Home Theater Forum › Home Theater Forum › Blu-ray, DVD, Streaming Video and Digital Downloads › DVD › Some of the best DVD commentaries are...
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Some of the best DVD commentaries are...

post #1 of 55
Thread Starter 
I love the takes on all of the DVD comments both positive and negative but one aspect I'm intrigued to hear about from all of you is which DVD commentaries do you consider to be amongst the best so far and why??...can't wait to hear the comments, I'll add some of my own soon
post #2 of 55
Cannibal the Musical by far. That's the only DVD I have that I've watched at least as many times with commentary as without.
post #3 of 55
Michael Jeck on Criterion's Seven Samurai. Finest commentary ever!
post #4 of 55
Here are some I have listened to more than once...
o Rob Reiner on This is Spinal Tap (Criterion)
o Harry Shearer, Michael McKean, and Christopher Guest on This is Spinal Tap (Criterion)
o Derek Smalls, David St. Hubbins, and Nigel Tufnel on This is Spinal Tap (MGM)
o Bruce Campbell, Sam and Ivan Raimi on Army of Darkness - Director's Cut (Anchor Bay)
o Bruce Campbell on Evil Dead (Anchor Bay)
o Sam Raimi on Evil Dead
o Bruce Campbell and Sam Raimi on Evil Dead II
o Mike Myers and Jay Roach on Austin Powers films
o David Fincher on Fight Club
o David Fincher, Brad Pitt, and Ed Norton on Fight Club
o Chuck Palahniuk and Jim Uhls on Fight Club
o Isolated music score/commentary w/ Danny Elfman on Pee-Wee's Big Adventure
o Any Kevin Smith or Terry Gilliam commentary
post #5 of 55
Criterion Seven Samurai's good. I like Heston's commentary on Ben Hur, for those that haven't seen it, it's one of those deals that he does not talk through the whole movie, but there's an icon one can click to forward to the next commentary section, the setup assures very little dead time or babbling.
post #6 of 55
The following commentaries are very funny, almost gut-bustingly hilarious at times but not the most educational in the world (although you'll learn a lot about studio politics and raising money):

Mallrats - Kevin Smith, Ben Affleck, Jason Lee, Jason Mewes, Scott Mosier, Vincent Pereira - one of the best and the funniest, watch out for Lee's Jeremy London impression and the constant Affleck-bashing, running gags include the appearance of Walt Flanagan and Smith's use of colorful backgrounds, also has video via multi-angle

Clerks: The Animated Series - Smith, Mewes, Mosier, Dave "Thanks for watching!" Mandel, Brian O'Halloran, Jeff Anderson, and Chris Bailey - also very funny, especially given the bad rap this series has gotten from network brass, the ideas for additional episodes (discussed during episode 5) are very funny, especially the KITT episode

Kentucky Fried Movie - John Landis, Robert K. Weiss, Jerry & David Zucker, and Jim Abrahams - as a fan of Airplane, The Naked Gun, and The Blues Brothers, this was like a reunion of old friends, Weiss and Landis make some comments that make me laugh out loud especially Weiss' "I think we had a deal with Samsonite" comment during the Fistful of Yen segment

Now for some more scholarly commentaries:

Armageddon - Michael Bay, Jerry Bruckheimer, Ben Affleck, and Bruce Willis on one; John Schwartzman, Ivan Beckey, and Joe (?) Allen on the other - these are very good, Bay and Scwartzman go very in depth regarding technical aspects of the production and it irks me everytime to hear Bay say "7 year olds come up to me and tell me this is their favorite movie"...of course it is, they're 7!

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan - while Nicholas Meyer does contradict himself a few times, this is a very smart and eloquent track from one of Trek's great writer/directors

The Abyss - text commentary by Van Ling - the best text commentary there is, just as good as an audio commentary, extremely well written and researched (Ling was a research assistant on the film)

Ghostbusters - Ivan Reitman, Joe Medjuck, and Harold Ramis - this is the first commentary I've ever heard and one of the greatest, very funny and very informative, we learn almost the entire story of the film from concept to completion, uses the subtitle track for MST3K-style sillhouettes (sp?)

Back to the Future trilogy - Q&A sessions with Bob Zemeckis and Bob Gale - these don't run the entire length of the films (BTTF 3 is only 30 minutes or so) but are extremely interesting and educational and they cover everything from writing to visual effects to the actors to the music...I only wish Spielberg would sit in for these types of things but that's another topic altogether
post #7 of 55
My favourites:

Francis Ford Coppola: The Godfather trilogy

David Bordwell: Alexander Nevsky (Criterion)

Quentin Tarantino: True Romance. He NEVER shuts up on this track! Even when he says he just going to watch the scene, he starts up again after only a brief pause.

