3 ms·

Using https://www.rogerebert.com/great-movies https://www.rogerebert.com/great-movies you can filter by date

• boomboomsubban 6y ago
  Thanks, but that doesn't explain why Prime doesn't have any released after 87.
  • blaser-waffle 6y ago
    Presumably because contracts with studios won't let them stream those. Why won't they get streamed? 1980 is 40 years ago, and movies pushing 40+ years old aren't in the day-to-day zietgiest and aren't getting a lot of searches. Newer movies still catch eyeballs occasionally. I'd bet '87 is where the long-tail drops off noticeably.
    • boomboomsubban 6y ago
      It's been a while since I've looked at Prime's catalog, but is it really exclusives plus fourty year old content? I understand why those distribution rights are more valuable, but that is also why Amazon would desire them more.
  • ThePadawan 6y ago
    I'm having a hard time coming up with the data to confirm this theory but 1986/1987 seems to me to be the peak of both VHS sales and the bottom of VCR prices. I assume from that many studios had to come up with their first licensing schemes for movies "for home use" (contrary to movie theater and broadcast use), which could potentially still apply to (and restrict) streaming. Once again, this is my personal hypothesis (and I'd be happy to see some data to support or contradict it).
    • boomboomsubban 6y ago
      1988 was the year of the Writers Guild strike, so while your exacts may be mistaken you're probably right that the licensing scheme is involved.