Why BUY films?

kasintahan

From reading many of the thread here it is clear that many of you have amassed considerable collections of DVD films.
Some of these collections top 500 or more, enough to buy a small car or a downpayment/deposit on a house.

For me, once a film is watched then that is that. It is intellectually disposable, not something I have any desire to rewatch inside of the next ten years (and only then because failed memory has made it new again).

My questions are thus:

1. How often do you watch the films you buy?
2. What is the monetary value of your collection?

Perhaps I am reading this wrongly and for "DVD movie" you mean "Bittorrent MPEG4" and just use the term "DVD" to avoid censure.

Comments?

dudara

Since a rental is about E5 and you can often get DVDs on the net for under E10, I see buying the DVD as a better investment.

But I'm only likely to buy films that I will defnitely rewatch

CrimE

I am a huge movie fan, although my DVD collection isnt huge at about 180-200 DVDs most of my all time favourites are in there. I would say on average that I have watched them about 4-5 times. Films such as The Shawshank Redemption etc. never lose their appeal for me.

Look at it this way if someone like me has a collection of about 200 films an average person will only watch it once every two years. I can see where you are coming from to an extent. But at the weekend I bought "Serpico" and "Carlito's Way" two classics. I watched them both but just to educate my friends I would have no problem watching them again

Sherifu

kasintahan wrote:

Perhaps I am reading this wrongly and for "DVD movie" you mean "Bittorrent MPEG4" and just use the term "DVD" to avoid censure.

This may well be true for some.

I don't see the value in buying a movie as I think they're so overpriced.
It would have to be an awesome movie for me to buy it.

Scarinae

I do agree with you, my brother has a ridiculous amount of DVDs... However, it's handy for me because there is always something in the house that I haven't seen already, so I don't have to rent so much! I woul only buy a DVD if it was a film that I really liked that wasn't easy to rent.wasn't on TV very much. I mean, I'd never buy a DVD like Spiderman, because it's destined to be on TV so much in the future

monkeyfudge

I'd say I've speant about €5000 - €6000 on DVDs over the past few years.

Not too sure why I do it actually... It's the same with any one who collects something I guess...

I probaly don't really have the time to watch them too often and there are least 30 DVDs that are still wrapped up in their plastic wrapping and remain unwatched.

I happen to be pretty passionate about films, I like having about 12 shelves full of DVDs. I can sit for a long time just staring at all the spines and remembering the films. If I didn't spend the money on DVDs I'd probably just spend it all on drink and that really would be money wasted...

cashback

I only really buy a DVD if I'm definitely going to watch it more than once and maybe more importantly, if it's cheap!
Haven't bought that many, but the ones I have I've got good value out of. Dazed and Confused, Lost in Translation, Dumb and Dumber I've all watched at least twice.
I think TV shows are probably better value too. Bit more expensive but i've lost count of the times i've watched The Office and I'm Alan Partridge.

Rabies

I think I have about 75 DVDs. Most of my favourite movies are in the collection and usualy the special edition version. Many of my DVDs were bought for E10-15 or less. That isn't much.
Probably spent some where about E1100-1200 over the past 3yrs

grimloch

I'd only buy a DVD if I though it was very good, like the Matrix or things like the extended editions of The Lord of the Rings. Or failing that if they were on Sale or a good offer. Rewatching films is something I do but not to the extent of paying 25 euros.

leeroybrown

Your favourite films are always worth buying on DVD. You'll always end up watching them more than once and the do retain a decent portion of their value.

I do think some people go overboard on buying DVD's, but not necessarily those with huge collections. I've seen lists of people's DVD's that have some woeful films (by anyones standards) on them and people selling off DVD's that even they admit were poor purchases.

I wouldn't criticise someone for buying DVD's if they had the money and they were thinking about their purchases.

