DVD AUDIO COMMENTARY’S...GOOD vs. SUCKY LIST
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Too Much Garlic
Master Member
Well... I just recently gave away my dvd version, but I think I remember it had a commentary track... and yes... not the same at all.
SVTStingRay
Sr Member
one commentary i really liked was what dreams may come. the director goes into detail about the story and robin williams, you really get an insight about this incredible film.
Yes...just did, way better than Stone's. :thumbsup Very good speaker, informative and film and real Vietnam info, very little "Captain obvious" moments.
- MALCOM X - Could care less about the rat-like Spike Lee and his opinions... but his DOP and wardrobe woman gave a lot of interesting industry tips and insights to their trades and making the film in general. :thumbsup
- SE7EN - Criterion version. cast and crew. very good, good combo of film detail and lighter stuff. :thumbsup
TERMINATOR 3 - I still don't know why i have the movie...oh yeah i bought for $3 at a yard sale. Anyway the cast commentary is BORING! Arnold takes the Captain Obvious cap and describes his scenes shot for shot 5 minutes after we have just seen them. Adding nothing we can't see for ourselves. He talks A LOT and says nothing! No wonder he became the Govenator.
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Checked a review that said they were the same on dvd and blu. Did Germany get a different version?
I have the 1-disc Wall-E with a commentary by Andrew Stanton but a few of the reviews I've seen say the blu-ray has an enhanced version of this commentary plus two other new enhanced commentaries (with branching and extra video bits). I just got done listening to the commentary on my DVD and it's not negative at all so I'd imagine the blu-ray has the more interesting commentary.
As for ones I like, come to think of it this Wall-e one I just watched was pretty informative about where the story ideas came from and how everything developed. As always, Pixar gives good dvd.
I'll second everyone who said the LOTR, Once Upon A Time In Mexico, Resident Evil, The Thing, and Big Trouble In Little China commentaries were all good ones.
I really like all the commentaries on the special edition Sin City dvd where Robert Rodriguez does his thing and has Bruce Willis, Quentin Tarantino and a few other people pop by at the relevant points. Quentin is pretty hilarious on his bit, he sounds like he was...on something.
Fight Club has a good one with David Fincher, Ed Norton, Brad Pitt and Helena Bonham Carter (although it's very obvious she was recorded separately and kinda messes with the flow of things in some spots, overall it's a good track). The Chuck Palahniuk/Jim Uhls (book writer/screenwriter) commentary track on that one is also pretty entertaining.
Carrot Top's commentary on The Rules Of Attraction is a bit out there but I love it anyway. I love his reaction when the movie finally gets serious (or about as close to serious as it ever gets).
The newest special edition release of Spaced has a lot of great commentaries on different episodes, including all of the original ones plus some new ones with people like Kevin Smith and Quentin Tarantino guesting. All great.
As for ones I like, come to think of it this Wall-e one I just watched was pretty informative about where the story ideas came from and how everything developed. As always, Pixar gives good dvd.
I'll second everyone who said the LOTR, Once Upon A Time In Mexico, Resident Evil, The Thing, and Big Trouble In Little China commentaries were all good ones.
I really like all the commentaries on the special edition Sin City dvd where Robert Rodriguez does his thing and has Bruce Willis, Quentin Tarantino and a few other people pop by at the relevant points. Quentin is pretty hilarious on his bit, he sounds like he was...on something.
Fight Club has a good one with David Fincher, Ed Norton, Brad Pitt and Helena Bonham Carter (although it's very obvious she was recorded separately and kinda messes with the flow of things in some spots, overall it's a good track). The Chuck Palahniuk/Jim Uhls (book writer/screenwriter) commentary track on that one is also pretty entertaining.
Carrot Top's commentary on The Rules Of Attraction is a bit out there but I love it anyway. I love his reaction when the movie finally gets serious (or about as close to serious as it ever gets).
The newest special edition release of Spaced has a lot of great commentaries on different episodes, including all of the original ones plus some new ones with people like Kevin Smith and Quentin Tarantino guesting. All great.
yes, it is good. but I just watched a version with SLY doing commentary and it is very good mix of on set stories and personal insights to the character. :thumbsup But at the part where the National Guardsmen have him trapped in the mine, man, Sly did NOT like the comedy or the actors performances in that scene and makes it very clear as to that fact. :angry I thought it lightened the film up a bit and I never had a problem with that scene. :thumbsup :cool
i'll go through at home and draw up a list, but top of my head, anything w/ John Carpenter and Kurt Russell is usually hysterical. John and Natasha on the Ghosts of Mars commentary is a hoot too.
sadly the commentary on Near Dark is a bit cac, long pauses and not much interesting stuff - the Living in Darkness docu is far better.
sadly the commentary on Near Dark is a bit cac, long pauses and not much interesting stuff - the Living in Darkness docu is far better.
Predator...great directing, very very boring man! lol 'and errr.....so we had to stick ....errrr leaves on trees....and.......'
Holy cow! spit it out man!
