why no special features on new Harry Potter when at Hollywood video

[lomarica]

I rented the new Harry Potter dvd for my son and it contained no special features. After I got home and realized this I complained to the manager. He replied there is a second disk of special features on the disk available for sale only and he said it was a "corporate" decision.

I have an email into Hollywood video to ask them about this. Has anyone else noticed the lack of some special features when renting disks and why this is done? I hope this is not a trend. I assume the only reason not to include the special features is to make us buy the disk so does this mean the large rental chains are in cahoots with the film industry?

One other movie I rented at my local small store was Life Aquatic and that also did not have the special features I read about in the review of the movie

thanks

[Woochifer]

The major video chains years ago started entering into revenue sharing arrangements with the studios in exchange for ensuring a sufficient supply of new releases. Worked out great for both sides because at that time the norm was so-called "rental pricing" on VHS releases where the list price would be about $90 a copy for a new release and then rolled back several months later to about $20. Great for the studios because they could ensure that a hot new title would not run out at the store and they would share in the revenue. And it was great for the video chains because they were ensured an unlimited number of copies for hot new releases.

DVDs were never released with "rental pricing," but it would not surprise me in the least if the studios give the video stores a price break by providing truncated movie-only versions of new releases. Don't know if DVDs have gone to a similar revenue sharing arrangement. Would suck though if Hollywood (and presumably) Blockbuster resort to forcing consumers to rent movie-only DVDs without any of the bonus features.

With regard to Life Aquatic, Criterion released two different versions of that DVD, a single-disc movie-only version, and a two-disc set with the bonus features. The two-disc set only cost $3 more than the single-disc set, and both were available the same date. And this kind of dual-release of two different DVD versions from the outset IS definitely a trend that's picked up steam over the past couple of years.

The DVDs released with separate single and two-disc sets simultaneously include Batman Begins, Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Seabiscuit, Walk The Line, Master and Commander, Million Dollar Baby, Ray, Dr. Strangelove, and Raging Bull. In some cases, the two-disc set only cost $2-$3 more, while in other cases, the two-disc set includes some other extras and cost more than $10 extra. In a way, I find this much preferable to the more common double-dipping pattern where a stripped down version gets released first, and a deluxe version follows only a few months later.