StonedParadoX

iv currently got 90 dvds ..and 14 more coming either this week or next week all for under 100 euros
my LIMIT is under 20 euros i dont do over that but the dvds i normally buy range from 5 euros to 15 euros i dont really like anything higher


My mom and i love our movies and are very nearly into the same movies which is kewl cuz we tell eachother about them

why do i buy movies?.. i buy to collect and i buy to watch

if i cant FIND the movie i d/l it but i normally buy em @ sendit.com or dvdempire.com ..2 cheap sites for dvd's

buying the popular movies i tend to stay well clear off like the matrix and so on but funny enough i have the matrix ok im lying

*shrugs*

FX Meister

I'd rather have the DVD so I can watch it again, if it's a good film I'll buy it and if it's good I'll watch it again. I've gotten a dew though that have been shít so I've just sold them again and it still worked out cheaper than renting them. I still have some that haven't been watched yet. I got La Haine on the date it was released and still haven't got around to watching it yet.

StonedParadoX

yeah im like that

in the last few months i'd say iv bought 30 / 40 dvd's?

and i'd say iv only watched 15?

i havent had time is MY excuse but thats a lie iv had lots of time iv been playing AA waaaaaaaaaay tooooo much!

maquiladora

So I take it that after you listen to a song you like, you never listen to it again for the rest of your life? Or if you buy a painting or work of art - you look at it once, then destroy it?
Bizarre...

StonedParadoX

is that what you got from what he said? wow?

thats an interesting way of seeing it and a mighty good point for me i LOVE music i have it on everywhere via my pc my mp3 player in work la di da

*hugs his illegally got 20k collection*

FX Meister

maquiladora does have a good point, a piece of art is there for continued enjoyment. Why should films be any different. There are certain scenes in films that I just love, ans sometimes I might just put on the DVD to see a particular scene again.

StonedParadoX

iv been thinking doin that for a long ass while now

once i get my new pc and network her up ima start burning my movies that i love rip the certain scene and make a dvd ..upload it into a torrent and share it with the world

OH IM A BAD BOY

kasintahan

I'm not critising people for doing it, I'm just interested in why the do it.
(I've spent my last two weeks preparing DVDs/CDs for sale in one of the larger retailers, thousands and thousands of them!)

I suppose if one were to trade them, sort of like a transferance of ownership library then it would make sense (beyond collecting, which some of you enjoy and that's fair enough).

I wonder if it would be worth setting up such a dedicated site for movie trades beyond the trading section here on boards? We'd have to check the legalities...

maquiladora wrote:

So I take it that after you listen to a song you like, you never listen to it again for the rest of your life? Or if you buy a painting or work of art - you look at it once, then destroy it?
Bizarre...

??? Whatever... I'm not even going to dignify that with reply.

grimloch

FX Meister wrote:

maquiladora does have a good point, a piece of art is there for continued enjoyment. Why should films be any different. There are certain scenes in films that I just love, ans sometimes I might just put on the DVD to see a particular scene again.

That's true. There are certain scens in The Lord of the Rings that I can't get enough of. I wouldn't do it with many films but the odd few maybe. Time and money is an issue though.

StonedParadoX

dude..where do u work?.. or live?? i need to stalk you..and rob your job!

ahh!! the lunatic fridge christ i got banned from there

*tokes*

right so said fred ?..deal?

FX Meister

There's is one scene is La Haine where a DJ sets up his speakers at the window of his apartment block ans starts to scratch some KRS with other stuff, the camera pulls away from it and just keeps moving away and up. It's a scene that's always amazed me with how it looks and I just can't get enough of seeing it.
Last year I also wanted to rent Black Hawk Down as I had read the book, none of my local video libraries had it in stock. I'm not going to be bothered going to somewhere like laser just to rent it when I can order it from my own home and have it delivered to my door for slightly more than the rental cost.

StonedParadoX

*coughs*

i have it if u want it *coughs* splutter cough*

FX Meister

Which? Black Hawk Down? I bought it already. Was a bit disapointed with the film version, preferred the book.

kasintahan

StonedParadoX wrote:

dude..where do u work?.. or live?? i need to stalk you..and rob your job!

OMG! If you only knew!

nlgbbbblth

I buy films that I will watch more than once, I own approx 200 films on DVD and about 1300 on VHS (of which about 1000 are taped off air/1st gen copies)
I try and watch around four films a week.

Same for televison shows - I much prefer to buy them and watch them on my own schedule. Have bought many series on VHS and DVD over the years.

