Rewind This!

source: Rewind This!

Moviecut—Rewind This!

Good documentary that made me remeber the good old days. This a good movie to see. I used to collect VHS now collect DVD and blue ray. It this movie.

Oh the age of VHS. My earliest movie memories are of dubbed movies on VHS. There was "Super Fuzz," "The Last Dragon," "The Incredible Shrinking Woman," and so many more. I got to know the movies intimately because I watched them over and over. And as fond as those memories are, I would never go back to VHS. Ever. It was a cumbersome process and the quality was terrible, and it only got worse the more you watched. "Rewind This!" is both a history lesson and a trip down memory lane. There are interviews with collectors, retailers, and movie makers. You will learn something and be embarrassed for some of the movies at the same time (they were that bad). "Rewind This!" isn't a great documentary, but it serves a great purpose.

As I sat watching this, the question came to mind: Will we one day see a resurgence of movies released on old-fashioned videocassette, the way we are now witnessing the return of LPs? This would sure bring tremendous delight to all the neo-Luddites out there, and might even turn out to be a competitive option next to theatergoing and online streaming. Who knows. As one interviewee in the movie makes the comment, home-viewing has its advantages, from the viewer not having to deal with cramped spaces nor with smelly seatmates. I would also add to this, the sparing of oneself having to listen to misplaced outbursts of laughter and screaming. REWIND THIS! brought back memories of my own, not all pleasant ones. Disappointing it was for me in the heyday of the VHS, to buy an inexpensive video and thinking it to be a great deal, only to discover afterwards that it was one of those factory sealed movies that had been transferred onto tape in SLP mode, and hence the poor picture quality. We learn when and how the video revolution began, about the format wars, and how it managed to reshape the film industry from the top down. Several fans of the videocassette are treated to some screen time, and it got me to thinking (as with the movie enthusiasts spotlighted in the documentary, "Cinemania"), as to where they are now and if they're into online viewing by now. As this documentary brings out, the VHS revolution led to a quantitative jump in the production and distribution and sales of videos, with a side-effect of this being, a decline in the quality of the content. Many a schlockmeister was now able to direct and produce low-budget -- cheesy or sleazy or gory -- "masterpieces," via an inexpensive video-cam, with many an indiscriminate, omnivorous viewer eating this obscure and egregious stuff up. From compressed images, to slip- and clamshell-cases, to the fun it was of just browsing the shelves of video outlets, it's all reminisced about here. A few comment on the love they had for the cover art and the artistic skill that went into a lot of it. Others liked how the VHS packaging satisfied the tactile sense in them as well. Although erotic thrillers aren't mentioned in this, I do know from my film studies that it was in fact some of these well-made and critically overlooked direct-to-video releases that later inspired some of the mainstream ones, which went onto become big at the box office. Astute viewers may also note that when some of these movies were released onto DVD, for whatever reason a notable scene or two would be missing from them (i.e. had been edited out), as if some of us wouldn't notice this. Now, where can you direct me to where I might find a documentary on audiocassette buffs?

A film that chronicles the early life of home video entertainment. Rewind This is journey through nostalgia. I watched this on Amazon Prime and unfortunately there wasn't subtitles for the Japanese interviews.

A documentary about VHS tapes is a must. Our generation lived that moment, and we know what we are talking about. My dad had a two piece set VCR, and a fantastic remote controller...with a cable!! I still remember the tracking system and some other features from those happy days. It is a bad, fragile format but it had something, and in a way we miss it somehow. Relive the moment and learn a couple of things about the good old format we grew up with. The testimony of some distributors, filmmakers and VHS freaks will bring us back to that universe, the format that ruled the last stage of 20th century. We will find out why VHS was the victor in that format battle against BETAMAX, what it meant to some filmmakers and much more. I confess I expected a nostalgic journey alongside some VHS geeks, but it turned out to be more than that. VHS, just like vinyl in civilized countries (Spain not one of them) is still alive and kicking, and in these days of fleeting formats, is nice to remember how a format popped up, established itself in the market and became the standard for so long. So buckle up, enjoy the ride and recall those days of white noise, crappy image and b-movies. Call it nostalgia, vintage or whatever, but remember to be kind and rewind!

REWIND THIS! takes us on a journey back to those days of yesteryear, when the video cassette was king. We join the experts as they relive the 1980's video rental craze. Interviews with luminaries like grindhouse Director Frank Henenlotter are intercut with VHS mega-collectors and their vast video tape and memorabilia collections. The evolution of the video phenomenon is tracked from its humble origins to the first piano-sized VCRs, and "mom and pop" video rental stores. This documentary also covers video trading, and the huge impact of the internet on physical video media. Thrill to interviews with Cassandra "Elvira" Peterson, Lloyd "Mr. Troma" Kaufman, Charles "Full Moon" Band, and others! Everything is chronicled, from horror to adult films, and beyond. Informative, nostalgic, and very entertaining...

Great interviews of directors, writers, collectors, etc.. who are all VHS enthusiast. There is definitely nostalgic elements and also lots to learn from the past and present VHS culture. Watching this took me back to the movie rental days of my childhood and also got me thinking of the future of digital media. If you grew up in the 80's or 90's, it's hard to not relate. Rewind this is an excellent documentary

I happened to "come of movie watching age" during the era of VHS tapes, so this wonderful documentary had some poignant nostalgia for me. What I really liked, however, was that "Rewind This!" was able to do two things at once: 1. First and foremost, it played on all the nostalgia from people like myself. For those who experienced it, it truly was a magical time. Not technologically-quality speaking, of course, but just the whole concept of time-shifting viewing. I spent hours recording shows and watching them at my leisure, as well as made countless trips to the local video store to rent tape after tape (being careful, of course, to Be Kind & Rewind!). This documentary feeds into that, as it gathers together a group of people who had similar experiences and just lets them tell their stories. There's something fun in hearing that others had the exact same experience with VHS and video stores as myself. "Right in the childhood", as the phrase now goes! 2. Even if a youngster were to stumble across "Rewind This!" (one who doesn't have those life experiences), I think he/she could still enjoy the doc. The reason being, it is also part history lesson. It talks about topics like VHS vs Betamax, the business model of the mom-and-pop video store, the confusing war on aspect ratios, and just the overall significance that home record-able media brought to technology as a whole. For those who've only watched films on discs or through streaming, and have an interest in history, it would be fascinating to see the past timeline of such movie-watching experiences. Overall, "Rewind This!" captured my full attention and held it all the way through. The filmmakers do a great job of covering many different areas without going too over-the-top, while also providing some history/background so the whole thing wasn't just interviews of VHS enthusiasts and collectors. If you are at all interested in this general topic, you'll find something to like here.