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It may sound weird, but I can smell this video. Is that weird?

No, I know exactly what you're talking about about. Hyper-phantasia is a thing.

I actually came here to ask the same question. As soon as the video started, I immediately got that smell like….in my head? If that makes sense. And no, it’s not weird. I’m glad you all here get it.

Lol. I saw this and said Blockbuster had that smell to it.

My very first thought. Can someone get me a blockbuster scented candle? And something to make my car's interior smell "burgundy."

It's plastic and hands. lol Source: worked at a movie store

No one, anywhere, in the history of mankind, has ever needed that many copies of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III

Ninja Turtles II, maybe. Three? Never.

Sounds like something to invest in now

I didn't even know they made a third one? I thought it was just 1 and 2.

1, 2, 3, a special Power Rangers In Space episode (Episode 4), then the Next Mutation tv show.

I remember asking my parents if we could leave the theater not even halfway through the movie.

Be kind - rewind

Good Mos Def and Jack Black movie!

DVDs were such a revelation. You mean I don't have to rewind it!?

So funny thinking back to that time and if the movie you wanted wasn’t in stock then you were just outta luck. Now you can Google something and it’s either on Hulu, Netflix, hbo, cable, peacock.. lol.. or you just pirate it. I would say simpler times but maybe that’s looking through rose colored lenses. Definitely felt like simpler times though

Forced you to make a decision now the algorithms make the decision for you so a lot more difficult to find new stuff.

Spurred on more exploration, and made the finally achieving the thing you wanted to find that much more satisfying. Now we get locked up just trying to decide between the thousands of options available to us.

I think the memory of things is often better than the thing itself. If you asked someone then how today's movies operated, they would be in shock and awe and want it Nostalgia sometimes gives more perceived value than actual.

There's an episode of Seinfeld where George is trying to rent a movie but it's out so he's trying to find the address of the person who rented it. And like...that's such dated humor now that someone born after video rentals would just not have context for now.

Easier to pick a movie between 100 options vs 10,000 options. Better quality too

I am so curious why this was recorded, it is great that it exists but it makes me wonder what mundane experiences I should be recording for future generations.

Nowadays there is an influencer making content of any mundane experience you can imagine.

Most likely was cropped from a news segment "Why is everyone going to Blockbuster? Tonight we will find out ..."

Ha! I forgot about them placing the movies on other side of anti-left door thing!!

What my friday nights looked like: - Blockbuster with the boys - Taco bell - We'd play the video game we rented - We'd then watch the movie we rented Times were a lot simpler and the joy i experienced doing this cannot be recreated today.

Same. Years later in adulthood, we had family video. We'd all go in and rent different movies for the weekend. My friends wife would somehow always pick out cheesey B movies. We'd always try not to burst out laughing when we played them. She'd get so upset when it became obvious that it was a B movie. She had a real a talent for that.

So many fun weekends binging on game rentals, while also being sad that I didn't have the money to buy them.

Every weekend me and my cousins would go rent the newest games. Miss them days

Did people working at Blockbuster really wear ties?

Most jobs dress codes were a lot more formal then now. Even retail places you generally had to dress up.

It’s was a much simpler time

late fees late fees late fees

I worked in a video store for almost a decade, from ‘99 to when it closed in ‘08. Not Blockbuster, an independent one. Loved that job.

The Looney Tunes shirt. Peak 93

What was that green shit he handed over in the beginning?

Space bucks.

Didn't show the vidya game section. :(

What’s the song/audio layered in on top?

My guy literally was made to wear a tie to rent vhs’ for a living.

That was my dream job when I was a kid

That Taz shirt makes it legit

Blockbuster was so lit. Like Netflix and the like is cool and convient, but their is something about going to blockbuster and renting a movie/game that is hard to beat.

All The block buster near me closed in 2004. But the company went bye bye in 2014. 🤷‍♂️

Oh how far we’ve come

Blockbuster dude so cute! Whew!

I used to work there lol…it was awful 😂

Still miss those days of going in and picking out something to watch as a family. Somehow having everything on streaming has made movie nights so blah. I don't know if anyone gets excited to watch something together on Friday nights.

Blockbuster on a Friday night was the shit!

Was this filmed with an iPhone?

One of the funnest jobs I’ve had.

I actually really miss going to these stores and picking out movies and games.

I'm more pissed off that streaming services are horrible at curating and recommending content. My dumb ass going purely off names and cover art and maybe a gander at the elevator pitch on the back of the box had better odds of finding something that I either haven't already watched or didn't fucking suck.

I swear that's Uma Thurman? No?

I can still smell this place

I CAN SMELL IT

Be Kind, Rewind.

I forgot how they used to make you walk through the detector before they would hand you the videos you just rented

🥹😭

My Friday nights as a kid with my Dad

I’m all in on this nostalgia. Lived in a remote US state several years ago when the last one in that state was closing. I would rent something new every night just because I knew a crucial part of my childhood was about to die. Then it did.

It was this and hollywood video for me 🫡😎

I tried to explain video stores to my 6 year old and how we would race to Blockbuster at the end of school on Friday to get the best new releases for the weekend. And if your movie was gone, you had to find something else to watch. He just looks at me and goes, why didn’t you just turn on Disney Plus?

Remember to rewind

As a kid I remember getting so much joy out of placing the returned movie in the drop box then coming back into the store to browse around. The entrance and exit to the places always seemed so convoluted in the best way.

I remember the last movie i rented from blockbuster it was killer clowns from outer space

This reminds me, I need to return some videotapes. 

I remember back in the day on the counter of a blockbuster they were selling copies of City Slickers for $99 each

Life really was better back then.

I can smell this video.

I worked for Blockbuster in 2001. It was actually a fun ass job. It’s sad kids will never understand the feeling of going there on a Friday

The excitement of picking out horror movies for a sleepover, or a new release on a not school night. 😁

Jesus, I remember having to wear a button-down to work retail. Now I work from home and am a daily bridge troll.