return" of the physical media combined. You can see it also with music, LPs have done strong comeback, even music cassettes, and so on.
I wouldn't even do that. I love CHRONICLES OF NARNIA (1988-90). ✝. But the DVD 📀 makes so much more sense! Remember, DVDs 📀 go smoothly from your DVD player 📀, to your laptop 📀, to your portable device 📀, and my tablet even plays DVDs 📀. And if I were to look into something else, I would look into getting digital copies of films via amazon. Even I can't find any reason to go back to VHS.
I love VHS, and I actually think its great for us collectors to have more options. on a purely literal sense, VHS collecting doesnt make much sense, but collecting its not about numbers or literal sense. I dont think having another format harms anybody, its great
@@brazil-y2y thats not really the case if you treat them with care, most of my 80s VHS tapes still work. anyway bluray and DVDs seem to have some durability issues too
I mean, for us Gen-Xers that smell of acetate really does take you back. But, much like audio cassettes, having your player suddenly start chewing up the tape will cure your nostalgia right quick. It's a nay for me.
There's also a lot of films "stuck on VHS" not because they're bad films, but sometimes haven't been made available since due to licensing issues. Take for example the 1972 Elaine May film "The Heartbreak Kid" starring Charles Grodin and Cybill Shepherd. It was released on DVD in the late 1990's but hasn't been available since due to the company that owns the rights to it.
Probably on the used market. I paid fifty bucks for a bluray of Silver Streak on Ebay. I paid 150$ for a complete Moonlighting set. Heartbreak kid was a great movie. I'M sure theres one floating around out there.
I'm always on the lookout for cool movies on VHS, LaserDisc, and CED just because of the coolness factor. I don't actually intend to play them really, they are more of a display piece.
Finally, someone being honest. It can be cool to look at the VHS packaging as a display piece, but that's really all they're good for. All these people claiming they think movies look more "authentic" on VHS than digital, may be fooling themselves but not me.
As a goof, I started watching certain classic movies on VHS every October. It looks as terrible as it always was but as you said "Nostalgia is a powerful drug". It's just good fun. I'd even argue that certain movies like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre are WAY more effective on an inferior format like VHS. It really adds to the snuff film vibe they were going for. For gear, I actually came by late-model Samsung VHS DVD-R combo unit that has an HDMI-out on it that outputs in a rather clean 1080i (there are models made after that output in 1080p as well). It makes it look pretty good considering the format and it fits well into my A/V setup. Edit: BTW, collecting VHS has already gotten prohibitively expensive, especially for popular titles. And especially if the box-art is bang-on. So be warned if you decide to follow up on this and start collecting.
I remember buying one of the first DVD players than came out back in 1997 and the leap from VHS to DVD in clarity was amazing. The first DVD I bought was the movie Mimic starring Mira Sorvino. I still have it. Lol I also still have my RCA VHS player and several VHS tapes, including old TV shows. It's a trip down memory lane watching the TV shows and commercials on VHS. I get the nostalgia appeal...
I know you mentioned it wasn’t your opinion but I do take issue with the idea that if it’s stuck on VHS it’s not very good, because that has been my main focus in returning to collecting vhs. I’ve discovered so many interesting films this year that are vhs only and another part of the reason I’ve gone back is that I got sick of looking at pixelated VHS rips on RUclips. My older 1080p tv still has RCA inputs and when I run my vcr through them the quality is just a notch below DVD for me which is fine especially if the film isn’t available any other way. There definitely seem to be some films that likely may never advance past their VHS releases because of various rights issues and to lose them would be a shame.
For me, VHS/Beta are in the past, but this is cool for those who are interested. For what it's worth, I still have my CRT television that I bought new 20+ years ago, and it still works fine.
I had bought the film the CITY OF THE DEAD, also known as HORROR HOTEL. It is a British film with Christopher LEE, made in 1960, and which takes place in the USA. On B lueray one can somewhat feel that you can see the cheap kind of sets they had to use, espcilaly in the street scenes. On a VHS tape, Or some older type media these imperfections are not noticed. People forget taht when we used to go to the moives, we would see a projector projecting an image on a screen, and this was not always so perfect. In many ways, the film GRINDHOUSE was aware of this.
The problem with playing VHS tapes today is that, first, you need a working VCR. Not only are VCRs no longer produced, but most of the ones still out there are either broken or barely functional. On top of that, most TVs today are HD or 4K, and CRT TVs are no longer manufactured. The few that remain are likely on their last legs. VHS is not the equivalent of vinyl for movie lovers and collectors. Modern vinyl players have been updated with digital technology and now feature modern connectors like HDMI or even fiber optics to integrate with modern speaker systems. Unless someone invents a modernized VCR-and why not?-the playback quality on today’s TVs would still be terrible. I recently had the chance to watch a movie on VHS on a good-sized CRT TV, and it was unwatchable. The picture quality was terrible, the sound was poor, and the movie was presented in pan-and-scan format. Sure, it was fun to enjoy the nostalgic vibe while eating pizza with friends, but that’s where the experience ended. In my opinion, bringing back VHS today appeals mostly to the most dedicated collectors who want the tapes as display items. For example, Blade Runner is my all-time favorite film, and I own it in every format-VHS, Laserdisc, Blu-ray, and 4K UHD-but that’s more about fandom than practicality. That’s where I think the market lies. Let’s face it: no one is going to watch a brand-new release, like Suspiria or Alien: Romulus, on VHS, even if they buy the tape.
I think it is defenetly mostly nostalga. However, I grew up on both VHS and DVD. I'd say I have more nostalgia for DVD but for whatever reason, whether that being the fact the DVD is still around or that Blu-rays and 4K being fiziclly the same I do feel more nostalic to VHS and I do find myself wanting to watch film in the format. I recently bought a dozen or so old VHS's at a carboot sale and there really is a different feel to it at least for me personally.
I bought all the classics on VHS from 98 to 2002. I didn't want to make repeat purchases on DVD, I skipped blu ray and now I find I am rebuying my VHS collection on 4K. I used to pride myself on only buying VHSs in widescreen which was very hard to find.
We used to get blank videotapes for Christmas when we were kids, I remember the manufacturing quality of them dropping as they got cheaper over the years. I still have Tartan's VHS of Three Shorts by Hal Hartley, has it ever been released on a disc format? It was two very short films and an hour long one called Surviving Desire, which I think was the best thing I ever saw by Hartley.
Thank the resurgence of cassette tapes for music. You made good points about nostalgia, but it's silly at the end of the day. "I can't enjoy the movie now that it has more visual clarity! Get out of my house..."
Would the people who go on about nostalgia also like the return of other stuff from their youth, like poor quality food, strikes taking TV channels off air, unreliable cars and all the rest?
New VCRs will most probably never be produced again. Funai was the last one to make VHS VCRs, and they stopped making them in 2016, because at that point they were selling *"only" 750,000* units annually. So we need much higher demand to restart production, considering the assembly lines pretty sure has been torn down since, and it would be a huge cost to rebuild. It won't happen.
