One of my retirement plans is to watch a movie every single morning. I wake up, usually ridiculously early, and watch something. I try to mix it up. A horror movie, a foreign job, independent, comedy, a big-budget Hollywood production. I'm watching new things and revisiting old favorites. And sometimes not-so-favorites.
This morning I watched Vision Quest. It was among the first we rented back when me and my friends first got VCRs.
Vision Quest is a sports movie mixed with the teen genre. Matthew Modine plays a philosophical wrestler trying to compete in a low weight division and go up against a feared team rival.
Typical stuff by way of plot, but Vision Quest has more depth than most sports or teenage sagas of the mid-eighties. It's not mush-mouthed Stallone gurgling out inspirational lines. Nor is it quite Daniel-San learning the ways of wisdom and women from kindly old Mr. Miyagi.
Vision Quest was written by Darryl Poniscan, an acclaimed novelist who was behind two of my very favorite films. Poniscan wrote the source novel for the New Hollywood classic, The Last Detail. He also wrote the novel, and co-wrote the screenplay of its sort-of sequel, Last Flag Flying. I particularly love Last Flag Flying. I consider it Richard Linklater's best film. I don't think enough people have seen it.
Vision Quest looked perfectly fine to us back in those days of home video unsophistication. Today it looks awful. It's a Full Frame presentation and the picture looks like a third generation copy from my cheap-ass Goldstar VCR. The framing is off in other ways, with a boom mic hovering over various scenes.
While some saw VHS as an opportunity to give movies the respect they deserve, others didn't seem to care. The studios were rabidly against it, terrified they were losing control of their properties. In a way they did lose something, but the VHS era was great for movies. People were in love with cinema. Theaters were doing record business.
Warner Brothers were not among the better companies. They dumped Vision Quest on the market like like they were taking a trip to the bathroom. Warner used intrusive anti-pirating technology, which affected playback for even those who weren't making illegal copies.
Somewhere along the line, Sony I believe, made a distressing announcement. VHS tapes were projected to last for around ten years. We were horrified. All those pirated tapes were going to comfort us in our old age.
Well, forty years have passed and those inefficient old tapes are still clunking along. Nothing lasts forever, but it seems that the videotape has lasted as long as most needed them to last.
Another distressing announcement was recently made. Warner Brothers, never a friend to the home collector, says their DVDs manufactured between 2006 and 2009 are rotting. Once again fans are worried their investments will be forfeited.
Warner claims they will replace the ruined discs. I wouldn't hold out too much hope for that.
All I can say is, I got on the DVD bandwagon fairly early. I bought my first player in 1998. I still have some discs from back then. I have never had a DVD go bad on me. DVD-Rs, yes, the plating has flaked off of some of those, but every factory DVD I ever owned is still in fine playing condition. Disregarding damage or exposure to harsh elements.
I also checked out some of the Warner Brothers movies from '06-'09. They all appear to be in good condition, and the ones I actually stuck in a player all play correctly.
Who knows what to believe anymore? I tend to only trust my own eyes, and even then I triple check. Some say we are in an age of Post Truth. Where everything in the media is suspect. Every fact, every position is debatable. We can google and find irrefutable evidence to support any claim. Who fact checks the fact checkers?
As for me, I am going to trust in my collection. My movies are critical to my life and sanity. If I lose one every now and then, well, that's life. By and large I believe they will last me as long as my eyes can see and as long as my brain can comprehend them.
Written by Mark Sieber
This morning I watched Vision Quest. It was among the first we rented back when me and my friends first got VCRs.Vision Quest is a sports movie mixed with the teen genre. Matthew Modine plays a philosophical wrestler trying to compete in a low weight division and go up against a feared team rival.
Typical stuff by way of plot, but Vision Quest has more depth than most sports or teenage sagas of the mid-eighties. It's not mush-mouthed Stallone gurgling out inspirational lines. Nor is it quite Daniel-San learning the ways of wisdom and women from kindly old Mr. Miyagi.
Vision Quest was written by Darryl Poniscan, an acclaimed novelist who was behind two of my very favorite films. Poniscan wrote the source novel for the New Hollywood classic, The Last Detail. He also wrote the novel, and co-wrote the screenplay of its sort-of sequel, Last Flag Flying. I particularly love Last Flag Flying. I consider it Richard Linklater's best film. I don't think enough people have seen it.
Vision Quest looked perfectly fine to us back in those days of home video unsophistication. Today it looks awful. It's a Full Frame presentation and the picture looks like a third generation copy from my cheap-ass Goldstar VCR. The framing is off in other ways, with a boom mic hovering over various scenes.
While some saw VHS as an opportunity to give movies the respect they deserve, others didn't seem to care. The studios were rabidly against it, terrified they were losing control of their properties. In a way they did lose something, but the VHS era was great for movies. People were in love with cinema. Theaters were doing record business.
Warner Brothers were not among the better companies. They dumped Vision Quest on the market like like they were taking a trip to the bathroom. Warner used intrusive anti-pirating technology, which affected playback for even those who weren't making illegal copies.
Somewhere along the line, Sony I believe, made a distressing announcement. VHS tapes were projected to last for around ten years. We were horrified. All those pirated tapes were going to comfort us in our old age.
Well, forty years have passed and those inefficient old tapes are still clunking along. Nothing lasts forever, but it seems that the videotape has lasted as long as most needed them to last.
Another distressing announcement was recently made. Warner Brothers, never a friend to the home collector, says their DVDs manufactured between 2006 and 2009 are rotting. Once again fans are worried their investments will be forfeited.
Warner claims they will replace the ruined discs. I wouldn't hold out too much hope for that.
All I can say is, I got on the DVD bandwagon fairly early. I bought my first player in 1998. I still have some discs from back then. I have never had a DVD go bad on me. DVD-Rs, yes, the plating has flaked off of some of those, but every factory DVD I ever owned is still in fine playing condition. Disregarding damage or exposure to harsh elements.
I also checked out some of the Warner Brothers movies from '06-'09. They all appear to be in good condition, and the ones I actually stuck in a player all play correctly.Who knows what to believe anymore? I tend to only trust my own eyes, and even then I triple check. Some say we are in an age of Post Truth. Where everything in the media is suspect. Every fact, every position is debatable. We can google and find irrefutable evidence to support any claim. Who fact checks the fact checkers?
As for me, I am going to trust in my collection. My movies are critical to my life and sanity. If I lose one every now and then, well, that's life. By and large I believe they will last me as long as my eyes can see and as long as my brain can comprehend them.
Written by Mark Sieber
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