There are already a number of ways for iPad owners to rent and stream movies, but AMC Networks is hoping that their exclusive extras and bonus materials will entice fans to rent from them instead.
The YEAH! Movies app features access to 32 ‘Y DEF‘ enhanced films (if you don’t count the double-listing for The Shining) which can be rented for $4.99 for a 48-hour viewing period which is valid for 30 days after purchase. These include such films as Pulp Fiction, The Shining, No Country for Old Men, Dirty Dancing, A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Blair Witch Project, Caddyshack, Superman: The Movie, Scream, Apocalypse Now Redux, The Expendables, Kick-Ass, Reservoir Dogs, Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2, The Terminator, Clerks, Child’s Play, This Is Spinal Tap, Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior and more. Plus there are an additional 367 Movies w/o any special features which can be rented for $2.99 each with the same 48-hour rental terms.
The Y DEF films include a wide variety of exclusive bonus material like both short and feature-length interviews with cast members and directors (Richard Donner, Kevin Smith, Wes Craven and more) as well as trivia, factoids, viewer polls and more. They are well produced and give you a nice peek into what went into making some of your favorite films. However, the selection of enhanced films is pretty small and I found myself wishing that many more of the non-enhanced category had gotten the Y DEF treatment.
With the growing trend of home viewers switching their preferences from disc-based to streaming of media, all of the wonderful bonus material available only on Blu-rays and DVDs has been pretty much lost in the shuffle. YEAH! Movies helps to restore the balance, allowing streamers a way to see some of this same type of bonus material with their streamed copy of the film.
The video and sound quality of the individual films were nice and clear, but the fact that I couldn’t AirPlay the film out to my TV was a big downside for me. If I’m renting a movie, odds are I’m going to want to watch it on my big screen TV.
YEAH! Movies fills a nice niche for those who want the convenience of streaming, but miss those DVD-style extras. However, with only a smaller selection of enhanced movies, plus the fact that many of these films are already available on Amazon Prime, Netflix, Crackle and other streaming services for free or as part of an $8 to $10 a monthly subscription service (just more than the price of a couple films on YEAH), YEAH! Movies is facing a bit of an uphill battle.
That being said, if there is a particular older film that you really like, I could see how these exclusive extras might convince you to rent it from YEAH! Movies, even if they already own a digital copy or have access to the basic movie from another source for free.
In Conclusion
In light of existing competition, I believe YEAH! Movies would just work better as either a subscription service or a ‘consume what you can’ week-long or day pass service. If AMC could get many, many more of its existing 400 or so titles Y DEF-enabled (plus add some newer films) and add AirPlay and offline viewing options, it would be a much more attractive package. In the meantime, I recommend downloading the free YEAH! Movies app and checking out the Y DEF-enhanced version of A Nightmare on Elm Street which is FREE for everyone for a limited time and includes a feature length interview with director Wes Craven.