@RedSnakeGroup Wow, I had no idea. That's very recent. Sad, they were founded in 1961 and made pretty good products. Their websites are still working, I will check if they are backed up at The Internet Archive, and I will suggest them to archive it if not.
as a movie collector I always look to get the best quality available when buying a movie. DVD was a step up from VHS, then blu-ray was a step up from DVD, and 4K was a step up from blu-ray... so for me it doesn't make sense to go back to a format that I moved on from years ago
I can understand wanting a VHS of the film not available any other way but I can't imagine wanting to watch one of my favourite TV shows or movies on that old format. To me though, it seems more logical that somebody creates a program for your computer that adds a filter much like watching a worn VHS tape, while watching a DVD or Blu-ray. Rather than buying a bulky degraded item and as you say with limited availability for playing those old cassettes.
I see a lot of younger people on RUclips collecting VHS. At first I thought it was cringe because after all VHS were never viewed as some premium product. But now I kind of think it’s fun that they’re discovering and enjoying something many of us took for granted growing up. I’m a child of the 80’s and my earliest memory of watching a vhs tape was E.T. back in 1983 or 84. Still I don’t think I have much nostalgia for the medium I watched it on, rather just the experience of watching it at home. That said I also have an early memory of another format that failed called CED or Videodisc that I watched Star Wars on at a relative’s house. I feel like seeing one of those in person would be really cool, but only because I didn’t grow up with it. So I feel like I see how some people could view VHS in the same way.
I love watching 35 and 70mm prints in a cinema, but I can't imagine buying VHS again. The quality of cassette tapes just doesn't last, and I'm sure it's the same for VHS tapes.
I’ve fantasized about the idea of a new format of 4K discs that utilize the same shape and size of LD’s. The size alone would allow for GB’s or even TB’s of data that would increase the quality of the film presentation without ever having to worry about compression. No need for dual layered discs even.
Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avary on the video archives podcast watch VHS so maybe they have influenced some people? I don’t remember if they use a crt tv or not. They’ve made me curious to see if the old tapes I still have are actually watchable.
I hear the entire Beatles back catalogue is going to be rereleased on wax cylinders, comes in a barrel presentation set with a free unique scraping device.
Sometimes a film gets stuck on a old format not because its rubbish but due to a licensing/distributor issue OR because modern society wouldnt allow it. It doesnt take a lot for a film/tv show to be cancelled these days so it doesnt mean either that the media was so offensive it deserved to be blocked. For example a lot of comedies have suffered from this fate.
I still have nostalgia for VHS. Got rid of my player about 2010. About 50 of my movie collection went to Blockbusters just before they collapsed. I still have the Nightmare on Elm Street VHS tapes.
Used DVD's are great value right now, let's hope they don't start to be fashionable in the near future looking at the price of used cassetes now. VHS are interesting if they haven't been released in newer formats. Though some horror films and experimental cinema do look pretty cool on VHS tapes, even compared with newer formats like DVD and blu-ray.
If I'm going to go back to a legacy analog format for nostalgia (more like if the content has never been re-released on any newer format), it'll be laserdisc.
Nay. It's taking advantage of retro nostalgia. I prefer physical media to streaming because I enjoy a visible library as I do books, but can't make sense of this otherwise.
@@ElliotCoenLive long enough and nostalgia can be a special thing. I miss times long gone. I’m not saying I’ll buy VHS necessarily. But without time travel, a few nostalgia items can help revive long-forgotten happy times and ease the ache of a past that’ll never return. That’s a good thing, IMO.
Yay, definitely. Here in the States, I bought a VCR in great condition for $30 a couple of years ago and it was one of my best purchases as a lover of physical media. I was finally able to watch my cheap VHS copies of "Comfort and Joy" (1984) and "The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne" both of which are almost impossible to find/watch here in America. Was also able to watch some old family videos from the 90s my parents had in storage. Yes, it's nostalgic, and companies will exploit nostalgia to turn a profit, but so what?
Not for me! When DVD came out i never looked back! Its always been about going for the best presentation available, for me, and at one time that was VHS. I even had a CED player for a small while, which was interesting... But DVD has so many advantages, shelf space saving not a small one! Although these modern limited eds do kinda roll that one back a bit, if you go for those. Havong said all that, i do still hold back a selection of my favourite VHS titles, some of which still don't have bluray releases and some may never! (OG Star Wars) I do also have a VHS player but i never use it and have no intention of buying any new VHS.
VCR's were made up into the mid 00's i have about 3 and i still enjoy watching them on my old CRT tv, which is also used for my GameCube as it is the best way to play early game systems
Nay... I totally understand the appeal tho! the idea of having a lesser quality film is fun. But VHS tapes are too fragile, I think people don't realize that they can deteriorate over time. Taking care of these items is not an easy task as they can break in many ways (even temperature can cause serious damage to your VHS's magnetic tape). At this point I prefer DVDs, their low quality charm is there, you have bonus, a nice menu and it's easier to keep in good condition. (great video!)
I love VHS tapes for their charm, but I would never collect them for one big reason and that’s the risk of them getting chewed up. Anyone growing up on VHS tapes will know the horror of your tape getting chewed up in the player. It might have been a rare occurrence back then but due to the age of these players now the likelihood of them chewing is much higher. They are complicated mechanical machine that will inevitably deteriorate. I recently bought a CRT/VHS portable just to play some tapes and one got chewed up and not only destroyed the tape but ruin the player aswel. Too risky to collect for imo.
I collect some VHS tapes that are nostalgic to me personally or that has some interesting art (yes I know I can just find it online, but having the actual cover is something special), or if there is an old VHS with a dub of movie that can't be fun anywhere else, which there is a handfull of old Disney movies in Sweden where that is the case. But I don't see any point in getting any newly produced VHS tapes.
Hi Elliot - ridiculous VHS making a comeback? I’m actually enquiring Elliot you mention Harmony Korine on your video - does anyone know if “Aggro Dr1ft”‘is getting a UK cinema release or Blu-ray treatment ? I would dearly love to see this film 🙏
Hi in my early 20's here never really watched tapes or cassettes yet I'm into them both for physical ownership and artwork discs feel flimsy to me. the weight and chunky matters to me. I would agree that i wouldn't make this my main way and i still tend to stream but as a CRT in the corner its lovely. I Also Feel Like im keeping the passion alive. Im Loving Owning VHS And Cassette Tapes, Watching And Listening This Way Connects To Me on a personal level. but not nostalgia as i said never really interacted with this type of media before.
I think its like the music industry sees a renaissance of both vinyl records and even cassette tapes, but in contrast to its music likes it doesn't sound (or look) as good as music does so I see this more of collector items rather than something I would buy to watch.
I had quite an extensive VHS collection back in the late 80s early 90s (tape to tape was a game changer!) - and I loved it at the time. But I have no interest in going back - I kinda get it when folk are collecting pre-cert horror movies (especially the video nasties) on tape, but it's not for me. I'm a DVD/Bluray guy (I'm not upgrading to 4k) and am happy with that format. Stuff that was on VHS but hasn't yet made it to shiny disc? It's probably available to download off of RUclips.
