And nobody would get your references

Goonies, but it was recorded from TV and you had to switch tapes at about the pirate ship.
- My family was pretty poor growing up, but we had cable. Back in the day there would occasionally be free weekends of Disney Channel, HBO and the like. Whenever there was one of those free weekends, my parents would buy a super long blank VHS tape and record hours of random movies. So for years every movie that I watched had an 800 number that would pop up every few minutes asking you to call and subscribe.
  
  The more things change, the more they stay the same i guess. Sounds like just anout every streaming service out there today.
  
  My dad would rent movies from blockbuster then set up the camcorder on a tripod to film the movie off the TV. It was always a big to-do since we all had to be quiet so we didn't ruin the recording...
- That’s what you get for recording in SP.
  
  What's SP in this context?
- This is the movie I thought of also. My copy was also from TV, but I did have it all on one tape with the exception that we were missing the first three or four minutes of the movie. Even today when I catch the beginning of the movie, I smile a little thinking of all the times I didn't get to watch that.
  Hey you guys!!!

- Every few months, when the topic of obscure childhood bs comes up in conversation, my husband will always ask about my "made up dinosaur rock band show" from when I was a child.
  I've asked so many people in my life, from different areas around the US, varying ages, etc, and only on the internet do I have proof that Denver the Last Dinosaur wasnt a fever dream. 😂
  Thank you for my quarterly validation.
- HE'S MY FRIEND AND A WHOLE LOT MORE
  ...wait what
  
  DEN-VER! The last diiinosaur
  My brain did the same thing. What the hell else is stored down in there??
- He's my friend and a whole lot more! Ew.
- I have finally found it, thank you stranger.
- Kyle Mooney made a show about this era of cartoons that everyone needs to watch!:
  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturday_Morning_All_Star_Hits!
- oh my god

Police Academy 1-7 but mostly 4.
- Dont sleep on Police Academy 3: Citizens on Patrol
  Edit: C.O.P was 4. I feel shame
  
  Yeah. 1 and 3 were recorded during one of those HBO free weekends for us.
  
  That was number 4. I used to think the skating and "robot" scenes were the coolest shit ever.
- I only had 6. All I can say is "cigar scene"
- I still yell "they're not yielding!" when I'm driving

I had the same thing with video games. My dad got a free promotional copy of Morrowind from Fry's. I didn't have a computer/ laptop, but every summer, my dad would let me use his on our road trips. That game made me want to learn so much about anthropology, biology, history, mythology, etc... I played for hundreds of hours and never even came close to finishing.
- Morrowind is one of my favorites of all time. I was into nag champa incense at the time, and so that smell will always remind me of Morrowind. Singing about the ambiance of Morrowind was kinda incense-y anyway, so it was the perfect combo
  
  I love nag champa! The og smells so sweet, and the ashes are pretty/ easy to clean. I always think of headshops, though lol. They taught me the bottle trick, though. I like to use a key ring to hold the insence upside down in a glass bottle. It's super clean.
- never even came close to finishing.
  It is an Elder Scrolls game, you don't finish those, the existence of the main quest is merely a theoretical thing from myth and legend.
- My dad got a PS2 when I was six. There was Jak and Daxter, and there was Colin McRae Rally. Later I also ended up with Sly Cooper.
  I didn’t have many friends to compare with so that was what I played. Everyone else played Crash Bandicoot, Pokémon, Mario games, etc. and I was like “have you heard about Ratchet and Clank”? Those series eventually got more popular but no one I knew had them at the time.
  
  I had Sly as well! The soundtrack was awesome.

Me and the other Brave Little Toaster kids ended up a bit weird.
- We just rewatched this with our daughter the other day and it is rrrrrough.
- Yeah... yeah we did I guess. At least a bit

The Sandlot for me
- "you're killin me, Smalls!"
- FOR EV VER

The Craft. I'm pretty sure Fairuza Balk is responsible for awakening my goth fetish.
- Have you seen Return to Oz? It's a hell of a ride. Disney wants everyone to forget this exists.
- Her character in the Waterboy was it for me.
  
  Waterboy? Did he solve puzzles in temples with his partner Firegirl?
- Heh heh this guy was feeling light as a feather and stiff as a board!

