The fall of DVDs: The end of an era?

One of the highlights of my childhood was getting a DVD every year in my Christmas stocking. Sometimes it was a movie I had been waiting for: Despicable Me, Monsters vs Aliens, Tangled. But most of the time it was a complete surprise that quickly became a favourite: The Three Investigators, Cheaper by the Dozen, Mrs Doubtfire. By the end of my childhood, my sisters and I had garnered quite the collection.  

You see, it wasn’t just watching the movie that was the gift, it was the whole experience. The front cover, the physicality of it, putting the disc into the DVD player, seeing the opening menu appear on the screen. It felt like I owned a piece of cinema.

So, what has happened since then? Why am I sitting here writing this article now, without a single DVD to my name? What convinced me to get rid of each and every one I owned? Why, to this day, does that choice remain one of my biggest life regrets? I would do anything to get my DVD collection back. But what is it about them that makes them feel so irreplaceable?

First, there’s something about the sense of ownership that I love so much. Being an avid Funko Pop collector, I know just a little bit about the joy of owning physical items. When you bought a DVD, it was yours (unless you had to share it with your siblings like me). Whenever we had a ‘DVD day’ at school, I would stick my name on the front of my choice and bring it in as though it were a priceless antique. The cherry on the top was if my DVD got picked as the film for the day. That moment felt like a personal victory.

Kids nowadays will never truly understand the patience it took to get through a DVD menu screen

Next, let’s talk about those funky DVD menus. My personal favourites were the Harry Potter ones. They were almost a film in themselves. The bonus features, director’s commentary, scene selections, deleted scenes. All of it made the experience feel that little bit more worthwhile. Streaming platforms just strip all that away in favour of speed. Kids nowadays will never truly understand the patience it took to get through a DVD menu screen.

And finally, there’s just the nostalgia of it all. Every DVD felt like it held its own story, and I’m not just talking about the disc inside. If I had my old collection in front of me right now, I could tell you exactly where and when I got each and every one of them: in a Christmas stocking, at a car boot sale, stolen from a cousin’s house, bought with my own pocket money. Each one had a backstory, a history. So where have they all gone?

It all started when I got Netflix at 16. Instant access to thousands of titles at just the click of a button (and an ever-increasing subscription of course). It was a library that needed no shelves. It wasn’t long before I started to see my DVDs as excess. I hate to admit it, but I fell for the tempting propaganda: less is more.

The minimalist movement completely took over my life. Not only was I throwing out entire wardrobes, reducing my life to a mere 30 items, but I was also boxing up my beloved collection of DVDs too. I gave them away. I thought I was evolving. How very wrong I was.

I miss the feeling of choosing a DVD, knowing I was going to sit and watch it from start to finish

Yes, streaming technically gave me access to more, but it came at a cost. The physicality, the collectability, the nostalgia. I think we can all agree that searching endlessly through Netflix to find absolutely nothing and end up doomscrolling on TikTok is something that we’ve all done. I miss the feeling of choosing a DVD, knowing I was going to sit and watch it from start to finish. I miss it.

But, fear not. It isn’t technically the end of an era.

Despite what the streaming platforms want us to believe, DVDs will never truly die. Like vinyl before them, DVDs are starting to re-emerge. People are increasingly buying box sets from charity shops or displaying collections on bookshelves like art – I see this on TikTok all the time. There is hope! Even the major studios seem to be catching on. Special editions are being released. Anniversary box sets are being made. Collectible packaging is making a comeback. Maybe we’re starting to realise that more isn’t always better. So no, it’s not too late.

And hey, if there’s ever an apocalypse, we know who’s gonna have the upper hand. When a hurricane hit Florida in 2018, all Christina had were her DVDs and a portable player that could be charged from an emergency generator. Word got around, and her physical items became a “currency”, in the neighbourhood.

So, there you have it. DVDs may be dying, but they aren’t extinct. And you know what they say, you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone (or until the power cuts out).