Beta will never comeback. Video 2000 never made it to the USA but I know about that format. Phillips waited to long too decide whether to enter the USA market, and VHS was winning by the early 1980s. No room for a 3rd US video format but supposedly the Video 2000 machines came with internal provisions for USA120v/60hz service.
@@dfc99nyc I barely witnessed Video 2000 back in the day in Europe. There were leftovers of tapes in video clubs back in the early 80s, it was sold as the most perfect system ever :)
Still have a few VHS that never made it to DVD or Blu. The players are a PITA and the tape heads are usually worn out or the player eats the tape. For masochists only.
i like physical media because its the best quality. no point in getting a nice 4k tv with soundbar/speakers if its all gonna be streamed. same goes for vhs, i wouldnt want it if its a worse version. it wont even look good if you dont own a crt tv. why not just add a filter option to give the vhs look
Watched ID4 on VHS/CRT for cracks the other month. I get the nostalgia element was fun to watch the old promos etc, my childhood restored briefly, but Christ I found the quality shocking, even on a CRT. Tracking anyone?
Having started collecting physical media with music long before home video and seeing the way people approach vinyl and cassette collecting I'm honestly surprised it took this long for studios to start milking VHS to this degree. Not something I'm particularly interested in for the most part, though multi format high end sets like what Umbrella is doing are slightly more enticing.
The great thing about VHS back in the 1980s was the quality of the tape stock. These days, the tapes being produced for these limited edition releases are cheap crap. I would in my right mind spend the money on something so tacky.
i bought a VCR last year, brand new old stock, 2009 model. that's my first experience using this format. i am used to VCD, so i do not think the image and audio quality is the worst aspect of VHS, No, it is the tape and its mechanical as a format. VHS and VCR is far too unstable and unpredictable. i can see why VCD took off so well in SEA markets back in the 90s-00s as VCD offers equal visual quality without the rewinding, the track adjusting, tape stucking, mold growing, and all the technical problems of VHS. now it's a fun thing to play with, its bulkier boxes look wonderful on the shelf, but thats all. if you want to use VHS as a means to watch movies more than just a display unit, you will find more frustration than enjoyment. want to get the '80s/90s' look? get the VCD. again, if you want it as a display unit, or you are just curious of the format, go for it. but if not, don't bother. sometimes i regret wanting to own VCR and VHS today. best type of physical media is still the optical disc, they just enhanced the disc's features, from CD to UHD BD, and we do have the technology capable in making archival disc to outlive us all, its just that studios won't be using the technology. 😂
VCDs were too low resolution (320x240 or 352x288). SVCDs were better, but you could only store 30 minutes per disc. DVD was better in every aspect. VHS was the easiest format to record on, but in terms of picture quality it wasn't great. However, most people didn't have huge TVs back then so didn't really notice the softer image.
Yeah to me it seems like a total nostalgia cash grab thing. I have a friend who's into collecting VHS tapes and one reason they gave was "its the way the movies were meant to be seen", and like.....that's just not true at all lmfao. VHS home video releases are notorious for butchering movies' cinematography because of either pan and scan or just cropping the image to fit a 4:3 screen, and not to mention the obviously inferior sound and image quality
It is a nice idea and I’m glad it’s coming back in this new and limited way for certain films. I do still collect VHS for my fully working player but it’s primarily for old school motorsport stuff and old school WWF stuff that will probably never get upgraded to disc. Occasionally if I do spot some film or tv tapes in the wild and their in good condition and affordable then I’ll pick them up. 📼
One of my favourite films is Buddy's Song which was only released on VHS and Laser Disc. I have a torrent download of the laser disc version which I burned onto a DVD and I also have a PAL UK VHS tape which still plays great in the last JVC VHS player which I bought in 1997. I know you got those new tapes for free but they are too expensive and I wouldn't buy them. It's bad enough now with vinyl records at extortionate prices but at least the records can sound as good as modern alternatives but VHS doesn't even compare with DVD quality so I don't see this resurgence taking off.
Only reason I'll never collect vhs is that vhs tapes are more suseptible to damage. Was the main reason I made the switch to dvd a long time ago was because my vhs tapes started not working or the video tape would snap from age or over use. Dvd and bluray have their own problems, but I think from a collecting standpoint, I would rather put my faith in something that doesnt rely on video tape that becomes brittle over a much shorter period of time.
DVDs are more susceptible to damage, compared to bluray, but no one cares. Bluray should be the minimum format for NEW physical media. I agree that VHS should be left in the past.
This might be hard for people putting energy into buying overpriced blurays to understand, but some of us buy VHS because we’re poor (not that this new release trend has anything to do with that).
I have a handful of VHS tapes of films that aren’t available on any other format but have transferred them to disc. Like yourself, I can’t afford the cost or space of it.
Cool idea, not at the price point of Alien Romulus though. I don't mind buying a sealed VHS for 5 or ten dollars. It's about getting a bargain. Paying 60 dollars for a VHS is absurd I wouldn't pay that for any laserdisc either that wasn't a superb or rare boxed set
I will though that the VHS release of Alien Romulus has far more appealing cover art then the other releases. If I ever get the film, I’ll have to see about a replacement slip cover with that art.
One HUGE problem is aspect ratio! VHS only began making widescreen versions available just before DVD came on the market and those were rare enough to be called "boutique"! You had to special order and pay more for the experience. Thumbs down, my friend!
This is exactly why I switched over to LaserDisc in the mid-90’s. Widescreen presentations, options for Dolby Digital and DTS on certain discs, Criterion Collection titles, bonus material such as director’s commentary’s and behind the scenes featurettes. It was a cinephiles dream come true, something so many missed out on until the arrival of DVD. Modern physical media owes a great debt to LaserDisc for starting it all.
VHS was great for those of us who were around in the 80s and 90s but I don't get why you would watch them now given Blu ray and 4k. I get it from a collector's item / historical curio perspective but not from a visual and audio experience perspective unless again you want some authentic nostalgic experiences though as someone who grew up in that period and enjoyed VHS and in fact still have a dozen or so of my own childhood VHS tapes ... I personally doubt I'll ever watch them again.... Though I do still have a VHS player lol. Unlike vinyl where you could argue the warmer natural sound of vinyl is actually better than digital audio CDs if you have the right setup such as expensive valve amps etc....i am not sure you could make the same argument for VHS over Blu ray and 4k. But you know.... Each to their own. If someone feels interested in collecting VHS for their own reasons then no problem but you can't really argue it's a better format lol. I like keeping my old tapes because they were the actual ones I had and enjoyed as a kid but I certainly wouldn't buy any new VHS tapes like Suspiria when I already have an amazing and jaw dropping 4k version with tons of special features that doesn't degrade on every watch like a VHS tape does.
I don’t really understand the resurgence of VHS-from any real cinematic standpoint they just look worse, and I don’t find them as fun to collect because they’re bulkier and don’t look as nice on a shelf!
