If you’re under a certain age—say, 25 or so—chances are you don’t quite get the importance of the local video store experience. The Blockbuster Video chain is now a memory, and there are only a few specialized video rental stores scattered across the country, holding on for dear life. In this world of Netflix and countless other streaming services, the entire process of having to leave your house, go to the store, browse the shelves, and then hope the movie you want to see isn’t checked out, all seems quaint at best, or tedious and antiquated at worst.
But there was something great about the video store experience too, something that’s pretty much been lost now. When you checked out a movie from the local video store, you probably spent more time deciding which movie you wanted to watch much more than you do now, where you’re just browsing through a million different options on streaming, and just land on whatever looks the least offensive.
And if you paid good money (and whatever amount of money you knew you’d probably end up paying in ridiculous late fees) you probably took the time to actually invest yourself in the movie you rented, and probably didn’t just have it on in the background while you’re doing something else. With all that in mind, it’s no wonder a certain generation fetishizes the VHS experience as much as they do.
Now, in a tribute to the old videotape era, an imgur user (and fan of old-school, obsolete media) has gone an created a series of images where today’s films are given a retro transformation, a VHS style downgrade, if you will, showing what these movies would have looked like had they come out back in the day. Among the movies included in this series are recent favorites like Ex Machina, Her, Under The Skin, and maybe most appropriately, Mad Max: Fury Road, which honestly would have fit the most in the VHS glory days of yesteryear. Even The Revenant, which has just barely come out, gets thrown into the Way Back Machine, and gets a VHS makeover. Or should that be “makeunder”?
You can check out the complete collection of new movies in old packaging images in our gallery, and let us know what you think in the comments below!
—
HT: imgur