Paul Verhoeven, Ed Neumeier, Jon Davison: RoboCop (Criterion)

Roger Ebert: Citizen Kane

Terry Gilliam: Brazil (Criterion)
post #8 of 55
Thread Starter 
I agree with BTTF, the one series I can say is the Encyclopedia of Back to the Future..
I love any Ridley Scott commentary (Alien, Gladiator, Hannibal and many others)
The Ninth Configuration with William Peter Blatty
X-Men 1.5 with Bryan Singer and Brian Peck
The 2 commentaries from The Conversation (Francis Ford Coppola and Walter Murch)
all the Kevin Smith commentaries, the innovator of the video at the same time
The whole Goonies commentary
all John Carpenter commentaries
The Citizen Kane double feature
any Terry Gilliam commentary (I'm begging for Criterion's Fisher King DVD or at least the pickup by Columbia/TriStar for a Special Edition)
and many many others

(MORE TO COME-DONAHUE)
post #9 of 55
Chris,

You can find more choices in this thread.
post #10 of 55
Most of my favourites are already metioned here, but the Hunter Thompson commentary on the Criterion Fear and Loathing is fantastic. Definitely worth a listen.
post #11 of 55
The Thing with John Carpenter and Kurt Russell. Most JC commentaries are pretty informative, but this one takes the cake!
post #12 of 55
Roger Ebert commentary on Dark City

I'll disagree with Rob Lutter on Austin Powers 2 commentary, while the first movies' commentary is quite enjoyable, I felt that the second movies' commentary was a huge letdown.
post #13 of 55
The In Crowd. Those chicks are as ditzty in real life as they are in the movie. Hilarious.
post #14 of 55
The Jackass The movie commentaries are hilarious and the Peter Jackson commentary on the Extended Edition of Fellowship of the Ring is very informative and never dull.

-Dean-
post #15 of 55
The cast commentary on Boogie Nights is fascinating. PT Anderson's solo commentary on the same disc is just as interesting, although probably shouldn't be watched with children around. That guy sure does like his "f-words".

ShaunS
post #16 of 55
i was scrolling down this thread thinking to myself "i cant believe nobody has mentioned boogie nights!" and shaun mentions it in the last post. i think the pt anderson commentary is one of the best ive heard. but on the criterion laserdisc, his commentary on the john holmes documentary is worth the price of the disc and a ld player, if you dont already have one. hilarious!

CJ
post #17 of 55
All of the late John Frankenheimer's commentaries are very informative and interesting.

Monte Hellman's commetaries on Two-Lane Blacktop and Cockfighter are great.

The Criterion (1991, I believe?) Laserdisc of Bad Day At Black Rock had a commentary by John Sturges, and many people talk highly of that commentary. Warner will be releasing the film on DVD next year, but will it have the commentary? No chance.


Gordy
post #18 of 55
Roman Polanski for THE NINTH GATE and any commentary by John Frankenheimer who goes into a lot of technical detail which is ideal if you want to know more about the film making process. I've bought some Frankenheimer titles just so that I can hear his commentary.
post #19 of 55
Just to toss a couple of *fun* ones into the mix:

THE FIRST NUDIE MUSICAL and BEGINNING OF THE END

both with Bruce Kimmel, latter with Susan and Flora Gordon (Bert I. Gordon's sife and daughter); former has THREE commentaries, including one for the brand new documentary.
post #20 of 55
Atom Egoyan and Russell Banks on The Sweet Hereafter: A very good complement to this movie (one of 90's best IMHO). They discuss the movie in depth, the plot, the difference between the book and the movie (and why),... They really help you appreciate the story more by discussing the story, the character motivations and so on.
Not by providing "definite" answers, but by giving hints to find "your" answers to the movie.
The only commentary I've listen to twice ! Fascinating !

Cheers,

Vincent
post #21 of 55
I always always enjoyed the commentary for The Usual Suspects.

Also, the commentary for Speed (the Five Star Edition) was very, very funny. I think it was the writer and the producer.

I also have to second the Armageddon choice, absolutely hysterical.

"Who's the best espresso maker in Manhattan?"
post #22 of 55
Tobe Hooper, Daniel Pearl, and Gunnar Hansen on "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre"

Bob Clark on "Black Christmas"

John Saxon and Keir Dullea on "Black Christmas"

Joe Dante and Jon Davison on "Piranha"

Frank Henenlotter, Edgar Ievins, and Beverly Bonner on "Basket Case"

Charles Chiodo, Edward Chiodo, and Stephen Chiodo on "Killer Klowns From Outer Space"

Steve Miner, Sean S. Cunningham, Ethan Wiley, and William Katt on "House"

Michael A. Simpson, Fritz Gordon, and John Klyza on "Sleepaway Camp 2: Unhappy Campers"

Michael A. Simpson, Fritz Gordon, and John Klyza on "Sleepaway Camp 3: Teenage Wasteland"

Don Coscarelli, Michael Baldwin, Bill Thornbury, and Angus Scrimm on "Phantasm"

Wes Craven and Sean S. Cunningham on "Last House on the Left"

Meir Zarchi on "I Spit on Your Grave"

Joe Bob Briggs on "I Spit on Your Grave"

Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sanchez, Rob Cowie, Gregg Hale, and Michael Monello on "The Blair Witch Project"

William Friedkin on "The Exorcist" (25th Anniversary Special Edition)

William Peter Blatty on "The Exorcist" (25th Anniversary Special Edition)

William Friedkin on "The Exorcist" (The Version You've Never Seen)

John Fawcett on "Ginger Snaps"

Karen Walton on "Ginger Snaps"

Wes Craven, Jacques Haitkin, Heather Langenkamp, and John Saxon on "A Nightmare on Elm Street"

Wes Craven on "Wes Craven's New Nightmare"

Tommy Lee Wallace, Dennis Christopher, Tim Reid, John Ritter, and Richard Thomas on "Stephen King's IT"

Stephen King and Craig Baxley on "Storm of the Century"

David Schmoeller on "Tourist Trap"

Rick Rosenthal and Robert A. Ferretti on "Halloween 8: Resurrection"

John Carpenter and Debra Hill on "The Fog"

John Carpenter on "Assault on Precinct 13"

John Carpenter and Kurt Russell on "Big Trouble in Little China"

John Carpenter and Kurt Russell on "The Thing"

Daniel Sackheim and Wesley Strick on "The Glass House"

John Dahl on "Joy Ride"

Clay Tarver and J.J. Abrams on "Joy Ride"

Leelee Sobieski and Steve Zahn on "Joy Ride"

Joe Dante, Mike Finnell, and Chris Walas on "Gremlins"

Joe Dante, Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, Dick Miller, and Howie Mandel on "Gremlins"

Joe Dante, Zach Galligan, Charlie Haas, and Michael Finnell on "Gremlins 2: The New Batch"
post #23 of 55
Weird Al Yankovic's commentary for UHF is great. Even funnier are the handful of visual gags thrown into the commentary (those who have seen the disc know what I'm talking about).
post #24 of 55
Ben Affleck on Pearl Harbor (with Josh Hartnett).

The sure sign of a good commentary is when, half way through, they say, "There's no way they're going to use this commentary on the DVD..."
post #25 of 55
One of my favs is definitly the commentary with astronaut Jim Lovell and his wife on the Apollo 13 dvd. Their is nothing like listening to a guy who actually lived through that experience for real! Great stuff, and quite moving too at times.

And no mention of the group commentary on The Goonies dvd yet!? Those are the most fun because it's the whole cast getting together after years and just having a good ol' time reflecting.

I also like the cast commentary on the Final Destination dvd, fun stuff.

And yes, Ben Affleck kills me on the commentary for Armageddon! Especially whenever he makes fun of Billy Bob Thorton from Sling Blade

"mmm hmmm, were gonna send ya up in a spaceship mmm hmmm."
post #26 of 55
The commentaries on LOTR are very good -- especially the cast commentary and the artist/designer commentary.

Hands-down best commentary I have ever heard, however, is the Spinal Tap "in character" commentary. I wish more classic comedy movies would do this sort of thing.
post #27 of 55
The commentary with tilly, the voice actor of Chucky & the screenwriter re "The Bride of Chucky" is downright hilarious.
post #28 of 55
The cast, Susie Bright (the lesbian sexpert),
and Wachowski brothers

(of The Matrix)


on the

BOUND DVD


Insightful, funny and entertaining!!!

Mark
post #29 of 55
The Rock (Criterion) - mostly because of what Nic Cage contributes

Ronin - Frankenheimer, nuf said

True Romance - QT's commentary and Brad Pitt's mini commentary which is a great lesson for actors in a small part

Kingpin - Farrely brothers: so many stories about where jokes came from

Scream - Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson

Glengary Glen Ross - Alec Baldwin's mini commentary

The Usual Suspects

-Reagan
post #30 of 55
One of the best commentaries I have listened to is David Morrell's commentary on the First Blood DVD. Morrell wrote the original novel that the movie is based on. He gives comparisons and contrasts between the book and the movie.

The author sheds insight on why he wrote the book, on the character of Rambo, and the making of the original film and all the various challenges and pitfalls that took place. I gain not only insight about the film, but insight on the process of writing. I have listened to the commentary a couple of times and get something new out of it every time. Not only that, but Morrell isn't pretentious about his work.

I love the commentary by Kurt Russell and John Carpenter on the Big Trouble in Little China DVD. At times, the commentary meanders, but they both seem to be terrific friends who really enjoyed making the film. They both talk about what they were trying to accomplish with the film and why some people didn't "get it."

Finally, I have to mention the commentary by Quentin Tarantino on the True Romance SE DVD. It really would have been nice to have had this sort of commentary on "Pulp Fiction'", "Jackie Brown", or "Reservoir Dogs". It is a great commentary that gives insights to the early years of Quentin in the film business as well as what he'd originally intended for the film. Very informative and entertaining.
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: DVD
Home Theater Forum › Home Theater Forum › Blu-ray, DVD, Streaming Video and Digital Downloads › DVD › Some of the best DVD commentaries are...