So, the end of 2023 kickstarted a frenzy with physical media collectors when retail chain Best Buy announced that they would be halting sales of DVD/Blu-ray/4K UHD discs in Q1 of 2024. Here we sit a few days into the new year and it’s seemingly apparent that Best Buy is not restocking inventory in storefronts, even offering steep discounts on certain Steelbooks and other movies. So where does this leave us dinosaurs who are still buying movies on disc? Well, the answer isn’t exactly a simple one with some online users proclaiming the “death of physical media,” but I don’t believe this to be true. Now at this point, some of you may be giggling at the “hapless headcase huffing hopeium,” but just hear me out here. We’ve curated specially for you, this list of 5 Reasons to Collect Physical Media in 2024 and Beyond (and One Reason to Not).

1. Ownership & Tangibility

Let’s start with the most obvious reason, ownership. Now before you naysayers start squealing in the comments about “You don’t own the movie! You just have a license to view it on a disc!” Stop typing. Seriously stop. You’re being semantical by arguing the legality of ownership and you’re doing it for the sole purpose of being argumentative. Do you think I don’t own this movie on my disc? Try to take it from me. Any takers? Sony? WB? Paramount? Do you think Bob Iger is going to drive to my house and physically take my DVD of Eloise at Christmastime? Tell Kenichiro Yoshida to get his butt back on a plane to Japan because Sony ain’t getting my coveted copy of Roland Emmerich’s 1998 American Masterpiece, Godzilla starring Matthew Broderick. In a day and age where nearly everything is digital, consumer ownership has never been more important. If you think we don’t own these discs, then we really don’t own our digital copies. Streamers are constantly changing their libraries, digital licenses expire, and the consumer gets left with no access to view the films they want to view. When buying on disc, this issue doesn’t impact you. Of course, discs can go out of print and can be damaged, but as long as you take care of what you buy then you won’t have any issues (unless for some reason you collect HDDVD).

2. Quality

A large reason the CD market has lowered so much is due to digital streams, of course, but it is also because consumers realized how cool it was to buy Vinyl, and that Vinyl has a better sound experience. It’s the same way when comparing 4K UHD discs to 4K streams. Now I could go into the boring number specifics with bit rates and how an internet stream of a movie doesn’t even come close to the bit rate on a 4K disc, or the fact that a major advantage to discs is the consistency because they don’t require an internet connection that is constantly fluctuating, but I’d rather focus on something a bit more interesting and that is the fact that streaming services don’t always get the highest quality scan of a film in the first place. Let’s take a look at “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” 4K UHD release from Second Sight Films over in the UK. This beautiful edition of TCM was released in early 2023 and featured Second Sight’s wonderful restoration work along with Dolby Vision HDR, and this scan of the film is not streaming anywhere. It’s only available on disc and this is THE superior way to view the film. I have been told by friends who saw TCM in theaters that this scan is the closest thing to the original theatrical run. That is impressive and important! There are many what we call “boutique” Blu-ray labels out there that do impressive restoration work, and we’ll get into that in the next point.

3. Film Restoration and Preservation

One of the more noble reasons for collecting physical media is to support the long-term efforts to restore and preserve film. There are many notable boutique labels out there that are doing this incredibly important work. Some examples include Second Sight Films, Arrow Video, Kino Lorber, The Criterion Collection, and perhaps most notably, Vinegar Syndrome. Vinegar Syndrome makes it their mission to save as many lost and damaged films as possible. While most of their library may not appeal to the G-rated audience (or even the PG and PG-13 audience for that matter), consisting of mainly B-rate slasher flicks, exploitation, and grindhouse films, they’re still putting much-needed TLC into restoring these films that deserve to be seen! VinSyn even has a YouTube channel that features some incredibly interesting videos about film restoration! These awesome labels are out here saving film while studios are hell-bent on shelving completed films and removing original content from streaming services for the tax write-off. At the end of the day, this practice damages art, and that’s not cool with me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jmP7cpB7xQ

