A tale in which the hero buries his own treasure — only to search for the Holy Grail a few years later…
Video stores were dead to begin with. There is no doubt whatever, about that. The register of their burial was signed by the streaming giants, and the pandemic lockdowns were their undertakers and their chief mourner.
So, like many people, I made a rash declaration a few years ago that I was done with buying physical media. DVDs, Blu-rays, CDs and all but the fanciest of books were all going digital in my household. After all, there’s only so many times you can move before you ponder if you really need four Billy bookcases filled with Blu-rays attracting dust.
How did I get to this? I used to be the guy getting the 8 for $10 deal at the video store on a weekend. I’d always been a collector. As a person who used to own all of Star Trek: Deep Space 9 on VHS, I’d been an early adopter of DVDs for their lack of tracking wobbles and bountiful bonus features. I’d fought in the great HD-DVD vs. Blu-ray War and survived. Hell, I used to be the editor of the review site DVDBits, a handle I still use across social media. Had I just buried one of my oldest and dearest film friends?
Dismantling the IKEA furniture
Streaming content is certainly the way we now consume things by default. It wasn’t that long ago that I was casually remarking to my partner how amazing it was that I could think about a movie and bring it up on screen with a few clicks.
So, into drawers they went. The Billy got replaced with a four-drawer EKET, and all the discs went into little paper sleeves. (Carefully catalogued, of course: I am still a librarian after all). IWhat used to take up a whole wall now was now contained inside a small piece of elegantly designed Swedish furniture and topped with pottery and LEGO.
Yet during the first lockdown in 2020, when all of us were approaching the end screen of Netflix, I started rummaging through my drawers. Some of these discs – like the original Magnum P.I., Northern Exposure or countless Disney cartoons – simply weren’t available on streaming services.
Every time I expressed my outrage over a title disappearing from a service (like when Buffy the Vampire Slayer came “to the end of its license period” on Stan mid-rewatch in November 2021), somebody would delight in extolling the virtues of physical media. Right in the middle of my crisis moments. What was the answer though? Owning every disc on the off chance I wanted to watch something one day? Some kind of store lends you things? Crazy!
Is physical media dead?
Well, no. In the same way that vinyl, print books and CDs keep finding a market, rushing to label physical media as over is a tad premature.
“That’s just nonsense,” says The Digital Bits editor Bill Hunt in a recent missive on how Hollywood can still benefit from the physical market. “[A]ccording to the Digital Entertainment Group (DEG), consumers spent just north of $2 billion in 2023 buying discs. That’s revenue the major Hollywood studios simply can’t afford to walk away from.”
Yet here in Australia, Disney announced in July that they would be pulling out of all physical media in the country. This was days before the release of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, effectively the last new DVD, Blu-ray and UHD Blu-ray disc in the country. They aren’t just the owners and distributors of Disney, Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars, but the entire back catalogue of 20th Century Fox’s oeuvre. While writing this piece, I had one title in an online cart disappear from a retailer’s site entirely by mid-afternoon. Such is the precarity of disc media in this country, and it wouldn’t take much to push other distributors out of our wee nest.
In my own observations, major retailers have been devoting less space to physical media as well. My local K-Mart removed the section entirely. Several JB Hi-Fi stores in the CBD, traditionally the place to get content, have disappeared. As with books and records, the bigger players remain and the rest is online and boutique. So, you’d have to be crazy to start collecting again now, right?
You have to be a little crazy to be a dancer
The short answer is: Showgirls.
Yes, Paul Verhoeven’s 1995 camp classic. A film I once described as “one of the greatest films of the 20th century.” A movie I already own in both Blu-ray and DVD sets – the latter being the 2004 VIP edition, complete shot glasses and nipple tassels – recently got a 4K reissue with a beautiful collector’s set from the fine folks at Vinegar Syndrome. I had to have it. Without even owning a 4K Blu-ray player, I ordered a copy. A friend summed it up nicely: “You’re a madman.”
