Badmovies.org Forum

I have a large collection of movies on VHS.  Now some of these movies are being released on DVD.  Now I know there may be extra features and even more movie footage, but I am having a problem in buying a movie on DVD when I already have it on VHS.  

I guess I've been using this criteria: I haven't watched the VHS of the movie in over a year so why spend the money on a DVD that will sit on the shelf as well.  

As I type this, I realize that my first purchase of a DVD that I have on VHS is the American Godzilla.  I would like to get a complete DVD collection of ALL Godzilla movies (If they ever make it to DVD.)  But the other day, I saw the Buckaroo Banzai DVD in Sam Goody.  I almost bought it.  (I will probably go back and get it later because it is a personal favorite.) But I could not help but think that the VHS copy I have I only viewed once or twice over the past year and that I would be spending money on a DVD that I may not get to watch soon because my wife doesn't like the movie. (Dare I say it, She's a Disney Fan.)

Now if I DON'T have the VHS and there is a DVD out of a movie, I buy the DVD.  I would also like for any collections I have to be DVD (Godzilla, Star Trek, Star Wars etc.)

Does anyone else have a similar problem?

(By the way, Thanks for ALL the movie suggestions for DVD's on my last post.  I'm on the look out for them now.)

As a rule, when I already have the movie on VHS, I only by it on DVD if 1) my VHS has been watched so many times it is wore out and staticky 2) it offers significant new features that were not available on VHS--case in point is the new MAD MAX DVD with original Austrailian dialog.  The rest of the time the VHS will suit me just fine.  It goes without saying that all new titles I'm acquiring, I'm doing so on DVD.

I've sold a lot of my VHS tapes and replaced them with DVD, VHS takes up too much room and are p**s poor quality.

Since buying my DVD player (over a year and a half ago) I havn't bought any VHS tapes.

My wife is a Mel Gibson/Tom Cruise/Harrison Ford fan, so count yourself fortunate that you only have to look at cartoon animals... I do a trade-off with my wife each weekend; I'll watch one of hers if she'll watch one of mine (now stop that). So I sat through "What Women Want" with Mel Gibson, and in return she watched "Monsters Crash the Pajama Party" with me. Hard to say after the dust settled which of us survived most intact...      

Now to answer your question, I have no problem whatsoever buying a DVD of a movie I have on tape, if the price is right and I like the movie enough.

After 20 years and a few cross country moves, plus having them in storage for awhile, many of my favorite VHS tapes are in very bad shape, and some are unplayable.  Some of my oldest, most prized tapes won't play at all, and a few even rain down tiny oxide particles if I shake them. This is a bit scary too when I think of how many VHS tapes I have that I shot myself, interviews with people and behind the scenes stuff from films and haunted houses I worked on over the years. That stuff must be saved somehow, because once it's gone...poof.

Anyway, back to commercial videos, as I gradually replace VHS copies with DVD, I simply pass along those old VHS tapes (the good ones) to friends who want them, or in the case of unplayable or poor quality tapes, I just toss 'em. My dream is to come to a day when I no longer have any tapes in the house. They just don't hold up like discs do.

I have about 25 VHS tapes I will have to transer to DVD someday, when the technology is both available and affordable to me. 'Til then, I try to pick up from 3 to 6 DVD's per week.

And I'll be the first in line whenever THE BRAIN is released on DVD.

A lot of Dvd's keep the movie's original aspect ratio where as most Vhs are pan and scam.  

One of the big points for me though would have to be the ability to immediately (or at least quicker than vhs) skip to any area of the movie.  I have always hated rewinding.

I have pretty much replaced all my VHS tapes with DVDs.  Beside the better sound and picture quality, DVD is essential because about 99%  of them have widescreen transfers.  I saw Buckaroo Banzai in a revival theater and was astounded by just how much of the picture I was missing on my crappy VHS version.  I wouldn't have any doubts about purchasing any DVD with a 2:35:1 aspect ratio.  Trust me, it'll be like seeing the movie for the first time all over again.  And it goes by default that any DVD with special features is generally worth purchasing also.

I figure I'd probably replace the real favourites, as well as any tapes that wear out, with DVDs, while acquiring most new movies on DVD. I'd still buy a few old eBay specials on VHS - crappy old video store stock that has yet to be released on DVD, if ever.

Of course, this is all hypothetical for me, as I don't own a DVD player. I'm seriously close to buying one, it's just a matter of feeling good about spending the money. I suppose I should just bite the bullet and get it for the simple reason that DVD is rapidly becoming the new standard, and it's pointless to continue amassing VHS movies any longer than necessary. Having about 350 movies, give or take, I'd sure appreciate giving up the format for something more compact. My living space is very limited, and quite full of shelves at this point.

Of course, I can't afford a DVD player for a little while. I have to pay for a trip to Chicago for some damn B-movie festival :)

My b-movie collection is around 2500 films now, spread fairly evenly between DVD, LD, and VHS.  I have been steadily buying DVDs, even when I have the LD or VHS on my shelves.  Why?  They take up less room and, 96% of the time, they look better.

