Believe it or not, people still buy VHS tapes. The ageing format has been in decline for years, but between the collectors and the luddites, there’s a big enough market for Amazon to maintain a massive library of tapes for sale. You’d never guess what tops the “New and Popular” list.
Actually, you might. The lineup of the hottest VHS tapes on Amazon is most certainly a walk down memory lane, where you can wave at the most popular movies of the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s. Remember Tae-Bo? VHS fans do.
Here’s a list of the current frontrunners in Amazon’s VHS store. The results may vary based on the day and your preferences. However, these are the hottest VHS tapes on Amazon at this very minute according to my preferences.
1. Star Wars Trilogy VHS Box Set (1977)
Star Wars wins! People still buy the boxed set from 1995, and you know they love it. It’s unclear if Star Wars: The Force Awakens will make it to VHS, but who cares — it looks amazing in any format.
2. Sun Valley Serenade (1941)
What the hell? Number two?!? The description reads: “Sun Valley Serenade is a 1941 musical film starring Sonja Henie, John Payne, Lynn Bari and Milton Berle. It features The Glenn Miller Orchestra as well as dancing…” Definitely your grandma’s favourite movie.
3. Robin Hood, A Walt Disney Masterpiece (1973)
Any Disney fan will tell you that the 1970s were not the best years for Disney movies. Robin Hood won an Academy Award, though! For Best Song.
4. Beauty and the Beast, a Walt Disney Classic (1991)
Any real Disney fan will tell you that Beauty and the Beast is the best Disney movie ever made. It’s got a working class princess, an ugly prince, some talking dishes, and Gaston. No one says no to Gaston.
5. Godzilla (1985)
You might know this one as The Return of Godzilla or just Godzilla 1985. Regardless of the title, it’s the best Gozilla movie out of all 2138 Godzilla movies. (That’s my rough estimate. It might be more.)
6. Rachel and the Stranger (1948)
Welp, here’s another one for the grandparents. It’s a movie about a world where both white and black people are slaves. And to be honest, that was pretty damn progressive just three years after the war’s end.
7. Aladdin (1992)
A close runner-up for best Disney movie ever is Aladdin. That said, Robin Williams as Genie should go down as the best Disney character ever because come on try and top that.
8. The Lion King (1994)
OK this is getting weird. Is it the millennials keeping VHS alive, millenials who remember sitting crosslegged on the living room floor and adjusting the tracking to see Simba’s face better? Are people trying to collect the whole trilogy of (excellent) early ’90s Disney movies? What about The Little Mermaid? What’s wrong with Ariel?
9. Tae-Bo: Basic and Instructional (1998)
Just the basics with Billy Blank.
10. Sidekicks (2000)
This VHS tape, starring Jonathan Brandis and Chuck Norris, costs $US50 (plus $US4 shipping). Nothing matters.