And while we're ragging on studios about FBI warnings and forced time lines, how about.... (1 Viewer)

What is with these new rental discs that drop every special feature that is included in the commercial release? I mean, even the commentary track! This means the studios have to go out of their way and create a separate edition, the sole purpose of which is to deprive renters of enjoying bonus features!
Oh, some would argue, it's to encourage renters to buy instead,
Nay, when I decide to buy a movie, I buy it, I do not rent it. Many movies are borderline viewing for me -- I sort of want to see it, but don't want to spend the bucks to own a copy. But, conversely, if it turns out I like a movie I've rented enough, I will buy it after. But NEVER will I go out and buy a film after I've viewed a rental copy simply to be abler to access bonus features. NEVER.
WHEN I RENT A MOVIE, I WANT TO HAVE ACCESS TO ALL THE FEATURES THAT ARE ON THE FEATURE FILM DISC OF A COMMERCIAL RELEASE.
You studios are truly pissing off a lot of people out here right now. I guess that theory I saw in another thread regarding this being a deliberate strategy to encourage the end of disc production in favor of streaming and digital copies is more likely than I had at first believed.
Thanks for making the heretofore delightful process of watching movies at home all the more cumbersome and annoying by the year, almost as much as going to theaters to see them!

Studies have shown that you are in the far minority when it comes to renters. The majority never watch bonus content even if it's on the disc.

Besides, AFAIK it's only new release titles that get no-frills rental versions. The concept is that these are new movies people didn't see in the theater and therefore may be inclined to purchase outright instead of renting, AFTER they've rented and liked it enough to own, and that having unique bonus content on the sell-through version may help push a consumer to buy sooner rather than later.

Some studios may be doing this with catalog releases but I've yet to see that.

To the studios the ideal is that they'd get rid of rentals via disc altogether and go to streaming only, and they'd REALLY like to do it directly without a third party rental company like Netflix or Amazon.

I think you have the reason wrong. I own about 40 Blu-rays I bought from Blockbuster for $4 each during several of the super-sales to eliminate excess inventory. I believe this is the reason for rental versions of movies. Nearly every disc is movie only and many seem to have many more commercials and previews than a regular release so while I did get the movie super cheap, it is not equivalent to getting the normal release super cheap. Now with BB closing most of its retail locations, this shouldn't be as much of an issue but then everything is going to rental by mail or rental by box so single movie discs are necessary and differentiates them from the retail version.

I actually have grown to like the "rental only" discs I've gotten via Netflix (DVD) and RedBox (Blu-ray).

For most movies, I find I'm not watching the extras as much as I did a number of years ago when DVD was relatively novel. Any move that I am interested in enough to watch extras and listen to commentaries is a movie I'm more likely to purchase anyway.

With RedBox, you've also got to factor in the rental charge is by the day. I doubt I'll ever want to rent a movie and cram multiple viewings (commentaries) into as few days as possible.

By far, though, the nicest "perk" to the rental discs I've gotten lately through RedBox (I use that for BR rentals) is the much faster load times! No more endless loading circles, forced trailers, etc. Just loads right up and I'm ready to go.

I only have two problems with the rental blu-rays: 1) The previews and commercials are far more likely to be unskippable than on the equivalent purchase release; 2) When they list all of the special features, and then when you try to click on one, it tells you to buy the movie. I have problem with movie-only rental disc, but if you're not going to provide the special features, don't list them like you are.