Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Director's Edition
- Nicholas Meyer
Nicholas Meyer opens the commentary track by stating he identifies himself more as a story teller than a film maker. That statement gives you the perfect set-up for what kind of commentary track you're in store for. He also talks about the re-inserted scenes for his Director's Edition, how sound dominated picture, what effects shots he wasn't impressed with, how sound dominates picture and a cute little exchange he had with Gene Hackman about how what environment actors do their best acting in (Meyer's refute is pure film geek). I think my favorite bit is how he tricked William Shatner into acting his way after Shatner insisted delivering a line his way. A great listen!
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
- Leonard Nimoy, Harve Bennett, Charles Correll and Robin Curtis
There is a lot of material in this commentary track that's covered in the making-of documentary, but it's better learning about them here since a lot of documentary segments are poorly shot and lit (Robin Curtis is behind a very large window on a very sunny day). The commentary has very honest moments from Harve Bennett who speaks very harshly on the marketing department's handling of the trailer and Leonard Nimoy's very interesting encounter with Michael Eisner. How interesting? They censor-bleep Leonard Nimoy! I won't spoil it for you but it's worth a listen.
Star Trek: Generations
- Ron D. Moore and Brannon Braga
This commentary track is simply astounding. Not because of how informative it is about the production and the writing challenges that these two had to overcome, but also how disappointed they are with the final product. They reveal how they wrote a very out of character sequence for Kirk just so they could entice William Shatner into part in the film, how they got more hate mail for killing the Lursa Sisters than Kirk and how Brannon Braga things no one wants to see Picard cry. And given how this was their first theatrical writing assignment, they were very open to ideas that did not benefit the film to say the least. There's a moment where they were originally going to have this big action sequence that would have given the TNG crew a big entrance on the silver screen, but decided not to because Jeri Taylor said that was too predictable. What they ended up with is certainly a scene that held some promise, but is totally out of place for Star Trek since we've never seen anything like it before or since Generations. There are many other interesting things in the commentary track so don't pass this one up.
Star Trek: First Contact
- Jonathan Frakes
Wow. Who would have thought that Mr. Frakes had this much energy in him? He's wonderful in his solo outing for First Contact! He's got some funny stories about how much stuff he was allowed to blow up on a set, what his relationship with Alfre Woodard was like before First Contact and his acknowledgement of Hawke being a bona fide red shirt. Normally when directors give praise to the performers, it's boring and tedious. When you hear it from Frakes, it's sincere and honest. He's a fun guy to listen to.
***WARNING!****
Do NOT listen to Damon Lindelof's commentary for First Contact. He spends more time making stereo typical fan jokes at Anthony Pascale's expense than he does talking about the movie itself. The only nice thing I got from that track was when Lindelof talked about getting Majel Barrett for Trek09 and how he was saving that bit of information for that movie's release. Still waiting.
