Five Star Video

Love, love, love this video store. Convenient hours. Friendly staff. Broad selection.

Offerings selected with care. Lots of Criterion and Eclipse. Definitely will supplement any online subscription service. Good price.

Not fancy, but real, still here, reasonably priced with reasonable policies. Sometimes it’s nice to get away from the Netflix queue and just browse.

I remember coming here YEARS ago (I’m talking, pre-​wife that I’ve been with for 11+ years), only to then move to the Bay Area, and most recently, just down the street from this place. Never imagined in a million years that it — never mind ANY video store — would still be around.
I’m giving it 5 stars for several reasons — selection, friendly/​helpful staff, well-​organized store, good sections by genre/​director, very reasonably priced, etc — but I would almost give it 5 stars just for 2 reasons:
1) That a brick & mortar place has managed to stick it out this many years in our on-​demand, Netflix era of a society is remarkable, so kudos for that (they must be doing SOMETHING well).
2) I WANT THEM TO **CONTINUE** STICKING AROUND! Call me old-​fashioned (like the kind of person that likes the feel of a book over a Kindle), but there’s something great about roaming the aisles of a store, talking to the clerk who has likely seen every movie ever made, TWICE, then coming home and popping open the case and throwing it in and watching it, then driving it over and returning it. Yeah, it’s inefficient and yeah, why spend money on something you can invariably download for free somewhere. But those video stores — and the jobs they provide — just seem like a great part of our cultural fabric that I wouldn’t want them becoming extinct (as it is, I already lament how many have gone away).
So, if you’re feeling a bit sentimental like me, or want to support the local economy, support some coming-​of-​age cinefile’s employment, or just keep our streets diversified with cool businesses, go here and rent a movie. Membership is free, prices are super reasonable (less than you’d pay for a New Release on Amazon Instant Watch, for example), and yeah, this place is just great overall…
Thanks Five Star Video!

It’s just better. I see going to five star as an adventure where I don’t what’s going to happen. I might buy a hidden gem from the previously viewed rack, or talk to the brilliant staff and find a movie I love that I hadn’t heard of yet. I might meet someone and fall in love over the last copy of our favorite movie!

5 stars for the best video store ever. This is the kind of video store you always wished existed. They love movies. They are good people. They know how to interact with and appreciate good people who love movies.
I went in the other day and someone was giving them a hard time about a late fee. It was unbelievable to me that anyone could be rude to the clerks there. They are so helpful, fun, smart, and kind. The next time I went in, they gave me a free movie, «because we like you». Get a clue and realize that good deeds are met with kindness and jerks are going to be given no special treatment. Finally a place that can truly be counted on to be straightforward and real.
You want an obscure movie recommendation? Ask these good people. We love you Five Star Video!!!

Staff is always helpful, friendly, knowledgeable and prompt. Great selection. Love the creaky wood floor too. I always enjoy coming to this local business.

Call us old-​fashioned, but the hubster and I love Five Star Video. While in North Berkeley, we frequented the Solano Avenue location, but now that we’ve moved to E-​ville we’re customers of the University Avenue store.
The musty Berkeley smell, occasional customers’ dogs, and quirky friendly cashier-​helpers have us coming back. We love being able to browse the shelves, seeing movies sorted by genre, collection, and the like, and being able to hold movies for pick up later in the evening. The three for two deal is awesome too!
The store is a weird mix of old and new – they use Square to process payments, but have printer that uses a ribbon and the two stores don’t share a customer database! But these are small oddities for what is generally an awesome video store experience that makes us feel good about supporting small, local business. Long live the brick and mortar video rental store!

These guys are great. Local, Knowledgeable and have a great selection of movies…
But really, I’m also just looking up their number and I read the one star review from Jamey L… «SNAP» and it’s obvious he is a blank who just puts people down who do their job… I’ve never been gooing here for years, never a problem, only good staff and movies… what more do you want? Some sort of revolving credit account where you never have to bring a movie back or you write them a bad review… Unilocal me if you want man… I’m cool… so are they… THanks five STAR… I’m glad you are here!!!

