What movies are ONLY available via (Netflix) DVD?
May 4, 2023 8:15 AM Subscribe
Netflix's DVD service is winding down, and I am the last dinosaur who still subscribes. How do I make the best use of it before it goes?
What is going to be harder to get my hands on once I'm at the mercy of my (given, many) streaming services and library?
I have a Letterboxd watchlist with a SHOCKING number of films on it, but there's no way to filter availability by just physical disc - i.e. not streaming anywhere. (This is actually great news - way more than I suspected is actually streaming SOMEWHERE.)
Is there a good way to figure this out efficiently? I am concerned about less-popular stuff just never being available again once I can't get it on DVD, and I think I need a plan here. Even a good rule like "no streamer bothers with anything made before 1960 and all that stuff will be lost to the ages come September" or whatever would be useful guidance. Thanks!
What is going to be harder to get my hands on once I'm at the mercy of my (given, many) streaming services and library?
I have a Letterboxd watchlist with a SHOCKING number of films on it, but there's no way to filter availability by just physical disc - i.e. not streaming anywhere. (This is actually great news - way more than I suspected is actually streaming SOMEWHERE.)
Is there a good way to figure this out efficiently? I am concerned about less-popular stuff just never being available again once I can't get it on DVD, and I think I need a plan here. Even a good rule like "no streamer bothers with anything made before 1960 and all that stuff will be lost to the ages come September" or whatever would be useful guidance. Thanks!
My understanding is that there's tens of thousands of movies on disc that aren't streaming, so it's unlikely you'll get through them all. But generally, yes, older movies and more obscure titles won't be streaming. The good news is that you might be able to find those on Kanopy or Criterion.
As for movies you're least likely to find streaming, you might find some clues in the recent thread from the blue.
posted by hydra77 at 9:34 AM on May 4, 2023 [3 favorites]
As for movies you're least likely to find streaming, you might find some clues in the recent thread from the blue.
posted by hydra77 at 9:34 AM on May 4, 2023 [3 favorites]
Response by poster: Yeah, I wasn't thinking I'd get through the entirety of cinematic history, more like "what's an easy way to figure out what on my giant list I should prioritize."
posted by catesbie at 9:37 AM on May 4, 2023
posted by catesbie at 9:37 AM on May 4, 2023
I am concerned about less-popular stuff just never being available again once I can't get it on DVD
Sorry if this is obvious, but if something is on DVD and carried by Netflix, you can usually get it pretty inexpensively on eBay. You could probably buy one DVD a month for close to the equivalent of your Netflix subscription. If you don't want to hang onto the DVDs, you can donate them.
The possible exception would be non-English language programs, so you might want to prioritize those. (I thought of this because I was previously wanting to rewatch the French series Churchmen after it was no longer on Netflix, but it looks like even that is on eBay now.)
posted by FencingGal at 10:11 AM on May 4, 2023
Sorry if this is obvious, but if something is on DVD and carried by Netflix, you can usually get it pretty inexpensively on eBay. You could probably buy one DVD a month for close to the equivalent of your Netflix subscription. If you don't want to hang onto the DVDs, you can donate them.
The possible exception would be non-English language programs, so you might want to prioritize those. (I thought of this because I was previously wanting to rewatch the French series Churchmen after it was no longer on Netflix, but it looks like even that is on eBay now.)
posted by FencingGal at 10:11 AM on May 4, 2023
It's not an automatic, reductive list of titles that aren't available on streaming - wouldn't that be nice - but if you have a Pro account (or a grandfathered early account) Letterboxd *does* show on each title's page whether any given title is available on streaming, customizable to the streaming services you have access to. I'm truly not sure you're really going to find anything better than simply clicking through to each title on your Letterboxd watchlist to check in the streaming section whether it's available, and then adding those titles that don't have streaming options to a "not on streaming" list. I wish I had an "import this CSV..." type answer, but I've never found one.
