DVD Commentary

[Gothampc]

Posted: 7/24/06 at 10:32am

What DVDs do you think have good commentary from people associated with the production?

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 7/24/06 at 10:57am

depends on your definition of "good." john mctiernan films on which he does commentary are quite informative about the process both technically and creatively. so are ridley and tony scott's or william friedkin's films where you can find commentary. any film in which val kilmer appears in which they allow him to be part of the commentary is a keeper, he's f***ing hilarious. i know, i woulda never believed it either, but his commentary sometimes rivals the film.

in general i prefer it when the film makers or whoever is doing commentary realizes that anyone who's watching the commentary has seen the film at least once or twice and is listening to the commentary not necessarily to get a shot by shot explanation of the film. kevins smith's films have great commentary.

i always love it when they cobble together the commentary to allow several people who did not record their commentaries together to appear on the same track. a hilarious example of this was "resident evil: apocoplyse" where milla jovovich and oded fehr recorded commentary together which was spliced with sienna guillory. milla and oded are bawdy and funny and pay only passing attention to the film while sienna's bits are deadly serious and earnest. the juxtaposition of them makes for hilarity.

i think that commentary is hit or miss and depends on what you're looking for. on "clear and present danger" they chose to put tom clancy in a booth with the director and the author proceeds to pretty much rip the film to shreds along with nearly every idea the director poses which i found priceless.

[GuyfromGermany]

Posted: 7/24/06 at 11:23am

I always thought the commentaries on the "Moulin Rouge" DVD were really interesting to follow. Especially since it has different commentaries on the different production elements.

Tim Burton's commentary on "Sleepy Hollow" on the other hand was very boring and uninformative...

[Cruel_Sandwich]

Posted: 7/24/06 at 11:25am

The greatest DVD commentary of all time is Paul Giammatti's and Thomas Haden Church's for SIDEWAYS. Period.

[GuyfromGermany]

Posted: 7/24/06 at 11:26am

Guess I have to get this DVD as soon as possible...
LOVED the movie!

[Cruel_Sandwich]

Posted: 7/24/06 at 11:30am

That commentary is one of the funniest things I've ever heard in my life.

"HADEN CHURCH: I just noticed how many times I scratch my nose during this scene.

GIAMATTI: Well, if I were you, I couldn't keep my hands off of me either!"

"GIAMATTI: See? I just chose the dark chocolate cake over the vanilla cake.

HADEN CHURCH: Ahh! A metaphor! Symbolizing the dark times ahead!

GIAMATTI: Darkness is indeed brewing."

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 7/24/06 at 11:30am

I was going to say the Kevin Smith commentaries as well.

Of course I biasly enjoyed Rent's commentary.

Umm, commentaries on new, special edition DVDs tend to be quite enjoyable...Mary Poppins, Sound of Music...

Wait...I just thought of I think the best commentary ever...on the newest release of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, all of the kids came together, now grown up, to do a commentary together. Priceless.

[mabel]

Posted: 7/24/06 at 11:35am

The commentary track on Sideways was indeed HILARIOUS! Not particularly informative about the film or anything, but one of most enjoyable I've ever listened to!

[Cruel_Sandwich]

Posted: 7/24/06 at 12:04pm

the CONFESSIONS OF A DANGEROUS MIND commentary is extremely informative, especially for cinematography.

[Cruel_Sandwich]

Posted: 7/24/06 at 12:04pm

the CONFESSIONS OF A DANGEROUS MIND commentary is extremely informative, especially for cinematography.

[ZONEACE]

Posted: 7/24/06 at 12:08pm

Buffy/Angel commentaries are pretty good.

[Mandi Moo]

Posted: 7/24/06 at 12:19pm

Alan Ball's commentary on Six Feet Under is always good.

[Cruel_Sandwich]

Posted: 7/24/06 at 12:22pm

The commentaries on the Arrested Development DVDs are always amazing.

[Fiction Writer]

Posted: 7/24/06 at 2:09pm

I saw SIDEWAYS in the theater and loved it. When I watched it a second time on DVD, I was bored to death and didn't finish it.

But I've read the book three or four times and love it.

[mateo]

Posted: 7/24/06 at 3:36pm

goonies has a great commentary - i can quote it just as much as the movie itself.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 7/24/06 at 3:39pm

On the original Ben Hur release, Heston's commentary was almost non existant & not worth the effort. The rest of the extras were first rate though

Updated On: 7/24/06 at 03:39 PM

[Cruel_Sandwich]

Posted: 7/24/06 at 3:42pm

The commentary for THE LIFE AQUATIC WITH STEVE ZISSOU is surprisingly dissappointing, as Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach recorded it in Bar Piti, the restaurant where they wrote the film, and thus you can hear diners and waiters and talking in the background.

On top of that, whenever they mention the name "Jacques Costeau", the name is bleeped out.

[Fiction Writer]

Posted: 7/24/06 at 5:12pm

Why?

And how do you know what they're saying if it's bleeped out?

[Rose_MacShane]

Posted: 7/24/06 at 5:21pm

My favorite is the commentary on "Cannibal! The Musical" wherein Trey Parker, Matt Stone and a select few members of the cast and crew get together at Trey's house and get plastered. It's extremely lowbrow and vulgar, but it fits the movie. Plus, they're pretty funny drunks.
On the flip side, I also love the LOTR commentaries. I've only listened to the cast ones, but they're a perfect balance of information, anecdotes and humor.
And I have to agree about Tim Burton: As much as I love his movies, he does terrible commentaries.

[Lamc16]

Posted: 7/24/06 at 5:25pm

I LOVE Danny Devito's commentary on The War of The Roses. He tells really funny, ridiculous stories about the filming and... he's just so proud of the movie and speaks about it with such affection that you feel like he's sitting on the couch with you.

[NCGuy]

Posted: 7/24/06 at 5:44pm

John Waters gives wonderful commentaries (on his own movies, anyway...I was a little disappointed with his sedate commentary on the Mommie Dearest DVD).

kevins smith's films have great commentary.

I’m curious to hear Kevin Smith’s commentary on the new Road House Special Edition DVD (absolutely no intention of buying it, but it might make for a fun rental).

[broadwayjavajunkie]

Posted: 7/24/06 at 5:55pm

I love Adam and Anthony on the Rent commentary, because they're so random and Chris Columbus has to keep steering them back on track.

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 7/24/06 at 6:01pm

The commentary for the Grace Jones movie Vamp is probably better than the movie. Dedee Pfeiffer and Gedde Watanabe are pretty energetic and funny on it.

[cturtle]

Posted: 7/24/06 at 7:18pm

here are some i like:

SUPERMAN - quite informative conversation between director richard donner and creative consultant tom mankiewicz - the comments on the way-pre-CGI optical effects are particularly fun

THE BLUE LAGOON - there are two: one with director randal kleiser and chris atkins; and another with kleiser, screenwriter douglas steward, and brooke shields - very nostalgic - although a rather dumb-dumb movie, it's one of my faves for the splendid photography by nestor almendros. (not to mention all those scenes with nearly-naked chris.)

STAND BY ME - fun and informative comments by director rob reiner (if a little self-congratulatory)

poor commentaries:

STEEL MAGNOLIAS - there are times when director herb ross pauses for so long that you forget the commentary track is even turned on

WHAT's UP DOC? - streisand commentates on a few scenes only - and it sounds like she's watching the movie for the first time with remarks like "oh, look at that!" and "oh, that's so funny!"

Posted: 7/24/06 at 7:51pm

Return To Me Directed by Bonnie Hunt

Great movie and commentary.