Have you noticed lately that your Netflix (or Redbox, Blockbuster, etc.) movies aren’t as feature packed as they used to be? The movie studio overlords had a problem, the rental houses only have to buy a disc once and then they can send it to hundreds or thousands of people. The studio oligarchy would much rather that individuals pay $30 each for individual copies of those movies. A new plan was needed.
Enter the “movie only” copies of DVDs and Blu-ray discs. Let us take the money making machine that is Twilight Eclipse as an example.
Your kids already forced you to take them to see it in the theater for $12 a pop plus snacks. Now the whole point of getting the DVD or Blu-ray is to watch the special features, so they put it on their Christmas wish list. Grandma goes to Best Buy and gets them the only copy they have left, the single disc DVD. The back of the box doesn’t list any features, but granny doesn’t know anything about the schemes of movie studios.
Your kid and her friends just want to watch the commentary where the pale face Brit tells what it was like to make out with Miss Dead Eyes. But it’s not there. So, you march down to return the stupid thing (open box returns are fun) and you are presented with a well stocked after holiday shelf where you find the following:
1. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (Two-Disc Special Edition) DVD
2. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (Single-Disc Edition) DVD
3. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (Single-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo) Special Edition DVD and Blu-ray on a flip disc
4. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (Single-Disc Edition) Blu-ray
Can you guess which one has special features, or which features each one has? If you said number 1 and 3 you’re win a prize (that being the ability to hear Miss Dead Eyes attempt to emote). Further, can you guess which are the only ones the studios will sell to the rental companies?
This leaves only one question. What took them so long?
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