First ever home video (any format)

[Eusthenopteron]

My first was the original UK VHS release of Short Circuit. A birthday present from mum and dad in 1988. I was 10.

[drush9999]

A VHS tape with some Hanna Barbera toons, including Wacky Races and Scooby Doo. I wore that tape out, must have been around '81 or '82. Didn't start getting proper releases until the late 80s when they dropped from £60 quid each to less than £20. Had an entire film library taped from the TV

[Jack Webb]

Beatles Magical Mystery Tour on VHS on the old Media label. About 1983.

[baheidstu]

Fletch Lives on VHS. A video store near me was closing and selling off their stock. I desperately wanted Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. I didn't have the money so when I came back the next day hoping to get it, it was gone. So I bought Fletch Lives instead. This would've been around 1990.

[esteban²]

This! The Care Bears Movie is the first one I ever owned.

And for the first one I bought with my own money instead of getting it :

[Red Dragon]

was a VHS of "2001: A Space Odyssey" which I purchased from Sam Goody. I was so thrilled to own the film that I immediately ran home and watched it. I remember my father being mildly amused and somewhat curious as to why anyone would want to own a film (i.e. "What's the point in seeing a film that you've already watched?"), but I was elated to actually own and thereby be able to view Stanley Kubrick's seminal masterpiece (in full and without any commercial interruptions) anytime I wanted.

[The Great Owl]

Stanley Kubrick's The Shining was the first movie that I ever owned, by way of the VHS tape.

Up until that point, I had several movies that I had dubbed onto VHS tape from HBO showings and such (Stand by Me, The Karate Kid, Near Dark, Creepshow, etc.), but The Shining was the first officially-released movie that I ever bought.

[charlieray1]

I used to work at a department store called May Co (long gone now) in the TV department. We sold VCRs when they were brand new, and RCA Selectavision discs and players. I used to plus the SelectaVision discs into the VCRs and copy the movies for myself. I had a half dozen films before we got our first VCR. When we did, it was an all-night movie marathon.. I don't recall what they all were now, but Arthur was one. So, I count a bootleg VHS of Arthur as my first!

Anyone who has never heard of a SelectaVision disc -- they were pretty weird. An LP shaped case that held a disc inside that you never touched. You slid it into the player and it was apparently played with a stylus, like a record. They skipped sometimes and had even lower resolution than a VHS, but at the time it was pretty cool.

Retro tech: The RCA CED Videodisc - YouTube

[DCW]

I'm a bit younger but the first VHS tapes I bought were these:



I mowed a ton of lawns to save for these, still remember walking into Blockbuster and buying them.

But my parents got me the VHS of. Batman 89 and Jurassic Park and I wore those tapes down!

[Rayjaymay]

The first VCR my family had was the portable type. It came in two sections, the TV tuner and the tape player/recorder. You could connect a video camera to the player/recorder part and lug it around to record things. At the time, my dad was more interested in the capability to replace the (film) movie camera he used for home movies.

My dad knew the owner of the appliance store where we bought the equipment and he had a connection to get bootleg movies on VHS. The store owner was doing movie rentals on the side before anyone had ever heard of Blockbuster or any other rental store. We used to rent movies every weekend (mostly older titles) but every once in a while, the owner would come up with recent releases that were pretty decent quality (not shot in the theater) that we would buy from him. I remember having copies of E.T., Raiders of the Lost Ark, and we even had a preview copy of Annie before it was even released in the theaters (it wasn't even the final edit).

Later, when video rental/sales stores were more established I think my first "legit" purchase was Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

[shinobipopcorn]

Probably The Little Mermaid. I had the one with the extra naughty cover, where he's sticking his hand down behind the rock and of course the "embellishment" on the castle.

[dgoswald]

VHS, Thundercats the Animated Movie. Still got it.

[cinemaphile]

First owned VHS: Back to the Future
First owned Laserdisc: Ghostbusters (Criterion)
First owned DVD: Twister
First owned Blu-Ray: not sure... Wall-E?
First owned UV copy: The Artist

[Britbuffguy]

[Scottie]

I can't remember the first VHS tape I owned but I reckon it was a Disney film.

The first two DVDs I purchased were Forrest Gump and The Matrix. I bought them the same day I bought my first DVD player at BJ's Wholesale Club in the early 2000s.

The first Blu-rays I purchased were the James Bond Best Buy Exclusive Steelbooks when I used to collect those things. I didn't even own a Blu-ray player at the time.

[Visionist]

Love reading about everyone's first time! Must've been Disney's Cinderella, which I watched repeatedly in the mid 90s as a wee scamp.

First BD was Blade Runner Final Cut, no 4k discs yet. I skipped DVD entirely.

[Moviefan2k4]

VHS was my first format, growing up in the late '80s and early '90s. I don't recall the first tape I ever bought, but my family rented a ton of them. I remember seeing both Star Wars and Back to the Future on VHS, taped from TV...and I wore them both out. The last Hollywood film I recall being advertised for a VHS release was Employee of the Month, starring Jessica Simpson; that was 11 years ago.

[Astro Zombie]

I remember having a VHS of Godzilla '98. I had a few other movies on VHS but I don't really remember which ones.

I think DVD was 2 Fast 2 Furious. Blu-ray was The Dark Knight.

[Moviefan2k4]

Originally Posted by Astro Zombie

I remember having a VHS of Godzilla '98. I had a few other movies on VHS but I don't really remember which ones.

I think DVD was 2 Fast 2 Furious. Blu-ray was The Dark Knight.

I don't remember my first DVD purchase, but my first Blu-Ray was The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.

[kylor]

RoboCop:



Bloodsport:



No Retreat, No Surrender:



Kickboxer:



Blind Fury:



Speed (lol) :