[TinMan368]

OK, so how many titles have you bought without first seeing the movie/show? I own about 120 DVDs (yeah, a pitifully small number, I know) and my guess is that I bought 50-60% of them without ever seeing the movie or show first.


In some cases, I have a good reason for doing so, such as my Talking With Hitchcock DVD. An interview like that is never given the same hype as the average sitcom even when a station is willing to air it.


In most cases, though, I simply couldn't bring myself to shell out the $12.50 to see the movie when it was making the rounds at the multiplexes. (Yeah, stupid reason, I know.)


So am I the only one here who does this or can I start up a "Sight Unseen Club"?

 

[Tom Carey]

I have a tiny collection (maybe 25) because I'm just getting started. Before completing my HT, I would only rent. But I have yet to buy a DVD of a movie I have previously watched.

 

[gfidaho]

Living in an extremely rural area, I rarely have the opportunity to see movies in the theater. I own about 190 dvd's most of which I purchased sight unseen.


I am highly dependent on website reviews, and forums such as this one when making my selections. Obviously, I end up with an occasional stinker, most of which end up for sale on ebay...


The key for me is to find a reviewer with similar taste...

 

[Marissadad]

I'm up to about 75 DVD's and have purchased the bulk of them sight unseen. I've ended up with only a few duds, I guess I've been lucky in that respect.


I usually wait awhile after a DVD has been out and read reviews and get opinions of people I trust have similar viewing tastes as myself. Another reason I wait is so I can see if a DVD I really want will be released with DTS or not. I've been burned in that regard several times. Now, I prefer to wait it out a few months.

 

[kal]

I've only been to the movies 2-3 times in the last couple of years...


I've bought most of my 400-500 titles sight unseen (at least all the resently released movies - older movies I've probably already seen somewhere before). I'll usually read a quick review at www.dvdfile.com or www.rottentomatoes.com to make sure it's not a bomb.


Kal

 

[pdjennings]

Aren't all movies "blind purchases" in a way?


I just had to respond to this... cuz this is one of my pet peeves (No offense to anyone.... it's your life... do with it as you please).... but damn... people ***** too much about "oh... i can't just buy that dvd... i don't make blind purchases... and i only buy dvd's that i know i'll watch weekly for the rest of my life". yadda yadda... (again... no offense )


But... in terms of my DVDing..... this is how I see it:


Most new release DVDs are basically the same price as tix for 2 to the cinema.


If a movie even looks interesting enough for me to want to see it.... (be it at the cinema or on DVD).....then, to me, it's worth owning 99.99% of the time...... even if it turns out to be disappointing. You're absolutely no worse off than if you'd paid to go see it at the movies..... PLUS (unlike the cinema) you get to own the DVD forever.


I can only name ONE DVD of my collection that I "regret buying"... but I've still kept it... because I'm sure it'll be a blast to make fun of some day. I honestly find it VERY VERY VERY hard to say "I hated that movie". It just isn't in my nature to be overly negative about the entertainment artform. Sure, one can be "not a big fan of" whatever-it-is..... but hate it? Not me.


I also tend to put very little stock in any sort of 'review'. A technical DVD spec's review... sure... but an OPINION review.... hardly ever.


I always hear some DVD-folk talk about how don't want to be... "saddled"...with owning a DVD they "didn't like". WTF?? I mean.... if you really feel you must have "out of your sight",.... then it's usually easy enough to give it to someone you know or sell it to a used CD/DVD shop.


Again... just my two-dvd-cents

 

[Hank527]

Hardly ever, I buy DVDs of movies I liked. I see almost everything @ the theatre. If not I rent them. I've bought some 500 + DVDS and have stopped buying them almost outright in anticipation of High Definition copies that I know I will be satisfied with. If HD-DVD were available and was released @ $20/disc I'd buy a ton of flicks sight unseen.

 

[Sa-dono]

I also agree that renting is another good strategy if you haven't seen the movie in the theaters. This way you can decide if it is something you want to own in your collection. Plus with all of the special editions and the new superbit DVDs releasing I can watch a release and purchase the edition I want later if I liked the movie.

 

[paddy]

I'd say about half of my purchases are sight-unseen, maybe a little more than half. And, believe me I -have- been disappointed by some of them. Although there are many movies that just don't measure up to my expectations, I do agree with pdjennings take on it. Almost all of the new release DVD's that I purchase are movies I would have seen at the theater. That would have been 2 tickets, plus sodas and popcorn. Guess what? That covers the cost of the DVD, which I can watch many many times, and eventually give as a gift to someone later, when I tire of it. (I've probably given almost a dozen away so far) So, all and all, I haven't regretted any of my purchases, except those with such a poor transfer that it was difficult to watch the movie. These are extreme cases: Ran, Chariots of Fire, Zulu. Those are movies I love, but the transfer was unbearable.

 

[Marissadad]

Quote:

Most new release DVDs are basically the same price as tix for 2 to the cinema.

Exactly why I rarely go to the theatre anymore. I took my wife and daughter to see The Rookie last week: 3 tix: $17.00, Popcorn, pop and Gummi Worms: $12.00.


