The day DVD came out I found it vastly superior to VHS, not just for the improvement in picture and sound quality and the convenience of scene skipping instead of Fast Forwarding and Rewind, but finally getting movies widely available in widescreen instead of the awful abundance of pan and scan releases that plagued VHS.

>>1 The day D-VHS came out found it vastly superior to DVD, didn't make anyone buy it over DVD when D-VHS came out in 1080i over DVD's 480p.

Movie quality wise, VHS was total Shyte.
...and with blu-ray, DVDs feel kind of the same.

The nostalgia thing is just for the collecting factor, the cool boxes, and just remembering what it was like.

I don't buy the whole "I like the crappy look that vhs gave horror films" thing.
That's just plain dumb.

yeah, vhs is one format i dont miss

imho VHS lead to the worst era of horror...the 80s - far too much crap for a decade

>>5
Missed the 90's, 00's and 10's did you?

I for one love seeing the old logos, ads and previews. The picture and sound quality dosent really matter to me. I can still enjoy a film where everything is not perfect. Besides DVDs are not perfect either. A finger print or smudge can make the DVD stop or skip. And at least you can fast forward the FBI warnings. Many DVDs you cant.

A finger print or smudge can make the DVD stop or skip.

Nonsense. Even if that were true, you could just wipe it off. Try that with a tape!

And at least you can fast forward the FBI warnings.

It's such a long time to wait...

I do like seeing the old logos, though, Vestron etc.

Even if that were true, you could just wipe it off. Try that with a tape!

Much more unlikely to happen to a tape though, because the tape was sheltered by a plastic guard and not exposed.

It's such a long time to wait...

Some dvds have unskippable trailers. It isn't a long time to wait, but it is a strange step back from VHS where you could fast-forward through anything.

OP: people are nostalgic about VHS for the same reason they're nostalgic about anything else. It doesn't mean VHS was better.

I still collect Vhs Horror. I have gotten a few signed. A couple years ago, before eveverything showed up on blu ray, certain films were only available on VHS. (Sante Sangre, Curtains)

I remained loyal to VHS for a time after DVD came out. A lot of that was attributable to nostalgia. It's the medium you're used to, the one you grew up with, and even though it's made obsolete, it's familiar, so you cling to it.

There are also people out there who *like* the grainy quality that VHS encapsulates. I can understand it, but not 100%. Sometimes, I'll catch a movie on youtube and it's mad grainy, but that's part of its charm. Y'know, as long as I can make out what's going on and it doesn't detract from the experience.

Also, people can dog VHS all they want, but I used to tape stuff off the TV all the time when I was a kid, and it was super easy and convenient. All you needed were labels and a good sharpie. I know that nowadays you can use DVR and whatnot, but not everyone has it, and it's totally not-free like taping stuff was back in the day.

That being said, I just watched Curtains on blu-ray, which for YEARS was only available on VHS, and yeah. Get my mind a cigarette, cuz it has been blown.

Also, people can dog VHS all they want, but I used to tape stuff off the TV all the time when I was a kid, and it was super easy and convenient.

There's not really a need for it now, is there? Everything comes out on disc.

Well yeah, if you wanna pay for it

It's mostly about the era itself for me. I certainly wouldn't want to go back to watching movies on VHS and am a big proponent of Blu-ray, but it was cool to be able to go to the video store and browse, and certain video stores had these movies with cool covers that you'd never seen at any other video stores (generally because they were actually low-budget crapfests), etc.

VHS itself was actually pretty lousy as a format, as you point out. Movies were pretty rarely presented in their correct aspect ratios (if they were anything other than 1.33-1.37:1), there was the rewinding issue, tracking problems, it was expensive as hell to buy your favorite movies, etc.

Wouldn't know, not from personal experience anyway. That is baffling, though, isn't it?
I suppose it works like any other nostalgia, something irrational, over idealizing "better" times etc.

I can remember renting Re-Animator for the first time back around 1990. It skipped or something when I watched it, so I took it back because I wanted to swap it for one of the other copies. Instead, the clerk "spliced" it, which, correct me if I'm wrong, he cut that portion of the movie out entirely! I was horrified, and was glad when that place went tits-up later on.

DVDs were a welcome change, they have their own set of problems but wouldn't wanna go back.

