As Blu-ray is becoming the de facto format for cinegeeks, studios have found themselves providing more of the supplemental material exclusive to Blu, rather than DVD.
With this week’s release of Star Trek Into Darkness, Paramount has committed a grievous error that might unfortunately represent a sign of things to come for what remains of the core physical media consumers. And it’s going to piss off a lot of Trekkies, one of pop cultures most devoted audiences.
According to The Digital Bits, “more than half of the special features created for Star Trek Into Darkness were used by Paramount’s marketing team as retailer exclusives.”
What that means is that:
- The commentary can only be found as an iTunes “extra” download.
- Some extras are on a Target bonus disc.
- Some different extras are on a Best Buy bonus disc.
- Yet some others are only available via CinemaNow and VUDU downloads.
- There’s a German edition which may include IMAX-formatted footage.
- There’s an Australian edition which includes Bloopers, deleted scenes, and a roundtable of some kind.
This leaves the true fan either without all of the special features (to what is already a disappointing movie), spending far too much to buy the different editions, or hoping that you can sell some older, unwanted titles so you can purchase the variant releases.
