The Last Blockbuster

Historical documentaries often chronicle lifestyles of many decades ago, often centuries: the Roaring 20's, the Fabulous 50's, the Civil War. Because the world is changing so rapidly, particularly in the area of media, what seemed cultural mainstays only one or two decades ago are now referred to as by-gone eras. By-gone eras are no longer a half-century ago or longer. In this case, the documentary is focusing on Blockbuster Video, a cultural phenomenon mainly experienced by Gen X'ers from circa 1990 to 2010.

The interviewees discuss Blockbuster Video in ways that remind me of my grandparents talking about malt shops, horse-racing tracks or Coney Island. Blockbuster Video, began with a single store in 1985 and by 2004 was at its height with about 7500 stores US nationwide. However, by 2019, there was only one store left. What happened? The most interesting part of the documentary is the history of Blockbuster which is only about a third of the film at best. Most of the film is the interviewees talking about Blockbuster culture and the last Blockbuster Video still standing in Bend, Oregon. A lot of focus is on the general manager of the last store, Sandi Harding.

When I was at university in the 1990's, everyone I knew had a Blockbuster Video card. It was the culture for Gen-X'er film entertainment in lieu of going to see a new release in the theater. But even young mom's and dad's could rent movies for the whole family. New video releases were astronomically expensive, often costing $80 to $100 on VHS. But you could rent them for $3 to $5 for one to two nights at Blockbuster. You could gather a group, order pizza and watch the original "Halloween", "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan", or maybe a new release on video like "Silence of the Lambs". Or something nostalgic like "Plan Nine from Outer Space".

According to the documentary, Blockbuster wasn't exactly put out of business by Netflix as the conventional wisdom goes. But if you listen carefully, BB was in a way. But bad business decisions contributed.

BB was bought by Viacom which intended the video rental franchise as a cash cow to buy other media corporations such as the QVC Network. By then BB's stock price was slipping. BB was also offered a lucrative deal with Warner Bros for the upcoming explosion of DVD's which would replace VHS. The offer was tremendous: exclusive rights to distribute new release DVD's for rental before general sale. BB turned it down. Subsequently, Warner Bros lowered its new releases' prices from $80/$100 to $20 to $30. Now instead of renting for $4, consumers could just buy DVD's and own them forever.

In the early 2000's, BB had the opportunity to buy Netflix. That was turned down. And now they're down to one last store in Bend, Oregon. An interesting doc which chronicles a by-gone era... of only like 10 years ago? We live in interesting time...

I turned on this documentary in hopes they would dive into what happened to the Blockbuster chain but was disappointed that the documentary only briefly glosses over these details. If you want the story of the family-oriented last Blockbuster, then it's a nice and wholesome documentary. Most of the interviews revolve more about nostalgia than actual experience of Blockbuster's demise, which made me question why the people being interviewed were picked over someone else who was a Blockbuster member. Their memories are an accurate depiction of how many of us feel about Blockbuster so if you want the nostalgia trip, here it is. Overall, if you want the business side of Blockbuster and the company's fall, I wouldn't watch this.

Chronicling the life of the last operating Blockbuster Video in the world located in Bend, Oregon, this documentary gives a cursory glance to the origins and downfall of Blockbuster while also interviewing Sandi Harding (General Manager of the last Blockbuster) and her family who run the establishment, and talking with industry figures such as Kevin Smith, Lloyd Kaufman, and others on both the business side of Blockbuster and the nostalgia(but mostly the latter).

Directed by filmmaker Taylor Morden who made the Ska documentary, Pick It Up! - Ska in the '90s and the under quarantine produced fan remake Project 88: Back to the Future Too, The Last Blockbuster is a movie that has a real sense of warmth of likability to it. It's a film that feels very inviting with likable interesting people who you could see interacting with and gaining something from (which you do). I can't really say the movie is all that "informative" as far as documentaries go as it's more focused on the human side of blockbuster than it is the actual story behind the company, but for what it is, The Last Blockbuster is a pleasant distraction.

The most informative bits definitely come from Kevin Smith who details the dealings between Blockbuster and the major studios that forced out many of the ma and pop independents and started cannibalizing them and turning them into Blockbusters. We don't really get much of a sense of how this changed the industry, there is an attempt by Troma president Lloyd Kaufman to to try and illustrate how Blockbuster cut off distribution from smaller indies like him, but it's such a rapid fire segment that's played mostly for laughs it doesn't leave much impact.

The rest of the movie is basically built around nostalgia as the interviewees who aren't Kevin Smith are mostly comedians/ actors like voice actor James Arnold Taylor or Samm Levine and most of their contribution basically boils down to doing impressions or jokes (albeit amusing ones) while detailing their adventures with Blockbuster back in the day. It's very much a reminiscence film and there's nothing wrong with that, sometimes it's pleasant to view into bygone days we thought were long behind us.

The Last Blockbuster isn't all that informative as far as documentaries go, but it is certainly a pleasant sit that allows one to revisit video store memories. From the likable Harding family who run the store, to the various regulars we see, to the talking heads revisiting their memories it's very much like having a reunion with old friends, you don't gain much that's all that "useful" but you do crack a smile and lose yourself if only temporarily.

The first half of the documentary is really strong, telling a story around video stores and the history, Then it gets a bit muddy with a much too long part about the last store. Just making the first act longer would have made it perfect.

They called this a documentary, so I would have liked to see an informative movie about the rise and fall of an iconic American company. Instead, it's more like a long version of that old show 'I love the 90's.' Talking heads cracking bad jokes and an over enthusiastic narrator who sometimes pretends to be in the room asking people questions (though I doubt that is the fault of Lauren Lapkus.) The stuff with the family who runs the last store is good though. The whole thing just came across as a little cheesy and not very serious, which would be fine, just label it as such. It's worth watching, even though you might find yourself doing something else while it plays in the background.