Why are some people cheap when it comes to buying movies?


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Sorry if this thread is kinda stupid, but I need to wrap my head around this logic. I apologize if this question offends anyone. But I have a few friends all of which own a PS3. They have about 4 or 5 PS3 games which they play and shockingly they only have like 3-4 titles on Blu-ray. I ask them, why only 3-4 movies? They?re like: because they?re too expensive.

Long story short, I try to prove them wrong. A few movies they like are: The Dark Knight, Cars, Requiem for a Dream, and V For Vendetta. Respectably, at Amazon, they currently cost $16.99, $15.49, $9.49, and $9.99. They still say ?no? despite the fact that they're cheap and they love those movies. I mean, what?s so expensive about that? These are movies you like and can own on HD FOREVER. All for less than $20 a pop! But no, they rather spend it on drinking, partying, etc, all of which cost more and are only temporary.

Again, I really do apologize if this post is offensive to anyone. But hopefully it won?t be since this is a Home Theater thread. Does anyone understand why many people seem to be real cheapskates when it comes to buying movies? I mean, come on! Only $10 for a movie you like in HD? Far be it for me to tell anyone how to spend their money, but I?m far from rich and I consider $10-15 for a BD a giveaway. I don?t understand why some think it?s a lot of money.

I think people are starting to realize that buying movies (dvd or even bluray) is pointless to some. I think a good % of people only end up watching a movie they purchased once. So they could have just rented it at a fraction of the price. Now this obviously does not apply to everyone so I can only speak for a few people that I know. A few years ago I stopped buying DVDs because a quick glance at my library I realized that I did not watch half of them. I promised myself I would not do that with Blurays but it seems I already started. Luckily this time around I only buy Blurays when its a great deal and most of the time its not a movie I have already seen (thus forcing me to watch it at least once). I have yet to come across a DVD that I owned that I watched more then TWO times. With the economy the way it is... Netflix has been working out just fine for me.

I think it comes down to viewing habits. I have some great movies on DVD that I never watch. I end up watching something new on TV or I play a game. Some of it comes down to ease and laziness. Some of it is watching something new.

A specific example I can think of is Braveheart. I bought it on DVD when it came out. Since then, I've maybe watched it 3 times. But, when it's on TV, I'll stop to watch it (it has to be unedited on a premium channel).

There are so many different things to watch that it comes down to what I feel in the mood for. I'd rather see something that I haven't seen than pop even a great movie into a player.

I see now. With my DVDs, it was like that. Most movies were only watched once. But with Blu-ray, watching movies is a whole new experience for me now. So, I have about 35 movies, all of which have been watched about 3-5 times, with the exception of a couple which I just bought last week. I don't know about anyone else, but I always enjoy rewatching my Blu-ray collection. The picture is so amazing that you just can't get enough of it. But that's just me.

Thanks for the replies.

I currently own 38 bluray movies and 29 PS3 games. I don't buy every movie that I would want to as it can work out expensive purchasing a few in a month. But I certainly get those that I feel the HD quality will be shown through on.

The only point of owning a collection of movies is to entertain family or visits when they're over (some younger kids might get bored with the "adult talk" etc...), otherwise netflix is awesome (shame there is no netflix in Mexico, not even live streaming) since, as most have said, you really don't watch most movies more than once or twice.

First off most people don't need to own any movies, renting or borrowing them is a much more economical choice so you can rightly spend your money on drinking and carousing.

Second, the quality bump for BluRay compared to an upconverted DVD, which the PS3 does a good job of for the most part, simply isn't worth the cost unless its new and on sale. Most BluRay movies are about $30-40 so for a little more I could buy a game that would give me more entertainment dollar/hour.

Third, *******s like Lucas keep trumping up old IP with new super versions, it kinda leaves a bad taste after awhile.

DVD is still alive and well. People often bring movies to their friends home, etc. and not everyone has a HD player, but most everyone has a DVD player, or god forbid, a computer connected to a 20" monitor to watch the movie off of. Some people just don't care about the increase in quality nor have a big enough screen to appreciate the HD glory, so they'll save a few bucks whenever they can. And let's not forget these are college students. Most of us are poor.

Some people, including myself, don't really care about blu-ray, or need the higher quality for the extra price.

Alot of people only tend to watch DVDs two or three times anyway, so they might as well spend it on partying or even drinks + snack to watch the DVD with.

Very good question.

I've never seen the intelligence in stock piling dvd's, vhs's, etc.

When my wife joined the dvd club a few years ago, after HAVING to have a home theater system for Christmas, she started ordering dvd's. I think she bought about 20 of them before finally quitting the club. 14 of those movies are setting on the bottom shelf still unopened and unwatched even once!

Setting in front of the boob tube does nothing for me except put me to sleep.

I'd much rather have the short lived fun of a party over falling asleep watching some dumb rerun of a movie any day myself!!

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