Just purchased the Masters of the Universe DVD the other day, even though I have the LD.  Now I need to find someone who wants the LD... ...hey Ebay!

Andrew

I find myself buying more and more DVDs, including ones I already have on tape-- I'm a sucker for commentary tracks and deleted scenes, especially on my favorite films, which are generally ones I already own. Still, I've got a long-standing VHS habit that's hard to break; I find it damn near impossible to pass up a great b-movie in the "used" rack of an old, grimy video store, even if there's a jam-packed, dirt-cheap DVD a couple of towns over. I'll probably phase out my videos in the not-too-distant future, but as it is, I keep the tapes around to show to friends without DVD players (which are becoming less and less). Plus, there's the fact that I have a great deal of videos that I don't see coming to DVD anytime soon (such as Rat Pfink A Boo Boo and J-Men Forever).

It all depends on how much I like the film or if there are pretty good extras that enhance it. I haven't bought too many dvds that I already own on vhs, just mostly films that are new to me. I still would take a vhs over a dvd if the price was less and the dvd was bare bones or near. I still buy quite a few films used or new on vhs because really how many times am I going to watch a particular movie in all truth.

I've had a DVD player for perhaps 2 years, and my wife just got me a new PC which also has a DVD drive and player.  At the rate we purchase DVDs, our collection will soon catch up to the numbers of what's left of our VHS collection.  BTW, at one time I had a walk-in closet full of VHS and Beta tapes, nearly a thousand of them.  

I went through our DVDs last week, pulled all of the B-movies and off the wall stuff (ones my wife doesn't care for) and brought them into my office. Now I have about 70 or so movies such as ANGRY RED PLANET and THE TINGLER all lined up on a shelf in-between history, language and psychology books. I can't wait until one of my students comes by to visit and sees my DVD collection. :)

Chicago...last time I was there was 1962. *sigh*

Over the past 2 years I've purchased a ton of dvd that I already had on VHS - the picture quality is the reason, but a couple of other factors come into play. First, I purchased a Sampo DVD player which is region free and macrovision free - so I purchase a lot of Asian films (Shalin Soccer, Brother) and euro horror (A Touch Of Death, Cannibal Holocaust) and most are region 2 PAL. Second, I bought a Dobly Digital receiver and a Polk Audio surround sound speaker system - This was the best investment I ever made - the quality of the DVD audio is so far superior to VHS!

If I rent a movie from Blockbuster, I want it on DVD, I won't rent a VHS tape. Still - I doubt the "The Man Who Saved The World (aka Turkish Star Wars)" will ever be on DVD, so VHS still has a purpose. I've started to transfer some of my VHS tapes to VCD and have had excellent results - often I can tweak the picture to improve contrast and sharpness and Adobe Premiere 6.0 has the ability to take a pan & scan movie and make it widescreen (well, it might not be widescreen, but it often makes the piture looks better - at least in my mind).

Once DVD burners become affordable and advance, lookout VHS - you soon find a new home next to the Neil Dimond 8-tracks.

Is there a way presently to transfer from LD to DVD?

You can probably guess why I'm asking... ;)

If your LD player has regular NTSC or SVHS outputs and you have a good computer setup, this site might help.  http://www.vcdhelp.com/

It's a site dedicated to making "VideoCDs, SVCDs or DVDs from sources like DVD, Video, TV, Cam or downloaded movie clips like DivX, MOV, RM and ASF".

I'm afraid I'm pretty much in the dark about LaserDisc though.  I just remember seeing some ads for them way back when.  Don't they look like large(i.e. 20' diameter) CDs?

P.S. hyperbole  
SYLLABICATION: hy·per·bo·le
NOUN: A figure of speech in which exaggeration is used for emphasis or effect, as in I could sleep for a year or This book weighs a ton.  

:)

I believe LDs are the size of old audio LPs. There is a movie I want very much, that was released on LD some years ago. I'm hoping that if it doesn't make it to DVD soon, I can coax someone to transfer it to DVD for me. That's what I was referring to. :)

*start hyperbole*

If I can't get that movie on DVD...I'll kill myself!

*end hyperbole*

Heh heh...

The first LDs were big, but now they are the same size as regular CDs. They're basically the earlier version of DVD (MPEG-1 with fixed bitrate, etc..). I don't think there is a single DVD player out there that isn't capable of playing LDs too.

"I don't think there is a single DVD player out there that isn't capable of playing LDs too."

I tried playing my rare Squirm LD in my DVD player, the only way I could get it into the drive is if I snaped it up into little bits. For some reason the movie didn't play , no sound no nothing. I fact no movie I've put in my DVD  player since has played, oh well.


Anyway Frederik, I think your on about VCDs, these have a lower spec than LD but are starting to come into their own because of high DVD-R prices. VCD is the new MP3.

