DVD commentary tracks worth sitting through

Frankly, after my wife and I finish sitting through a film together, it's hard to justify going through it again to hear somebody yap. IMHO, the only folks worthy of that are Tom Servo & Crow.

Which films do you find that come with worthwhile commentaries on DVD, and why? Valid historical information? Humor? Unintentional wankiness? What works for you?

 

I'm with you. Rarely watch extras or listen to commentary. Sometimes I find it interesting to see how sets were constructed or make-up and special effects were done.
A friend just gave me his Criterion Seven Samurai which he had owned for two years and never watched. He's never seen the movie in a theatre, either. The reason? He wanted the new two disc edition with two documentaries about Kurosawa. In the meantime, I've already introduced my 11 year old son to this classic film, and my friend still hasn't seen it.

 

The commentary on This is Spinal Tap is pretty funny. It's done in character; the band complains about what an unfair hatchet job DeBergi is doing on them.

 

When I first got DVDs that commentary (as well as Criterion Laserdisc with the same). I would sit through every commentary track after watching the movie. I then found, when EVERYBODY has a commentary track included on their DVD, I was getting very bored with them. I would always fall asleep watching/listening to the commentary tracks. The only commentaries I really enjoy now are those done by Trey Parker/Matt Stone on the South Park DVDs and any commentary done with the View Askew folks (Kevin Smith, etc) on his movies.

 

Roger Ebert's commentary on "Citizen Kane" was great. It made me appreciate the film even more.

 

The commentary on The Station Agent was good. It was just the main actors chatting and sharing some insight about the film and its actors, and really just having fun together. I've often stated that this film, for me, is of the category where you just don't want it to end. The commentary at least managed to extend it for another 90 minutes.

 

Try the new commentary track on "The Specials". I watched the film yesterday. Try the commentary from the reissue, the one that features screenwriter James Gunn and Paget Brewster (the DVD features another commentary, from first release, and it's consensual). Most of the time, they're frank about their feelings on the movie and their dissatisfaction on the result but the fun comes when they start to talk on side subjects: how they almost had an affair on the set, how Brewster cut afterwards all connections with Gunn when he was involved for some time in scientology (they just mention a "cult" but it's quite clear it's scientology), how she feels about Jessica Alba (whom she calls "a monster" after two horrifying dinners with her). Not essential but really fun.

Check also commentaries involving Steven Soderbergh on other people's movies. He recorded a track with Mike Nichols on "Catch 22" and one with John Boorman on "Point Blank". In both, he proves himself a very talented interviewer and gets the best from the directors.

"The Onion AV Club" has a fun feature named "Commentary Tracks of the Damned". Apparently, it's worth sitting through an Uwe Boll commentary (Alone In The Dark, Bloodrayne) for the laughs.

 

Generally, I like commentaries that analyse the film. The ones done by film critics and historians on Criterion are mostly well done. I don't generally like ones by directors (occasional bits of insight are far and few between), actors (don't really care if this scene was your first day on the set) or the director's son and an extra (as on Here to Eternity). Doesn't matter if it's a new movie (where the commentary seems more like promotional material) or an old movie (where they talk about how young they were and how much they've forgotten). In principle I potentially could like ones by the composers, but I'm yet to find one where they talk all the way through.

 

Agree, excellent commentary. The man really did his homework on that one.

A favorite guilty pleasure for me is Anchorman-The Legend of Ron Burgundy, and the 'unrated' version has totally obscene commentary by Will Ferrell and the director (is it Apted? Name escapes me). They don't actually say anything about the movie, they just talk dirty. I guess at hear I'm still a 13-year-old boy.

dan c

 

Excellent! You gotta listen to the commentary.

 

Believe it or not, some of the finest commentaries I've heard have been by exploitation cult director Herschel Gordon Lewis. Most of his films were shot in the 60s and early 70s but his memory is terrific. He's very lively and engaging and enthusiastically shares information with the moderator.

For the most part though, I rarely make it through audio commentaries. I mean, take "La Dolce Vita" for instance. It's a great film. But to sit through the audio commentary after watching the film for 3 hours just isn't going to happen. And a few films even have 2 or 3 separate commentary tracks!!

 

The commentary is by Ferrell, Adam McKay and a bunch of people who generally don't have anything to do with the movie. First, we have Kyle Gass and Andy Richter, then Lou Rawls (!!!!!) who speaks about growing up in Chicago, and finally Christina Applegate, who calls them through the phone and complains about not being invited to the commentary.