The longer answer is that I got a new 4K TV last year – an LG C1 OLED for those who care about these things – for two reasons. First and foremost, my ancient and beautiful plasma television was terrific at preserving a filmic quality, but it was not only limited to 1080p (or HD) but a massive energy sucker. (Seriously, a quick look at my energy bills since the purchase shows a tangible drop). I was also watching far more movies at home, and wanted a more cinematic experience on my sofa.
After my obligatory first play of the original Star Wars, as the opening sequence is my test bunny on all past and future televisions, I put on something that would really test out the 4K. In fact, Blade Runner was one of the films that made me want to upgrade my set. Having spent some time calibrating the TV, I excitedly put on the iTunes copy – and found it looked a little soft. I already knew about compression issues with any streaming titles, but I was mildly disappointed. More seeds were planted for a return to discs.
Cut to the release of Showgirls in 4K, and I bought a Panasonic UHD Blu-ray Player DP-UB820 to give it a whirl. It’s a chance to truly appreciate Jost Vacano’s cinematographer, from those pristine shots of the Nevada skyline at the start of the film to the seedy neon glow of the Cheetah at night. You can also hear every note of the pounding and eclectic soundtrack as well, one that spans The Sisters of Mercy, Killing Joke, Prince, David Bowie, My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult and actress Rena Riffel. Where are the songs from? DIFFERENT PLACES!
Warner’s Blade Runner: The Final Cut on 4K UHD Blu-ray is, without any question, a reference quality disc. Ridley Scott and Jordan Cronenweth’s photography has never looked better, and you can count the raindrops on screen. Douglas Trumbull and Richard Yuricich’s effects haven’t aged a day. The Vangelis score slides effortlessly across the speakers and our brains in equal measure. If only you could see what I’ve seen with new eyes.
The door was open. Like I said, I’m a librarian and a collector at heart. Discs represent a way for us to hang onto our favourite films in the best format possible. Following a line thought from Devon Leger (writing about vinyl in No Depression almost a decade ago), it’s great to be able to pull up a film on Apple TV, Netflix or Prime, but the physicality of the object gives you connection to the film that lasts beyond the ‘play next’ countdown. Companies like Vinegar Syndrome – along with Second Sight, Studio Canal, Criterion, Arrow, BFI, Umbrella and more – recognise this and produce limited deluxe collector’s editions.
This isn’t just for the Avatar end of the scale either. These companies know that the type of person who would happily fork out close to triple figures on a set will appreciate getting Killer Condom, Waterworld, or Tremors 2: Aftershocks restored in 4K from original negatives. For AU$150, Australia’s Umbrella Entertainment is putting out Trust the Fungus: Super Mario Bros. 30th Anniversary Collector’s Edition 4K UHD (pictured above), including books, film cells, posters, stickers and artcards.
Showgirls doesn’t look like that much of an indulgence now.
Paving a parking lot and putting up paradise
So, home media — like Tiny Tim — did not die. It became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a product, as the good old city knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough, in the good old world. Some people laughed to see the existence of it, but we let them laugh, and little heeded them.
In a bizarre twist to our tale, Netflix – the Blockbuster slayers themselves – announced plans in October 2023 to launch bricks and mortar stores in 2025. While the stores will largely be to sell merchandise and create pop-up theme experiences, kind of like the Amazon Primeville we saw recently at SXSW Sydney, the irony isn’t lost on us. This is exactly like the time that vegan place near me closed down and they replaced it with a broiled chicken store. It’s chicken salt in the wound.
Yet for collectors at least, the assaults on our wallets keep on coming. Which is the downside of returning to physical collecting. It’s expensive, it takes up space, and it’s still not an archivally sound format. Boy do they look good though.
Anyway, I’m off to the shops. I need some new furniture.
With apologies to Charles Dickens. No promotional consideration was given for items mentioned here. It’s all my own madness.