StonedParadoX

omg.. i need to meet you people! christ

nlg where do you live so i can rob your house too?

and kas mate .. i want to know!

Running Bing

Why do I buy DVD'S? I must admit I am a bit addicted to it. its like some people collect stamps or coins I collect dvds. I dont think there that expensive and id say about 90% of my dvd's were bought for 12euro or less.went to the cinema today and it cost me 20euros so I think there good value.

Its also nice to have have a good choice of movies to watch depending on your mood or if your entertaining someone but I'll admit there are some which I've watched once and will probably never watch again.

StonedParadoX

where did u go?

20 euros aint good value man. 7 euros is good value

ixoy

I just recently moved apartments and, as I was packing up my DVDs, I noticed far too many that were still sealed. What compelled me to buy these movies and then leave them wrapped and unwatched?

Partially, I think, it's that if I like a movie in the cinema I note it down for purchasing. After buying it I think, "I've seen this movie too recently, so I'll watch something else," and the movie goes by the wayside. Other times, I buy a "bargain" of a movie that I'm not really interested in. I always buy these with good intentions but, even when I do get around to watching them, it's often only the once (particularly with TV series).

I guess I buy them because I appreciate the movie. As said elsewhere, it's somewhat like a work of art. Having it on DVD for yourself means that you get to muse and savour it at your own convenience. There's also some extras you may want to watch at your own leisure. That and I'm a bit of a hoarder...

TerrorFirmer

I get terribly attracted to sales and cheap bargins like women do to handbags and shoes.

Generally, I never spend more then a tenner on any one movie, unless its something great I preplanned buying.

Most of my purchases, 90%, are from just walking around stores looking for cheap movies.

As for wasting your money, not really in many ways. Well - not for me. I buy alot of my movies preowned, which means when Gamestop has their sale, I got 20 DVDs for 100 Euro. Also, I buy the cheap ones you find in Hmv, or order online - in the current time, its almost as cheap to buy dvds as rent them tbh.

I have about 300 I think. Probably worth a bit of money, but at least as someone pointed out with such a collection, theres always something for everybody on a rainy day.

I find the usability and value far higher then that of someone who collects....say, stamps?

Buying DVDs for me is a hobby really. I love being able to look at them all for ages, and go "hmmm, now what to watch tonight!"

/and I most certainly do not count divx or mpeg files dvds, even if they are actually burnt to disc. Only originals

~Rebel~

Anyone ever find you watch a movie you own on dvd less then you would if you didnt own it? Like with pulp fiction, i can guarantee id watch it every time it was on tv without fail (i did till i bought it). I think i've only watched it twice since i bought it but its been on tv about 5 times...same with a lot of movies..

Kintarō Hattori

Collecting DVD's is like anything else people collect, most obviously music. You can muse through your collection and decide what your in the mood for and then watch it. Watching a movie or TV series is an experiance, mostly enjoyable. It can also be an education as well, quite often I've sat down and had my eyes drawn wide open to things I never knew about or experianced before.
Also for me I like the technological side of things as well, I like to be wowed by watching a DVD sometimes. I bought a good DVD player, TV and sound system and I appreciate the effort a studio goes too if they churn out an impressive disc with excellent picture and sound quality. (But of course, that means nothing if it's still a crap movie!!!!)

Wacker

I've got abot 170 DVDs, only two or three that I've never watched in full. There are a few that I'm fairly crtain I'll never watch again (The Taxi Driver in particular; it makes me want to slash my wrists!) but I would never give them away or even sell them unless really desperate. Its my collection and I'm proud of it.

FX Meister

Mmmm, just added to my collection from the sale over at play.com. Hi Fidelity for €9 and fletch for €7.50, both excellent films and great prices. Who wouldn't buy them?

cosgrove80

Might be a bit off but I was thinking of starting mt DVD collection once Bluray or HD-DVD hit the market. DVDs will no longer be "cool" and the media will run "DVD is obsolete" stories etc. The price of DVDs will tumble and the collecting will begin.

All speculation of course.