I like this place every time I go every one is so nice and helpful this is my place for movie rentals

PLEASE, DO NOT open an account here. I had DVD’s out for three weeks and they threatened legal action, harassed me via phone calls and text messages, and I woke up to a $ 38 charge to my account without authorization or notice! (I wasn’t present in the store, they used account information they have on file for me and remotely charged my credit card)
Like Paula, I kept videos out longer than planned, received phone calls every day, text messages, and threats warning me of «necessary legal action» if i didn’t return the DVDs within a few days. This was completely inappropriate and uncalled for, and the DVDs were returned. Noboby wants to steal your DVDs, they don’t have any value without a case, and even then are pretty much useless now a days anyway. This is a terrible local business.
More like ONE STAR video! snap!

I had two unplayable Xbox Games when I went into this store, one which was severely damaged with a perfect circle scratch and one which didn’t have any discernible scratches but was unplayable for some reason anyways. For $ 2, I walked out with two playable Xbox games.
I called around to about 20 different game/​electronic/​video stores looking for disc resurfacing machines. Gamestop used to offer the service but now they only give you trade-​in credit. The severely damaged one went through the machine twice for $ 1 each. The other one didn’t have any discernible scratches but since I said it was unplayable, the guy offered to put it through for free.
I am so grateful to these guys. They probably saved me at least $ 40.

Five star is a great place to find movies or shows from childhood, but my only issue is there is a guy who talks like froggy from the little rascals at a whisper level while either looking down or talking to us while starring at the computer screen. My g/​f asked him to speak up and he seemed to be annoyed… this is one of many times this has happened…

I love this place. Cheap movies. Lots of good documentaries, the entire criterion collection, and a decent sci fi collection. I just wish the were not all the way in North Berkeley for returns. So far from me. Otherwise, seriously, when you’ve exhausted Netflix and Hulu like me, and the excitement of all the instant choices have died down, its amazing that now I feel like more of a movie buff than ever after watching SO many movies thanks to Netflix, and that I have five star video to explore my every film desire much deeper than Netflix will allow. Okay its late. This message was nuts. but THANK YOu five star video.

They have the Twilight series in the Horror section… haha
Great movie/​tv series selections, friendly staff, and reasonable prices.
We rented 3 non new release movies for $ 6 and could keep them for a week (must be returned by 10am sharp on the last day otherwise a $ 1 late fee per day per rental is enforced).
NOTE: If signing up for the first time, you can only check out 3 movies.

Great store, they have reasonable prices and great specials. If you are tired of Redbox and waiting behind people while they browse for ages, check this place out. They have a great selection of foreign, indie, and classic film. There is no 30-​day buffer period on new releases like Netflix and Redbox, and Blu-​Rays are of no extra cost compared to DVD’s. Lastly, you get more than 1 day to watch your movie.

This place is so wonderful!
The owner, manager and workers are all SO friendly — they even remember my name, what I’m obsessed with at the moment, and they make super recommendations. Plus they’re dog friendly so I always see great dogs in there. 5 stars!
In and if you rent 2 movies you get the third one free (as long as it’s not a new release).

This video store makes me SO embarrassed that I even studied film in college! I seriously did not know 90% of what was in that store. I kind of recognized some films but I thought I dreamt those titles… didn’t know it really existed!
My hubby and I literally spent an hour trying to decide what to watch because there were so many good selections! I felt so awkward walking around the whole store like 30 times looking at everything. They even had Kubrick’s «Lolita» which darn Netflix doesn’t have!
They even have sections like all the films Kate Winslet or Johnny Depp have been in. They also have a gay/​lesbian film section and a large tv show selection which I didn’t get a chance to venture into because I was so roaming aimlessly in awe of all that they offered.
I’m not really a film-​snob… but with this place, I might start becoming one.

Criterion section is off the chain. No pesky religious beliefs getting in the way of the selection here. They politely and personally recommend a good flick while looking you straight in the eyes. I think the owner might be breeding cool employees in the basement.
My only problem with this store is that they don’t have any VHS.

Netflix and its ilk will never have my heart, robbing me of the oh-​so-​pleasurable tactile and visual aspects of browsing. Into the indie video store we go!
Organized into interesting sections like Criterion collections, movies by country, Oscar winners by year, and actors of particularly odd character (Johnny Depp, Cate Blanchett and Philip Seymour Hoffman — an odd trinity, I know), FSV is a joy to navigate and discover.
While it doesn’t have the polish and high-​tech systems (hello, dewey decimal) that some of the more conventional rental stores provide, the entertainment and quirk factor of the staff and space is high while prices are low, making it my video store of choice.