http://www.thedigitalbits.com/columns/my-two-cents/082813_1415
This is madness.
Maybe it's time for physical media to die. Maybe that's exactly what this is trying to accomplish.
I am not a fan of the movie, most of the folks on this board know this, but I am less a fan of this fucking nonsense. Is this the way to try to deal with floundering DVD/Bluray sales? To offer retailer exclusive special features? The commentary track isn't even available on the fucking Bluray (the biggest special feature most people who bother to buy physical goods nowadays care about). It's only available on the Itunes version (which apparently has aspect ratio issues).Yes… the seven featurettes listed in the press release are basically everything you get on the disc, aside from the usual DVD copy, Digital Copy, UltraViolet copy, Xerox copy and what not. The featurettes amount to about 42 minutes of EPK-style behind the scenes material. There’s no commentary, no deleted scenes, no trailers… which would be bad enough.
Except…
It turns out that more extras were created for this release – more featurettes and even an audio commentary with director J.J. Abrams and members of his crew. None of it is available on the wide release Blu-ray or Blu-ray 3D SKUs. The commentary can only be found as an iTunes “extra” download. And those extra featurettes? Some are on a Target bonus disc. Some are on a Best Buy bonus disc. And some are only available via CinemaNow and VUDU downloads.
This is madness.
Maybe it's time for physical media to die. Maybe that's exactly what this is trying to accomplish.