In a world of digitalization with our favorite films and shows at the tips of our fingers, what do we do when they suddenly disappear from reach? When a movie is taken off of Netflix and moved to Hulu, are we expected to get a membership for both services?
A simple solution to this is keeping physical copies of our favorite films and shows. Though Blockbusters are a thing of the past, buying DVDs in-store or online is still an option for movie watchers. Personally, I keep a stash of movies and TV series that I love on hand, but I’m also a bit of a movie-hoarder. This sort of lifestyle isn’t ideal for everyone, especially not if you’re living in a dorm room or traveling often. So, it raises the question, do we really have to keep all these movies on hand?
With this list of movies and shows leaving Netflix this month, what should be done about it? Do you swap streaming services? Do you buy the hard copies? Or maybe buy digital copies? You might spend more money paying for all of those streaming services than you would if you were to buy digital or physical copies. Plus, if you’re buying hard copies, there’s secondhand shops like Half-Price Books or ThriftBooks where you can get them super cheap.
There are plenty of benefits to having a streaming service, absolutely, but when they start to remove some of our favorites, it becomes hard to justify staying with them. A favorite example of mine is “Pitch Perfect” because it’s a movie my entire family loves, and it has hopped around from streaming service to streaming service. After playing a game of chase with various free trials of streaming services, we finally broke down and bought physical copies of the movie series.
What’s the best choice to make here? There are several different options, but it can be hard to decide what’s best. Physical copies of movies are ideal in my book, but I happen to have the space for it and it works for me. With physical copies, the only risk you really run into is if the disc gets scratched or if you don’t have a DVD or Blu-Ray player. An alternative to a DVD or Blu-Ray player is a gaming console, actually. Most gaming consoles like the Playstation (a variety of the models) and the Xbox (also a variety of models) have the ability to play DVDs and Blu-Ray discs.
A lot of it depends on personal preference, but there’s something rather nostalgic about getting up and putting in a DVD. Pop some popcorn and throw in an old DVD to get taken back to the childhood days of slumber parties, old-fashioned movie marathons, and pillow forts. There’s so much sentimentality to it.
However, this does mean that you lose the ability to watch movies and shows on your cell phone and laptop. If you have a computer with a DVD drive, then you’re fine to watch movies, but those are relatively uncommon because of how big the DVD drives are. Losing that ability can be a huge inconvenience, especially if you have time to kill between your classes or don’t own a television. This also raises the question; is it necessary to own a television if the shows you want to watch aren’t on them anyway?
Or maybe you run into censorship problems if a show is on a streaming service. For example, “Bluey” on Disney+ have what fans call “missing episodes” that Disney censored and/or removed for a variety of reasons. The same can be said for episodes of “The Office” on Peacock and “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” on Hulu. If you buy the DVD of the series, however, you get access to all the missing episodes of the series plus potential behind-the-scenes bonus footage.
Also, there’s a large variety of reasons why streaming services are problematic, the iconic password-sharing lockdown being one of them. If you aren’t aware, streaming services, Netflix in particular, have banned password sharing. This is just another reason to shift away from streaming services. With banned password sharing outside of your household, Netflix is making it difficult for college students to use their family’s account if they live away from home. Also, say you have Netflix and your friend has Peacock; well, now you can’t even share services and save a bit of money. Disney+ is pretty strict about this too. If you try to sign in with a different television, generally it won’t let you. You can have plenty of phones and laptops signed in though, so you could always try that as well.
Besides DVDs or Blu-Rays, other alternatives to streaming services are digital copies. You have to pay for these as well, but there’s plenty of places to buy them from. With these, you can watch from your phone and laptop with relative ease. If you have trouble getting it on your television, you can always cast it from your cell phone to your television.
Ultimately, it’s personal preference on whether or not maintaining a collection of DVDs and Blu-Rays is for you, but it’s something I recommend. If the internet goes out or you have a weak connection, watching a movie with a disc is always something you can do. You don’t want to get stuck in the perpetual buffer screen, do you?
Movie rentals are also an option, but those tend to be just as expensive as buying the movie, unless you choose to use something like Redbox. Some second hand movie stores do offer movie rentals, but honestly, you’d be better off with Redbox. It’s inexpensive. Although, Redbox tends to only have newer movies available for rent and you’ll have to go in-person to return the DVD.
There’s a lot to think about when it comes to choosing your preferred method of watching movies and shows, but hopefully this helps bring some perspective to your choices. While my personal choice will always be having physical copies on hand, there’s great alternatives that may work for you. Give them a shot, and maybe save some money.