Short Circuit and Flight of the Navigator. Had them both on one tape and I'd sit down and watch it all in one sitting.
- Add Batteries Not Included to the list and that's me.
- Just in case you needed reminding how good Flight of the Navigator was:
  https://youtu.be/tyixMpuGEL8
  
  My brother and I loved this movie so much and must've watched it 100 times.

Uncle Buck Great movie.
- When I was a kid I wanted to grow up to be uncle Buck. Unfortunately my brother took that position (down to driving a shit car that randomly backfires) and I'm just a normal dude 😕
  
  Yeah, being the slightly dangerous uncle is a pretty sweet gig, NGL.

And it was recorded off the tv so you had to fast forward through commercials about clap-on clap-off lights
- And the beginning of films were cut off. Big Trouble in Little China starts at the poker table for me-- I never realized Jack Burton (😍) had a monologue at the start.
- My dad would pause the recording when commercials started and resumed recording when the commercials ended. It was funny when he was 15 sec late on both accounts lol.

And I'm actively trying to go back to that. I ripped all of our old DVDs and Blurays and cancelled most of our streaming services. I told my kids that we can buy pretty much anything they want (so they don't miss out), provided it's not an exclusive.
The net result is that my kids really like Clue (1985) and Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005-2008).
- my kids really like Clue (1985)
  One of the best movies ever so that speaks pretty well to their tastes.
  
  Tim Curry is a gift to humanity that we don't deserve.
- You're raising them right. Lol
  Do you have the ripped movies on a Plex server or something that's easy for them to use?
  
  Yup, Jellyfin. Unfortunately, my youngest kept watching even after I said no, so it's locked behind a passcode. But when it's watching time, I unlock it and let them pick. We have some Pokemon seasons, Studio Ghibli animations, and a bunch of other kid-friendly shows and movies for them to choose from.
- My daughter liked both of those a lot.
  But then she also really loves Forbidden Zone and Killer Klowns from Outer Space.
  She's a weird kid. Like her mom and dad.

I would tell people about Death Race 2000 and they'd look at me like I was crazy.
- But have you seen its sequel?
  
  No. I will not see it. They cannot improve upon perfection.
- "Its a hand grenade." Made me almost leave the room.

Surf ninjas. It was the best kind of b movie fever dream.

I had an aunt with the Disney channel and HBO that recorded almost everything. It was like a home video store at her house, probably hundreds of tapes that she let friends and family borrow. She have me a spare copy of the Disney animated Robin Hood with all the animals and I must have watched it a hundred times.
- My great aunt had 101 Dalmations. Just that film. Every time we visited, we would just sit there for an hour watching it. Over and over. It was great.
- My "rich" aunt (relative to my family) had a laserdisc player. I would watch the Disney Robin Hood, as well as Star Wars and Star Trek The Motion Picture.
  
  Damn, your aunt had a laser disc setup? Not only was she ballin, but she was cool, too.

Several dozen? Rookie numbers.
- Yeah. My VCR TV would automatically rewind and start playing again. I have no idea how many times some of those tapes were played but it definitely broke 100.

Hook. I can still quote most of it from memory.
- I've lost my marbles!
- I've never wanted to eat something more than the imaginary feast.

I'll buy that for a dollar.
- Mmmm such great memorable lines!
  Murphy, it's you.
  Can you fly, Bobby?
  You're dead...we killed you!
  You're move, creep.
  Dead or alive, you are coming with me.
  Na na na na na na na.... NA NA NA NA NA NA NA (BOOM!)

I mean... Streaming Frozen nearly continuously was 100% a thing just a few years ago.
- There is a major difference between desire and necessity.

Milo and Otis, Toys, and The Goonies. Watched those 3 movies a thousand times.
- Loved Milo and Otis as a kid. Hell we have a dog named Otis.
- Fellow Toys-kid here!
  
  Yes! My first Michael Gambon movie.

Three Ninjas. We all wanted to be Colt when we played ninjas later

Sharkboy and Lavagirl

For me it was Cocktail. I was a latch key kid, and sometimes you just got bored and hunted around your parents shit.
Turns out 11 year old me was REALLY interested in watching a shirtless Tom Cruise throw around bottles of alcohol in a tropical paradise.

