For anyone that spent the 80's recording and collecting movies on VHS and/or Beta, this fun little documentary REWIND THIS will bring back a lot of memories.
I remember buying my first suitcase size DVR that weighed about 25 lbs, had big old piano keys for play and rewind and a "remote" that was tethered to the machine with a black cord.
You'll relive that memory and a whole lot more as the film details the emergence of the VCR, its effect on studios and the creation of an entire direct-to-video industry that took place in the 80s and 90's.
Be aware that the documentary also takes a brief glance at the porn industry and how it was changed by VHS in a decidedly hard "R" rated short portion of the film. Between that scene and the long, hilarious bits on the direct-to-tape horror films like "Basket Case" that were so popular, its not family viewing.
There are hundreds of video snippets of the company logos, popular VHS films and video stores that brought back a ton of great memories of those days in my early 20's when I could suddenly rent a movie, bring it home and watch it or even buy the film and OWN it!
While that seems like a fact of life, I think all of us over 50 remember when you had to wait until ABC, NBC or CBS broadcast a movie in prime time to see it outside a theatre.
REWIND THIS also does a nice job of looking at the near future, when BLU-RAY is likely to go away and we merge into a world of strictly digital downloading.
At that point, I guess I'll turn my massive collection of Blu-Rays, DVDs, Laserdiscs and VHS into a museum.....
Rewind This gets a B for sheer nostalgic value alone.
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