The first VCR I had, I rented. It was an RCA BetaMax, and I even had to rent the movies from, of all places, Photo Hut!
The first VCR I bought, after about six months of the BetaMax, was a big-assed, top-loading RCA, which must've weighed twenty-five pounds.
When I bought that VCR, the first films I bought were WHAT'S UP DOC? (used at $20, which at that time was cheap) and THE SOUND OF MUSIC (two tape, strangely packaged).
The first movie I taped was an HBO showing of COAL MINER'S DAUGHTER, and I only recently got rid of that tape in a major de-cluttering.
The first dvd I bought was Warner's LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, with the alternate ending on the flip side. I didn't buy a dvd player however until a few weeks, or months, later.