movies

Well, I did it. Watched all of RoboCop 2 on VCD—on a CRT—outdoors, in my backyard.

Why? Not because it’s the “best” way to watch RoboCop 2. That would be a projector in a dark room. But I still own a Sony Trinitron and a Toshiba DVD player that’s backwards-compatible with VCDs. So when I found a copy in a thrift shop, I jumped at the chance to cosplay as a Tokyo salaryman in 1998.

VCD has always fascinated me. I remember seeing it demoed on a Philips CD-i—back when that was supposed to be the future. But I was a teenager, and there was no way I could convince my parents to spend $600 on something that looked like a toaster and played Burn:Cycle.

Probably for the best. The CD-i flopped in North America, and VCD barely made a dent. But in Asia? Massive success. So successful, you can still import brand-new titles. In 2025. For real.

Now let me be clear: on modern TVs, VCD looks awful. Low-res MPEG-1 video smeared across a 1080p screen is pain. But on a CRT? It works. You get sharper colour separation, no tape degradation, no tracking issues, and discs are far more heat- and humidity-resistant than tape ever was. I totally get why this format won out in hot climates.

That said, it has real flaws. Most movies come on two discs. You can see pixels—even on a CRT. And occasionally, compression artifacts float across the screen like ghosting shadows. VHS was blurrier, yes—but it was also more forgiving.

Still, let’s be honest: rewinding tapes was always a chore. VCD boots instantly. No hiss. No jammed reels. No chewed-up tape. Just press play.

So how was RoboCop 2 on VCD? Surprisingly great. The movie itself feels built for this exact experience: digital source, analog display. Grainy, loud, kind of ugly—but in a good way. Total time capsule energy.

Should you collect VCDs in 2025? Only if you’re like me and romanticize obsolete tech. If you hate pixels, compression artifacts, and pre-DVD formats, then no—run away. But if the idea of watching cyberpunk trash on a 4:3 CRT in your backyard sounds fun? Then yeah. Absolutely.

Cross-posted from "what do you think he was thinking?" by @classybattery@sh.itjust.works in !nostupidquestions@lemmy.world

this is a fun question, i guess. i don’t want to appear stupid, i’m just really autistic.

https://youtu.be/kvkJZxzv-TA

in one of the scenes, the dark-haired antagonist tells the older vicar to tell him how to kill the were-rabbit, but he slips up and says “him”

when the antagonist catches himself and says he meant “it”, the vicar raises an eyebrow at him. I don’t mean to appear stupid, i just have no one to talk about random stuff like this with and want other perspectives on character body language :]

A quick 7-minute short film I found enjoyable about loneliness. Surprised to find a copy online still.

Judge Dredd (1995) - "Less Yapping" addition

This movie had incredible set pieces and costumes. The script and acting didn't meet that standard. The idea here is to make the movie watchable by removing the weakest parts.

Changes:

• There is an annoying comic relief character. Their total dialogue has been reduced by about 80%. This is the main feature of this edit.
• The seniour judges sometimes had drawn out, pompous dialogue. That's been reduced.
• Rico's more over the top moments have beed dialled down a little.
• Cheesiest dialogue has been removed.

Notes: The priority here was to make an enjoyable edit without too much hard work. Some parts don't have the cleanest edits, but were kept because an imperfect edit was better than the material removed by the edit.

Original Running time: 96 minutes Fan Edit Running time: 88 minutes

Original Release Year: 1995 Fan Edit Release Year: 2025

Editor: Sébastien T

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/superman_2025