Buying movies - a poll

[Noreen Claire]

I've just started working my way through the Star Wars movies with DS10. We are doing one per month until Episode IX comes out in December, which we will see in the theatre. Next year, I'm planning on watching the Marvel Movies with him. I want to buy the movies, so that he can rewatch them with his brothers as they get older. What do you think, given current technology and thoughts about the future, is the best format to buy the movies?

[happypamama]

I tend to buy the digital-bluray/dvd combo, because sometimes we like having the digital, and sometimes we like the physical disc.  If it's something I am sure that the kids won't want to take to a friend or grandparents' house, I buy just the digital.

[Ananda]

Usually we buy the DVD, but then immediately rip it and store the digital files.  We watch the digital copies.  We don't buy digital copies directly, because they never give you the actual files.   We don't use the DVDs because we have little kids and they would scratch or lose them.  The DVDs are stored in a zipper binder in a safe place.  BTW we do the same with video/computer games.  I can't imagine keeping up with all the optical disks and always helping the children to start their videos & games.  I don't think the disk drive on our Wii even works anymore . . .  

[gardenmom5]

Now preferred format is bluray, but we've switched to 4k, so we've started that.  Not much available currently.  Most things are stored on a server and managed with plex. 

 

ETA, I can see a difference in resolution in standard DVDs on a 4k screen vs 1080p.

Edited May 23, 2019 by gardenmom5

[Pawz4me]

I'd get it through Amazon Prime. 

I say that as someone in her mid-50's who has seen all sorts of technology come and go over the years, all the way back to eight track tapes. I don't think DVD players of any sort will be around all that much longer. I tend to doubt Amazon is going anywhere, and I trust them (well, as much as I trust anything online) to keep my digital content available to me.

[theelfqueen]

I usually buy BluRay with digital. Most of my movies have migrated over time to the Movies Anywhere platform (that's what Disney uses now) which syncs with Amazon Prime. I am more likely to watch a digital version of a movie than the disk, though I do get out the disks sometimes.  The TV I am most likely to use is a Roku TV that is not hooked up to any other hardware. So that's a factor. We subscribe to a couple of streaming services too. 

[athena1277]

Other.  I prefer DVD’s.  It’s just easier to open a cabinet and see what we have.  However, Dh prefers digital.  He usually is the one to buy movies, so anything bought in the last several years is from iTunes.  

[MeaganS]

We have moved away from dvds/blurays and almost always prefer somewhere in the cloud, whether that be amazon, Google, vudu. Right now we prefer Google play because we share a family account with several of my siblings and my mom, and we can all access each other's Google play movies. So when my sister buys Lego Movie, we get it too! 

We have a mobile internet line on our cell phone plan we can take anywhere and our car DVD player is hooked up to a Roku. For road trips or even longer errands, my kids stream educational or entertainment stuff there. Everyone in the family has their own device and can stream our movies on any of them. It's just easier to have it all in the cloud than deal with scratchable disks. 

We do get occasional hard copies of things, but 99% we make sure they have a digital copy associated with it so we have the option. 

Edited May 24, 2019 by MeaganS

[SKL]

I prefer DVDs because nobody needs me or my computer to be present if they want to watch it ... also I am not motivated to figure out the technology of making a computer file work on our big screen TV.

I have downloaded one or two movies, or got rights to them, whatever, but never watched them.  I just don't like doing it that way.

That said, we are experiencing a space issue with our DVDs, despite various efforts to manage it ... like I bought a bunch of thin double dvd holders which can store up to 4x as many DVDs as the original packaging.  But we are still overflowing.

[mumto2]

We buy hard copies of most of the content my family really enjoys but they love the free stuff on Amazon.  

 

Just have to share a funny recent conversation......... makes me worry about content being altered.  If you own the hard copy no one can change it.

Me to rest of family:  Wondering about getting rid of some of our VHS tapes guys.  We have the Star Wars all on DVD right?  