MisterAnarchy

I have about 800 films on DVD,only bought about 10.
The rest I rented and copied for my own viewing pleasure.
I wouldnt pay more than 10 euro for a DVD as I dont think its good value for money and DVD's are cheap to produce,cheaper than VHS in fact.
I usually only watch them once,except if there are interesting xtras.
People tend to get carried away spending thousands on 'their' DVD collection .
HD DVD and Blu Ray are around the corner and film companies will be re issuing most titles.

kasintahan

True - part of the reason I don't buy films is because I know what's around the corner as far as the tech side of things goes.

I haven't bought CD's in 5 years (except stuff by small small bands) because of DVD-Audio or SACD, neither of which have made an impact yet (there are a few SACD discs where I work, no DVD-A)

DVDs are already dead to me as I've been waiting for BluRay since 2002/3.
I prefer it over HD-DVD due to the greater capacity, inherent re-writability (but I mourn it's abandonment of the cartridge).

We'll see consumer recorders on the market q4 this year for HD-DVD and q1/2 2006 for BluRay.

They'll usher in the first resolution hike ever in consumer television resolution.
Even the best modern widescreens will be olsolete once HD-TV becomes mainstream (next year I'd imagine, along with the new disc techs).

Hugh Hefner

I've only started buying DVDs regularly over the past 2 years. My collection is >90% videos recorded off the television. It takes ages to decide what Im gonna watch. I watch them quite often, some more than others. When I'm off school or it's the weekend I watch films at night. Over the past week I've been watching about 2 per night. I just finished watching American Psycho.

I try and only record films I know have a good rep. or that I should see to gain a better knowledge of cinema, or that I know I'll like (e.g. Cherry Falls).

I only buy DVDs I know won't disappoint. I don't think I've ever bought a DVD of a film I'd already seen (The Matrix Trilogy is an exception).

I can't imagine only wanting to see a film once in 10 years. Films are so layered with little details and jokes and information about characters and so on that 1 watch is not enough for a good film.

Plus I like the extras on DVDs.


I likes my films babeh!

ixoy

kasintahan wrote:

DVDs are already dead to me as I've been waiting for BluRay since 2002/3. I prefer it over HD-DVD due to the greater capacity, inherent re-writability (but I mourn it's abandonment of the cartridge).

See I'm not sure I get this - you could always keep waiting for the new technology. It's like buying a PC - why get one when the price will drop in six months and you could get one with better power? And why buy one even then if you could wait a year and etc etc.

The BluRay/HD-DVD thing is particularly interesting. Firstly, there's going to be a whole Betamax/VHS thing - consumers are not going to want to have to buy two DVD players to play two different formats. One is going to have to win out. Secondly, it will be prohibitively expensive initially, most likey with people playing the discs through their PS3s as happened with DVDs in the beginning and the PS2. Consumers mightn't actually be convinced that the new format is any better - there's still a fairly low penetration rate for HDTV, which is essential if you want to get your value from them.

So why not build your DVD collection now instead of always waiting on what might be the next big thing?

MrPinK

kasintahan wrote:

DVDs are already dead to me as I've been waiting for BluRay since 2002/3.
I prefer it over HD-DVD due to the greater capacity, inherent re-writability (but I mourn it's abandonment of the cartridge).

I don't think either format will have real staying power. Consumers will be very wary of them until the format war has be resolved, and by then we may have something new. Neither really has the capacity for HD. A single layer BluRay disc only holds a little over 2 hours of HD, which is very little. Hopefully HVD will be hot on their heels.

We'll see consumer recorders on the market q4 this year for HD-DVD and q1/2 2006 for BluRay.

I'd call that pretty optimistic. And like DVD recorders, they'll probably cost thousands when they first arrive. I can't see either really being affordable until 2007.

bonkey

kasintahan wrote:

They'll usher in the first resolution hike ever in consumer television resolution.

Yup, but don't underplay the significance of the move to digital, which gave us discs that didn't wear out and degrade from time/watching*. Nor the quality of reproduction, and ability to carry higher-quality sound.

Personally, I side with the skeptics on the merit of Blu-Ray and HD-DVD. To me, it smacks of those 2.88MB floppy drives that never took off. They don't offer quite enough over what we have to have a lasting future and got their asses kicked off the market by the Zip drive which offered an order of magnitude greater storage and more.