Also try the track on "Wake Up Ron Burgundy" (the bonus DVD), as Ferrell talks with some executive producer who was in charge of "The Godfather" or "Boyz In The Hood" (he doesn't remember which film it actually was).

I still have to listen to the commentary for "Talladega Nights" and I'm a little sad because there are two separate commentaries, one on the theatrical version with Ferrell and most of the cast (minus Baron Cohen) supposedly recorded in 20 years and one on the unrated version with a bragging McKay and Ian Roberts (who played a mech in the movie).

 

The Simpsons box sets from Season 3 forward.

 

It is pretty amusing, however, the commentary from the original Criterion now long OOP DVD with the guys out of character is very insightful. Sad that didn't make it on to the MGM DVD. I believe the Rob Reiner commentary is the same between both editions, but I'm not 100% sure.

 

The commentary on Evil Dead 2 (Bruce Campbell, Sam Raimi, Scott Spiegel & Greg Nicotero) is at least as funny, if not funnier than the actual movie, which is no easy feat.

 

No comment.

 

The commentary for "Best In Show" is a lot of fun. Probably any of the Christopher Guest/Eugene Levy commentaries are worth it.

 

Joss Whedon's for 'Serenity' is pretty engaging (and there's a new 2-disc edition currently being prepared with an additional cast commentary).

I love the commentary track on 'The Limey' with Soderbergh and the writer of the film getting pretty angry at each other; it's lotsa fun.

The 'NewsRadio' commentary tracks are almost as funny as the show. (seriously, dude, when Andy Dick (!!) tells you you need a therapist; listen)


I love commentary tracks when they're informative; I HATE them when they become sycophantic. (which is, unfortunately, VERY often)

 

George Romero, Tom Savini, John Amplas commentary for Martin
Romero etc on Night of the Living Dead
Terry Gilliam on Brazil

 

It is, innit?

One commentary that is fun--and strange--is the EASY RIDER laserdisc reissue, had a phone hookup with either Dennis Hopper or Peter Fonda(it's back in NH, can't check to see what's what). But it was fun, and at times contentious. I like those...

The best commentaries are either off-the-wall, or so filled with info and history about a film or series that one can't help be impressed. I think they work best for newbies, though; most fans of great films know they're great, have read many of the books, and figured out a lot for themselves without needing anyone to tell them all that much. But there are times when these work really well, and the nice thing is, like emoticons, you *can* ignore them if you wish...

 

Pretty much any Kevin Smith commentary track is worthy of repeated listenings.

 

Forgot about that one. Yes a very good "commentary".

 

Boy, I've listened to hundreds of commentaries over the years - they remain my favorite extra. Impossible for me to narrow down the best. I echo the comments about Kevin Smith commentaries - those are usually good, though I don't like the original "Clerks" track. The "Lord of the Rings" commentaries are uniformly strong - all four per flick! Recently, I liked the track for "Notes on a Scandal". There are tons of great commentaries out there - just hard for me to remember them all!

 

The Brian Blessed commentary on the Momentum steelbook 25th anniversary edition of Flash Gordon is my favorite commentary and possibly one of my favorite DVD extras of any kind. He's funny, engaging, passionate to the point of obsession - I get goosebumps listening to him. You'll never hear another actor speak about any movie with such conviction, such enthusiasm, such...purity. I listen to Blessed's commentary at least twice a month because it's just so white-hot beautiful. On the same disc is Mike Hodges' track, which is the most discursive director's commentary I've ever heard.
David Cronenberg is always good for revealing commentaries that can lead one to re-evaluate the film at hand. Paul Verhoeven and Werner Herzog can always be relied on for a good off-the-wall commentary. Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg are good on the Spaced and Shaun of the Dead commentaries, casual and funny but still informative.

 

I like Cameron Crowe's commentary on the Almost Famous "untitled" edition DVD, the one where his mother participates.

Also, Cameron Crowe and Amy Heckerling do a good commentary for "Fast Times At Ridgemont High" - they have so much to say that the commentary starts several minutes before the movie begins with a blank screen.

Some other good ones:
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (Nicholas Meyer)
Citizen Kane (Roger Ebert)
Casablanca (Ebert again)
Goonies (not super informative, but it's fun watching along with the entire cast as they comment on the film)
Superman The Movie (Richard Donner & Tom Mankiewicz)