Do you rent or buy the movies that you watch at home?

United States
May 12, 2010 4:57pm CST
There are lots of ways to enjoy a movie. One is going to the movie theater to watch a newly released movie and sometimes earn you some bragging rights because "you are the first one" to watch it. Others just wait for it to be available at movie rental stores or kiosk or even buy them from known business establishments. People who buy the movies can stash them up as part of their video library. I prefer to watch a movie in the comfort of my own space so I rent the movie to watch it for the first time. I then decide to buy it if it is worth watching over and over but only at a later date because it will be more or less cheaper that time. I prefer renting from a kiosk so I just return them the next day after watching. So which do you prefer? Do you rent movies or do you buy movies? Share your opinion! Thank you very much!
1 person likes this
19 responses
@tap0991 (2766)
• United States
12 May 10
I watch most of my movies on my computer,100% legally. Even movies that are still in theaters but i do go out to the movies for some just because a lot of my friends or my family wants to go out and watch it. I really havent purchased or rented a movie obviously but if I get a movie I decide between dvd and blueray then I buy one.
• United States
12 May 10
Thanks for sharing! I completely forgot about watching movies online. There are a few online sites where you can rent movies to be sent to your house or even watch it on your computer which ever you like it. Another thing, some movies DVD or Blueray, when purchased include a digital copy of the movie. This allows you to watch it on PCs and mobile devices.
@tap0991 (2766)
• United States
12 May 10
yea there are those but I watch all mine for free ;)
• United States
12 May 10
Cool! That is a great one!
@mflower2053 (3223)
• United States
18 May 10
renting movies from the video store got way to expensive and now all those redboxes and things are taking over. Alot of the video stores are closing. We actually rent from our tv we only have it for 24 hours but we dont' have anything to return and we can play it just like a dvd. We do buy alot of the kids movies now a days.
• United States
18 May 10
I agree with rentals being expensive but redbox really is affordable and we just live close to a kiosk so it is not a problem to me.
@deebomb (15304)
• United States
14 May 10
We do the netflex thing. I like netflex because we can keep the movie as long as we want and it is really cheaper than renting from the video stores. The chairs at the theaters are just uncomfortable for me. I have to get up and move quit often. I also like the fact that if I miss something I can go back. I don't buy too many unless i want to see the special effects. Sometimes they are as interesting as the movie its self. I don't like watching movies on the computer because it is where I can't be comfortable.
• United States
18 May 10
Cool info! thanks!
• United States
14 May 10
It depends if it is like a movie like AVATAR I would buy it even if i have not seen it since i heard it was so good. If its a movie that got mixed reviews or not good reviews but really wanted to see it I would rent the money and if i really liked it i would end up buying it at somepoint in time.
• United States
14 May 10
That's a great movie. I'm waiting for the sequel.
• Philippines
16 May 10
i prefer just renting.. because its much efficient and i don't like to watch a movie if i had watch it.. if i would buy it will just get stuck on our drawer and be a mess.. so i prefer renting.. and its much cheap also..
• United States
18 May 10
You are saving up little spaces here. that's great too.. Some don't prefer to watch the same movie again.
@manubla (472)
• Philippines
13 May 10
I generally watch movies in the movie house but if there are movies that I want to watch over and over again, I just buy a copy, usually months after its release so that it would be cheaper :). I opt to buy to add to my meager collection.
• United States
13 May 10
That's great! thanks for you input!
13 May 10
Well like you I prefer to watch movies in the comfort of my home, and as I find most new movies to be pointless excursions of CGI enhanced action I don’t feel like I am missing out on much. But because of this I often find myself preferring to watch older movies which get shown on TV, the stuff from the 40s, 50s and 60s which generally pay more reverence to the story than anything else. I also buy the occasional DVD, well more than occasional to be honest, but I rarely buy new releases preferring to search out bargains for older movies from a few years back or buying a relatively new movie after a few months when the price has dropped considerably. Because I actually like collecting all things to do with movies including posters, postcards, books and so on I sort of take pride in my ever growing collection of DVDs as well as quite a few videos which haven’t been released on DVD yet and so don’t really bother with renting.
• United States
13 May 10
You have quite a collection there.
@zzyw87 (1254)
• Philippines
13 May 10
In the past, I used to watch movies every single week. I am one of those people who watch movies to have the bragging rights. =) When movie tickets became really expensive, I started renting movies. Sometimes, when I really loved the movie, I buy a copy to keep at home. I do this so that next time I can re-watch the film over and over again.
• United States
13 May 10
We used to watch movies at movie theaters at a rate of 1-2 times a month. The price of movies was a big factor why we prefer to watch rented movies at home.
