Cinema Fans Get Nostalgic About Their First DVDs

"Everyone’s first DVD was The Matrix, whether they want to remember it that way or not."

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Image via Getty/GeorgePeters

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From beyond the grave, the once-integral DVD format enjoyed a brief return to pop culture discourse this weekend.

Thanks to a tweet from ScreenCrush's Matt Singer in which all who might remember such a thing were asked to recall the very first DVD they owned, cinema lifers managed to tuck in mentions of everything from Marilyn Manson's Guns, God, and Government World Tour to the early Charlize Theron entry Mighty Joe Young.

What is the first DVD you ever owned?

— Matt Singer (@mattsinger) January 12, 2020

Of course, a conversation about the DVD is best served alongside fellow perils of a deep dive into the past such as promos involving flimsily packaged movies taped onto pizza boxes, menu-based easter eggs, and the convenient DVD-playing capabilities of the PlayStation 2.

Everyone’s first DVD was The Matrix, whether they want to remember it that way or not.

— ⃤𓅓™ (@secretschools) January 12, 2020

Baseketball pic.twitter.com/4AzE4OFHdJ

— Brodie W. Whitburn (@BrodieWAuthor) January 12, 2020

New Line Platinum Series was essentially the 12 year old boy’s version of The Criterion Collection pic.twitter.com/3syrchm8Kq

— Jibril Gagale (@JibbersMKE) January 12, 2020

The Mummy Returns, because our first DVD player was a PS2 and we bought the video game, which came with the DVD. pic.twitter.com/S4kfWXFz2y

— HalloweenYear-Round 🎃 (@HalloweenYrRnd) January 12, 2020

My first DVD pic.twitter.com/Bs1JbwHZ35

— Ryan Rebalkin (@RyanRebalkin) January 12, 2020

CAME WITH THE DVD PLAYER: Lost in Space, Stepmom, 1998 Avengers

PURCHASED MYSELF: I think it was either The Truman Show or The Spy Who Shagged Me.

— Wes (@alifefilmodic) January 12, 2020

This deluxe edition. I bought it before I even had a DVD player. pic.twitter.com/woYm2EFCqU

— Nick (@snibbers709) January 12, 2020

It was Weekend at Bernie's, courtesy of Papa John's movie night promotion back in the early aughts. Came in little CD sleeves, taped to the box or whatever. pic.twitter.com/bDiAFij1QV

— "Nite Owl" Joe™ (@JoeTheNiteOwl) January 12, 2020

Marilyn Manson's Guns, God and Government World Tour. I actually wanted it on VHS but it was only on DVD so I was forced to upgrade. #marilynmanson pic.twitter.com/75zZWw3c5Y

— Videodrome Stereo (@VDStereo) January 12, 2020

With a few hundred laser discs, I was reluctant to jump on the bandwagon, but I bought several at a discount outlet and this was the one I remember from that batch. pic.twitter.com/0rQ03FW4il

— Frank Wells (@FrankTracy) January 12, 2020

pic.twitter.com/v8aA9UB6Qr

— Bobby Castro (@BobbyCastro1994) January 12, 2020

I’ll never forget buying my first DVD’s of Pirates of the Caribbean and Star Wars: Attack the Clones at of all places GameStop in a mall. I was excited kid to own my first DVDs. 😅 pic.twitter.com/uNc5IteAHC

— Bruce Crawford (@BruceCrawford) January 12, 2020

And though we long ago became a streaming-ruled world, that's not to say that the DVD itself hasn't sustained in some unlikely ways. Back in August, for example, Netflix shared the self-reported milestone of having shipped more than 5 billion DVDs to physical subscribers. Recent stats cited at the time added that the subscription service still counted approximately 2.4 million DVD-favoring subscribers on its roster.

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