much as the title suggests, this will be one of them "nostalgia" things, to be sure. it would be fair to assume that some of you, look you see, find such things quite tiresome. so, fair warning has been given before you carry on.
a little while ago, probably during one of them day of release posts what i try to do for the vibes, i highlighted some fancy VHS style branding for dvds and blu-rays that HMV had in stock. whereas i don't recall the exact post or the details, i can remember being impressed with them, but disappointed with the high price and the fact that i already owned all the titles they had of interest, albeit in more conventional, or if you will standard packaging.
most happy day, then, when i went to HMV over the christmas period (boxing day, if you will) and discovered that they were both of a more agreeable price and featured titles that i did not, for some reason, already own. well, at least not in or on the blu-ray format.
two celebrated and classic 80s comedies, then, in the form of Trading Places and Airplane!, or indeed Flying High as it was named in some countries for some peculiar reason. yes, of course i had these much cherished films on dvd, but had simply not gotten around to upgrading them to the fancy blu-ray versions. most merry a day it was that i could do so and go on the nostalgia kick of these mock VHS boxes with them.
cost? HMV had them in a 2 for £15 section (or 1p south of £10 if you bought just one), which to my mind makes them come in at £7.50 each. a quite reasonable price for a blu-ray title.
a look at what you get for your (if my maths is correct) £7.50, or an understanding of how much, exactly, bang you get for your buck? surely. let us start with how the discs are housed, outside of the smart replica VHS outer box.
inside the outer VHS slipcover is a not entirely flimsy but not entirely sturdy cardboard recreation of a VHS tape. not really accurate, as the holes on the back are far too close together (actually it looks a bit like a Beta cassette), but a decent and respectful enough effort.
whilst i write this i have the blu-ray disc of Trading Places on. subsequently this is taking quite some time to do, since i am thoroughly enjoying watching it again. i can recall fondly my first time watching it. this was all before the government and the bbfc interfered with video, enabling anyone of any age to rent any video, in particular off of the video shop at the petrol station. it was late 83, or early 84, i believe. the BBC had a snippet of the film on some show or other, and i thought "that looks good". as this was all pre-Beverly Hills Cop and pre-Ghostbusters, i was not quite aware of the cast, except that i was fairly sure that the white dude on the cover was one of The Blues Brothers.
my reaction to watching it for the first time was very much to rewind the videotape and watch it again, straight away. yes, it was that good, and going on what i am watching now, remains that good. great, in fact. excellent, even.
to the inside of the mock VHS box, then, and the two discs. both the blu-ray and the dvd discs have been done up like VHS reels or spools, which is a lovely touch.
a decision which has long since baffled me is that what the film industry took to often bundle a blu ray version of a film with the dvd version. i believe Disney argued that they did it so you could watch the blu-ray at home and have the dvd in the car for the kids, or something. in the majority of cases in which i have bought such a set, the dvd disc has remained blissfully untouched. but, i suppose, here it at least lets the mock inner VHS tape case look "a bit" more authentic with the two reels / spools inside.
speaking of which, and you can sort of see this later on with a look at the back of the boxes (not in Commodore 64 mode), the blu-ray and dvd discs would appear to contain different versions of each film, for the blu-ray has a longer running time. also, and but of course, the blu-ray of each is loaded with extra features, whereas the dvd seems to have just the film. thus far, though, i have not noticed any "extra" or "new to me" scenes in the blu of Trading Places. perhaps later, when Dan Aykroyd makes his "superbowl" analogy, is what they mean by the extra scene. that bit got cut for time in some UK prints, for at the time with no NFL / American Football coverage a lengthy scene comparing something to the "superbowl" meant precisely zero to us.
anything else within the packaging? oh goodness me, yes. as show above, assuming the pictures all upload ok, you see what you get. basically, then, a poster for the film, a sticker and a "trading card" or "bubblegum card".
the above, in truth, had me itching to go back and splurge more on these, what with them being a not entirely unreasonable (actually very good) 2 for £15. other titles which excited, interested and tempted me included The Thing, Scarface and An American Werewolf In London. but, they are all films that i have at least once on dvd and for certain as standard packaged blu-rays. in those terms, then, it would seem excessive and indulgent - bourgeois, perhaps - to spend so much for a poster a sticker and a collectable card.
who, exactly, are these aimed at? me, i suppose. well, not me specifically. but, you know, them like me. collectors and so forth, and those who suffer the torment of nostalgia. that said, absolutely no one in their right mind gets nostalgic for the quality of VHS, but i - hopefully we - do for the memories. home video, when it came along at a reasonable price (it took a while, on a school trip to London in the late 80s HMV on Oxford was selling Commando for some £60), was outrageous and exciting. getting a film on tape was exciting and special. now, with cheap discs and all this streaming, it all feels rather disposable.
how come i selected Airplane! to go with Trading Places? well, other than not having it on blu-ray, it is a film which competes very favourably with Life Of Brian, This Is Spinal Tap and Four Lions for the title of funniest film ever made. yes, we had the video of it, and it got watched repeatidley. whereas i cannot remember if it was in Australia or England, i think the first time i watched the tape was with my brother and sister, one weekend morning, whilst Mum & Dad were asleep and we were trusted or otherwise left to just amuse ourselves.
the only other alternate that i could think to pick up was The Breakfast Club. however, it seemed that it featured precisely zero extras, and as the version on the blu was the same as on the dvd then it made little sense to upgrade. nice though a poster of Emilio, Judd, Molly et al would have been.
anyhow, that's that then. let me just get on with watching them. if for some reason you have not worked this out, or if for that matter my opinion is of some value, then yes, absolutely these VHS packaged discs are well worth getting. this is all the more true should you find them at the price i did, or if truly fortunate an even better one.
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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