This price gives me the right to: Watch an out of focus movie, not get to sit in the "sweet" spot, not be able to pause it if I have to go pee, smell the stinky ass air because the theater is too cheap to run the A/C to suck out everyone's bodily functions, listen to cellphones going off, people talking, walk on the sticky floor, the (fill in the next 10 blanks).


Or I can buy the DVD for $15-$25 and enjoy it in full surround sound glory at my leisure when I want with fresh popcorn and real butter and a BEER. Try getting that at a theatre!


Sorry for the rant, I just HATE theatres.

 

[Brory]

I have a little over 400 DVDs and I think I have seen about 75%- 80% before I bought them. I go to the movies A LOT though, so many new releases I have already seen. Many others are older titles that I had on laserdisc or VHS but wanted on DVD. If something looks or sounds interesting though, I have no problem getting it unseen.

 

[TinMan368]

pdjennings said:
Quote:

I can only name ONE DVD of my collection that I "regret buying"... but I've still kept it... because I'm sure it'll be a blast to make fun of some day.

OK, I'll bite: which title was that?

Sa-dono said:
Quote:

I also agree that renting is another good strategy if you haven't seen the movie in the theaters. This way you can decide if it is something you want to own in your collection.

I was going to address this issue in my initial post but decided against it to keep myself from rambling ... which I'm about to do now. Renting DVDs or borrowing them from the library is unquestionably an easy-on-your-wallet approach to checking out DVD titles, but you need one thing: time. I realize that a rented or borrowed DVD forces you to watch it precisely because it needs to be returned but life (mine, at least) throws all sorts of wrenches into the works: important phone calls, your working a hard day and being too tired to sit through a movie, your significant other wanting quiet time together, your significant other not wanting a particular title in the house because she hates the actor in it (e.g., anything with Tom Cruise), etc.


When I own a title, I watch it when the mood strikes me and when the coast is clear (I'm currently waiting for my GF to get out of the house so I can watch my new Jerry Maguire: SE, which she doesn't know I bought). With a rented or borrowed title, I have to time the spots just right to make sure the 1-3 day window I have the DVD for allows me to squeeze it in the schedule.


This is just my life I'm talking about, and I'm pretty sure that at least a few of the above points don't apply to a number of you. Still, for those of you who can relate to what I'm saying, I just want you to know that you're not alone.


This has been therapeutic. Thank you.

 

[pdjennings]

Quote:

Originally posted by TinMan368 OK, I'll bite: which title was that?

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0...1.MZZZZZZZ.jpg
KillJoy

 

[hob]

I read what you guys say about movies or I see one on a pay TV channel. Most of the movies I buy are 'used' also. I buy used discs off of amazon resellers, I clean them (anti static cloth) put it the mega changer. If the disc skips or has a lot of scratches on them, I run them thru my SkipDoctorâ„¢. I have 2 one for DVDs and one for CDs. After the doctor gets through with them, they don't skip no more!



I get some PQ titles for a lot less money than that cellopane wrap, that costs you sometime 3 times what I pay for them. The pattern left by the SkipDoctor the laser doesn't read. If you use felt you can buff the marks out really nice. The sellers want your approval of 5 stars Excellent, rather than 1 out of 5 Awful. More stars means more sales, you know the drill.

 

[KeithG]

I buy many sight unseen. I own about 200 (DVD Profiler alias is KeithG, sorry to rushed to post a real link). I find that I rarely have *time* to see it at the show, then buy it months later and sit to watch it again. (though I will buy and watch Blackhawk Down again). Movies are being made much faster than I can watch them, and then add in network TV (CSI, ER, Simpsons, Raymond, NYPD Blue, 24), and then HBO runs Band of Brothers that absorbs any Monday evening leisure time I have for 8 weeks, etc. hehe.


If I don't like them, I just sell them off. I heartily agree with a recent post about the rental thing. While this topic is about "hmmm, do you buy only ones you hav seen or are sure about?", I can say that on a slightly different topic, I don't RENT movies anymore. Period. No visits to blockbuster. Like the other poster said, I can't handle the time constraints. I may end up paying close to $8 to rent the damn thing, with a late fee added on. I'd rather buy it for $15-20, "rent" it for 6 months, If I like I keep, if not I sell it for $9-12 clear after postage and listing fees. I figure I'm out, on average, $8 just the same.

 

[paddy]

Where do you sell your old DVD's? E-Bay?

 

[McPatrickClan]

EBay has a nice resale value for DVDs. I love the idea of buying a DVD instead of dinner & a movie. I usually look for movies that my buddies liked or a certain actor that rarely does bad movies (i.e. Val Kilmer, Mel Gibson, etc.). Then you own the DVD and can do with it as you please.

 

[Ernie Smith]

Video and Audio quality of the dvd notwithstanding, EVERYTIME I buy a movie that I have not previously seen I am disappointed. However, I am afraid I have broken "Ernie's Rule" numerous times and as a consequence I have had paid the price as a result of my transgression.

 

[BurkeLaShell]

I never buy movies I haven't seen. I only buy movies I plan on watching several times. It's not a huge percentage of movies that warrant several viewings. I justify my NetFlix membership every month because it allows me to avoid buying bad movies.


--Burke

 

[mbailey]

I would say that I buy about 99% of my DVDs sight unseen. The theaters around here just cant come close to the picture or sound quality at home.