Four Star Video Cooperative

A bastion of media barely afloat in our online-​driven world, 4 Star deserves more of my business than I give it. I, too, have been seduced by the lazy temptress that is Netflix. But, when I want to find that obscure foreign film, or the next season of that animé show I started watching, or feel like rewatching an old classic, 4 Star is there for me. They focus on hard to find items, but still keep up with the day’s popular fresh shows and movies as well. And I always walk out of there with more than what I came for, because perusing their selection is both an endless pleasure and a constant torture. Why can’t I just rent all 47 things that called out to me? Thank goodness for 4 Star. May they live forever.

Incredible catalog and a great staff who work hard to help you out. If they don’t have something, they’ll do their best to get a copy for you. Monthly rates are wonderful. Movie lovers can’t afford to skip it.

Before the internet, Four Star and the old Majestic used to be my only lifelines for gay, underground, alternative and international movies. Their library has grown deep over the years and still dwarfs the options on Hulu or Netflix. It has recently gone co-​op with the same helpful, down-​to-​earth staff as always.

Best selection of foreign films!

will post a review when I can recolate. I have nothing bad to say except this place rocks. Need to provide detaisl for viwers

I love this video rental shop and used to frequent it regularly when I lived off State Street. The last experience I had was the clerk telling me to rent the movie Teeth, which is something I’ll never forget. Don’t let that stop you from renting there though. It made for a great story and an interesting movie night at my house.

Ah, Four-​Star. Here’s the run-​down: There’s a great selection of movies to rent, also varied sales of old (gently used) dvds. Hydroponic plants are for sale up front, along with seeds and planters.
Freindly, knowledgable staff run the counter. I was impressed by the huge poster of Fritz Lang’s «Metropolis» in front, a sign of taste as I understood it.
Go in the basement for even more genres. The spiral-​stairs are in the back, use the maps to find your way.
This place sells & rents animé — we need more of that here. Support them in that noble cause. And, y’know, local and all.
They were out of new membership cards, so I got a paper barcode. Its still in my wallet, I hope. Not a problem but I hope they get their organization together a bit more.
Most recently I rented Satoshi Kon’s Perfect Blue; I’d wanted to see it for years. Thanks to Four Star I didn’t have to buy it! Now others can enjoy it too, the beauty of physical media rental *(hint, hint)*.
Price: reasonable, not extreme either way. ²⁴⁄₇ dropoff is nice and insomniac-​user friendly. Registering for membership was so quick and painless I barely noticed, card/​barcode issue aside. It shouldn’t put anyone off getting something from here, even if a one-​time impulse.
With no Blockbuster, Sam Goody or fye in town, places like this are more essential than ever. I’m not anti-​streaming, but with fees, almost complete lack of many genres and other drawbacks, I sometimes prefer the tangible, near-​instant gratification of brick & mortar stores. That, and its more likely to have what I’m looking for than any service and none of the hassle involved in finding a decent bootleg.
The only drawback I encountered was perhaps a kind of lack of selection. Their stock is vast & diverse so its not an issue of anyone else being better; but on certain things like multivolume sets they’re missing some volumes, so watching the entire thing is… less fun. Fortunately this was the exception, titles were usually the best pressings with the best quality, features, master, etc. of all releases, digital (if any) or media. This pleasantly surprised me, they’re often hard or impossible to find. I wish they had even more, or soon someone decides to donate their discs.
Nothing I’ve rented had errors or scratches.
All said I’m happy, no, proud to support my local video store! Especially so in this increasingly bleak age of cable; If i want* to see hillbillies, I’ll look out the window (different town), thanks. Ahem, go here and make it movie night. When did you last see Fear and Lothing in Las Vegas or Incubus? If you’re reading this, too long, go and watch something!

This place is great! My boyfriend and I had a subscription thing for a few years. They have a fantastic selection and the staff rocks! My boyfriend and I cancelled our subscription because of the location change though. I don’t know if it’s changed, but the place gives me the creeps.

One word… AMAZING!
Four star moved from their location on Henry St. to N. Broom, but the experience hasn’t changed.
To me, there’s no better video-​rental experience than walking into, and perusing the isles of an actual store.
Four Star has an amazing selection of movies in their new two-​story spot (equipped with an ultra rad spiral staircase).
You can sense the passion the employees have for what they do, and they’re always more than willing to help you find what you’re looking for.
In the age of Netflix and piracy, Four Star stands as a testament to the old school of video renting, a school I hope to forever be enrolled.

Four stars for Four Star! While the prices at Four Star are a little higher than you would pay for Netflix or something similar, the selection here makes it well worth it. There is a massive collection of foreign films; definitely the largest I’ve ever seen. The staff is also quite knowledgeable about movies and is happy to offer suggestions.