I really liked Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. My parents got it for me on VHS at some point and I watched it so much it literally wore out the tape. Then my parents got it for me on DVD.
Can't even watch it on streaming because they only ever have the subtitled version, and the dub is vastly superior for the dialogue. The subs cut so much flavor and poetry out of the dialogue that it becomes super boring and just the basic gist of what's going on.
Before that, the "obscure" VHS my parents had that I watched a lot was Monty Python's Holy Grail. We spent years trying to understand what the "witch" says when she is found guilty and only knew for certain what it was years later when they released a special edition DVD and we watched it with the subtitles on. "It's a fair cop."
- Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is so good. I have to admit that I've only ever watched it with subs though. Maybe I'll try the dub next time.

I liked the VHS tape that had the naked women recorded onto it.

Did this with spiderwick and bridge to tarabithia but I wouldn't call these particularly obscue.
Also did this with a movie that I can only describe as space jumanji as well
- Zathura: A Space Adventure, great movie 👍🙂
  
  This is it! Thanks, I might have to rewatch it.
  Edit: holy shit what a cast, wasn't expected that many recognizable names

Big Trouble in Little China.
We considered it to be on the same level as Ghostbusters. The ending showed a monster as a stowaway on the old Porkchop Express. We all couldn't wait for the inevitable sequel where Jack Burton got into some Big Trouble somewhere else. Only found out as an adult much later that it was a really unsuccessful movie and there was no way they'd make a sequel.
It's all in the reflexes!
- Jay Bauman: "From a financial perspective, John Carpenter's filmography is a series of tragic disasters."
- When some wild-eyed, eight-foot-tall maniac grabs your neck, taps the back of your favorite head up against the barroom wall, and he looks you crooked in the eye and he asks you if ya paid your dues, you just stare that big sucker right back in the eye, and you remember what ol' Jack Burton always says at a time like that: "Have ya paid your dues, Jack?" "Yessir, the check is in the mail."
  I can here the music. Hard to say how many times I watched this as a kid. It still holds up!

Ok but the Indian in the cupboard came with a key for the plastic VHS case, and a couple of toys from the movie. So my love was justified.
Worst child actor ever though
- my class watched it and the teacher had to get parents permission to watch it because of the "girls girls girls" music video that plays for like 3 seconds

And for those of us who predate VHS it was books! I was hooked on the Lord of the Rings!
- Hey grandpa, What are those? I never heard of a book.😂🤣
  
  They were very popular in the day!

I haven't watched Ice Age in twenty years but if you put it on the TV I bet I could quote every line from it. My mom loved that movie when we saw it in theater so we got it on DVD, then we must have watched it a hundred times after that. It was her favorite movie by far.
We also watched a good bit of Madagascar when that one came out but Ice Age was the enduring classic.

The Peanut Butter Solution
- I remember watching that and being too young to understand why the one kid wanted to put the stuff in his pants. Was very confused about that part.
  
  I'm still confused, who wants pubes that long and that abundant??

An American Tale. Watched it a ton in St Vincent, then I moved to America as a child so there was a close feeling to it. (Just to be clear, I was born in Brooklyn, NY, but my family moved out of the states to St Vincent within 2 years. So my earliest memories are not from the US, despite being born here).
- It was the sequel for me, fiefel goes west

Krull
- I dunno man, flaming horses are dope

And nobody would get your references
You can still get that, just follow obscures enough hobbies and reference memes from it.
Something something i use arch google en passant robot girlyman clem
- lol/36 for one of mine. Bonus points if you can guess what it is.

I watched Ghost with Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore so many times at a bit too young.
Also, The Jungle Book starring Sabu. A black and white live action film apparently from 1942.

Labyrinth and The Black Hole.
- "The Black Hole" is such an interesting case, I really loved watching it as a kid. Reruns were shown on TV every other year or so when I was little. Once I bought the DVD, I realized just how corny it was... up until the point where Maximilian Schell made his Wagnerian entrance. From then on, it became a very different movie, something I could neither understand nor appreciate as a kid.
- Labyrinth and The last unicorn were my favorite movies growing up. Oh! Also a very old russian animated film about a magical hunchback pony.
- A yes, Labyrinth staring Jennifer Connelly, Jim Henson's creatures, and David Bowie's magnificent pouch.
- The evil droid design of Black Hole and the 1981 Star Wars comic #47 were very similar. I don't know why I'm telling you this.