4. Nostalgia

Admit it, as a film buff/cinephile you have at one point (or currently) dreamed of working in or owning your very own video store. Lounging on the counter, ignoring customers like Randall from Clerks, and FREE RENTALS! All the movies you could ever hope to peep, right there at your fingertips! Well, we physical media collectors have found a way to bring that dream to reality, if only on a smaller scale. As a child, I would go to the video store every weekend and browse the horror section (yes, I was that kid), and as an adult, I’ve made it my mission to purchase every one of those films that mom wouldn’t let me rent! They say that nostalgia is a Helluva drug that makes you look at things through rose-colored glasses. Well, send me to the eye doctor BAY BAY because I NEED my video store fix and I need it now! (This may or may not have been a cheeky J.G. Wentworth reference.)

5. Supporting Small Businesses (A.K.A. The Good Kind of Capitalism)

As if I haven’t been frothing at the mouth about boutique labels enough, it’s important to remember that these labels are businesses working within an industry that employs people. You know, a job? The thing you do so you’re able to afford all of these movies. The physical media industry isn’t exactly a giant anymore, but these labels keeping it alive, while considered corporations for the most part, I would still consider them to be small businesses. They are very independent and are not owned by major studios such as Disney or Warner Brothers. In addition to these boutique labels, there is another cog in the gears that keeps physical media rolling along, the retailers. That’s right, there are still places in the world to buy discs! And I’m not talking about the villainous Amazon or the aforementioned Best Buy. I’m talking about legit small businesses, such as Diabolik DVD and Grindhouse Video, two online physical media retailers who do fantastic work to distribute movies to the masses with fantastic deals and wonderful customer service. Perhaps though, none are more prominent in my mind than Orbit DVD, a physical brick-and-mortar video store (that also runs a fantastic online shop) out of Ashville, North Carolina. These retailers are the definition of mom-and-pop. Standing strong in the face of massive corporations who are not only trying to take their business but seemingly destroy the physical media industry. It may just be me, but I think that screams punk rock! These retailers have that tough-as-nails DIY attitude to stand up and say, “I love what I sell and I’m going to keep selling it!”

We reached out to Marc McCloud, the owner of Orbit DVD, for his thoughts on the current state of physical media retail and how the landscape has changed with the announcement of major retailer Best Buy leaving the market. Here are Marc's robust and rounded thoughts.

I have been reading all the articles about Best Buy ending physical media sales. However, all of these articles fail to recognize that there are two marketplaces when talking about movies. The largest market is definitely shrinking. A segment of buyers have routinely bought movies out of habit, convenience, or need (no internet) ... whether it be a new cartoon for the kids, a TV show, or the latest blockbuster. I believe the peak years were 2003 - 2004 and it has been steadily declining over the past two decades due mainly to streaming.

What is NOT being reported is that there is a buyer of physical media sales that is increasing in numbers... the collector. Whether it be the best format to watch a film, packaging, genre, company, or hype, the collector does not trust streaming as the end all be all to watch a movie and wants to own a physical copy. They also want to devour everything about the film with audio commentaries, booklets, and special features. Others are attracted to the packaging of the set and many online groups have formed to trade limited releases. Criterion was probably the creator of this market and still the gold standard, but many others are doing excellent work like Arrow Video, Shout! Factory, Eureka Entertainment, Vinegar Syndrome, Second Sight, etc.

What we are seeing now is a renaissance of these "boutique Blu-rays" and there is no sign of the market slowing down. They might not be selling millions of copies like they did in 2003 but we are seeing new customers every day.  What I find odd is that Best Buy helped nurture a section of this collector's market years ago with their exclusive Steelbook releases, and I think it's the reaction of Steelbook fans that is fueling a lot of the internet chatter right now.