I was hesitant to go here at first after I heard some complaints about late fees but I’ve also heard they support a lot of local charities and collect clothing for the homeless so I thought it was about time I checked it out and this place rocks! The foreign section was gi-​fucking-​normous! Much larger than any video store I’ve been in and they have a shitload of animé and tv shows too. I didn’t do the subscription thing because I like to just go in and rent movies every once in a while when I’m in the mood but their late fees are only $ 2 a day which doesn’t seem unresonable since if you know you are going to be late you can just renew the movie online and if it’s just going to be one day late then it’s only two bucks rather than a stupid automatic re-​rental. The staff seemed pretty cool and helpful but there was this one guy who honestly was pretty smelly. But he did kind of look like a hippie so maybe he doesn’t use deodorant like most of my hippie friends. His funk was a minor issue and I’ll keep going back.

Absolutely the best video store in town. Overall they have a great selection of obscure and hard-​to-​find movies, but their foreign and documentary selection alone is enough to make it the best. Most of their employees are extremely knowledgeable about film in general, and there’s one that’s extremely cute. Down with Netflix – Four Star is it.

Best video store EVER. Now they have a subscription for $ 18 so you can have 3 videos out at a time. If you like movies you have to go!
Primarily rental, but some used DVDs for sale and they also sell multi-​region DVD players. Selection is the best of any (physical) video store I’ve ever seen.
Use coupons in the Onion for rent 1 get 1 free of non new releases.

With giant late fees and movies due at 7pm (inconvenient compared to the standard midnight time), I only lasted a few weeks before I was forced to turn to Netflix and Blockbuster for my needs. Not the same selection, but very close and much much cheaper.

four stars seemed quite apt
but i moved away from town
now i use netflix

I love Four Star. I wish that it was still convenient for me to go there (if you can’t walk there, the parking is a
.the.ass). They have every movie you could ever want. PLUS, they have a large ‘Documentary’ section which contains, 1) Documentaries, and 2) XXX porn. Hee hee!

I am basing this review entirely on information and one visit, but this information is enough to let me know that I will not be renting very often from this store. It has late fees of two dollars a day which is strictly enforced, and the return time is 7pm. Hollywood video has a return time of midnight, which is far easier for its customers, and a late fee system of automatic re-​rental, so that keeping a movie for five extra days is ten bucks at Four Star and 4 bucks at Hollywood Video.
The staff ostensibly has a contempt for corporate video stores, having a sign against blockbuster posted (which I can sympathize slightly with, but I find very cheap). In addition, when I mentioned in a friendly way that the Hollywood I used to work at also just started the safe guard idea of video insurance for 25 cents, the manager on duty grinned widely and stated that they stole it from Four Star. Even if true, though very hard to prove and even harder to believe [Four Star being one store in a nation of thousands], it seemed like a petty hatred that would prompt someone to accusilatorily make a claim about something that is simply very common, acknowledged and not considered a bad thing– businesses using ideas that work.
Additionally, they are touted as having a gigantic collection while the total is 20,000 titles, which is not more than I imagine most blockbusters even have, is 43,000 less than Netflix has, and is 33,000 less than the Hollywood Video I used to work at had. I supposed I’ve been spoiled by living in DC, where our local independent video store (Potomac Video) has 73,000 titles. Or maybe Madisonians are just deprived in this regard. He-​he.

I don’t think I’ve ever been to a video store better than Four Star, and I don’t think I ever will. As soon as I moved to Madison years ago, I took out an account there, and I’ve been renting there ever since. Their selection is amazing — unlike Blockbuster, they have more than new releases, and unlike many other locally-​owned video stores, they have a huuuuuuuuuuuge collection. The few times they don’t have what I want, it’s usually some weird obscure foreign film, and one I really didn’t expect them to have anyway. Their collection takes up two huge rooms (if this was a New York City tenement a hundred years ago, I’d say at least 10 families could fit in Four Star) Four Star’s staff is friendly and usually pretty helpful. They also have rent-​one-​get-​one-​free coupons in the Onion every other week or so, which makes movies there even cheaper. I’m sure that, really, Netflix is a better deal, but even my friends with Netflix go to Four Star because they have such a great collection. Porn, too (I don’t know how the porn selection is, but they do have Pirates, the most expensive pornographic film ever made — it’s advertised throughout the store).
The only complaints I’ve ever really heard about Four Star is their policy of checking all bags larger than a DVD. I figure that if you’re carrying real valuables in your bag, either take them home and then come back, or suck it up and trust the staff. Bags are stored behind the counter and in plain sight, and you’re given a coat check kind of thing so they know exactly whose bag is whose. I’ve never heard of anyone losing anything while their bag was being checked, so I really wouldn’t worry about it.
TL;DR version? Just like Roger Ebert said: Thumbs up to Four Star.

No reviews yet? Maybe because of Netflix or something, but this is by far the best and most popular video store in Madison (cheap too). If its sick, perverted, violent, obscene, indie in any way or Blockbuster simply refuses to carry it, you will find it here.