‘The Last Blockbuster’: Netflix Users Hilariously Point out Cruel Irony of Documentary

The Last Blockbuster, a 2020 documentary about the last remaining Blockbuster Video store, hits Netflix on Monday. The movie was directed by Taylor Morden and takes viewers to the location in Bend, Oregon. After hearing about the film’s Netflix release, Twitter users scrambled to point out the cruel irony, with many believing that Netflix was responsible for the video rental chain’s demise.

While many think that Netflix was solely responsible for killing Blockbuster, Morden told ComicBook.com there were really several disastrous business decisions the company made. It was already in a downward spiral by the time Netflix’s streaming service became almost ubiquitous. Of course, one of those big business blunders was not buying Netflix when it had the chance when Netflix was just a DVD-by-mail rental service.

“The irony of our indie movie about Blockbuster Video and VHS renting being available to stream on Netflix is not lost on us,” Morden explained to ComicBook.com recently. “Someone at Netflix clearly has a good sense of humor about the whole situation, but I guess, as they say, history is written by the winners. It’s fun to think about a fantasy world where Blockbuster and Netflix can peacefully coexist.”

​

The film was narrated by Lauren Lapkus and features interviews with Kevin Smith, Samm Levine, Doug Benson, Ron Funches, Jamie Kennedy, and Adam Brody. Longtime franchise owner Alan Payne, who wrote Built to Fail: The Inside Story of Blockbuster’s Inevitable Bust, provides some blistering critiques of Blockbuster’s bungled business moves as well.

​

Blockbuster’s former chief financial officer Tom Casey also appears, telling the filmmakers that he does not believe anyone would miss going to a video store when you have so much entertainment available to stream at home, notes CNN. However, there are thousands of people who still love to go to independent video stores, which Blockbuster itself helped kill during the height of its popularity.

​

The Last Blockbuster was released to video on demand platforms in December, but in just a few days you will not even have to digitally rent it. When you watch it, you also will not have to rewind it or pay late fees.

​

“Netflix is releasing a documentary about the last Blockbuster store which is pretty f— up seeing as Netflix is the reason there’s only one Blockbuster store left,” one Twitter user wrote. “Netflix releasing a documentary called The Last Blockbuster is the 21st century equivalent of putting your enemy’s heads on spikes outside your city,” another commented.

​

“LMAOO this is hilarious because Blockbuster had a chance to buy Netflix for 50 million and they turned it down smh,” one person wrote. “Reed Hastings started Netflix after being charged $40 for late fees,” another person pointed out. “In 2000, Blockbuster had the chance to buy Netflix for $50m. They turned it down. Now, Netflix is worth $200b+ and releasing a doc on the last Blockbuster that exists. This is what the last laugh looks like.”

​

“This is like murdering someone and attending their funeral to make sure they are dead,” another chimed in. “Is Netflix so desperate for content that they’ve gotta go make a documentary on how they killed part of my childhood?” another replied. “Also, will probably still watch just because I miss Blockbuster.”