Best Audio Commentary... (1 Viewer)

[Angelo.M]

I forgot about the Fincher/Pitt/Freeman commentary on Seven. That is a good one.

The Fincher/Pitt commentary and the Freeman commentary, although on the same 'track,' seem to have been recorded independently of one another. Personally, I don't find Freeman's comments all that interesting, while Fincher and Pitt do a nice job. The info they give about Kevin Spacey and getting him in the film is interesting.

My fave commentary: Seven Samurai, which, as I just wrote in another thread, I have only recently listened to, even though I've had the disc a long while. Amazing amount of info on the film and on Japanese culture, both as it relates to the historical information in the film and as it relates to a Japanese audience seeing the film in the '50s.

 

[jonathan_little]

I think my favorite commentary is with Stanley Donen and Peter Stone on the Criterion Charade DVD.

 

[Jefferson Morris]

I agree that The Thing commentary is a lot of fun (particularly Russell's brays of laughter every time something gruesome happens), although Carpenter often lapses into "commentary for the deaf," I must say. A bit too much narration of the action on this one to make it one of the very best, IMO, despite its entertainment value.

--Jefferson Morris

 

[Ruz-El]

I agree with most of the above, but how about John Waters on any of the John Waters collection 2-Packs? Pink Flamingos is my favorite of the bunch (especially when he asks if he has to comment over the extra scenes tagged on the end of the movie!)

 

[Matthew_Millheiser]

My favorite commentary track from DVDs released this year have to be all of Annette Insdorf's comments on the Three Colors DVDs. Absolutely fantastic.

My all time favorite, and I agree with Angelo, has to be Michael Jeck on Seven Samurai (he does a great job on Throne of Blood too.) But you really can't go wrong with commentary tracks from any of the following:

• Peter Cowie (film writer/historian)
• Bruce Eder (film writer/historian)
• Terry Gilliam (director)
• Roger Ebert (film critic)
• Stephen Prince (film writer/historian)
• The PIXAR group

And maybe I'm the only one but I don't see the big deal over Kevin Smith's commentary tracks. They're OK but if I wanted to experience 2 hours of self-congratulatory masturbation I'd buy tickets for that new Celine Dion show in Vegas.

 

[Jeff_HR]

Any John Frankenheimer commentary as far as I'm concerned.

 

[MatthewLouwrens]

WORST - blood simple...i didnt realize could get so annoyed by watching a movie i love with some guy talking over it.

Personally, I loved the commentary track on Blood Simple. Not as a commentary track to illuminate the film, but as an enjoyable extra to watch. Perhaps it was that I knew the whole thing was a joke and listened to it on that basis, but it was just so funny. I laughed at the idea of the car scenes being filmed upside down, the animatronic dog, the Dan Hedaya character being played by Rosemary Clooney, the Private Detective to be played by Frank Sinatra as son to Gene Kelly's Bulgarian dictator, the entire story about what was cut from the film about the trip to Bulgaria with flashbacks describing the most utterly incoherent and awful movie. It was pure entertainment, and I was entertained.

 

[Marc Colella]

My favorite commentary track from DVDs released this year have to be all of Annette Insdorf's comments on the Three Colors DVDs. Absolutely fantastic.

Correction. Bleu, Blanc & Rouge has the best commentaries ever produced. Simply incredible.
Insdorf's commentary is so informative and she keeps it from ever becoming boring.
No fan of film can be without this trilogy.

2nd Best:

Boogie Nights: Both PTA and cast/crew commentaries are informative and just plain enjoyable.

 

[Richard_D_Ramirez]

- The Robert Rodriguez Commentary on El Mariachi/Desperado
- The Cast Commentary on the Extended Edition of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
- The Guillermo Del Toro Commentary on Blade II "It's f****'n Michael Bolton!"

I still haven't heard the Kurt Russell & John Carpenter Commentary on Big Trouble in Little China, and will one day devote the time to listen.
8^B

 

[Matt Stone]

I just listened to the Joe Bob Briggs commentary on the I Spit on Your Grave disc, and it is quite good. The man is both hilarious and intelligent, a combination rarely seen.

Man I miss Monstervision :frowning:

 

[Justin Hargis]

Everybody - The Mummy : Ultimate Edition
Everybody - True Romance : Special Edition
Everybody - The Goonies (A very unique commentary)
John Hughes - Ferris Bueller's Day Off
James Cameron - T2:Extreme Edition
Carrot Top - The Rules of Attraction

 

[millercv]

A lot of the ones mentioned so far are favorites but one that hasn't been mentioned in the funniest category:

Jonah: A Veggie Tales Movie -the commentary with Larry and Mr. Lunt is funnier than the movie and educational too - did you know they did the whole movie using advanced wire removal techniques?

 

[Anthony Neilson]

Can't believe no-one's mentioned Oliver Stone. I'd recommend SALVADOR, JFK and NATURAL BORN KILLERS. The last is not a movie I'm keen on but the commentary really enhanced it. All Stone's commentaries are good, possibly because his movies are actually about something.

I'd also second the CHARADE Criterion commentary as one of the best and second the EXORCIST : VYNSB commentary as one of the worst. Friedkin's usually really good so why he resorts to narrating the onscreen action, I don't know.

There's also a very funny William Shatner moment on the commentary to AMAZON WOMEN IN THE MOOD on FUTURAMA SEASON 3.

Biggest disappointments to me were Richard Donner's commentaries on SUPERMAN and THE OMEN. Full of boring in-jokes and "that's-my-cousin-on-the-left" type anecdotes.
Dennis Hopper's comm on EASY RIDER also reeks.

 

[JoeMKal]

best that I don't think was mentioned yet
The Man Who Wasn't There

worst that I have heard
Killer Klowns From Outer Space

 

[Scott McAllister]

I have to emphatically agree with the commmentary for The Thing. When Russell shuts up Carpenter so they can hear the famous line: "You've gotta be fucking kidding", had me rolling on the floor laughing. You can tell these two love what they do.


Bryan Singer/Christopher McQuarrie have a fantastic commentary on The Usual Suspects, just don't listen to it before you watch the movie.


The Armageddon commentary with Ben Affleck is also pretty damn funny. "The NASA nerd-o-nauts don't understand his salt-of-the-earth ways. They can build rocket ships, but they don't know what makes a good tranny."


ROTFL!!!

 

[Magnus T]

The Armageddon commentary with Ben Affleck is also pretty damn funny. "The NASA nerd-o-nauts don't understand his salt-of-the-earth ways. They can build rocket ships, but they don't know what makes a good tranny."

That was indeed hysterical, but I thought this one was even funnier:

"If we didn't keep the AC on, it would rain in here! Hihihihi!" "You mean you're an actual rocket scientist?" "That's right sonny! Hihihihihihihi!"

 

[Jeremy Stockwell]

JKS

 

[Mark Palermo]

Robert Rodriguez on SPY KIDS 2 - essential for anyone interested in DIY moviemaking.

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

My favorite group commentaries are "Evil Dead 2" and "The Howling" (laserdisc only so far). My favorite edited together commentary is the Criterion "Silence of the Lambs".

For good-natured writer-director sparring, I like the Criterion "Charade" with Stanley Donen and Peter Stone, and Universal's "Out of Sight" with Steven Soderbergh and Scott Frank.

For breathless scholarly information dumps, the commentary by Ron Fricke on "The Ultimate Oz" laserdisc is pretty impressive, as is the non-screen specific audio essay by Ronald Haver on Criterion's "Casablanca".

Regards,

 

[James_M]

The Pixar films.
Bey Logan's commentaries on the Hong Kong Legends releases are usually really good.