VHS GENERATION

It’s unreal how pirated DVDs are so clear, even if the films haven’t been released here. This has led film outfits to synchronize the opening dates in the US and the Philippines to lessen if not totally eradicate piracy (which it way utopian).

It’s funny how this generation complains when the pirated DVDs are of bad quality, whether in sound or in picture. In our generation of VHS tapes, I remember I used to bear the poor quality of the film just to beat my High School classmates as to who the killer in Scream was or what the ending of What Lies Beneath was. This was at a time when the movies here were shown a month or two after its release in the United States. I remember how ecstatic I would feel when I scored a clear copy of a film not yet released in the Philippines from our local video rental store. These were the copies of films sent to the screening committees of award giving bodies which would explain their excellent quality. Such quality seems to be norm nowadays rather than the exception in the era of pirated DVDs. What a lucky generation this is.