Hold on to those physical discs because you won’t find these 5 movies on any streaming service

Physical media is about to have its biggest boom in years because people would rather own Blu-rays, DVDs, and CDs than pay monthly subscription fees to streaming platforms to watch their favorite movies. Building a physical media library has many benefits, but holding on to movies that might disappear in the future is rarely discussed.

Some movies aren't available on any streaming platforms and could disappear forever if physical media copies weren't in circulation. You'd think this would only apply to small indie flicks, but it affects bigger studio movies with famous actors. In most cases, these issues arise from licensing or trademark complications or ownership disputes. Hold on to your physical discs because you won't find these movies on any streaming platform.

Cocoon

An Oscar-winning oddity

Cocoon is a 1985 Oscar-winning film directed by Ron Howard and starring Don Ameche, Steve Guttenberg, Jessica Tandy, and Brian Dennehy. It's about a group of Aliens disguised as humans who are on Earth to retrieve the cocoons of their comrades, left behind when Atlantis sank.

The cocoons are too weak to make the trip home, so the aliens place them in a swimming pool charged with life force to strengthen them. Meanwhile, the elderly people from the neighboring nursing home start swimming in the pool, which reverses the aging process. Soon, all the residents want to swim in the pool, unaware of the consequences for the aliens. I watched this movie countless times with my family as a kid and found it entertaining, despite it lacking action. I'd love to see it again as an adult or get a physical as a gift for my parents.

Cocoon won the Best Visual Effects and a Best Supporting Actor award for Dona Ameche at the Oscars. It's unclear why it isn't available on streaming services or physical media. One theory is that it has unresolved music rights issues. Another is that Disney isn't interested in releasing it after acquiring the rights from the 20th Century Fox catalog in 2019. Cocoon is almost erased from pop culture, and you should hang on to your physical copy if you still have it.

Happiness

A dark and disturbing black comedy

Happiness is a small-budget dark comedy drama with a cast including Jon Lovitz, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jared Harris, and Lara Flynn Boyle. It chronicles the lives of the three Jordan sisters through loosely interconnected stories focusing on their issues and relationships.

Each sister has a complicated life and demons to battle stemming from the men in their lives. This movie is controversial for its dark and taboo subject matter and was refused entry to the Sundance Film Festival. It also had to find a new distributor after the first one dropped it due to its content. However, it was still nominated for Best Screenplay at the 1999 Golden Globes and has a decent 84% Rotten Tomatoes score.

Happiness might not be on streaming services because of its explicit and controversial content. It's also a victim of complicated licensing issues, like most of the movies listed here. However, you can buy a physical copy from the Criterion Collection if you have the stomach for it.

Silent Movie

A star-studded parody

Mel Brooks' 1979 hit, Silent Movie, parodies the movie industry and the silent movie era in particular. It's known for having no spoken dialogue and relying on sound effects for its gags. The story follows a struggling director and his friends who pitch the first silent movie in years to the head of a studio that's about to go under.

The trio must convince famous actors to join their movie to get it into production and stop a rival company from taking over the studio. Silent Movie made over 36 million from a 4 million budget and has a 79% Rotten Tomatoes rating. It also has a star-studded cast, including Paul Newman, Burt Reynolds, James Caan, and Liza Minnelli, who play themselves.

This is another movie acquired by Disney in the 20th Century Fox merger. It sits in movie limbo because of licensing and distribution issues. I'm a big Mel Brooks fan, and this is one of his only movies I haven't seen. I can always hope, but it doesn't seem likely in the near future.

Matewan

A critically acclaimed drama based on a true story

Matewan is an acclaimed 1987 movie starring James Earl Jones, Mary McDonnell, David Straithairn, and Chris Cooper in his debut role. It's based on the true story of the 1920 Battle of Matewan, where several people were shot in a dispute that engulfed the whole town.

Chris Cooper plays a labor organizer who arrives in town to find a tense standoff between the coal miners and detectives hired by the mine to stop them from unionizing. The detectives try to evict the union miners from their company homes. Things escalate, and soon the town becomes a pressure cooker and everyone's forced to take a side.

The Library of Congress deemed Matewan "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant," and the United States National Film Registry chose it for preservation. You won't find it on any streaming service, but you can buy a physical copy from the Criterion Collection.

Airheads

A cult comedy classic with a killer cast

Airheads is a 1994 comedy starring Brendan Fraser, Steve Buscemi, and Adam Sandler as a young, unsigned rock band who'll do anything to get their demo heard. The band breaks into a radio station, and the manager refuses to play their songs. They pull out toy guns from their backpacks and force the DJ to play their demo, but it gets chewed up by the machine.

The station's accountant sees what's happening and calls the police, turning the incident into a hostage situation. The band must find a way to get the last remaining demo from the lead singer's estranged girlfriend while under siege by the police and a media frenzy.

Airheads may have low ratings, but it's still a cult classic due to its zany humor and chemistry between its leads. It follows the familial pattern of being a 20th Century Fox movie now owned by Disney. Licensing the movie's extensive soundtrack is also complicated in the streaming era and might not be worth it due to its low box-office haul. Airheads is a dumb, fun movie that made me laugh as a teenager and introduced me to Adam Sandler for the first time. I'd love to rewatch it with my teenage daughter to see how it holds up.