My parents made me a VHS tape with like 9 movies on it and I would watch it constantly. I was a sickly child, so I was stuck in bed a lot. That tape was great.
- He hath the legendary E800 VHS tape!
  Or, like, an E180 and a VCR with impressive LP modes, maybe?
  
  Yo I have no idea. I was born in '97. I just knew how to put tapes in and play them

Tron
- It's a shame they never made any sequels.
  Ever.
  Shut up. No. They didn't.
  
  uhm, I enjoyed Tron 2...

For me, it was What About Bob?

The old Asterix movies for me. The racism makes them hard to watch now that I'm grown up.
- What nomous said. Mostly the depiction of Blacks, Arabs, Asians etc.
- I've not watched them since I was a kid, where/in what way were they racist?
  
  They have some pretty outdated stereotypes/caricatures. Definitely a product of it's time and some parts haven't aged well.

You kids with your fancy, newfangled VHS machines. When I was a kid we had two channels of black and white TV and programming started at three in the afternoon.

Just growing up thinking everybody else has also seen The Ugly Dachshund. A movie where I'm convinced everybody who was in it is now dead.

Dance the magic dance
- You remind me of the babe.

For me it's lethal weapon 1, my uncle would play it at family gatherings. He has this sick sound system at the time and you can hear the brass casings hit the ground it's awesome.

Fern Gully -WAM Sky Dancers -BOOM The Black Cauldron -HAZAA!
- Ferngully is a regular player in our house.
  
  Starring Tim Curry as It Doesn't Matter He's Having Fun.

Whoops Dad accidentally recorded over our bootleg copy of land before time with porn :)

Is there any modern equivalent? Do we even have any shared culture anymore or are we all in our own rabbit holes?
- TikTok / IG viral posts.
  They're not as long lived, but the induct them into conversation.
  Skibidi toilet spinoffs are their heritage.
- Well the post as I understand it argues the polar opposite. We had rabbit holes completely impenetrable social bubbles. And know everything is mixed and globalised. Probably for the better all in all
- It's weird because this was the exception back then, but it might be everything now.
- It's not as common but I'd say you still see kids that grow up in a household with satellite for TV so they miss out on most of the streaming references.
- Primo Baby is like this currently for me and my girlfriend. Her grandma got her a copy of it when she was a kid, but I found it online and holy shit, it's awful to the point that it's hilarious.

Top Secret! dubbed in Galician.

Toooomorrow tomorrow I love ya, tomorrow, you're only a day aaaawayyyyy -the song I hate yet is imprinted on me. Thank you younger sibling for that. It was also mom that broke that CD, RIP (Rest in pieces you over played movie)
- I worked for United Way for a bit and had to go to places and project their ad short that heavily featured that Annie song. Never saw the movie, hate the song.

For me the more "obscure" ones were The Indian and the Cupboard, Small Soldiers, Jingle All The Way, James and the Giant Peach. Not that I referenced it hard or anything.
- The VHS sleeve for Indian and the Cupboard just had the cupboard printed on the opposite side, so child me tried putting his toys into the VHS Clamshell to make his toys come to life.

Finding out other people had the same film unlocked several friendships for me

When I was a kid, my parents wouldn't let me stay up late enough to watch Adult Swim, but they would let me set the VCR to record it on a few blank tapes. And that's how I first watched anime that wasn't on Toonami.
- Funny that in the UK, Adult Swim never aired animé to my knowledge, and there was very little handover; it just went straight from Ed, Edd and Eddy to Aqua Teen Hunger Force.

I'm 19. Those movies are:
"Konferenz der Tier" ("Conference of the animals", some kinda obscure children's movie)
Bambi
Lassie
The wonderful adventures of nils
And later:
Lucky number slevin
Everything from Quentin Tarantino
All of those are in our possession in the form of optical media, as well as a 0% legal digital copy.

Country Bears was weird and literally no one talks about it
- I occasionally have random pop-up memories of that movie and for a few seconds every time I think "what fever dream was that?!" before remembering

Now we're in the List of things we "own" on Amazon prime and watch over and over era