This digital Blockbuster clone is a beautiful nostalgia trip

If you’re old enough to have spent time in the aisles of a Blockbuster (and maybe even if you aren’t), a new website called BingeBuster might scratch a long-lost itch.

BingeBuster takes the feeling of browsing a video store in the ’90s and applies it to streaming services such as Netflix and HBO Max. The site presents shelves full of movies in a 3D space, and you can hop between aisles to browse different genres. Each box that you pluck from the shelves contains a direct link to where the film is available for streaming, and you can filter the entire store based on your current subscriptions.

Compared to other “what to watch” sites like JustWatch and Reelgood, BingeBuster is more joyful to navigate. But it’s also a reminder that some elements of physical media aren’t so easy to replicate.

Perusing the digital aisles

Jared Newman / Foundry

BingeBuster does at least manage to capture the serendipity of browsing a video store’s shelves.

Each shelf seems to be arranged at random, with B-movies appearing alongside films with critical acclaim. There’s no way to refine the options within each genre, and the store provides no ratings or reviews. In a way, the lack of any algorithmic recommendations is refreshing.

Jared Newman / Foundry

Still, the site does offer a few modern accommodations: Each movie includes a link to its trailer on YouTube, and you can add any movie to one or more watchlists. If you’re unsatisfied with the films on the shelf, clicking the “Restock” button swaps them out for new picks. There’s also a basic search function, which is helpful when one movie reminds you of another.

Once you’ve settled on a movie, BingeBuster lists all the streaming services where it’s available, and you can jump directly to the corresponding page on each service’s website. BingeBuster doesn’t cover every service, but it supports the major ones including Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO Max, Hulu, Disney+, Paramount+, Peacock, Apple TV, and Tubi.

Jared Newman / Foundry

Other “what to watch” sites are much more thorough in their recommendations. JustWatch, for instance, lets you narrow results down by Rotten Tomatoes scores, age ratings, and release year, while Reelgood lets you dig into subgenres such as Supernatural Drama and Parodies.

But in a way, BingeBuster is easier to browse because it doesn’t bog you down with endlessly branching menus. Instead, you’re just poking around at colorful box art until something clicks, which is more or less how browsing an actual video store worked.

Something’s missing

Jared Newman / Foundry

While the idea behind BingeBuster is sound, there’s room to improve. The store itself, for instance, feels a bit lifeless, with none of the sights and sounds (or smells) that made video stores feel like lively hangouts. At minimum, how about embedding a video player in one of the walls and having it loop through classic films or new movie trailers?

BingeBuster’s at-random selection is also a missed opportunity for human curation, the kind that’s helped spark a video store renaissance among young viewers in big cities. While the site has a “Staff Picks” selection that seems to focus on well-reviewed films, it’d be neat if users could put together their own custom shelves (or even an entire store) to share with others.

Jared Newman / Foundry

There’s also a more fundamental issue: In digitally cloning a physical video store, BingeBuster misses a big part of what makes folks nostalgic for DVDs and VHS tapes in the first place.

Partly, it’s that physical media forces you to make a decision and stick with it. If the movie you picked from Blockbuster didn’t immediately hold your interest, you had little choice but to watch it anyway, possibly leading to an appreciation for films with a slower burn. With streaming, another option is always a click away, which makes finding the right film feel even harder. Even after you’ve settled on something, the indignities of modern streaming remain, from endless login hassles to the increasing cost of watching without ads.

And no matter how close BingeBuster comes to cloning the video store experience, it’s still not getting you out of the house. Having thousands of movies available on-demand is great, but scrolling through those endless options feels like a waste of time, whereas milling through the video store aisles with friends was an activity unto itself.

BingeBuster is still a neat website and a fun way to find a new movie. It might even be another case for replacing your streaming box with a PC so you can have this experience directly on your television. But as a digital facsimile of the rental experience, it’s also a reminder of what we lost.

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