'The Dark Knight' and 'Inception' Now Available as 'App Editions'

Two of the biggest films in recent memory are coming to the smallest screens as Warner Brothers announced new App Editions of "The Dark Knight" and "Inception." Both can be downloaded for the iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad.

The apps will allow users access not just to the films themselves, but also a ton of bonus features and social networking tools. The apps have features to share favorite quotes or anything else over Facebook and Twitter, and view a real-time feed of both networks related to the film as you're watching it.

While the apps themselves are free for download in the App Store, that only gives you the first five minutes of the film and select bonus content.

For a mere $9.99 (for "The Dark Knight") or $11.99 (for "Inception"), users can download the entire feature film - viewable either by streaming or direct download - along with a bevy of bonus features, many of which are not available in any other format.

This could prove a huge savior for the crumbling home video market. While I'm a cinephile at heart and cannot imagine the motivation to watch either or these films - or any film - on an iPhone, I recognize that a lot of people enjoy watching movies that way and this seems to offer a great format to do so. The iPad, on the other hand, is a sort of perfect mobile consuming device, and I could easily see myself using the App Edition of one of my favorite films as on on-the-go reference, never mind the easy implementation of bonus materials. That is, when I can actually afford an iPad.

The press release makes no mention of the video quality, but it'd be hard to imagine WB releasing these in anything less that 720p.

Warner Brothers plans to continue rolling out App Editions of new release and catalog films throughout 2011. If you are able to check out these apps, let us know what you think! Meanwhile, head over to Collider for a preview of the App menus and the full press release.