Life aquatic commentary is pretty bad. Very lazy. They though it would be ok to record it in a busy restaurant. A VERY busy restaurant!!!
Weequay
Holy cow! spit it out man!
Life aquatic commentary is pretty bad. Very lazy. They though it would be ok to record it in a busy restaurant. A VERY busy restaurant!!!
Weequay
JD
Master Member
I've always been a fan of the Kevin Smith commentaries. Generally, they're very funny and you're not going to get a whole lot of tech bits.. you get anecdotes and the like. Mallrats is esepecially good as they spend a great deal of time ripping on Affleck.
Yes, it probably helps to be a fan and somewhat 'in' on the whole View Askew thing.
Yes, it probably helps to be a fan and somewhat 'in' on the whole View Askew thing.
Men In Black is good, has images of the two of them sitting watching the film, and uses a light pen to highlight stuff etc. Flip side of a TLJ commentary is The Fugitive - I think he says "hi" at the start and that's it, utterly pointless.
Alice Cooper's commentaries are fun.
Val Kilmer's talk on Spartan is funny too, he's got a quirky sense of humour.
Dee Snider's on Strangeland is hysterical. he's a funny bugger most times but this commentary is really funny.
Value for money has to be Detroit Rock City, i think it has 6 (!) commentary tracks.
Paul Verhoeven's on Starship Troopers is good too.
Usually the Cantonese stuff that has commentaries by Bey Logan are excellent - a little *too* excellent as Bey virtually doesn't stop talking for the duration of the film! Oddly, it can be a bit wearying.
Alice Cooper's commentaries are fun.
Val Kilmer's talk on Spartan is funny too, he's got a quirky sense of humour.
Dee Snider's on Strangeland is hysterical. he's a funny bugger most times but this commentary is really funny.
Value for money has to be Detroit Rock City, i think it has 6 (!) commentary tracks.
Paul Verhoeven's on Starship Troopers is good too.
Usually the Cantonese stuff that has commentaries by Bey Logan are excellent - a little *too* excellent as Bey virtually doesn't stop talking for the duration of the film! Oddly, it can be a bit wearying.
Sparticle
Well-Known Member
Good/Bad: "Excalibur" commentary by John Boorman. He gives great info on locations and the performers, but at times he just drops off, like "Here you can see what I,..." and doesn't complete his thought. It would be OK once or twice, but seriously, didn't someone think to prompt the man?!?
- STAND BY ME....add this to the sucky list. Great film, Rob Reiner is a great director but hasn't much to really say in the commentary. a few good tid bits that add up to about 10 mins. worth of info. Not much of a talker, which i found ironic.
I remember that one. Brannon said something in the commentary that made me want to punch him with a big stamp to his forehead with the words "Missed the point". It occurs when Picard is talking to Troi after he realizes every last member of his family is dead, and Picard starts crying. Brannon says "Fans don't want to see Picard cry". No Brannon. The fans don't want to see a movie where you kill off those interesting and enduring characters from the TNG series FOR NO REASON.
Picard can cry, it just has to be done right. That scene was not done right because that moment goes nowhere, does nothing and feels like a copout to fans who actually followed the series and liked how the TNG episode "Family" ended with that young boy looking up at the stars. Now the characters from the episode Family can no longer be explored because you thought the movie needed a moment for Picard to act completely out of character.
Timmythekid
Sr Member
Having trouble recalling any really terrific commentaries not yet mentioned, but will say more love for 'Kane'. Those two commentaries are like filmmaking 101 on a disc - great stuff.
Seriously dissapointing are the SW films (all of 'em), except maybe Empire because, god love the old guy, but Kersh just rambles on bizzarly ("The actors I hired in England were....english!", and whatever he was on about Luke being able to make love...?!). The rest are tedious dry, technical lists with nothing to say about the development or process of filmmaking.
Dr. Horrible - hey, how often do you get an entire commentary done as a musical, much less one that says some pretty incisive and damning things about commentaries?!
I'm curious about the Wall-E one now though - I hated that film so much for so many reasons that I didn't bother with Blu, but am curious about the gist of the 'negativity'.
Seriously dissapointing are the SW films (all of 'em), except maybe Empire because, god love the old guy, but Kersh just rambles on bizzarly ("The actors I hired in England were....english!", and whatever he was on about Luke being able to make love...?!). The rest are tedious dry, technical lists with nothing to say about the development or process of filmmaking.
Dr. Horrible - hey, how often do you get an entire commentary done as a musical, much less one that says some pretty incisive and damning things about commentaries?!
I'm curious about the Wall-E one now though - I hated that film so much for so many reasons that I didn't bother with Blu, but am curious about the gist of the 'negativity'.
Ghadrack
Sr Member
I picked up a cheap copy of CHUD several years ago, it was one of those movies I sw when i was twelve that I wasn't allowed to watch, but had a friend who had a VCR. Anyway, the movie was terrible but the commentary track had me in stitches, Seems like it was a director and producer just badmouthing everything and everyone that had anything to do with the film, but they were hilarious.