The fact people say VHS video contains mainly slop is extremely ignorant. Whilst yes the RedLetterMedia Best of the Worst tapes exist, much of it slop. There are some really funny so bad they are good hidden gems. That for one means we need people going back and promoting old VHS forgotten tapes. Let alone the whole Japanese V-Cinema movement a period of Japanese cinema where the studio system collapsed and straight to video was the main artistic output. People like Kiyoshi Kurosawa got their start on V-Cinema. Mainly of them are actually artistic/arthouse gems. VHS is not the medium I will ever collect. But people going through documenting/archiving and promoting all the stuff still stuck on VHS is key
No thanks on the revival of VHS. VHS isn’t a valued commodity going forward. It’s bulky, inferior technology, and guaranteed to degrade quicker than other formats which we have available today. Blu Ray is my favourite for both movies and video games. They have great sound quality, high enough visual resolution, and they are pretty tough and durable. 👌
VHS, yay or nay? Let me know what you think!
Quentin Tarantino said he watches VHS all the time for the charm, TBH I kinda agree 😂 but maybe its just nostalgia
I think doing limited prints on vhs is a really cool collectors piece for certain movies. However, some new releases like from Bloodsick Productions where the whole thing is shot on tape makes a lot more sense. VHS 100% has a “filter” to it that you don’t get from clean blu-rays/4ks or even DVD. For me and my collection. VHS is pretty much just for tapes I had as a kid or films that would “look better” on tape. Ex. Power Rangers The Movie. I also think most of the time animation looks better on VHS as well. But Sci-fi/Horror movies from back in the day benefit a lot more from VHS than something like Alien Romulus would. But in that same vein, Terrifier 2 looks incredible on VHS. I think at this point any physical media release is a good thing and if we get limited runs of movies on VHS, it’s just a cool collectors piece and there’s probably no real push for the market to move past that.
Nah
Hell no
Some people don’t care about video quality. They just want the movie in the cheapest format available.
The VHS resurgence really started maybe 10 years ago, particularly with horror films, and has been growing ever since.
I have a bunch of movies on VHS that never came out on another format, so that's one reason to keep watching them. I would recommend watching them on a CRT and not a HD TV though. Cheers Elliot!
The best thing about VHS, at least for those of us from the old days, is seeing all the opening and closing material before and after the films, the old studio logos from studios and distributors that may no longer exist, the old law enforcement copyright warnings, the previews of things then in theaters and the various trailers or special feature bonus intros. As for the movies themselves, there's not much reason to watch the entire movie in fuzzy 480p. But yes, this is all a nostalgia thing, and since I have two working VCR/VHS players it's fun to collect and watch a few now and again. The real gold is finding VHS tapes at estate sales of things people taped from old TV networks and cable, for the old promos and interstitials and retro ads. There's a whole thing to this VHS phenom that have little to do with cinema.
Yeah that’s definitely most interesting to me. I said elsewhere that there’s so much gold on RUclips thanks to VHS rips of old television programs
When I copied over all my old VHS tapes, to DVDs. I set up interactive menus for each disc, on my computer. I kept the old introduction music for the VHS companies and the pre-views of other movies.
Most people don't seem to realise that the term "trailers" refers to the movie adverts that came after the movie (They trail after the movie.) and "previews" are pre-viewings before the movie. Pre-view can also refer to showing part of a film, in an advert.
When people refer to adverts of movies as "trailers", they should be saying advert or pre-view (because it's still a pre-viewing of part of the film.)
VHS is 360P at best. Many VHS are only 240P. DVD is 480P. Both formats are inferior to bluray.
I'm guilty of not throwing out my VHS. It's in storage in my shed for multiple years, so it's questionable what kind of condition they'll be in if I try to play them. I have a VCR in my bedroom closet, that should still work but it isn't being used. I will not buy any new VHS or DVDs, especially when they're charging bluray money for the VHS tapes.
I've watched a couple of things on RUclips that were played with the original commercials from late 80s, early 90s and it was interesting but after I saw the same ad twice, I skipped ahead, just like I would have done back then.
@@frommatorav1 You are confusing horizontal and vertical resolution. NTSC VHS has a vertical resolution of 480i, PAL VHS is 576i. That can not change, it is the physical property of the format. The fuzzy picture of VHS is caused by the greatly reduced HORIZONTAL resolution, which is 220-250 lines instead of the theoretical maximum of 640 lines for NTSC and 720 lines for PAL. SVHS is capable of about 400 lines of horizontal resolution.
@@mrnmrn1 At the end of the VHS era, I had SVHS VCR with 400 lines of resolution. It also had 6 heads (4 for video, 2 for stereo audio). Looked nice for about a year, until I could afford a DVD player.
I could record with that but they didn't sell or rent movies at that resolution.
Also, I think you're confusing DVD resolution or theoretical NTSC and PAL broadcast resolution with VHS resolution.
DVD is 720x480 on NTSC at 30 fps and 720x576 on PAL at 25 fps.
I googled that, just to make sure.
The thing I hate the most is that they change the artwork for all new BR and 4K releases. The original VHS covers were the best.
It’s a form of remembering and appreciating the past. Plus, VHS tapes, for all their A/V flaws, do have charm. As you said, it’s not replacing newer formats. It’s just for fun. Nothing wrong with that! Heck, it make me want to get a CRT/VHS combo to enjoy a few of these new issues!
I deal with VHS daily, mostly digitizing tapes to archive lost media. Some thoughts:
1. For the most part, like with Romulus, it's entirely a gimmick. Modern movies won't look good on VHS at all. Older films like Suspiria (in some ways) would be fine, but obviously not as better as in bluray or 4K.
2. VHS is surprisingly robust. I've restored footage from moldy tapes as far back as 1982. Discs otoh suffer from disc rot and other issues in just a few years.
3. VHS audio, while limited to stereo, is amazing. Totally not a victim of age at all and holds up today.
4. Some cuts are available on VHS only. The original cut of Friday The 13th Pt. II doesn't exist on any other medium, just the OOP VHS. I believe Ace Ventura also has scenes that are on the VHS only that you won't see on Netflix or bluray.
There's a ton of stuff that only ever made it to VHS and never to DVD, not because they're somehow bad or inferior productions but mainly rights issues of say many classic TV movies that are still stuck on VHS. I love the old format, I actually record random news or sports stuff more than actually watch movies on it these days because it's easier that way for me as the VCR is still hooked up and connected. Still have loads of LaserDiscs too, for movie watching in general I do prefer DVD even more than Blu-ray sometimes as I find that DVD on a good Blu-ray player that upscales I get a great gritty detailed picture that can surpass Blu-ray - to my eyes anyway, it is as always all about the experience of a favorite movie and in the eyes of the beholder not what others tell you is supposed to be superior somehow. So I totally understand the love of VHS coziness, I like that we have a variety of different formats to choose from so one's favorite classics don't necessarily have to always look a certain way forever and a latest release is set in stone as the one you should get or prefer. -No way, I'll make that decision. 📼📀
As a video producer of 34 years, I wished and prayed for a day that video quality would look a whole lot better than the days of VHS (and even analog pro formats of the time like U-Matic and Betacam SP, although all things considered, the latter didn't look _too_ shabby) - and don't even get me started on tube-based cameras. And while video formats have DRASTICALLY improved to look super clean and sharp and close to 35mm film quality, some people are wanting to go back to the crappy look of the old days of video. If I still had hair left, I'd tear it out!
