johnmc5

Hi. I'm new to the forums here, and it seems like a nice place to come and talk about my hobby collecting DVDs. I am starting back up my DVD collection with the hopes to get some new ideas on movies/collection box sets to get. I have a blu ray player and just bought some movies from Amazon, but what are some other DVD ideas to have?

Thanks.

DarthVong

What type of films do you like? If you have a Blu-ray player then that would be the way to go assuming you have an HDTV

Ash Ketchum

Some titles he might want might not be available on Blu-ray and not everything needs to be seen on Blu-ray. That should only be reserved for special events, films that need to be seen in more detail than others, visual masterpieces. People who restrict their viewing exclusively to Blu-ray lose all perspective. I have a Blu-ray, but I continue to watch lots of stuff taped at the slow speed on VHS. One of the biggest delights in my viewing for the DVD Talk TV on DVD challenge was discovering a great episode of "Power Rangers in Space" that I taped at the EP speed over ten years ago. Not everything needs to be seen that clearly.

@johnmc5: what are your viewing preferences? What are you most interested in? What genres/styles are you curious about and willing to explore? What are the gaps in your viewing history that you'd like to address? Answers to these questions would help greatly in making recommendations to you.

johnmc5

Hi. I mostly like Comedy, Action, Gangster films. I am willing to try anything though. And I am not going to restrict myself to blu rays, as they are much to expensive. Getting a blu ray for $15 and a DVD for $5 is a big difference in the long run, but I will buy all of the movies that I love on blu ray.

Cardsfan111

Welcome, johnmc5!

I'd just suggest getting familiar with the forum here. You're obviously concerned with getting good deals on DVDs/Blu-rays, so make sure you check out the 'Bargains' forum - there's one for both DVD and Blu-rays. With some effort you can find yourself spending considerably less than the $15/$5 price points you mentioned above.

Regulus

Here's a Cost-Cutting Tip, Put yourself on the Mailing Lists of every Automobile Dealership in your area. Why? Because many of them GIVE AWAY things like Gift Cards for Wal-Mart or Target (Usually for $10.00) or even Money (Usually in the form of those "Golden Dollars", also $10.00 Worth). I get a Flyer in the Mail, head over to the Dealership, Get my Perk, then BEELINE to the Store, which I "relieve" of a DVD or Two. I get about $150.00 to $200.00 worth of DVDs this way each year doing this!

DarthVong

You had me until you said "great episode" and "Power Rangers" in the same sentence.

I didn't suggest to him to go BD just to start a debate. He mentioned he had a BD player, so logically he should benefit from that technology and buy BD. I never said anything about not buying DVD. Thanks for reading between the lines though and making an assumption!

DarthVong

You could sell blood and plasma too! WOOHOO!

johnmc5

Any movie suggestions?

DarthVong

Rhinestone

comanche_doyle

What does blood or jizz go for nowadays?

TomOpus

Do you use an online movie collection database? If not, an easy one to get started on is www.dvdaf.com. It would help to know what you have so we're not suggesting titles you already own.

Ish Kabbible

Get everything on AFI's top 100 list. Then get Rhinestone

Ash Ketchum

Sorry, it's hard for someone my age to resist getting on a soapbox when the opportunity presents itself.

But please don't diss "Power Rangers." My carefully nurtured inner child would get very upset.

Subgeniusguy

Road House

Disc-Flipper

Look at some other peoples' collection lists (often linked on the bottom of posts) to get some ideas what others are buying.

Travis McClain

A really nice place to start is ICheckMovies.com. It's a website that collects a lot of the various movie lists (from the top box office moneymakers to Roger Ebert's "Great Movies" and AFI's various 100 Years... series). Many of the lists are genre-specific, so if you happen to have a predilection for comedy, you might look at IMDb's Comedy list or AFI's "100 Years...100 Laughs" list.

Beyond this starting point, there are two other pieces of advice I would offer that I think most DVD Talkers would second. First, never look at your DVD library as any kind of investment. There are occasionally out-of-print titles you can make a profit on later, but largely DVDs are a horrible product to buy with the idea that you can re-sell later and make your money back.

Secondly, before you go on a buying spree and wind up with 23 movies just because you found them in Big Lots's $3 bin, you might want to get a Netflix account. Rent discs, or even just stream the movies first to find out if you actually like them well enough to own. This forum is full of threads begun by members who went crazy early on, buying as many titles as they could, only to later realize they only really even liked a small fraction of what they owned. It's okay to buy something now that you like and then later change your mind about it, but you'll want to avoid buying something now thinking that you may like it later.

Lastly, I would suggest that you take a look at our nearly-monthly Challenges. They're built around various themes, and they generally draw out the most dedicated viewers of that theme. You can find links to these in many members's signatures (mine included). Chances are, if you see the same movie show up in several lists, it's worth taking a look. The Challenges are also a great way to discover that others share your affinity for a particular movie, actor, director, era, genre, etc. That kind of community-building is the whole purpose of the Challenges, and that brings me to my final remark:

Welcome to the forum.

DarthVong

I have no idea but it sure is tasty

gerrytwo

How can you start back up a DVD collection you already have? Once you have a DVD collection, you can increase or decrease its size, but a DVD collection is an inanimate object, you can't step on its gas pedal to rev it up. Maybe you should join NetFlix to try out DVDs before buying them to add to your collection. Some DVDs, you watch them once and that is too much. For new DVD releases, Amazon.com usually has the best or near lowest prices. DVDPriceSearch.com is one DVD price comparison site. By the way, how many DVDs do you now have, in the tens, in the hundreds or in the thousands? Just curious.

Spottedfeather

Except for Going Berserk, I like the John Candy Comedy Favorites Collection. It has Uncle Buck (John Candy's best, in my opinion), The Great Outdoors, and Going Berserk. The best of John Candy all in one place.

bboisvert

Strike that. Reverse it.

The Man with the Golden Doujinshi

Rent stuff and then buy the things you see yourself watching more than a few times. It's cheaper that way.

Al_Tahoe

http://www.theyshootpictures.com/gf1000.htm

Travis McClain

"They Shoot Pictures, Don't They?" is one of the lists collected at ICM. (Link goes to my page so you can see how dismal my progress has been. Useful for reminding yourself not to take me seriously later.)

Al_Tahoe

So the shaded movies are the ones you haven't seen? You have some catching up to do my friend!