I love watching movies from the 80s, especially bad ones that never made it to DVD. Since my husband is currently deployed to Iraq, I have plenty of time to explore new entertainment options. The other night, I was cruising the Net and suddenly got a hankering to watch American Anthem, a positively wretched movie from 1986 that is out of print and until very recently, was very hard to find. I was curious to see if anyone was selling a used video copy of the movie, so I went to Amazon.com. I was surprised to see that I could actually download American Anthem directly to my computer courtesy of Amazon Unbox.
Amazon Unbox was launched on September 7, 2006. It offers television shows and movies from six major TV and movie studios. Prices for downloads start at $1.99 and allow users to keep copies of their downloads on two different computers or portable devices. The service is currently designed to work with Windows XP or Windows Vista. At this point, downloads cannot be burned to a DVD for television viewing, nor is it yet compatible with Mac. So far, the service is only available to U.S. residents in 48 contiguous states, Alaska, Hawaii, and the District of Columbia.
I had heard of Amazon Unbox before I actually checked it out. Before my husband went off to Iraq, I bought him a 60G Creative Zen MP3 player to use during his limited downtime. As he was loading songs and videos to his new toy, he mentioned the Amazon Unbox as a place to download movies and TV shows. I hadn’t considered using the service myself because I subscribe to Netflix and have cable, plus plenty of time to watch everything. It never occurred to me that I might one day use this service to download old, out of print movies.
My First Unbox Experience
So the other day, I was looking for American Anthem and noticed that a few folks were selling their old videocassettes. But then I saw that Amazon also had it available for download, either for permanent purchase for $9.99 or for rent at $3.99. I examined the terms for purchasing the movie versus renting it. If I purchased the movie, it could stay on my computer or Tivo DVR and I could watch it as many times as I wanted. If I purchased the rental, I could download it and watch it within 30 days. Once I pressed play for the first time, I’d have 24 hours to watch the movie before it expired. Knowing how much I like watching crappy movies over and over again, I decided to purchase the movie.
Since it was my first time using Amazon Unbox, I had to download the Unbox player version 1.5, which I was prompted to do as soon as I added the movie to my virtual cart. It took a few minutes for the download and unfortunately, it seemed to get “stuck”. I had no trouble launching the player once I refreshed it. Then, my purchased download started. Although it took about an hour to download the 100 minute film, I was able to start watching the movie within just a few minutes. I found the movie quality to be quite good– as good as it would be on TV. The player was easy to use and I liked the fact that I could view it using the full screen or with a smaller screen. As an incentive/reward for trying the service, Amazon knocked $1.99 off the cost of my movie, which I could have used to download a free TV show or used as a discount.
My Second Unbox Experience
I enjoyed the delicious badness of American Anthem so much that I went looking for another movie the next day. I found Private School, another movie I consider to be so bad it’s good! I had no trouble downloading the movie at all, especially since I felt more comfortable with the process. That’s kind of what worries me about this Unbox thing. I tend to be kind of impulsive. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if I found myself downloading movies at the drop of a hat. The fact that Unbox uses one click ordering makes it all the easier to buy stuff without thinking. Still, it was fun to watch Private School again after all these years. It’s good to know that my tastes have matured, too.
What’s Good About Amazon Unbox
I don’t think I’ll be using this service for downloading run of the mill movies or TV shows that I can rent from Netflix or watch on TV. What I will use it for is watching old movies that are either too hard to find on their own or too expensive. Also, since my husband and I will be moving to Germany soon, I’ll probably use Unbox to download some movies so I can watch them on the flight. The service is easy to use and very convenient. I like the fact that the player displays what movies I’ve downloaded, along with a brief synopsis of the plot and ratings from other Amazon users. I can also play previews of the movie before I watch it.
What’s Bad About Amazon Unbox
This service has the potential to be addictive and expensive. It cost $9.99 and $14.99 to purchase my two respective downloads. That can add up very fast. Renting the movie seems less cost effective, especially since I like to watch movies again after I’ve seen them. Also, other reviews I’ve read about this service mention that the software the player uses may violate users’ privacy by forcing them to install updates or lose the movies they’ve purchased. Some people report having trouble getting the service to work properly. I didn’t have that problem myself, though. The service is only available to people in the United States who use Windows XP or Vista personal computers.
My Final Impressions
I like Amazon Unbox so far, but I can see that I’m going to need to exercise some restraint when it comes to downloading movies. The price of purchasing a download is in some cases, comparable to buying a DVD. And yet, users can’t burn their downloads to a disc so that they can be watched on TV. Still, Unbox provided me with a quick, easy, relatively painless way to enjoy favorite movies that I might not have gotten the chance to see otherwise. I definitely recommend it, just be careful and read the fine print before you start downloading.