If I have any nostalgia for VHS tapes it's because they were a big part of my childhood. There were no dvds or blu-rays yet and like most people we didn't have laserdisc, so I didn't have any business complaining about VHS quality. I was just happy not to be living in the pre-home video days.

The same reason people are nostalgic for anything else I guess.

Some older obscure movies (particularly American horror movies) are still only available on VHS. And I personally prefer an older obscure movie to a new obscure one, first off, because a fossilized turd doesn't smell quite as bad as a freshly laid one. Second though, it used to require a modicum of talent and a lot of hard work to make a horror movie, but nowadays literally any idiot can make one and, not surprisingly, a lot of idiots do. It's like I prefer the days when somewhat talented people would throw together and distribute 'zines compared to nowadays when anyone can bloviate on the internet. There are still great low-budget filmmakers and clever minds on the internet, but good luck finding them in a veritable sea of steaming feces.

Anyway, pardon the ranting, but that's why I still buy occasional VHS tapes as opposed to digital and on-line stuff. The medium itself is definitely crap (I immediately copy them onto DVD-Rs).

I for one don't miss VHS one iota. I mean, it was good for its time, but DVDs are clearly infinitely superior in terms of picture and sound quality. I still have some videotapes knocking about up in the attic, but I wouldn't watch them now.

One thing I will say for videos is that at least the packaging didn't waste space. Most of the time it was just a cardboard sleeve. The first time I saw a case for one of these newfangled DVDs I wondered why they would create such a compact format and then waste space with oversized packaging. Actually, I'm pretty sure it's because they wanted them to have more of a presence on store shelves. Same reason 2 disc sets were thicker even though they didn't need to be. Obviously things have improved considerably since then, although even Blu ray cases are taller than they need to be.

As others have said, I think the nostalgia had a lot to do with the time period, but I also think it has to do with vhs having been around for so long without any real competition. In contrast, DVDs had to compete with the established video market at the start, and it now coexists with Blu ray and other formats that don't use physical media. Times were simpler when it was just video and television, and they were fundamentally different from each other.

Personally, I switched to DVD as soon as I could because it meant not having to track down and pay extra for subtitled videos. That and the special features made it more worthwhile to buy, rather than just rent, movies. I wouldn't want to go back to vhs, but I can understand nostalgia for the time period.

I think the size of the packaging is mostly to do with deterring theft.

I think they are nostalgic in the same way I am nostalgic about comic books printed on newsprint. We were kids or teenagers, our friends hadn't moved away yet, and we still got together every weekend. In other words, we're nostalgic for the time more than the format. When I look back at those old comics, I realize they look like crap (not the actual artwork, but the quality of the printing.)

improvement in picture and sound quality

It depends. I have a 1985 VHS of Curse of Frankenstein that has far better audio and visual than the DVD I have of the same film. The only thing the DVD improves is that the opening credit backgrounds are a brighter shade of red. My VHS copies of Universal's Alfred Hitchcock collection are also better than their DVD counterparts.

Part of the reason I still watch VHS though isn't a nostalgia thing, but because I had a huge collection of films I had never gotten around to watching. Then in 2005 (the last days of VHS) I got a new, high quality VHS player as a gift from a friend who is an electronics geek , and it worked flawlessly (and has continued to), so since the tapes were still basically new, I've never really felt they were old or had to be replaced.

Sometimes it helps to be late to the game.

I still buy VHS movies, and watch them! I miss VHS, going to the video stores, browsing, renting, I loved it! yes I love DVD and Blur-Ray, but VHS I love! and I have good memories.

Look up the word nostalgia, the will explain it.

I remember watching GI Joe as a kid. I have no doubt if I saw it now I'd think it would be horrible. But people like things that are comforting. I remember a long time again that Mr Rogers (when he was still alive) was popular with college kids. They were in a stressful time of their lives, and wanted something comforting, so they would watch Mr Rogers. Now it wasn't ALL college kids, but it was a percentage of the audience.

I have some episodes of Mystery Science Theater that I recorded off cable when it was still on the air. There are a lot of episodes they haven't released yet, and I'm not going to pay full price for 4 movies. Since I've seen them already I usually watch them while I'm doing something else, meaning I'm not giving them my full undivided attention, so the picture quality doesn't bother me. They aren't horrible, the only time the picture is bad are the parts where I stopped recording for commercials.

Well, for one thing there are still some that are not on DVD. And for secondly if you have 400+ movies on VHS already, trying to replace them all would cost a shitload of money.