Gregory's Server|
34 comments
Petah Kahn🏳️‍⚧️
@emmah @textfiles as well as the fax machines and phone booths in Neuromancer
john d. moore
@textfiles Incredible that Rambo 22 is still doing such big numbers even though it’s been out for three years. 
Christina Warren
@Quinnypig @textfiles also curious. I’d guess 1989 or maybe 1990 but I think we’re in the same vein.
Christina Warren
@Quinnypig @textfiles just googled. Rambo II was 1985 and Rambo III was 1988. It had to be a tie-in with one of them on VHS for rental, so we could both be right but I just looked and Rambo II sold a record number of tapes at the time of its release, so it might be 1986? 
Solarbird :flag_cascadia:
@GWillow @textfiles A future with a G-rated _Rambo_ movie? Are you sure? xD  
Jigme Datse
@textfiles could you even get a new VCR in 2007? I can't remember when that stopped being a thing...
Greg Wellman
@JigmeDatse @textfiles I'm not sure if you could get a new VCR in 2007, but lots of people including me were still using them out of inertia if they skipped the TiVo boomlet. I was experimenting with a video capture/encoding card in a G5 Mac around 2006-2007, but still using the VCR for time-shifting TV. I think mid 2007 we got a cable-company DVR.
Greg Wellman
@JigmeDatse @textfiles Actually, my memory is a little faulty there - I think we retired the VCR in favor of a generic DVR sometime around 2005, but that was made obsolete by the cable companies integrating the tuner with a DVR. The generic DVR had this little "IR blaster" that it used to switch channels on the standalone cable tuner. Man, things were so different (checks notes) 17 years ago.
Jeff Graebner
@textfiles The trademark notice is “Carolco", so in that alternate universe "Cutthroat Island" was a big hit. 
esa
@chrisisgr8 They're using it to play DOOM.
Majin Boowomp
@textfiles Was Samsung still making VCRs in 2007? I know that VHS tapes were still being made at the time, but usually the media lasts a bit longer on store shelves than the players.
Jeff Graebner
I think I figured out this alternate universe and how it differs from our own. In 1995. "Cutthroat Island" is the biggest blockbuster of the year, causing Carolco not only to survive, but to be flush with cash. This lets them work with Stallone on a dream project: The Rambo Cinematic Universe. This enormously popular series of films features the exciting adventures of a varied group of troubled Vietnam vets who become superheroes. (1/4)
Jeff Graebner
Like the Marvel films in our universe, the RCU quickly expanded to include 2-3 films per year. Believing that it helped to keep the series more grounded and minimalist, Carolco and Stallone make the surprising decision to forgo distinct titles for each film, instead numbering them via Roman numerals. The marketing will encourage the fans to use nicknames to keep the films straight, but the on-screen and home releases all use the numbering system. (2/4)
Jeff Graebner
As the series expanded, they strove to reach new audiences. Rambo XXII was a big gamble, as the first fully family friendly entry. This G-rated musical with songs by Frank Stallone became a national phenomenon, playing in theaters for an unusually long time, winning Oscars, and then dominating the home video charts for multiple years. (3/4)
Jeff Graebner
When compact digital video discs hit the market in the late 90s, Carolco choose to strongly back Circuit City's DIVX format, meaning that the Cutthroat Island and Rambo blockbusters were not offered on the DVD format. The confusing concept and poor marketing for DIVX and the lack of the most popular content on DVD caused both formats to fail, resulting in the continued dominance of VHS throughout the 2000s. (4/4)
ianbobmorris
@textfiles i saw a vcr magazine ad saying it was the VCR you would watch terminator 3 on, if the VCR held up they could because it had a VHS release 
GreenSkyOverMe (Monika)
@textfiles Image description #Alt4You
GreenSkyOverMe (Monika)
⬆️ Wenn man dieses Bild auf dem iPhone speichert, ist es fast unmöglich den kleinen Text „The future of electronics“ am unteren Bildrand angezeigt zu bekommen grrr 
Kroc Camen
@textfiles IS NOBODY GOING TO COMMENT THAT THE TAPE IS FROM 2004 BUT IS CONSIDERED THE HOTEST RENTAL IN 2007 BECAUSE THAT’S HOW LONG FILMS TOOK TO GET HOME RELEASES IN THE 80s???  
Kevin Boyd
@textfiles ad copy like this is why I've never bought a PlayStation: many years ago, Sony aired a commercial for the "PlayStation 9", and I'm holding them to it.  |
@textfiles that aged well.