(Marc McCloud, Owner of Orbit DVD)

One Reason to Not Collect Physical Media in 2024

Let’s reel ourselves in for a second. We’ve outlined five different points as to why you should still buy movies on disc in the modern day. From film preservation to supporting small businesses. These are all pretty great reasons to collect, but at the end of the day, we should evaluate what is most important. To me, what is most important is that you watch the film. I will always be here beating the drum for physical media, but I do have the wherewithal to realize that there would be no physical media industry if there wasn’t a film industry. Physical Media and Film YouTuber Heath Holland (A.K.A. Cereal at Midnight) recently made the point about how the disc is just the delivery system for the content that we view, and I have to agree with him. The discs are great and so is ownership. Having that movie to watch in your collection and removing a studio's ability to edit it (Lookin’ at you Disney) or take it away from you is important, but not quite as important as actually watching movies. I’ve seen trends online recently of people who collect these movies and stick them on the shelf, and they never watch them. And there are things about the physical media industry that fuel this fire. Labels will release limited editions with fancy slipcovers or boxes. Limited artwork or posters, pins, and lobby cards. While that stuff is great, it creates this collector mentality of “I have to have these new releases on day one or I’m going to miss out, and if I miss out then I don’t get dopamine, and if I don’t get dopamine then I’m sad.” I realize that I just word-vomited about Vinegar Syndrome earlier in this article, but they’re one of the biggest offenders of this. While I can’t blame them or other labels for capitalizing on this mentality, I think it’s important for everyone, the labels included, to realize that the content on the disc comes first. So maybe the title of this article shouldn’t refer to collecting physical media, but rather to securing physical media as a way to ensure that we don’t lose the art of film.

So, with all of these reasons to still buy physical media, the biggest question that remains is “Can physical media and digital media coexist?” To this, I say a resounding “YES!” Buying movies is great but so is streaming! Even through the fear of losing ownership, the ability to watch movies has never been more accessible! Although there may be some streaming issues, being able to flip through massive libraries of movies and TV shows with the click of a button is a wonderful thing. It exposes us to art in a quick, streamlined form. It’s nearly miraculous, I’d say. We are also more likely to view films that we previously wouldn’t have before because we have less to lose with streaming, as opposed to blind-buying a film. You turn it on, and if you don’t dig it, you just turn it off. It’s great for trying out new things, not to mention streaming services also offer tons of content, new and classic, that has never before been released on tape or disc. While I wish we could have the option to own every movie that’s been made, it just isn’t possible, but streaming certainly makes it possible to view some of the unreleased gems. It’s not a war between formats anymore. Especially because nowadays the mainstream consumer has mostly ditched their physical library and switched to streaming, but what we have is still an incredibly fun thing. We have a collector’s market and one that is actually GROWING instead of dying. New boutique labels are sprouting all the time, amazing 4K and Blu-ray releases are dropping every Bluesday Tuesday, and at the end of it all, the consumer seems to be coming out as the winner.

If you enjoyed this article and want more from the author, be sure to check out his other film reviews on the site! You can follow him on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube @JTtheTalkingHead.

Photo Credits:

Photo 1
“Texas Chainsaw Massacre 4K UHD LE Box set” courtesy of Second Sight Films.”
https://secondsightfilms.co.uk/products/the-texas-chain-saw-massacre-limited-edition-uhd?_pos=3&_sid=9ce567058&_ss=r

Photo 2
“Swamp Thing 4K UHD LaserVision #1 from MVD Visual” Photo courtesy of JT Pettry”

Photo 3
“Oscar Beacher from Vinegar Syndrome demonstrates types of film” Courtesy of Vinegar Syndrome’s YouTube channel.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OWmCk4aLho

Photo 4
“A photo of “The Last Blockbuster” in Bend, OR” from Wikipedia.”
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockbuster_(retailer)#/media/File%3AInterior_of_last_Blockbuster_Video.jpg

Photo 5
“Logo for Orbit DVD in Ashville, NC” Visit their site at www.orbitdvd.com”

Photo 6
“A photo collage of the logos for Hulu, MAX, Prime Video, and Netflix”