It’s Saturday night, the kids are in bed, and we have two whole hours to watch a movie. Let’s just pull up the streaming service and pick one. Ok, scrolling Netflix and I don’t like any of these. Let’s check Prime. Ugh, no, none of these either. What about Max? Do we still have Max? Yes! We do! Sweet. Ok, I don’t think any of these. What about that movie you mentioned earlier this week? Where is it streaming? I just googled it and it’s only available for rent on Apple TV for $10 and we have 48 hours to finish it. And this one is 2.5 hours long and we only have 1.5 hours left before we fall asleep. Let’s just pick something on Netflix and stick with it. Ok, here, this movie is fine. Let’s just watch this one. What do you mean no internet connection too slow? Why is it buffering so much? Let me reset the router. Ok, we have an hour left, let’s see if we can at least get the first half in and finish it tomorrow. You’re right, let’s just go to sleep.

Yeah, the above dramatization might be a bit extreme, but we’ve all had these issues at one point or another when streaming a movie. Oversaturation of streaming services and no consolidation of media are just the “good” problems we have. There’s the requirements of reliable internet, reliable hardware, and reliable implementation of the two. This is why I prefer physical media. You know what you have, you get to keep it when you’re done watching it, and you can pause without fear of losing the rights to it.
 

You know what you have. Now, this might be off-putting to some of you, but I like a limited and cultivated selection. When you are selecting from your own library, you are selecting from a collection of movies you have already determined you want to watch. So, finding something to watch within your shelves can be much more simple than trusting your ability to scan through dozens of pages of different streaming categories with little to no information beyond a small clip art and title. Streaming services are always changing what movies they have, so a movie you start on Monday may no longer be available on Tuesday. When you put in a physical disk, tape, or cassette, the movie plays. As long as you have a power source, you get to watch the movie. You can pause it, take a break for a day or a week, and the movie will still be there when you come back to it. It is like magic! There’s little chance your movie will  be “unavailable” when you decide to watch it.

 

The physical movie you have is the actual movie you’ll watch. The most insidious problem with streaming movies are changes made to the original versions. While there are many examples, the most glaring is what George Lucas did to his Star Wars re-releases. Once he got his hands on the ability to make digital edits and additions, the subsequent versions included major changes. The 1997 Special Edition re-release of Star Wars: Episode IV –A New Hope George Lucas made it so Han Solo (Harrison Ford) no longer shot Greedo before he could shoot him first. This moment changed the entire mythos of the Han Solo character and the movies altogether. That, plus the additions of crappy digital effects make any version after 1997 hard to watch. The worst of it is you cannot find the original versions online for purchase or streaming! You need a pre-1997 physical copy to watch the movie as originally shown.

Yes. there are problems with physical media too. Your selection is limited by what you have on the shelf. You need working hardware to play the physical media. There’s always a chance your disks could scratch. And you have to physically stand, select your media, take it out of the case, and place it in the player. Yuck. Plus, there is a chance your media could scratch or tear. Nothing is perfect. I find these inconveniences minor at most and glimpses of nostalgia at best. But you need to weigh it for yourself. Me, I have rose-colored nostalgia glasses and find the rewinding of a VHS quaint.

 

I’m not saying you should quit streaming and go all physical media. No, I think there is room for both. I currently have a cultivated collection of my favorites that I know I will want for years to come. I also have robust digital library of films I find when Apple has large discounted sales. The Nic Cage month was quite a boon when all of his films were on sale for $4.99. Hopefully, Apple doesn’t lose the licenses to these movies any time soon and I can keep watching them. So, as with anything, moderation and diversity is key. Don’t sleep on the importance of physical media. You might find you missed putting in a disk and seeing the special features available for your favorite movie.