The Last Blockbuster
Getting around to watch “The Last Blockbuster” documentary on Netflix, which features the history of the famous video rental store: Blockbuster, and the last location on the planet, sitting right in the town of Bend, OR. I had the pleasure of checking it out during my first time in Bend, when it was the last location in North America, but still one of two remaining in the world (the other in Australia). I proudly rocked that sweatshirt for two years, getting many compliments from strangers wherever I went, but there was a time where no one cared if you rocked a Blockbuster sweatshirt, because it was simply everywhere.
A tradition that my pops and I had was to rent a movie every Friday to watch at home. This is when VHS was around, and you’d have to rewind the tape before returning it or you got hit with an extra fee. There was the Blockbuster on Irving st. (now a Goodwill), the Blockbuster on Geary Blvd in the Richmond next to the Dominos (now a CVS), the Blockbuster on the corner of Bush st. headed towards Downtown (now a neighborhood gym), a Hollywood Video on Noriega (now a bank), and of course, that shady little hole in the wall Chinese video rental spot on Irving St. where they would just copy bootleg versions of movies onto a VHS tape. This is where I watched all of the Dragonball Z GT series before they even came out on America broadcast. There were more video rental locations, but these were the spots I went to in San Francisco as a kid.
There’s something nostalgic about the thought of walking into a Blockbuster, seeing all the bright colors, seeing all the candy and soda, and then the walls of videos throughout the store. The New Releases were always on the back wall, then there was a video game section with games for different consoles. My dad would take me here on Friday evenings, and let me run wild, “Choose a movie” he would say. I remember how happy I was to be able to have my own choice, but also to be able to do something with my dad. The many times I’d default to the Indiana Jones and James Bond series to rewatch with my dad over and over again. ‘Indiana Jones & The Temple of Doom’ where Indy goes on an adventure with his father (late Sean Connery) definitely hit different. I looked up to my dad like he was Sean Connery every time we watched those films.
With the Richmond/Geary location, it would either be on his lunch break or after work that we would go there since it was nearby his office. We would just walk there most times, choose a movie, then walk back for me to watch in the break room on the 15 inch television. When he didn’t have any clients, he would come back and watch with me, let me take sips of his coke, and just hang out. There used to be a ‘Pokemon Snap’ location in there and some other video games, and he would just wait around watching me play until I was done, then take me home. One time, I tricked him into renting me “Swordfish” starring Halle Berry, if you know, you know.
With the Irving Blockbuster, we would go through each aisle together and check all the different genres. Curving me away from the “adult” (not pornographic since Blockbuster didn’t have those) films, and guiding me towards the kids section like all the Disney or Pixar joints. Then when time went on, letting me rent a game on certain weekends if I was good, it was a treat to be able to rent a game and not pay for the whole thing, then rush through it in 3 days just to avoid the late fee. Like the movies, my dad would play with me, even though he didn’t know how to play. He would just let me beat him in Godzilla, and throw in some sound effects like he was trying and having fun doing it.
As time went on, the Friday tradition became less and less until they became non-existent once high school began. For over 14 years, I stopped watching movies with my father. We even eventually stopped talking regularly unless I selfishly needed something from him. Before I moved to Oregon in 2017, I asked him to meet me at the theater, and we randomly watched ‘Thor Ragnarok’ together. The movie will forever be connected with my father. When I really think about it, my love for movies and storytelling is attributed to the many weekends we shared together. Blockbuster had a catchphrase in the 90s that I feel in ways, applies to the relationship I had with my father: “Blockbuster: Bring the Good Times Home.”
