A Good Thriller discussion

Now in the age of streaming,movie collectors may become an endangered species.Any movie collectors here ? How many movies do you have in your personal library and how long have you been a collector ?

The assumption is slightly wrong, dedicated cinephiles will still collect movies except it will be in a digital format. I know lots of people who do that. I personally store every movie I rate 9 or 10 so I have got about 200 movies in my hard drive. Plus another 50 I will have to watch. I had been collecting them since I was in my late teens. So maybe 8 years or 9.

In fact just yesterday, the What have you watched thread was having a discussion on Dog Day Afternoon. I quickly checked out a scene that other members were discussing, unless I store my movies I will never have that ease of access. So streaming will never replace collecting movies for me.

For me when a director has 5 movies that I rate 9 or higher, I give them a separate folder, sort of my personal hall of fame.

I prefer DVDs,got around a thousand plus titles.Sad to see the end of the DVD era.A software malfunction can damage movies stored in the computer.
As for streaming platforms like Netflix,those don't really appeal to me.It's their choice which movies to show,and the choice can be rather limited,and the movies can disappear any time.Especially the older movies can be hard to find on the streaming platforms.

W wrote: "I prefer DVDs,got around a thousand plus titles.Sad to see the end of the DVD era.A software malfunction can damage movies stored in the computer.
As for streaming platforms like Netflix,those don'..."

I just saw the reply as Goodreads is having an issue where no one is getting any notifications. DVDs were being phased out when I started collecting, so I don't really have a lot memories attached to them. I remember watching movies on them when I was young but they were relics once I got interested in cinema. I agree the viewer is often at the mercy of streamers database. One movie I remembered struggling to find recently was The Pumpkin Eater (1964), I finally found it after searching for a month and then it turned out to be a disappointment.

Re: Loss of data it happened to me a couple of times, now I keep a separate backup on an external drive. So unless I am very, very unlucky where two different devices malfunction at the same time, I think my data is safe.

For me,dvds are like physical books,I like having a library of dvds.The great thing is that the picture quality does not degrade,as it did on VHS tapes.Prior to the dvd era,I used to collect VHS.So bulky and unreliable,but at that time,there was little choice.
The dvd era could certainly have continued longer.Companies like Netflix deliberately killed them off.I still haven't subscribed to Netflix,because I doubt it will have the type of movies I like to watch.

I continue to search for older films on youtube,with mixed results.Lots of B movies,and lots of distraction.But have watched some good movies there.

After many years,I watch my dvds again,and get renewed pleasure from them.Like a book,they also bring back memories of particular times in my life.And as I collected them for years,they are treasured possessions.Now,there is just one shop left in my city and I wonder when that too will close.

We have about 500 VhS tapes, that's after purging many when we went to DVD. We have a couple thousand DVDs and now close to a hundred Blu-Rays. If there is a movie I love, I want access to it.

The one concession we have made is taking the DVDs and Blu-Rats out of the cases and keeping them in CD folders.

I also have over 50 television series in their entirety on one form or another. O tend to like older shows so they are harder to find other ways.

That sounds great,Kandice.I also collect TV series,but yet to count how many I have.I suppose over a hundred series,in their entirety.Especially interested in sitcoms,with Friends topping the list for me.

I still have all those VHS tapes,but now there are no VCRs available to play them,as they are not being manufactured anymore.
So,now I have to stockpile some dvd players,before those too become extinct.
A similar thing happened to my analogue audio collection,as cassette players disappeared.Analogue sound,however,did have a fullness of its own and I miss it.Vinyl staged a comeback and similarly I hope that dvds won't disappear altogether.

The art work on dvd cases can be very impressive,and I didn't want to part with them.But they take up way too much space and so too I've had to put them in cd folders for instant access.Don't want my dvds locked away in some distant storage.

I had over, 2000 films..

Slowly clearing all my DVD's mainly for room.

Now Have 800 films on my computer

Netflix and Amazon Prime and You Tube on my television.

VHS tapes take up sooooo much room, you're right. The majority of those we've kept are Disney and other children's movies, and series we have on VHS. We have one VHS player that works, but if it breaks, I am getting rid of all the tapes. I should just do it now, because I can't remember the last time I actually watched one.

Yes,the last manufacturer of VCRs in Japan stopped making them years ago,and till then,they were just doing it for VHS collectors.
Now,the Sony dvd players I have are very fragile and often malfunction.Those are produced cheaply and while the earlier models endured for decades,these current ones break too quickly.So I wonder how many I need to stockpile,to be able to play my dvd collection in the years to come.