@nijolechu (1842)
• Canada
13 May 10
I just like to watch my movies when I am able to borrow them from the local library. I do notice that a lot of the DVDs do get scratched by the people watching them. But they are still okay with the occasionally skipping of the video on the T.V. Any movies that the Library doesn't have, I just rent it from a video store.
• United States
13 May 10
Thanks for sharing the info. That is an alternative I am not aware of.. Got a quick question, is borrowing from the library free?
@sender621 (14894)
• United States
13 May 10
I purchases a lot of movies for home viewing. I have not tented a movie in the longest time. I like to own the movies so i csn watch whenever I want. With rentsls, you have a short time for movie watching.
• United States
13 May 10
I agree that you have a short time with rentals. With how I rent movies, they charge about a dollar a day until you return them so what I do is make sure to watch it right away so I can return it immediately the following day.
@monkeylong (3139)
• Guangzhou, China
13 May 10
As far as I am concerned, I think I seldom rent or just buy the movies to my home to enjoy them,which I think may waste me a lot of money.So I just prefer to watch a movie on my computer to wait the movie that I may like most put on the net, Then I can choose to download it from the INternet,which I think can help me save a lot of money then.
@Kzby26 (11)
• Philippines
13 May 10
I always buy a dvd copy of thb movie i want to watch so i can collect them too
@monkeylong (3139)
• Guangzhou, China
13 May 10
As far as I am concerned, I think I seldom rent or just buy the movies to my home to enjoy them,which I think may waste me a lot of money.So I just prefer to watch a movie on my computer to wait the movie that I may like most put on the net, Then I can choose to download it from the INternet,which I think can help me save a lot of money then.
• United States
13 May 10
I think it is also convenient to watch movies online.
• United States
13 May 10
A lot of the time if I see a movie that interests me, I would go out and rent it. After I seen it and if I really really like it, I would go buy it on DVD or Blu-Ray. I have Netflix so it's easy for me to watch movies I really like.
• United States
13 May 10
Great! I think Netflix also allow the subscriber to view the movie via an Xbox 360 console. It is more of like trial and error for me too. Rent the movie first, then if it is worth watching over and over, then there goes the purchase.
• Philippines
13 May 10
im a movie addict. usually i watch the movies in theaters after few months will be buying the dvd version to have a copy to watch at home :)
• United States
13 May 10
Enjoying the big screen experience then owning a copy itself. I bet you have a lot movies in your video library.
@snowy22315 (169965)
• United States
12 May 10
I generally rent them, but if there is a movie that I think I will really like I will buy one on ocassion. It is usually cheaper to rent. I like to watch movies alot.
• United States
12 May 10
I do too! Renting is much cheaper and at times, it will save you some space.
• China
12 May 10
Usually i download movies from net which is very easy and save my money. Otherwise i prefer to rent a movie. Till i didn't buy any movie. And sometime i go theater to watch movie.
• United States
13 May 10
Thanks for sharing!
@rinzgca (316)
• Philippines
12 May 10
Way back when it was still VHS that was popular, my mom and my siblings would rent VHS and watch movies at home. We would go on movie marathons which we enjoyed very much. Nowadays, we don't do that anymore and we don't rent anymore. Mostly, I just watch movies on my computer by buying DVDs. But, when I think there are good movies in the theatre, I go out and see it with my boyfriend.
• United States
12 May 10
Cool! We used to rent movies even when the movies were still on Betamax and the favorite that we rent were wrestling special events like wrestlemania or royal rumble.
@juggerogre (1653)
• Philippines
12 May 10
I usually just rent and watch it in my pc. Nowadays I don't have time to go to a movie house. But if the movie is something that I really want to watch then I'll watch it in the big screen. But I don't watch in premiere nights. Its hard to find sits and I don't care on the bragging rights.
• United States
12 May 10
Cool! I failed to mention my wife and I go to movie theaters occasionally. Speaking of premiere nights, we to watch a movie on its premiere night. We had to go there early about 2 hours earlier than the show date and have to book the ticket online a week before the actual premiere. We were just lucky to be early and secured our seats but I remember when I looked back, the line even reached outside the main lobby of the movie house. Thanks for your info!
@ndubose (418)
• United States
12 May 10
I do both well I use to rent from Hollywood Video but they closed down here in California....So now I use Netflix I have been with the company for a long time and I think there great....As for the movies I purchase a lot pf them believe it or not at the store Biglot's in which they are sold for $3 and up I mainly purchase the new movies and not the previously viewed one....So if you have a Biglot's in your area check it out :)
• United States
12 May 10
Thank you! We still have a Hollywood Video here that is about to be closed so they sell their DVDs for about $1.50 and up, it think these are the used ones though. We do have Biglot's in our area.I saw their rack for movies and most of the ones they sell are new. It is where I saw most movie collections like James Bond, etc. and are sold at low prices too.