My Kids in utter panic:  You can’t give our VHS away!  We own all of the deleted scenes on those.........Disney changed the original movies apparently and we own the original ones!!!  Collectors items and my kids are collectors.😂

I gave up on getting rid of the two bins of VHS that are still hanging around after that.   DH confessed he has purchased extra new VHS players for when the current ones break and he wants to keep his VHS.   

 

@SKLWe have a huge number of DVDs and I have been allowed to toss the boxes for some and put them on a spindle that blank dvd’s are sold on.

 

[LisaKinVA]

Some things we buy in blu-ray, other things we buy digital.  Regardless of how it's purchased, it all gets digitized and put onto our Media Server -- which is also how we access Netflix, YouTube, etc.  (I don't know what will be included when we get stateside in that mix stuff).

[Ausmumof3]

DVD here.  I only buy stuff on iTunes or kindle or whatever if I don’t care about long term ownership.  Although I’ll be disappointed if I ever lose my audible collection now

[Carrie12345]

Obligatory other.

We generally buy digital, but across platforms depending on availability and price. I prefer to rent, because I’m not really into re-watching movies (and don’t have small children who will watch an animated Disney move 8 times a day, every day, anymore.) But Dh buys things like Marvel movies and the like because he and the boys will happily have marathons before a new installment.

[mlktwins]

14 hours ago, Noreen Claire said:

I've just started working my way through the Star Wars movies with DS10. We are doing one per month until Episode IX comes out in December, which we will see in the theatre. Next year, I'm planning on watching the Marvel Movies with him. I want to buy the movies, so that he can rewatch them with his brothers as they get older. What do you think, given current technology and thoughts about the future, is the best format to buy the movies?

You are probably already doing this, but just in case :-), we recently watched the Marvel movies in chronological order as a family.  We all enjoyed it so much and the movies made so much sense seeing them chronologically.  We got caught up and then watched Blank Panther rented from Red Box and Captain Marvel and End Game in the theater.  Here is a link to movies in order as we watched them.

https://www.imdb.com/list/ls020525837/

I'm not much help on the buying part.  I do have all the Star Wars movies and they are a mix of DVD and Blu-Ray (with DVD and Digital).  We borrowed most of the Marvel movies from our library.  Having just cleaned out my dad's house, I won't be buying many movies from here on out.  Will either do digital or try to rent or something later.  Redbox is only a couple of bucks to rent.

Have fun watching the Marvel movies!!!

 

[Noreen Claire]

3 hours ago, Ausmumof3 said:

Although I’ll be disappointed if I ever lose my audible collection now

Oh. That would be catastrophic here. 😲 I think my husband owns >50 Great Courses on Audible, nevermind our kids' book collection!

[Noreen Claire]

14 minutes ago, mlktwins said:

You are probably already doing this, but just in case :-), we recently watched the Marvel movies in chronological order as a family.  We all enjoyed it so much and the movies made so much sense seeing them chronologically.  We got caught up and then watched Blank Panther rented from Red Box and Captain Marvel and End Game in the theater.  Here is a link to movies in order as we watched them.

https://www.imdb.com/list/ls020525837/

Yes! We are going to follow this order: https://www.amctheatres.com/amc-scene/the-best-way-to-rewatch-the-mcu .

I know DS10 is itching to see them (and I'm thankful that we homeschool because he has had a few instances being teased by peers because he hasn't yet.) However, I'm waiting until he's a *wee* older to tackle the complete mess that is 'early' Tony Stark, may he RIP. 😭

[mlktwins]

1 minute ago, Noreen Claire said:

Yes! We are going to follow this order: https://www.amctheatres.com/amc-scene/the-best-way-to-rewatch-the-mcu .

I know DS10 is itching to see them (and I'm thankful that we homeschool because he has had a few instances being teased by peers because he hasn't yet.) However, I'm waiting until he's a *wee* older to tackle the complete mess that is 'early' Tony Stark, may he RIP. 😭

LOL, yes!  There were a few things in one (or more) of the Guardians of the Galaxy movies too.  Mine were never interested before, but we were travelling and they wanted a movie to watch in the van.  We got Infinity War.  After that, we had to go back and watch them all.  Very fun!

