Ever since DVD began, back in 1997, I fell in love with the idea of commentary tracks (Yes, they did exist on laserdiscs before then, but I didn’t own any, which is why I used 1997 as my starting point). Although I’m pretty sure I’ve only listened to it once, my favorite track to this day is the one on the Armageddon: Criterion Collection DVD with Michael Bay, Jerry Bruckheimer, Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck. Although I don’t like all of his movies, it was during that commentary where I began to respect Michael Bay and have made it a point to listen to every commentary he’s recorded since.

However, this is something entirely new. Director Rian Johnson recorded an mp3 commentary for his new film, The Brothers Bloom. The idea is that you download the mp3 and then upload it to your mp3 player of choice (Go Creative!) and listen to it through headphones as you’re watching the movie. Obviously this isn’t recommended for an initial viewing, so the idea is that it encourages multiple theatrical viewings.

Johnson says, “The track itself is obviously spoiler-heavy, I obviously wouldn’t recommend it for a first viewing.  It’s also (to be honest) pretty dry and process-intensive, I go on at length about obnoxious stuff like symbolic color schemes, so if that doesn’t sound appealing, steer clear.  The (totally different) commentary I recorded for the DVD is much more easygoing.”

I think it’s very cool that it’s a completely different track than the one to be released on DVD. I’m not sure it’ll be widespread, but I think it’s a pretty sweet concept. I’m sure a lot of the people that have seen Star Trek for the umpteenth time already would surely go for this if J.J. Abrams had created one. What do you think? Trendsetter or one-trick marketing ploy?

The commentary track can be downloaded here.