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Lighten the mood

TurboMinivan

TurboMinivan

Still plays with cars
Location
Lehi, UT
Kevin B. said:
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BOD has been one of my favorite films ever since I first saw it back in 1986. Since then, I don't know how many dozens of times I've re-watched it.


FUN STORY: back in the day (when renting films on VHS was all the rage), VHS releases would initially be priced quite high (like $100+) so that the studios could rake in the sales profits when Blockbuster et al bought their copies to rent out. Due to the high prices, during this time you would never see these films for sale in your local store. But 6 or 8 months later, the prices would drop significantly (to around $20) and the tapes would finally appear on store shelves for private individuals to purchase.

Well, for some reason the studio never dropped the price of BOD. Maybe they felt the film wasn't popular enough to warrant mass production after the first batch that went to the rental companies; who knows. So even though I desperately wanted to own it, my only option would have been to buy a heavily-worn-out ex-rental copy... which I refused to buy.

Finally, after years of holding out hope I got great news: they were finally gonna release BOD on VHS for a reasonable price (sub $20) on Tuesday, August 26, 1997. I marked the date on my calendar and giddily counted down the days. As it happens, also being released on this date was the very first version of the Star Wars: Special Edition VHS trilogy. I woke up early that day, and headed across town to Media Play in Orem, arriving before they opened. There was a huge crowd already present, and you can guess why. I took my place in the herd and didn't talk to anyone else in line.

At opening time, an employee unlocked the doors and quickly stepped aside. As the doors opened, the huge mob pushed their way in and, en masse, ran straight in and slightly to the left, headed for the large cardboard cutout stand filled top to bottom with shrink wrapped boxed VHS trilogies... except, from the middle of the crowd, one person bolted to the right and ran over to the regular VHS shelves, quickly scanning for and then selecting one copy of BOD to purchase. I was the only customer in line at the register who was not holding a boxed trilogy.

I wish there was a security camera directly overhead inside the building, because I bet it looked baffling.
 
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UNSTUCK

UNSTUCK

But stuck more often.
My VHS story is about Tommy Boy. I loved it and watched over and over. It got to the point where sometimes I’d have to return it before I finished watching it. I would not rewind it. Every time I rented it again I would be able to continue where I left off the time before. No one else ever rented it. 😂
 
N-Smooth

N-Smooth

Smooth Gang Founding Member
Location
UT
I bought Terminator 2 on VHS when I was 9 or 10. It was from a grocery store rental place called Phar-Mor. Still have it and a lot of other VHS movies that I’ll never watch again but can’t bring myself to get rid of lol
 
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