Sure, University Housing let you rent all the videos you wanted when you lived in the residence halls last year — but with a brand new apartment and that big television you finally have room for, you need a video store.

5 Star Video

and Silverstar Video
Silverstar, at 1888 Franklin Blvd., and 5 Star, at 368 E. 40th Ave., are run by the same management and have similar rental policies. Five Star is located right off East 40th Avenue in a small shopping mall, and Silverstar is right off Franklin Boulevard near the Williams Bakery. Overall, these are both pretty well-stocked, but average video stores altogether. Both have a small and helpful staff, and both stores were almost devoid of any customers; this can be both positive and negative. Essentially, you have a better chance of receiving excellent help and service during the non-peak hours, but the store could easily be overwhelmed during a rush of just a few customers. Five Star has a bigger store and also a bigger selection, but Silverstar has a large foreign and cult films section, and carries more animated videos.
The DVD selection at both stores is superb, with larger selections of titles than other video stores. But don’t expect to find an older film on disc; most of those are on tape. The new releases were current and were offered on DVD and VHS formats, but few duplicate copies were available, so don’t expect to get the hottest new rental on the first day.
Prices range from $3 for a two-day rental of a new release to $2 for a five-day general rental to $1 children’s film rentals. The stores also offer quite a few deals, including five movies for five days for $5, and prepaying $20 for forty rentals. Both stores boast tanning booths, though it seems a bit bizarre to go tanning and pick up a video on the way out.

Flicks & Pics
Flicks & Pics, at 2777 Friendly St., is a Eugene establishment, and it has that reputation for a reason: It’s the cream of the crop. Usually the place a professor will recommend for foreign or obscure films and documentaries, this store offers just about any movie you could possibly desire. With a knowledgeable staff, daily hours from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m., and a selection of film guides and books for customers use, this is every film buff’s dream.
And there are categorical sections for film that go far beyond action, comedy and drama. Try musicals, westerns, war flicks, Hitchcock films, cult classics, noire, anime and Abbott and Costello. The foreign film section has a plethora of foreign VHS tapes and DVDs sure to keep all those language majors in front of the small screen for hours. The DVDs at the store are generally the newest releases with the best special features. The store has so many videos that it doesn’t even have room to display them all, so if it doesn’t appear to have something you want, you can always ask at the front desk.
Flicks & Pics’ prices range from $1 to $3, with prices dipping on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. The store will accept any competitor’s coupons (even expired ones) and offers free rentals on your birthday. It also rents any VHS tape (DVD releases are always $3) for a dollar on Mondays and Tuesdays.

Premiere Video

and Silver Screen Video
Both these stores are smaller, and both offer a good selection at reasonable prices. Premiere Video, at 1495 E. 19th St., is one of the closest stores to campus and offers one of the best family film sections with plenty of titles. The store boasts a revamped DVD selection with a good general assortment of films, but not as many new releases or special-edition releases as other stores.
Located right behind Sundance Natural Foods, Silver Screen Video, at 2475 Hilyard St., has one of the larger collections of foreign, intellectual, and documentary films. The store also focuses more on VHS tapes than on DVDs. While Silver Screen does carry all the newer releases and rentals, it is the store’s focus on documentaries and an extensive collection of foreign and independent films that makes this store special. This includes a number of educational miniseries, including National Geographic’s specials and an entire section devoted to Woody Allen.
Premiere has two-day new releases or DVD rentals that cost $3.50 and a three-day VHS rental costing $2. Silver Screen’s store is split into two categories and all videos are either $2 for 5 days or $1 for 5 days.

Movies2Go
Movies2Go, at 4730 Village Plaza Loop (off Goodpasture Island Road), is perhaps the newest and cleanest-looking independent video store in Eugene, and the perfect organization of titles almost suggests that this store is some new, up-and-coming chain; however, it is not. Movies2Go has lots of space in the aisles, and the videos are organized under the more standard categories with new releases along the walls.
The new releases section and DVD collection are the crown jewels of this store’s offerings. It has the best selection of new releases on DVD, with the most copies of the newest releases and the most DVDs. This is not terribly surprising considering the store is relatively new and doesn’t have to make the transition from video to DVD. The store doesn’t have nearly as many foreign or independent films.
The store offers nice promotions and deals like the “Pick of the Week” section which offers some twenty movie choices that change on a weekly basis, and a special five-day rental price of $1.99. The familiar five movies for five days for $5 deal is also available here, along with a frequent renters club that gives you a free rental after twenty previous rentals. New releases cost $3.50 and older films range from $1.99 to $2.99, depending on the release date.