[vonfirmath]

10 hours ago, mumto2 said:

We buy hard copies of most of the content my family really enjoys but they love the free stuff on Amazon.  

 

Just have to share a funny recent conversation......... makes me worry about content being altered.  If you own the hard copy no one can change it.

Me to rest of family:  Wondering about getting rid of some of our VHS tapes guys.  We have the Star Wars all on DVD right?  

My Kids in utter panic:  You can’t give our VHS away!  We own all of the deleted scenes on those.........Disney changed the original movies apparently and we own the original ones!!!  Collectors items and my kids are collectors.😂

I gave up on getting rid of the two bins of VHS that are still hanging around after that.   DH confessed he has purchased extra new VHS players for when the current ones break and he wants to keep his VHS.   

 

@SKLWe have a huge number of DVDs and I have been allowed to toss the boxes for some and put them on a spindle that blank dvd’s are sold on.

 

 

We bought a VHS machine in order to watch the original Star Wars movies. My husband definitely does not like the revised movies as much as the original so bought VHS tapes of Star Wars and a VHS machine to play them. 

Edited May 24, 2019 by vonfirmath

[Katy]

In the past 3 months I've bought mostly Amazon Prime, but also several blu ray and DVD's, just depending on what it is and how irritated I've been with the internet service here (old cable that buffers whenever it's rained recently).

One thing to keep in mind is that with Amazon you don't actually own the videos you "buy."  Depending on service agreements they can stop showing them at any time.  They haven't done that yet, but with a physical disc you own it and you can store your own digital copy.  I haven't done that for most of mine, but it's a thing.

[mumto2]

Adding another thought to this.......Disney is starting their own streaming service and who knows what that might mean for their content on Amazon etc down the road.  My kids own most of Marvel on dvd but have only purchased their favorites, I believe there are a couple they stream on Amazon.

 

Edited May 24, 2019 by mumto2

[mumto2]

2 hours ago, vonfirmath said:

 

We bought a VHS machine in order to watch the original Star Wars movies. My husband definitely does not like the revised movies as much as the original so bought VHS tapes of Star Wars and a VHS machine to play them. 

My kids told me all “true” fans were doing this!😉🤣

[vonfirmath]

4 hours ago, mumto2 said:

My kids told me all “true” fans were doing this!😉🤣

 

My husband mentioned it in one of his friend groups and he may have been hooked up with digital versions of the real original Star Wars triology.

 

[J-rap]

I rarely, rarely buy an actual physical movie anymore.  Sometimes I buy a digital one on Amazon because it's the only option available and we want to watch it, but not necessarily because I want to watch it again.

For very special movies or Christmas traditions, we might buy a DVD.  But more and more, we buy even those on digital.

 

[katilac]

Mostly prefer not to buy, mostly digital when I do. With digital movies, you can log into whatever account from wherever you are to watch it. 

I'm at peace with the small chance that I may lose a movie or two somewhere along the line. The risk is small compared to the reward of not storing DVDs. 

21 hours ago, SKL said:

 also I am not motivated to figure out the technology of making a computer file work on our big screen TV.

 

Unless your TV is quite old, all of that is built right in, you aren't dealing with files on your computer or anything. Ask your kids to show you 😄

[historically accurate]

Other.

We buy about 3 movies a year; we rent mainly (we have the library, Redbox, Amazon and Hulu). The Easter Bunny brings 1 DVD annually (this year was the Greatest Showman), and DH usually gets a digital copy or two over the year. We don't have a Blue-Ray player, but we do have a DVD player. 

[Spryte]

We use an Apple TV, and we buy from the iTunes Store.

[maize]

Amazon streaming. Nothing for me to store.

[theelfqueen]

Note to the DVD folks - BluRay players are compatible and also play DVDs. You dont have to upgrade your collection to switch up your hardware. 

[Noreen Claire]

On 5/26/2019 at 10:22 AM, theelfqueen said:

Note to the DVD folks - BluRay players are compatible and also play DVDs. You dont have to upgrade your collection to switch up your hardware. 

This I did not know! I may ask Santa for a blu-ray player for Christmas this year...