Recently Apple added a new feature to the iTunes movie store: iTunes Extras. Certain movies (mostly new releases) on the iTunes store now include Extras, or what are commonly known in DVD circles as Special Features.
I was intrigued by this newness in the iTunes store, and was curious about the comprehensive nature of the Extras, but haven’t had a reason to try it out until yesterday. I am a massive film nut, and watch all the special features I can, usually springing for the $20 2-disc DVD set at Wal·Mart just to get a whole extra DVD of featurettes, interviews, and FX breakdowns. But, I also like to have the digital copy on my computer, which usually means a complicated process involving Mac the Ripper and Handbrake.
iTunes Extras seemed it could be the perfect solution for me and I decided to give it a whirl. GI Joe: Rise of Cobra was recently released, and I saw the movie in theaters, and was reasonably entertained, and put the movie on my short list to buy, and yesterday bought it for the new release price of $14.99 from iTunes. I accepted this price because it is about the same as the 1-disc from Wal·Mart which usually don’t come with many Special Features, so if this was a digital edition + extras, it seemed like a good deal.
It wasn’t, really.
After buying, and waiting for the download, not only do you have a digital copy of the movie, but you also have a secondary file called “Extras”. When you click on it, a menu comes up that looks very much like a DVD menu, but inside of iTunes. This then has a “Play Movie” button, a “Special Features” button, and a few others. But, what was disappointing was there were only 5 or 6 special features, and of those, only one was longer than a minute (it was 6 minutes). Two even seemed to simply be scenes from the movie, but without the soundtrack. The only interviews were with the Special Effects director, and a few blurbs from the principal actors. The only really interesting feature was a whirlwind history of GI Joe from a Hasbro executive.
Now, I am willing to chalk this up to GI Joe not having good special features, but I just can’t make that fly. Having already spent money on the movie I am not willing to buy the DVD and find out, but I have been watching Special Features for very many years and I haven’t seen a DVD that doesn’t have at least a 15 minute “Making Of” and a few shorts on key action scenes in about 8 years. Most of the good ones even have “Behind the Scenes” on soundtrack, sound editing, lighting, or other parts of the filmmaking process. GI Joe actually lacking on special features just doesn’t make sense. What I want to see is the process of filming, the journey undergone to bring the story to the big screen. This is all lacking in the iTunes Extras.
I am willing to give Apple the benefit of the doubt, and say that as the idea is a new, it is therefore underwhelming, but my analysis at this junction is that it is not worth it. I really want this to get off the ground, and want to see as many special features available to download as on a DVD, but I think I may be waiting a while longer for this to come to fruition, if it ever does.
a simple man 