Watching youtube can be rather distracting,too many recommendations and too temptung to switch from one movie/show to another,leaving the previous one unfinished.And sometimes the switch can lead to really bad content as well.Plus,it's too easy to lose track of time on streaming platforms.
DVDs don't have such distractions,easy to concentrate on one thing at a time.

W wrote: "For me,dvds are like physical books,I like having a library of dvds.The great thing is that the picture quality does not degrade,as it did on VHS tapes.Prior to the dvd era,I used to collect VHS.So..."

Like your comments, W.
Still plenty of DVDs around but I buy all mine from on-line sellers. And if you are a collector, it is essential to have a zone-free DVD player. Don't know how many shops still sell them in Australia but they are still available.

One of my bookseller friends told me the profit margin on DVDs for the shop is hardly worth the effort. I've seen new DVDs selling for prices double what I can purchase on line. Which is crazy when you consider how cheap it is to manufacture a DVD.
Obviously someone is making a large profit and it appears to be the film distributor. And they wonder why people are reluctant to purchase them!

And no doubt they will be eventually eliminated like VHS tapes especially for young people who are heavy into streaming and everything whizz-bang new and modern.
I note that a lot of the remastered collector's and specialized items are now only turning up on Blu-ray editions. I have a Blu-ray but haven't bothered to set it up properly.
But like you I still love revisiting all my DVDs and look forward to adding more favorites, although they are getting far and few between these days.

Anthony,no on line dvd sellers in Pakistan.Amazon does not operate here.Just one dvd shop left in my city,wonder when it will close its doors too ! That will be a sad day for me.
But my personal collection is huge,and I all those seasons of TV shows in particular,amount to a lot of watching time.
Blu rays were ridiculously expensive here,so I never bought them.
As for streaming,one never can tell when a movie/TV show,will disappear from a streaming platform.
Netflix is here,but they have just 20% of their US programmes available in Pakistan.

W wrote: "Anthony,no on line dvd sellers in Pakistan.Amazon does not operate here.Just one dvd shop left in my city,wonder when it will close its doors too ! That will be a sad day for me.
But my personal co..."

Like you I have too much stuff already and limited time to watch it all.
I did buy some movies to add to the collection from local Amazon as they were listed at throwaway prices. As a nutty collector I am always looking for something special but have to realize that time is of an essence and I have too many other distractions.

I don't indulge in the popular streaming services mainly because of time and cost factors and as I already have cable and I do stream Major League Baseball (in April, I will be watching a game everyday for six months!) you have to limit yourself (somewhat!).

Blu-rays are still very expensive and while I do have a machine I haven't set it up since I moved house. Will say that blu-rays are essential for collectors but zoning factors (if you live outside the U.S. and U.K.) make it very complicated and very expensive. If you have a zone-free DVD machine (which I have) I can play anything but blu-rays I believe work a bit differently. Don't we make life so complicated!!

But as mentioned, I have so many films and TV series sitting on shelves gathering dust, I have enough to keep me amused (and broke) for more than one lifetime!

I started collecting dvds in 2002.In the beginning,the print quality was very good and so were those Malaysian dvds.It was a pleasure to collect all those Hitchcock,Kubrick and Woody Allen movies.
Then,the print quality nosedived as piracy became rampant.But one could find half a dozen movies in a single dvd,sometimes nine and once even 20 ! And one could discover some good films among them too,with a passable print quality.
Entire seasons of TV series were available in two dvd sets,though the picture quality wasn't too great.
And then came the time when the prices became so low that it wasn't a viable business anymore.Just like the VHS shops had done all those years ago,those dvd shops started shutting down one after the other.And now Netflix is like the last nail in the coffin.

I remember one shop in particular.It called itself the largest dvd store in Asia and occupied an entire floor of a commercial plaza.(It was equivalent to twelve shops,actually).I used to spend hours browsing there and wondering how many I could buy,there were just too many.

And then,one day,there was a fire and the whole plaza burned down and with that,all of that magnificent collection !

I have a strong suspicion that it was an act of sabotage and the whole plaza was burned because of that dvd store.

I have about 300 dvds now. I use to have 600 years ago but I have moved so much that I ended up giving some away. I started collecting back in the late 90's. I use to have around 100 vhs tapes but once my vhs player died and I could not replace it then I wrote down all the vhs titles - donated the the vhs tapes and then tracked down those titles on dvd. That was fun. lol

In series though on dvd I own all the seasons of 24 including the movie Redemption. I have all the Game of Thrones and I have the first five seasons of Supernatural.