As a fan of the sci-fi aesthetic of the 80's I have been following the production of Kung Fury, a crowd funded 30 minute 80's style sci-fi-cop-martial arts-fantasy film. however, despite the movie being released on youtube yesterday (here)...I haven't seen it yet. This is because I want to copy it to a VHS tape first. However for all of you who aren't as in love with the VHS format as I am...whats wrong with you. Here are 5 reasons VHS is better then DVD.
5. Easy to pick up where you left off.
Because the video on a VHS tape is stored on...well...a tape, where you last stopped the movie is where you last stopped the movie regardless of what VCR you are playing it on. This makes things really convenient when you need to stop the movie in the middle for whatever reason. You can stop it, and even take out the tape, and turn off the VCR, and be secure in the knowledge that you don't have to spend precious moments of your time trying to find your place in the chapter select menu.
4. Long movies come with built in intermissions
There are plenty of amazing movies that are more then 3 hours long, and to be honest many of them are nearly un-watchable in one sitting. Due to the limited length of VHS tapes these movies can't fit on a single tape, and must be split up. Doing so creates a convenient brake where one can get more snacks, go to the bathroom, or even have a small discussion on the themes, motifs, and plot of the film so far.
3. One word DURABILITY
The central problem with most forms of physical copies of movies is that they tend to be very delicate. DVDs and Blu-rays can scratch pretty easily, and be rendered unplayable. This is not the case with VHS tapes. The casings are made with a nice hard plastic, and even if it breaks with a little knowledge and a screw driver you can easily transplant the tape into another case (I speak from experience). The only other thing you have to worry about is magnets, but really who keeps giant magnets near their movie collections?
2. Video quality (for some movies)
This seems like an area where DVDs would have VHS tapes definitively beat, but not so for some movies. Many classic sci-fi, fantasy, and horror movies have, quite frankly, outdated effects. But due to the murky, fuzzy quality of analogue VHS video the seams in the effects are MUCH less noticeable. I find many older and lower budget sci-fi and fantasy movies look much better on VHS like Halloween III, and Mortal Kombat. Further more I find the murky quality of VHS increases the effect of horror movies such as: The Blair Witch Project, and Halloween.
1. Star Wars
Original theatrical editions...enough said. While technically also available on Laserdisc and DVD good luck actually getting a copy...or a laserdisc player for anything under 100 dollars.
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