About a year ago I bought a vhs converter. I was able to digitize and watch all the old bought vhs’s and stuff I recorded off tv. Which brought back a lot of happy memories about things I had initially forgotten.
Plus I was able to digitize old home movies of my own and my friends and family. So we all got to see birthdays, weddings, holidays etc from 30 plus years ago. And the people in my family/friends who are between 8 and 25 were able to see their parents/grandparents/aunts/uncles etc. and they learnt stories about family they know or don’t know. And it brought so much joy to everyone.
Save VHS/DVDs. And their players.
Loved this overview. I think you nailed it - VHS has a distinct nostalgic feel. It's not about quality but texture. As clunky as it was, an entire generation educated themselves on this format - it was a vital film school.
@richpieces That... or we used it because it was the best available format we could afford at the time. I would have loved to have used Laser Disc format, but I didn't think it was economically viable. The discs were huge and expensive and could only be used with store bought discs.
VHS could be rented for much cheaper.
I also had the option to record movies off cable/satellite. I had dozens of VCR recorded movies on VHS. That technology wasn't available for Laser Disc format. I bought higher end VCRs with 4 heads and stereo to get the best quality possible in SD. I recorded content from DirecTV satellite instead of cable or OTA antenna. Plus, they had NFL Sunday ticket, when it was actually reasonably priced. Until cable went digital HD, the picture looked like shit. By that time, we were way past VHS. I was using DVD and recording content with an AIO capture card on my computer, instead of a VCR.
Once I bought an HDTV in 2010, it was on to bluray instead of DVD and cable instead of satellite. With satellite back then, you had to buy your own equipment, unlike now.
If you want to buy VHS as a display piece, go ahead, but don't try and convince me that watching it is a better experience.
Nostalgia will never blind me to that extent. Heck, even if I were blind, I could still hear that the bluray sounded better.
Is it truly better to watch an older horror film in crystal clear 4K just to clearly see that that everything is just ketchup, masks and makeup? I think for some films, not seeing everything in the highest fidelity can be maybe not a better experience, but still one also worth experiencing.
@SP1CEANDW0LF Horror in 4k looks good to me. You can choose to upgrade resolution without being crystal clear, like Late Night With the Devil to intentionally give it a 70s vibe. I have no issues with Halloween, The Thing, Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street and The Exorcist in 4k.
I think a movie like Basket Case was better in HD than on VHS. It drove me nuts that I couldn't see Belisle clearly, when he was finally revealed on VHS.
Nostalgia, you nailed it. I'd assume most of these are for shelf presentation and not being watched.
I think this all is about the nostalgia and "return" of the physical media combined. You can see it also with music, LPs have done strong comeback, even music cassettes, and so on.
I wouldn't even do that. I love CHRONICLES OF NARNIA (1988-90). ✝. But the DVD 📀 makes so much more sense! Remember, DVDs 📀 go smoothly from your DVD player 📀, to your laptop 📀, to your portable device 📀, and my tablet even plays DVDs 📀. And if I were to look into something else, I would look into getting digital copies of films via amazon. Even I can't find any reason to go back to VHS.
I was glad to see the back of vhs and welcomed dvd with open arms. Then Blu-ray and 4K.
Never go back to an old love. It never works out.
I love VHS, and I actually think its great for us collectors to have more options. on a purely literal sense, VHS collecting doesnt make much sense, but collecting its not about numbers or literal sense. I dont think having another format harms anybody, its great
The problem is the tapes degrade pretty fast. It's not from a but knock yourself out if it's for you.
@@brazil-y2y thats not really the case if you treat them with care, most of my 80s VHS tapes still work.
anyway bluray and DVDs seem to have some durability issues too
I mean, for us Gen-Xers that smell of acetate really does take you back. But, much like audio cassettes, having your player suddenly start chewing up the tape will cure your nostalgia right quick. It's a nay for me.
There's also a lot of films "stuck on VHS" not because they're bad films, but sometimes haven't been made available since due to licensing issues. Take for example the 1972 Elaine May film "The Heartbreak Kid" starring Charles Grodin and Cybill Shepherd. It was released on DVD in the late 1990's but hasn't been available since due to the company that owns the rights to it.
Probably on the used market. I paid fifty bucks for a bluray of Silver Streak on Ebay. I paid 150$ for a complete Moonlighting set.
Heartbreak kid was a great movie. I'M sure theres one floating around out there.
With cassettes making a comeback VHS makes sense..
Can you buy brand new music on cassette again then?
I'm always on the lookout for cool movies on VHS, LaserDisc, and CED just because of the coolness factor. I don't actually intend to play them really, they are more of a display piece.
Finally, someone being honest. It can be cool to look at the VHS packaging as a display piece, but that's really all they're good for.
All these people claiming they think movies look more "authentic" on VHS than digital, may be fooling themselves but not me.
As a goof, I started watching certain classic movies on VHS every October. It looks as terrible as it always was but as you said "Nostalgia is a powerful drug". It's just good fun. I'd even argue that certain movies like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre are WAY more effective on an inferior format like VHS. It really adds to the snuff film vibe they were going for. For gear, I actually came by late-model Samsung VHS DVD-R combo unit that has an HDMI-out on it that outputs in a rather clean 1080i (there are models made after that output in 1080p as well). It makes it look pretty good considering the format and it fits well into my A/V setup.
Edit: BTW, collecting VHS has already gotten prohibitively expensive, especially for popular titles. And especially if the box-art is bang-on. So be warned if you decide to follow up on this and start collecting.
Finally! I've been rooting for a comeback of VHS for years! I'll buy that Alien VHS.
Be kind. Rewind. 😂
Im glad we don’t have to rewind Blu-ray discs!
I remember buying one of the first DVD players than came out back in 1997 and the leap from VHS to DVD in clarity was amazing. The first DVD I bought was the movie Mimic starring Mira Sorvino. I still have it. Lol I also still have my RCA VHS player and several VHS tapes, including old TV shows. It's a trip down memory lane watching the TV shows and commercials on VHS. I get the nostalgia appeal...
Wow this is awesome to see them releasing new VHS, I’ve not dipped my toe back in yet but it’s still cool to see 👍
I know you mentioned it wasn’t your opinion but I do take issue with the idea that if it’s stuck on VHS it’s not very good, because that has been my main focus in returning to collecting vhs. I’ve discovered so many interesting films this year that are vhs only and another part of the reason I’ve gone back is that I got sick of looking at pixelated VHS rips on RUclips. My older 1080p tv still has RCA inputs and when I run my vcr through them the quality is just a notch below DVD for me which is fine especially if the film isn’t available any other way. There definitely seem to be some films that likely may never advance past their VHS releases because of various rights issues and to lose them would be a shame.
For me, VHS/Beta are in the past, but this is cool for those who are interested. For what it's worth, I still have my CRT television that I bought new 20+ years ago, and it still works fine.
I have 2 working 27" CRT TVs, if you would like to buy one. They're both about 18-20 years old.
@frommatorav1 I'm okay there but thanks anyway for the offer!
