By Jay Betsill
Be Kind. Rewind.
Those words are familiar to hundreds of millions of people who visited one of the over 9,000 Blockbuster Video stores that once dominated the American landscape along the lines of McDonald’s, Starbucks and Subway and, eh, Netflix.
“The Last Blockbuster” is a documentary centered around the lone remaining Blockbuster Video in the entire world.
The last Blockbuster Video store is located in Bend, Oregon and for Gen Xers, it is a shrine to a time when you had to physically go to the store and scour the new release wall and search through the vast library of films for the evening’s entertainment options.
There’s stickers, magnets and even memorabilia from Russell Crowe’s “Cinderella Man” on loan from from one the last four remaining Blockbuster Video stores that was located in Alaska before it closed its doors.
Fast forward to present day and you can simply watch practically any movie of your choice courtesy of Amazon Prime, HBO Max, Hulu or, of course, Netflix.
Wow! What a difference!
The movie is essentially a sentimental journey for those who did not realize they missed Blockbuster and its patented blue and yellow marketing until it was a thing of the past while intertwining with the current-day Blockbuster manager Sandi Harding and the store’s importance to her life and the town of Bend.
There is the story of Blockbuster’s demise that includes the legendary story of how Blockbuster had the opportunity to buy Netflix for $50 million and laughed them out of the room.
Redbox makes an appearance.
Then there are the infamous late fees.
Sumner Redstone is also featured in the downward spiral of the once-mighty entertainment chain that ended up in bankruptcy in 2010.
As the movie plays out, there are appearances from Kevin Smith, Adam Brody, Ione Skye, Jamie Kennedy and many others that speak on their passion for the good ole days of Blockbuster.
Smith’s commentary is a real highlight of the movie, recalling his classic film “Clerks” which was partially set inside of a mom-and-pop video store.
“The Last Blockbuster” is a nostalgic trip down movie memory lane that is definitely worth a watch as it is ironically available for streaming on demand.
The movie is also available on DVD and BluRay at lastblockbustermovie.com.
THE LAST BLOCKBUSTER (Not Rated)
Scale of 1-10: 8
