Over the last decade the rise of streaming services, particularly Netflix, led us away from physical media. Once laptops stopped having disc players as standard, that seemed to be it for the medium. Game over, man. Streaming is the future.
Streaming is undoubtedly the most popular format and has been pretty brutal for physical media, but Blu-rays and DVD sales remain steady in 2025 thanks to film buffs and collectors (a bit like vinyl, which has enjoyed a resurgence in recent years).
Recently, the Birthday Gods gifted to us our very first Blu-ray player (and it has joint DVD player functionality) and we went into Full Film Buff Mode. The world of collector’s editions, 4K Blu-rays is incredible and highlights why physical media still has its place in a streaming market.
DEATH TO STREAMING!!! Or Blu-ray/DVD Harmony?
To be clear, we’re not anti-streaming. We’re not on anything at the moment (we don’t mean drugs… we’re not on drugs either, but we’re not subscribed to any streaming services).
Every now and then we get a month subscription on Amazon Prime, Disney+, or Netflix and catch up with the shows/films on there. The rest of the time we either go to the cinema or rent something off YouTube or Amazon.
But streaming is great for accessibility and catching up with a few things here and there.
However, over the last year we’ve been annoyed that means we can’t access our favourite films. Even if you’re on multiple streaming services, a film you love may not be there. Plus, even if it is there it doesn’t have all the extra features DVDs have. The things we came to love:
- Director’s commentaries
- Cast and crew commentaries
- Behind the scenes stuff
- Making of featurettes
As once we’ve watched a film, whether we’ve enjoyed it or not, we go off and research it to find everything out about how it was made. It’s a geek thing.
TLDR; not owning the films we love was annoying us. Thus, we put in a pitch to the Birthday Gods to gift us a Blu-ray player. Lo, doth did the Birthday Gods listen to our prayers and deliver. And…
The Joys of 4K Blu-ray Collector’s Edition Addiction
Whilst many people stream away, the active physical media world is bringing back to life classics (and acknowledging modern classics). For films such as Amadeus (1984), the original film gets a resolution upgrade and a new lease of life.
Some people may not like that, and want the original film, but once you see Amadeus in 4K you may change your mind. It looks sensational and brings the film to life. This is the original trailer from 1984. The restoration brings all the screen details to life, which for us makes it a more immersive experience.
Now, for more casual film fans streaming offers convenience and decent value for money. Although if you think of a 12 month subscription fee, you’re looking at around £120 these days. And you don’t own anything, the likes of Netflix can remove anything at any moment.
For film buffs, a return to physical media allows you to goddamn own the films you love. It’s not going anywhere. It’s there! And add into that:
- Quality: Blu-ray/4K discs are better quality and offer uncompressed audio, so it is a BETTER viewing experience over streaming.
- Ease of access: You don’t need internet access to play the films/shows.
- Extras: All those fancy features on the discs to make your purchase even more worthwhile, particularly with our absolute favourite of the lot (the commentaries from directors, cast, and crew).
- Personal curation: Build a physical library that matches your interests, rather than Netflix catering to as wide an audience as possible.
- Cost-effective: After the initial LUMP SUM payment for the Blu-ray player, in the long-term the investment will balance itself out.
- NO GODDAMN ADS: OMG there aren’t any adverts! Or, you don’t have to pay to remove the intermittent ads from late-stage capitalists.
- Geek community: There’s an active film buff community online celebrating the latest Blu-ray releases. Get involved to connect with likeminded geeks!
On that latter point, it’s perhaps surprising to note it’s a growing trend with younger people. Many of whom turn to physical media to celebrate film history, collecting, and to limit the amount of time they spend online.
For older collectors, like us (ancient at 41), one our favourites is Oliver Harper. This is where proper geekdom kicks in, as movie buffs line up to review the latest releases.
The Aliens 4K edition launched in 2024. Director James Cameron oversaw the whole thing and does a director’s commentary. As do some of the cast. You bet we got a copy!
That video has 44,000 views, highlighting there’s still a big market for this stuff. As it’s important to flag that many of these 4K collector’s editions are packed with extra features and perks, including the Director’s Cut of Aliens.
That’s been a huge issue for us as finding the Director’s Cut on a streaming service to rent/buy had been impossible. It just wasn’t anywhere! And it is one of the driving forces making us go off and get a Blu-ray player at last. Aliens: Director’s Cut! You are ours once again.
But once we started realising just how many special edition deals there are for favourite movies of ours, our jaws did drop. Take the Watership Down 4K collector’s edition (which we’ll review next week to back up our rambling here). It’s a marvel, with the film’s resolution upgraded and many fancy new extras.
This is, ultimately, down to whether you’re a major film buff/geek/nerd or not. If you want physical media back in your life it’s a must and can complement your streaming preferences.
Whilst streaming dominates the market and the future for physical media is under threat, making this move to buy a Blu-ray/DVD player does secure your library with a bunch of films you love. There’s no guarantee many films you want to watch, particularly if they’re more obscure, will stay online at all.
They can disappear at any moment!
Take the plunge if you wish. From the viewpoint of ardent film buffs, it’s 110% been the right move and we’re already addicted to hunting down collector’s editions.
ADDENDUM ALERT! Remembering Our Faithful DVD Player (RIP)
Cripes, around 2008 we got a DVD player for £20 and it lasted a decade. It seemed invincible. Even after a massive whack on its top left a huge dent it kept on trucking perfectly.
It got to the point around 2018 we were willing it on to just stop working and DIE already. But it kept on trucking.
We can’t quite remember when it dropped out of our lives, but it was there for a long time. We tried to find some pictures of it but, alas, there was nothing in our photograph records. Now it remains a happy memory in our brains, the plucky £20 DVD player that lasted over a decade.
Join us today, please, in remember that DVD player. It was a legend and its legacy will continue for eternity.
