James R | On 03, Sep 2013

Star Trek Into Darkness lands on DVD, Blu-ray and VOD today – read our review – and marks an interesting step for home entertainment, as the digital release includes an exclusive director’s commentary.

Into snarkness

Not happy with being the “worst Star Trek film” according to fans, Paramount’s sci-fi sequel attracted yet more anger when its Blu-ray cover was revealed to contain a major plot spoiler – one that critics were asked to keep secret under pain of Vulcan death grip when the film was originally released.

That anger continued to boil as it was then discovered that the Blu-ray disc did not contain an audio commentary from director J.J. Abrams. That, it turns out, is an iTunes exclusive.

Yes, iTunes now has extras – cunningly called “iTunes Extras”.

“One your film has downloaded to your iTunes library, click on the poster than click iTunes Extras. Select any piece of bonus content and enjoy,” explains iTunes helpfully for anyone who doesn’t know what iTunes Extras are. Compatible with Mac, PC or Apple TV, these extras “can include deleted scenes, interactive scene selection, outtakes, alternative endings, behind the scenes footage, cast and crew bios, image galleries, interactive timelines and more.”

iTunes Extras are, inevitably, not available with rentals.

Boldly going

So, are they the future for home entertainment?

It’s long been a bugbear of Vince, our friendly local VODzilla.co, that DVDs get special features and he doesn’t – a decision that has seen him angrily destroy several discs and at least two buildings. But iTunes Extras are not something that have only just appeared.

2009’s Star Trek came with iTunes Extras: a production gallery and “A New Vision”, a making-of doc. Even The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel has a few.

Over time, the amount of content has grown. Iron Man 3, released on VOD a couple of weeks ago, includes “Deconstructing The Scene: Attack on Air Force One”, “Iron Man 3 Unmasked”, a gag reel, other deleted scenes and an “Exclusive Behind-the-scenes Look” at Thor: The Dark World.

Well aware that DVDs have a lifespan, studios have been trying for some time to find a way to highlight digital distribution. Bringing out films earlier on iTunes, blinkbox, Virgin Movies on Demand and other platforms was the first move, highlighting the portability and immediacy of video on demand. Bonus content is the next step, creating an altogether more impressive package. Iron Man 3, for example, isn’t out on Blu-ray until Monday 9th September, but you could stream it right now in HD without leaving the house and have all of the above extras to boot.

Still, deleted scenes and gag reels. It doesn’t sound revolutionary, does it? Judging by The Dark Knight Rises, even the menus look like they’re from the 90s.

But just as Blu-ray’s picture-in-picture offered a level up from DVD’s special features, so does VOD. Jack Reacher came with a preview chapter from Lee Child’s new book – an example of the multimedia opportunities digital opens up. “Interactive scene selection” used to mean you could select a button with your remote – with 21 Jump Street, you can type in a keyword or person and find a scene that way.

Paramount took a giant leap with Star Trek, though, boldly going (as far as we can tell) where no digital exclusive had gone before: the director’s commentary.

It’s not just iTunes, either: blinkbox has beamed up its own 20 minutes of digital Bonus Content. Where iTunes creates a menu to select them from, blinkbox merely tacks them on to the end of the main file, but the fact they’re there at all is still (again, as far we can tell) a first for Tesco’s rival streaming service.

What’s on where

As it stands, the extras line up for Star Trek’s sequel as follows:
DVD
Featurette: The Enemy of My Enemy

Featurette: Ship to Ship

 
Blu-ray
Featurette: Creating the Red Planet

Featurette: Attack on Starfleet

Featurette: The Klingon Home World

Featurette: The Enemy of My Enemy

Featurette: Ship to Ship

Featurette: Brawl by the Bay

 
iTunes (taken from the US store)
Exclusive Enhanced Commentary with “visionary filmmaker” J.J. Abrams and his crew

Featurette: Creating the Red Planet

Featurette: The Enemy of My Enemy

Featurette: Brawl by the Bay

 
blinkbox
Featurette: Aliens Encountered

Featurette: Home of the Core

Featurette: Unlocking the Cut

Featurette: The Sound of Music

It’s a pretty even match. In fact, what’s surprising is that there is no definitive version – apart from the DVD, every release has its own exclusives. After years of having Blu-ray as the ultimate package, you can understand that level playing field frustrating HD TV owners who have invested money in the physical platform. But Blu-ray was always a stop-gap on the way to a digital future. A very nice stop-gap with tons of stuff, sure, but if digital releases can continue to develop like this, the end of physical formats is suddenly in (a fairly distant) sight.

As studios give more power to the pixel, it’s nice to see video on demand no longer short changed as “the other one”. In 10 years’ time, after all, it will be The One. Paramount’s choice of a director’s commentary (the holy grail of special features) as an on demand exclusive is a bold way to announce that change.

Why should Apple be the ones offering it? Well, why not? Retailer exclusives are nothing new. In the US, Walmart are selling a Star Trek Into Darkness box set that includes a plastic model of the U.S.S. Vengeance. Why should digital be any different?

If anything, it gives customers a choice. Love commentaries? iTunes is your friend. Klingon crazy? Blu-ray’s your best bet. Think Giacchino’s a genius? blinkbox’s music featurette is a must-see. And if you go on demand, you can watch those extras on a whole range of devices, not just your Blu-ray player.

Just can’t do it, Captain?

Still, there are inevitable teething problems.

In the UK, the iTunes Extras currently listed are for Flight – although we expect them to be the same as those listed in the iTunes US Store. And that official home entertainment synopsis remains hugely spoilerific:

blinkbox, on the other hand, deserve bonus points for using their own spoiler-free synopsis.

Luckily for Apple, those errors can be quickly updated.

Unluckily for anyone looking for the film in a shop, those spoilers will still be on the box.

There’s a reason to be an angry at Paramount – but valuing video on demand isn’t it.

 

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