Blu-Ray and HD-DVD don't convince me that they'll push the envelope quite enough. As already mentioned, there's questions about their storage capacity relative to what HD-DVD will require. This, coupled with the dual-format issue, opens the real possibility that the two will go the way of laser-disc or MD as a release-format...failing to gain widespread market share and ultimately being surpassed by a more technologically advanced alternate which arrived at the right time.

As for my DVD collection...I own movies and tv series for the same reason I buy books and music, rather than relying purely on library, the radio and the likes. I want (and use) the ability to pick it up and watch/read/listen again.

Also...if its not something I feel I need to see on the big screen and I can wait...its as cheap to buy the new release DVD over here as it is for myself and my girlfriend to go see it in the cinema. Why pay the same and not own it?

jc

* Yes, I know DVD's technically do degrade, but at nowhere near the same rate.

nlgbbbblth

Wacker wrote:

I've got abot 170 DVDs, only two or three that I've never watched in full. There are a few that I'm fairly crtain I'll never watch again (The Taxi Driver in particular; it makes me want to slash my wrists!) but I would never give them away or even sell them unless really desperate. Its my collection and I'm proud of it.

Taxi Driver is my favourite film of all time.
I have watched it over 30 times since first seeing it in 1987.

Travis Bickle's character is the ultimate hero.

projectmayhem

i've a fair few dvd's. more then anything it's just nice to have them. there's always something to "fit my mood" (to quote sky)... but my dvd-buying "problem" is nothing compared to my cd-buying "problem"

FX Meister

nlgbbbblth wrote:

Travis Bickle's character is the ultimate hero.

Please discuss. He nearly went the way of being just a wacked out lunatic. I wouldn't call some one who's fate was decided by luck as being an ultimate hero.

But I could be wrong, it's happened once before.

Necronomicon

I just love collecting them and having them there as much as I like actually watching them.

But I can understand if you don't get any replay-value from movies then you are better off renting, but I could watch my dvds over and over and over again.

Running Bing

Personally I think dvds will be like cds. There will be threats to its popularity like minidisc and mp3 but ultimately people will keep buying them. DVD's are just to good. i wouldnt change anything about them their convenient, great quality, last an age if looked after, are cheap and are very cool and handy to collect.

koneko

I went to the cinema the other day to see War of the Worlds, in Ster Century. The tickets were OVER 9 euro each, and that was at about 12 on a saturday afternoon. 4 of us went to see it, in a few months I can buy the DVD for the price of 2 of those tickets, online.

I like rewatching films. If I'm not doing anything specific (like playing a game or whatever), and there's nothing on TV, I'll pop in a DVD. I'd much rather look over a collection of 300 films and have a great selection, than watching the same 20 ones over and over again. It's nice to collect things aswell. I lend DVDs to a people I know, they're DVDs they wouldn't normally see or rent, and get to watch this way (like Asian cinema, manga, or just cult classics).

Wacker

Nlgbbblth, I believe that the Taxi Driver is a masterpiece of a film, but thats the problem. It charts a characters descent into depression and his eventual breakdown. The thing is, it is so effective that it brings me along for the ride too. By the end of that film, I'll be getting really depressed too. Really, I'd rather watch Dazed and Confused.

StonedParadoX

i hate lending out dvds cuz i forget i give em out and stuff

nlgbbbblth

Wacker wrote:

Nlgbbblth, I believe that the Taxi Driver is a masterpiece of a film, but thats the problem. It charts a characters descent into depression and his eventual breakdown. The thing is, it is so effective that it brings me along for the ride too. By the end of that film, I'll be getting really depressed too. Really, I'd rather watch Dazed and Confused.

Dazed and Confused would be in my alltime Top 20 also. I bought the region 1 Flashback Edition in the US earlier this year - but to my horror only I noticed it was the Fullscreen Edition when I got back to Ireland. :mad:

Slacker is great too - the Criterion DVD is amazing.

I hate lending DVDs, CDs, videos, records to people because

a) A lot of people can't take care of stuff properly
b) They keep them for too long

Necronomicon

I'm going to have to start cataloging what I lend out, I have so much crap that I always forget what I give to people and it tends to stay there indefinately.