There's no real good rule for what's not on streaming. There's tons of titles, across genres and eras, on streaming; even as a general proponent of keeping physical media for anything you care about, I find the number of films on streaming to be remarkable. The titles that aren't streaming are usually mired in rights issues (ie, where rights to songs were only negotiated at the time for cinema and TV broadcast, or where a bankruptcy of a distributor or death led to confusion), obscure indie titles that were self-distributed and abandoned by the filmmaker, or foreign titles that did not have a distributor in your viewing country who also negotiated streaming rights.
In addition to checking with your local library system, it's also worthwhile if a title doesn't seem to be available online to see if you can rent it from 3D Bluray Rental, who despite their name, rent way more than just 3D titles.
posted by eschatfische at 10:40 AM on May 4, 2023
There's no real good rule for what's not on streaming. There's tons of titles, across genres and eras, on streaming; even as a general proponent of keeping physical media for anything you care about, I find the number of films on streaming to be remarkable. The titles that aren't streaming are usually mired in rights issues (ie, where rights to songs were only negotiated at the time for cinema and TV broadcast, or where a bankruptcy of a distributor or death led to confusion), obscure indie titles that were self-distributed and abandoned by the filmmaker, or foreign titles that did not have a distributor in your viewing country who also negotiated streaming rights.
In addition to checking with your local library system, it's also worthwhile if a title doesn't seem to be available online to see if you can rent it from 3D Bluray Rental, who despite their name, rent way more than just 3D titles.
posted by eschatfische at 10:40 AM on May 4, 2023
As a general practice, you'll catch a lot of the old greats if you check periodically (monthly?) on what is coming up on AMC, TCM et al.
posted by JimN2TAW at 11:05 AM on May 4, 2023
posted by JimN2TAW at 11:05 AM on May 4, 2023
You're not only not the only Netflix DVD user, you're not even the only MeFite who's posted an AskMe about this.
The big things everyone has been suggesting to me is to use your library and go for the Criterion Channel stuff; there are also some links in my AskMe to a couple of smaller DVDs-by-mail services.
As for any hard-and-fast rule about what stuff would be on streaming and what wouldn't - that's a thornier question, because every studio has likely had its own legal agreement hammered out in terms of What Gets Put On Streaming, And For How Long. I've had some films on my Netflix DVD queue actually change over the past several months in terms of whether I could also stream it somewhere, or not.
For safety's sake, if you're trying to get through Things Likely To Not Be Streaming first, I'd go with non-English films, and the rarest stuff first.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:09 AM on May 4, 2023 [1 favorite]
The big things everyone has been suggesting to me is to use your library and go for the Criterion Channel stuff; there are also some links in my AskMe to a couple of smaller DVDs-by-mail services.
As for any hard-and-fast rule about what stuff would be on streaming and what wouldn't - that's a thornier question, because every studio has likely had its own legal agreement hammered out in terms of What Gets Put On Streaming, And For How Long. I've had some films on my Netflix DVD queue actually change over the past several months in terms of whether I could also stream it somewhere, or not.
For safety's sake, if you're trying to get through Things Likely To Not Be Streaming first, I'd go with non-English films, and the rarest stuff first.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:09 AM on May 4, 2023 [1 favorite]
I am a disc subscriber with a long list also. I have been going through my list and checking my local community and university libraries. I have found that many are available at one of those two.
The main examples of what I haven't found at one of the libraries are actually from TV, such as these:
The Honeymooners
Leverage
War and Remberance
Rome
Also, a few very old movies, such as:
Morocco
Merrily We Go To Hell
posted by NotLost at 11:15 AM on May 4, 2023 [1 favorite]
The main examples of what I haven't found at one of the libraries are actually from TV, such as these:
The Honeymooners
Leverage
War and Remberance
Rome
Also, a few very old movies, such as:
Morocco
Merrily We Go To Hell
posted by NotLost at 11:15 AM on May 4, 2023 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
Do also check your local public library's DVD (and Blu-Ray, if you are so equipped) collection, and see what else is available via inter-library loan. You might be surprised at just how much is out there, if you're willing to wait a bit for it.
posted by xedrik at 8:52 AM on May 4, 2023