Rewind This! (2013) (DVD Review)
Directed By: Josh Johnson
Starring: Atom Egoyan, Frank Henenlotter
Rated: UR/Region: 1/1:77/Number of disc: 1
Available from MPI HOME VIDEO
An exploding industry without rules! Direct to-video madness! VHS vs. Beta! In the 1980s, videotape changed the world and laid the foundation for modern media culture. REWIND THIS! traces the rise and fall of VHS from its heyday as the mainstream home video format to its current status as a nostalgic relic and prize to collectors who still cherish it. Featuring interviews with both filmmakers and enthusiasts from the VHS era, including Troma legend Lloyd Kaufman, indie auteur Atom Egoyan, and Hobo with a Shotgun filmmaker Jason Eisener, REWIND THIS! is the definitive story of the format that came to be synonymous with the home video revolution. So gather up your friends and start the pizza party just make sure to have your tapes back on time.
A documentary like this is a ton of fun, especially if you were there during the days when VHS tapes and renting movies were a very big deal. Now that VHS is starting to make a bit of comeback it is nice to have something like this to fill the younger or out of the loop people in on what it is all about. In this film we have experts in the movie community, some makes movies, some blog about movies, and some are just fans of movies in general. They start from the start of VHS and the home video market battle with Betamax and then it heads on through the fall of it to now. It is all pretty cool stuff and comes across more like having chat with friends than a film, which isn’t at all a bad thing.
Like most documentaries some things are more interesting than others. The film does seem to have just a bit of slack in the middle before picking things back up near the end. I think it is a overall a fine subject matter and delivery. The over an hour worth of extras and deleted scenes in the special features only make things that much more cool when it comes to Rewind This! This isn’t going to be the only VHS documentary you see in 2014, but it may end up being the most well polished one that comes out. This film will be a treat to most and mainly VHS freaks and collectors. I share with you the love for VHS and I also really dig what we get here.
– Commentary
– Original Animations
– Music Video
– Over and Hour of Bonus Interview Footage