I had bought the film the CITY OF THE DEAD, also known as HORROR HOTEL. It is a British film with Christopher LEE, made in 1960, and which takes place in the USA. On B lueray one can somewhat feel that you can see the cheap kind of sets they had to use, espcilaly in the street scenes. On a VHS tape, Or some older type media these imperfections are not noticed. People forget taht when we used to go to the moives, we would see a projector projecting an image on a screen, and this was not always so perfect. In many ways, the film GRINDHOUSE was aware of this.
VHS and Laserdisc, these are technologies I still use. A CRT is a mainstay in my home theatre setup.
The problem with playing VHS tapes today is that, first, you need a working VCR. Not only are VCRs no longer produced, but most of the ones still out there are either broken or barely functional. On top of that, most TVs today are HD or 4K, and CRT TVs are no longer manufactured. The few that remain are likely on their last legs. VHS is not the equivalent of vinyl for movie lovers and collectors. Modern vinyl players have been updated with digital technology and now feature modern connectors like HDMI or even fiber optics to integrate with modern speaker systems. Unless someone invents a modernized VCR-and why not?-the playback quality on today’s TVs would still be terrible.
I recently had the chance to watch a movie on VHS on a good-sized CRT TV, and it was unwatchable. The picture quality was terrible, the sound was poor, and the movie was presented in pan-and-scan format. Sure, it was fun to enjoy the nostalgic vibe while eating pizza with friends, but that’s where the experience ended.
In my opinion, bringing back VHS today appeals mostly to the most dedicated collectors who want the tapes as display items. For example, Blade Runner is my all-time favorite film, and I own it in every format-VHS, Laserdisc, Blu-ray, and 4K UHD-but that’s more about fandom than practicality. That’s where I think the market lies. Let’s face it: no one is going to watch a brand-new release, like Suspiria or Alien: Romulus, on VHS, even if they buy the tape.
We were the commercial kids back then. We still are somehow.
I think it is defenetly mostly nostalga. However, I grew up on both VHS and DVD. I'd say I have more nostalgia for DVD but for whatever reason, whether that being the fact the DVD is still around or that Blu-rays and 4K being fiziclly the same I do feel more nostalic to VHS and I do find myself wanting to watch film in the format. I recently bought a dozen or so old VHS's at a carboot sale and there really is a different feel to it at least for me personally.
Dan Curtis's 1977 movie, Curse of the black widow is only available on VHS. I watched it before my VHS player broke down. Good spider horror movie!
I used to buy my vhs tapes in widescreen version so you can see all the shot.
I bought all the classics on VHS from 98 to 2002. I didn't want to make repeat purchases on DVD, I skipped blu ray and now I find I am rebuying my VHS collection on 4K. I used to pride myself on only buying VHSs in widescreen which was very hard to find.
I remember watching Halloween on Bluray when it first came out vs VHS. It felt so much better on video.
Were you watching it on a CRT?
We used to get blank videotapes for Christmas when we were kids, I remember the manufacturing quality of them dropping as they got cheaper over the years.
I still have Tartan's VHS of Three Shorts by Hal Hartley, has it ever been released on a disc format? It was two very short films and an hour long one called Surviving Desire, which I think was the best thing I ever saw by Hartley.
Vhs tapes more healthy than my Disney plus was VHS tapes keeps me moving more than internet does
Thank the resurgence of cassette tapes for music. You made good points about nostalgia, but it's silly at the end of the day. "I can't enjoy the movie now that it has more visual clarity! Get out of my house..."
I thankfully never got into cassettes because I could see myself falling into that hole. I’m happy with Vinyl and CD for music
Would the people who go on about nostalgia also like the return of other stuff from their youth, like poor quality food, strikes taking TV channels off air, unreliable cars and all the rest?
@@ShanghaiRooster Unfortunately, none of those things have gone away.
The last tine I had a VHS tape was in 2001. I gave it to a friend who was none too pleased with the (then) ancient format.
No, I'm not going back.
What was the last tape you had?
@@ElliotCoen Forrest Gump.
New VCRs will most probably never be produced again. Funai was the last one to make VHS VCRs, and they stopped making them in 2016, because at that point they were selling *"only" 750,000* units annually. So we need much higher demand to restart production, considering the assembly lines pretty sure has been torn down since, and it would be a huge cost to rebuild. It won't happen.
Funai electric, defunct in October 2024!
@RedSnakeGroup Wow, I had no idea. That's very recent. Sad, they were founded in 1961 and made pretty good products. Their websites are still working, I will check if they are backed up at The Internet Archive, and I will suggest them to archive it if not.
@mrnmrn1 Funai is going into liquidation. That's why their website still exists.
as a movie collector I always look to get the best quality available when buying a movie. DVD was a step up from VHS, then blu-ray was a step up from DVD, and 4K was a step up from blu-ray... so for me it doesn't make sense to go back to a format that I moved on from years ago
I still have my twenty year old direct drive VHS tape recorder. It's about 1/3 of the size of my original, late '80s, VHS recorder.
I can understand wanting a VHS of the film not available any other way but I can't imagine wanting to watch one of my favourite TV shows or movies on that old format. To me though, it seems more logical that somebody creates a program for your computer that adds a filter much like watching a worn VHS tape, while watching a DVD or Blu-ray. Rather than buying a bulky degraded item and as you say with limited availability for playing those old cassettes.
I see a lot of younger people on RUclips collecting VHS. At first I thought it was cringe because after all VHS were never viewed as some premium product. But now I kind of think it’s fun that they’re discovering and enjoying something many of us took for granted growing up. I’m a child of the 80’s and my earliest memory of watching a vhs tape was E.T. back in 1983 or 84. Still I don’t think I have much nostalgia for the medium I watched it on, rather just the experience of watching it at home.
That said I also have an early memory of another format that failed called CED or Videodisc that I watched Star Wars on at a relative’s house. I feel like seeing one of those in person would be really cool, but only because I didn’t grow up with it. So I feel like I see how some people could view VHS in the same way.
I love watching 35 and 70mm prints in a cinema, but I can't imagine buying VHS again. The quality of cassette tapes just doesn't last, and I'm sure it's the same for VHS tapes.
I'd rather have Laserdisc back. That's collectable 😂
100%
I’ve fantasized about the idea of a new format of 4K discs that utilize the same shape and size of LD’s. The size alone would allow for GB’s or even TB’s of data that would increase the quality of the film presentation without ever having to worry about compression. No need for dual layered discs even.
A lot of my laserdiscs suffered from laser rot.
Never got into it because it was already dead before I got into Physical Media collecting
Ignorant statement
Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avary on the video archives podcast watch VHS so maybe they have influenced some people? I don’t remember if they use a crt tv or not. They’ve made me curious to see if the old tapes I still have are actually watchable.
I hear the entire Beatles back catalogue is going to be rereleased on wax cylinders, comes in a barrel presentation set with a free unique scraping device.
If this was April I would thought this would be an April fools joke
Sometimes a film gets stuck on a old format not because its rubbish but due to a licensing/distributor issue OR because modern society wouldnt allow it. It doesnt take a lot for a film/tv show to be cancelled these days so it doesnt mean either that the media was so offensive it deserved to be blocked. For example a lot of comedies have suffered from this fate.
