BLOCKBUSTER: In 1985, Blockbuster stocked 5000 VHS tapes and 3000 Betamax films. Blockbuster was a revolution in the way that people saw films, as it was much cheaper than buying films. Many more people could now afford to watch movies without paying for cinema tickets and buying tapes. In 1988, 400 stores were located within the U.S.
Blockbuster closed its last store in 2014, due to a rise in online streaming on websites such as Netflix and Amazon Prime.
MILESTONES OF THE 1980's: - Betamax was overtaken by VHS. - Sherry Lansing became the first female president of production at 20th Century Fox in 1980. - Pioneer began to market the videodisk (laserdisc) players in 1980 - this widened the availability of film for personal purchase, however, they were much larger and heavier than VHS, mkaing them much more prone to damage. - The first music video aired in 1981 on MTV (August 1st). The music video was 'Video Killed the Radiostar' by The Buggles. - George Lucas' THX sound system made its debut; the first movie to be shown in a THX certified auditorium was Return of the Jedi (1983) - In 1984, Voyager company released its Criterion Collection, with CAV (full feature) format, commentary tracks, directors cuts, deleted scenes, bonus features, and trailers. - In 1980, Robert Redford created the Sundance Institute, which then became the Sundance Film Festival in 1985, after it overtook the Utah Film Festival in recognition and status. It supported upcoming filmmakers. - In 1986, Oprah Winfrey became the first African-American woman to host a daytime talk show - The Oprah Winfrey Show, which has 4,561 episodes to date. - Old classic movies began to be colourised in 1985. Topper (1937) became the first black and white feature film to be colourised. This new technology was controversial in 1986, as Jean Siskel and Roger Ebert (both film critics) proclaimed that colourisation was Hollywood's new vandalism. Ebert said 'they arrest people who spray subway cars, they lock up people who attack paintings and sculptures in museums, and adding colour to black and white films, even if its only to the tape shown on TV or in stores, is vandalism nonetheless.'