Wow, what can i add? My GE dvd was $129 at Wal-mart , and the sound and picture are worth the cash. It plays cd's too. Yeah, i have 10 dvd's,with 11 films. I shop around for used dvd's, and have gotten some bargins. Get the flicks you like the most first, and replace the other vhs stuff as you can. Vhs does deteriorate over time, i've found to my sorrow. But, like diamonds and James Bond, dvd's are for ever....as long as your friends kids don't play frisby with them!

Does your GE DVD player play VCDs? (Acronym overload!)

I might take a look at one, after I get back from Chicago.

Stupid releasing-the-special-edition-six-months-after-the-first-disc.

That would depend upon what else is on the DVD. I bought the DVD for "Lair of the White Worm," after I had the VHS, because the added commentary by the director on the DVD is worth it. But, I'll probably not buy the DVD for "Lord of the Rings," the animated version, not the live action version, because I hear it is the same as the VHS version, and I already have the VHS version.

Oh, I can do full-fledged video editing here, but am not so much interested in cutting LDs to VCD as having real, "best master available," DVDs.

Andrew

Well I just bought me a Playstation 2 for my belated birthday, and I might think of replacing the tapes for dvd's.  But I still got my VCR (somtimes I work till the next day so I gotta tape my WWF).  Not to sound like a derelict now revaling in the wonderful invention of the DVD, but it is good idea.  Because, do you hate it when, after all the fast forwarding and rewinding, just to get back in pace with the movie, you pull the tape out of the VCR, but part of the tape is still stuck?  And it gets to the point where if you pull it any futher that the tape is going to break.  That's $15-$20 down the drain.

I've bought two DVDs of the same movie, last year I shelled out a whole 5 pounds the crappy Digital Entertainment version of Class of nike em high, then a couple of weeks ago I bought the Troma version in a sale.

Both copies cost me less than if I was to buy the Troma version at full price.

I own both DVD versions of Plan 9 From Outer Space... I'd get rid of one, but they both have different extras (the Image release has the full 2-hour documentary "Flying Saucers Over Hollywood," while the Passport version has interviews with various people associated with Plan 9 and Burton's movie, including a great vintage interview with Bela himself).

Hi! This is my first post here, so be nice :)

I'd be pleased to substitute all the VHS tapes in my video collection for DVDs. The reasons are the usual: better quality, widescreen, durability, extras and... since I'm from Spain VHS tapes here contain the movie dubbed into Spanish. With the DVD, I've got the chance to watch the movie in it's original language with subtitles.

And what to do with the tapes (assuming they're originals, when they're TV recordings or bootlegs I simply tape over them)? I try to sell or trade them. I recently sold my Superman and Superman II (pan-and-scan) tapes and then got the DVDs for not too much more than I got from the tapes. I got rid of two useless videos (specially #1 without the extra footage in the DVD and new VHS) and gained two great DVDs.

Now a sorry story: You'll never meet a guy who takes more care of his VHS tapes than myself. I got the Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome DVD and prepared to trade my old VHS (which was a 1980s rental copy). I opened the case and saw that there was a little amount of white stuff on the tape. I popped it into my VCR to clean it up, watched a bit from the beginning and it still looked decent. Then, I stopped, fast-forwarded, and... the machine suddenly stopped. I ejected the tape and...

...it had broken. Literally.

Imagine what will happen with your beloved VHS collection in 15 or 20 years!!!

Nothing can really prove that DVD has a longer lifetime than VHS.

Lots of my old (15 years old) audio CD are unreadable nowadays despite I took very care of them.

What will happened to my DVD since it's the same kind of physical support.

Popman is right. DVDs and DVD players have only been around for the last couple of years(about 4-5 if I remeber right). It may be a bit early to tell about their life-expectancey.

I suppose DVDs are still unproven as a means of long-term storage. However, we can probably look at CDs and laser discs as some indication. I have music CDs that are 12 years old and still play alright. I also have old beatup rental VHS tapes from the early 80s that play just fine. On the other hand, I have a couple of tapes from the late 80s that don't play at all. Never having owned a laser disc, I can't say how they hold up. Anybody have any really old (relatively speaking) LDs?

While we don't know how DVDs will stand up in the long term, we do know that tapes will eventually rot. Magnetic recording has been around for a long time. If the tape itself doesn't break down, it will be gradually erased by the magnetism that is all around us. The recording is just residual magnetism in a thin layer of metal oxide. It's far from permanent. I store my collection as far as possible from the TV, light fixtures or electrical wiring. At department stores, I cringe every time a cashier runs my latest purchase past one of those big electromagnetic desensitizers, instead of using the little handheld one. Maybe I'm overly cautious, but I've spent a lot of time and money collecting these tapes, and I want to get as many years out of them as possible.

I would breathe a lot easier with my collection on DVDs. It's certainly no more perishable than tape, and in many ways, it's more durable.

Now that I've thought about it, I'm going to go shopping for a player as soon as I get back from B-Fest. I've put it off long enough.

Ouch! Karahade, i feel for ya' My poor, bairns....the sight of dead MST3K tapes...(sob)....flakeing like a dandruff ridden scalp...i can't go on.....OH< THE HUMANITY!....figurativly speaking......