I still have nostalgia for VHS. Got rid of my player about 2010. About 50 of my movie collection went to Blockbusters just before they collapsed. I still have the Nightmare on Elm Street VHS tapes.
I have a few films stuck on VHS via bootlegs
Used DVD's are great value right now, let's hope they don't start to be fashionable in the near future looking at the price of used cassetes now.
VHS are interesting if they haven't been released in newer formats. Though some horror films and experimental cinema do look pretty cool on VHS tapes, even compared with newer formats like DVD and blu-ray.
If I'm going to go back to a legacy analog format for nostalgia (more like if the content has never been re-released on any newer format), it'll be laserdisc.
I still collect VHS tapes. Granted I’m very selective
Question. Are the prints on these tapes pan&scan or letterboxed?
Nay. It's taking advantage of retro nostalgia. I prefer physical media to streaming because I enjoy a visible library as I do books, but can't make sense of this otherwise.
Interesting point. Nostalgia is a money maker these days. Sell people the thing that reminds them of a simpler and happier time.
@@ElliotCoenLive long enough and nostalgia can be a special thing. I miss times long gone. I’m not saying I’ll buy VHS necessarily. But without time travel, a few nostalgia items can help revive long-forgotten happy times and ease the ache of a past that’ll never return. That’s a good thing, IMO.
Yay, definitely. Here in the States, I bought a VCR in great condition for $30 a couple of years ago and it was one of my best purchases as a lover of physical media. I was finally able to watch my cheap VHS copies of "Comfort and Joy" (1984) and "The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne" both of which are almost impossible to find/watch here in America. Was also able to watch some old family videos from the 90s my parents had in storage.
Yes, it's nostalgic, and companies will exploit nostalgia to turn a profit, but so what?
Very cool! I support new VHS tapes being made. May I ask if it was setting up your VCR was a challenge? Does it require expensive adapters?
@analogblues not at all! Simple plug and play. Just need a TV with an A/V cable input.
There’s vhs stuff that never made it to dvd . So I’m for this just to get an upconverting vcr . Hopefully a laserdisc player too
Not for me! When DVD came out i never looked back! Its always been about going for the best presentation available, for me, and at one time that was VHS. I even had a CED player for a small while, which was interesting... But DVD has so many advantages, shelf space saving not a small one! Although these modern limited eds do kinda roll that one back a bit, if you go for those. Havong said all that, i do still hold back a selection of my favourite VHS titles, some of which still don't have bluray releases and some may never! (OG Star Wars) I do also have a VHS player but i never use it and have no intention of buying any new VHS.
VCR's were made up into the mid 00's i have about 3 and i still enjoy watching them on my old CRT tv, which is also used for my GameCube as it is the best way to play early game systems
Nay... I totally understand the appeal tho! the idea of having a lesser quality film is fun. But VHS tapes are too fragile, I think people don't realize that they can deteriorate over time. Taking care of these items is not an easy task as they can break in many ways (even temperature can cause serious damage to your VHS's magnetic tape). At this point I prefer DVDs, their low quality charm is there, you have bonus, a nice menu and it's easier to keep in good condition. (great video!)
nah VHS is much better. Digital pixels suck.
I love VHS tapes for their charm, but I would never collect them for one big reason and that’s the risk of them getting chewed up. Anyone growing up on VHS tapes will know the horror of your tape getting chewed up in the player. It might have been a rare occurrence back then but due to the age of these players now the likelihood of them chewing is much higher. They are complicated mechanical machine that will inevitably deteriorate.
I recently bought a CRT/VHS portable just to play some tapes and one got chewed up and not only destroyed the tape but ruin the player aswel.
Too risky to collect for imo.
I collect some VHS tapes that are nostalgic to me personally or that has some interesting art (yes I know I can just find it online, but having the actual cover is something special), or if there is an old VHS with a dub of movie that can't be fun anywhere else, which there is a handfull of old Disney movies in Sweden where that is the case. But I don't see any point in getting any newly produced VHS tapes.
Hi Elliot - ridiculous VHS making a comeback? I’m actually enquiring Elliot you mention Harmony Korine on your video - does anyone know if “Aggro Dr1ft”‘is getting a UK cinema release or Blu-ray treatment ? I would dearly love to see this film 🙏
Hi in my early 20's here never really watched tapes or cassettes yet I'm into them both for physical ownership and artwork discs feel flimsy to me. the weight and chunky matters to me. I would agree that i wouldn't make this my main way and i still tend to stream but as a CRT in the corner its lovely. I Also Feel Like im keeping the passion alive. Im Loving Owning VHS And Cassette Tapes, Watching And Listening This Way Connects To Me on a personal level. but not nostalgia as i said never really interacted with this type of media before.
I think its like the music industry sees a renaissance of both vinyl records and even cassette tapes, but in contrast to its music likes it doesn't sound (or look) as good as music does so I see this more of collector items rather than something I would buy to watch.
I had quite an extensive VHS collection back in the late 80s early 90s (tape to tape was a game changer!) - and I loved it at the time.
But I have no interest in going back - I kinda get it when folk are collecting pre-cert horror movies (especially the video nasties) on tape, but it's not for me.
I'm a DVD/Bluray guy (I'm not upgrading to 4k) and am happy with that format.
Stuff that was on VHS but hasn't yet made it to shiny disc? It's probably available to download off of RUclips.
It's kewl if you want to have a few of your fave movies for display purposes I guess. Otherwise they eat too much room. But I'd give it a watch.
It only was good when it was all there was. Always had to rewind before you returned rental or you were charged extra!
Time to for a comeback of Video 2000 and Beta, too
Beta will never comeback. Video 2000 never made it to the USA but I know about that format. Phillips waited to long too decide whether to enter the USA market, and VHS was winning by the early 1980s. No room for a 3rd US video format but supposedly the Video 2000 machines came with internal provisions for USA120v/60hz service.
@@dfc99nyc I barely witnessed Video 2000 back in the day in Europe. There were leftovers of tapes in video clubs back in the early 80s, it was sold as the most perfect system ever :)
Still have a few VHS that never made it to DVD or Blu. The players are a PITA and the tape heads are usually worn out or the player eats the tape. For masochists only.
I have nostalgia with VHS but I'll stick to my disks. :)
i like physical media because its the best quality. no point in getting a nice 4k tv with soundbar/speakers if its all gonna be streamed. same goes for vhs, i wouldnt want it if its a worse version. it wont even look good if you dont own a crt tv. why not just add a filter option to give the vhs look
I'm 13 and I know what a VHS tape is
Lol, I have no intention of going back to VHS, or even DVD 😂
Watched ID4 on VHS/CRT for cracks the other month.
I get the nostalgia element was fun to watch the old promos etc, my childhood restored briefly, but Christ I found the quality shocking, even on a CRT.
Tracking anyone?
Having started collecting physical media with music long before home video and seeing the way people approach vinyl and cassette collecting I'm honestly surprised it took this long for studios to start milking VHS to this degree. Not something I'm particularly interested in for the most part, though multi format high end sets like what Umbrella is doing are slightly more enticing.
