the last blockbuster review
The Last Blockbuster is a breezy documentary that doubles as a fine time capsule for a forgotten relic of the 80’s and 90’s (and a sliver of the 2000’s). The first half of the film plays out like a cautionary tale for business executives or MBA’s: don’t let current cash flows and present successes distract you from planning for and thinking critically about the long-term path of your business. Looking back, could blockbuster have predicted that physical media would eventually lose some or most of its shine? Should they have foreseen how eliminating late fees would completely disincentivize customers from returning rentals and thus slash revenue by two-thirds overnight? Probably. Even my adolescent business brain way back when had a hard time reconciling the “bring it back whenever you want” business model. We all know the broad strokes of what happened next. Fast forward to 2021 and we are watching blockbusters like Wonder Woman 84 and Zack Snyder’s Justice league upon release on our 75” 4K television sets. The pandemic of 2020-21 (still omnipresent as of this writing) might be the final push to an almost expressly home-based movie-viewing zeitgeist, creating an environment where movie studios can either keep delaying their films, losing money with each day, or push them to streaming. The final act of The Last Blockbuster is a bit underwhelming relative to the first two and consists mostly of shots of Sandi Harding (GM of the last store) sharing the fun and excitement of receiving so much media attention. That being said, who wants to take a road trip to Bend, Oregon? I’m in.
If you grew up with Blockbuster, you should definitely check out The Last Blockbuster. I can already see the case study appearing in a business school e-textbook near you. 7/10.