The great thing about VHS back in the 1980s was the quality of the tape stock. These days, the tapes being produced for these limited edition releases are cheap crap. I would in my right mind spend the money on something so tacky.
i bought a VCR last year, brand new old stock, 2009 model. that's my first experience using this format. i am used to VCD, so i do not think the image and audio quality is the worst aspect of VHS, No, it is the tape and its mechanical as a format. VHS and VCR is far too unstable and unpredictable. i can see why VCD took off so well in SEA markets back in the 90s-00s as VCD offers equal visual quality without the rewinding, the track adjusting, tape stucking, mold growing, and all the technical problems of VHS.
now it's a fun thing to play with, its bulkier boxes look wonderful on the shelf, but thats all. if you want to use VHS as a means to watch movies more than just a display unit, you will find more frustration than enjoyment. want to get the '80s/90s' look? get the VCD.
again, if you want it as a display unit, or you are just curious of the format, go for it. but if not, don't bother. sometimes i regret wanting to own VCR and VHS today.
best type of physical media is still the optical disc, they just enhanced the disc's features, from CD to UHD BD, and we do have the technology capable in making archival disc to outlive us all, its just that studios won't be using the technology. 😂
VCDs were too low resolution (320x240 or 352x288). SVCDs were better, but you could only store 30 minutes per disc. DVD was better in every aspect. VHS was the easiest format to record on, but in terms of picture quality it wasn't great. However, most people didn't have huge TVs back then so didn't really notice the softer image.
VHS and chill 😅 📼👈🏻👌🏻
Yeah to me it seems like a total nostalgia cash grab thing. I have a friend who's into collecting VHS tapes and one reason they gave was "its the way the movies were meant to be seen", and like.....that's just not true at all lmfao. VHS home video releases are notorious for butchering movies' cinematography because of either pan and scan or just cropping the image to fit a 4:3 screen, and not to mention the obviously inferior sound and image quality
It is a nice idea and I’m glad it’s coming back in this new and limited way for certain films. I do still collect VHS for my fully working player but it’s primarily for old school motorsport stuff and old school WWF stuff that will probably never get upgraded to disc. Occasionally if I do spot some film or tv tapes in the wild and their in good condition and affordable then I’ll pick them up. 📼
It’s a good point! A lot of old TV that you can find on RUclips only exists because someone taped it and then ripped it to share. Valuable stuff
One of my favourite films is Buddy's Song which was only released on VHS and Laser Disc. I have a torrent download of the laser disc version which I burned onto a DVD and I also have a PAL UK VHS tape which still plays great in the last JVC VHS player which I bought in 1997. I know you got those new tapes for free but they are too expensive and I wouldn't buy them. It's bad enough now with vinyl records at extortionate prices but at least the records can sound as good as modern alternatives but VHS doesn't even compare with DVD quality so I don't see this resurgence taking off.
Only reason I'll never collect vhs is that vhs tapes are more suseptible to damage. Was the main reason I made the switch to dvd a long time ago was because my vhs tapes started not working or the video tape would snap from age or over use. Dvd and bluray have their own problems, but I think from a collecting standpoint, I would rather put my faith in something that doesnt rely on video tape that becomes brittle over a much shorter period of time.
DVDs are more susceptible to damage, compared to bluray, but no one cares.
Bluray should be the minimum format for NEW physical media.
I agree that VHS should be left in the past.
This might be hard for people putting energy into buying overpriced blurays to understand, but some of us buy VHS because we’re poor (not that this new release trend has anything to do with that).
I have a handful of VHS tapes of films that aren’t available on any other format but have transferred them to disc. Like yourself, I can’t afford the cost or space of it.
Stupid. The only good thing is that VCRs may keep being manufactured so we can play old tapes for those of us who have them from our childhood.
Vhs tapes VCR belts off eBay and Amazon now days everything else there not gone yet am buying them every other month
Cool idea, not at the price point of Alien Romulus though. I don't mind buying a sealed VHS for 5 or ten dollars. It's about getting a bargain. Paying 60 dollars for a VHS is absurd I wouldn't pay that for any laserdisc either that wasn't a superb or rare boxed set
I will though that the VHS release of Alien Romulus has far more appealing cover art then the other releases. If I ever get the film, I’ll have to see about a replacement slip cover with that art.
Laserdisc please!
One HUGE problem is aspect ratio! VHS only began making widescreen versions available just before DVD came on the market and those were rare enough to be called "boutique"! You had to special order and pay more for the experience. Thumbs down, my friend!
Pan and scan baby!
This is exactly why I switched over to LaserDisc in the mid-90’s. Widescreen presentations, options for Dolby Digital and DTS on certain discs, Criterion Collection titles, bonus material such as director’s commentary’s and behind the scenes featurettes. It was a cinephiles dream come true, something so many missed out on until the arrival of DVD. Modern physical media owes a great debt to LaserDisc for starting it all.
VHS was great for those of us who were around in the 80s and 90s but I don't get why you would watch them now given Blu ray and 4k. I get it from a collector's item / historical curio perspective but not from a visual and audio experience perspective unless again you want some authentic nostalgic experiences though as someone who grew up in that period and enjoyed VHS and in fact still have a dozen or so of my own childhood VHS tapes ... I personally doubt I'll ever watch them again.... Though I do still have a VHS player lol. Unlike vinyl where you could argue the warmer natural sound of vinyl is actually better than digital audio CDs if you have the right setup such as expensive valve amps etc....i am not sure you could make the same argument for VHS over Blu ray and 4k. But you know.... Each to their own. If someone feels interested in collecting VHS for their own reasons then no problem but you can't really argue it's a better format lol. I like keeping my old tapes because they were the actual ones I had and enjoyed as a kid but I certainly wouldn't buy any new VHS tapes like Suspiria when I already have an amazing and jaw dropping 4k version with tons of special features that doesn't degrade on every watch like a VHS tape does.
I don’t really understand the resurgence of VHS-from any real cinematic standpoint they just look worse, and I don’t find them as fun to collect because they’re bulkier and don’t look as nice on a shelf!
The fact people say VHS video contains mainly slop is extremely ignorant.
Whilst yes the RedLetterMedia Best of the Worst tapes exist, much of it slop. There are some really funny so bad they are good hidden gems. That for one means we need people going back and promoting old VHS forgotten tapes.
Let alone the whole Japanese V-Cinema movement a period of Japanese cinema where the studio system collapsed and straight to video was the main artistic output. People like Kiyoshi Kurosawa got their start on V-Cinema. Mainly of them are actually artistic/arthouse gems.
VHS is not the medium I will ever collect. But people going through documenting/archiving and promoting all the stuff still stuck on VHS is key
Complete nostalgia over common sense.
Yes the artworks were cool and bigger, but then laserdiscs were the choice to go for
Yes I want vhs if I don't want them y am I buying them offline and whiching them
No thanks on the revival of VHS. VHS isn’t a valued commodity going forward. It’s bulky, inferior technology, and guaranteed to degrade quicker than other formats which we have available today. Blu Ray is my favourite for both movies and video games. They have great sound quality, high enough visual resolution, and they are pretty tough and durable. 👌