DVD commentaries

[Jack Bauer]

I like commentaries with the writers of the episode or movie you're watching because I like hearing why they wrote a scene or a plot in the way they did and when they explain stuff that came of a bit confusing or hard to follow. I like hearing from the actors too especially if they're funny. Some of the commentaries on Firefly DVDs are hilarious.

I can't stand commentaries where the person doing it speaks in a monotone or stops talking for long periods of time. Chris Carter and Rick Berman should never do commentaries since they're boring as hell. They sound like they forgot to take their anti-depressants that day.

 

[ITL]

....Some of the commentaries on Firefly DVDs are hilarious.

Whedon and Fillion are hi-larious on the commentary for the episode "Serenity". Joss always gives good commentary.

 

[MyCylon]

I don't listen to DVD commentaries very often. Having said that, I usually enjoy the ones by the directors and/or writers most, followed by the actors. They'll usually talk about various aspects of the movie rather than just a specific element, which is what often happens with some of the more technical guys. The latter is surely very interesting if, say, you're really into creating CGI yourself. But if your interest is more general, they can be a bit tiresome.

The most recent commentary I listend to was the Total Recall one with Verhoeven and Schwarzenegger. That one's not only highly entertaining because neither of them speaks English properly but also because it's pretty informative. It's also cool because they often complement each other.

The Blade Runner Final Cut Special Edition DVD Set (wow, pretty long, that) had some great stuff as well as some weaker material. One of the things I remember most, interestingly, is that I thought Scott was a little too in love with his own work and genius . He does give some interesting insights, though.

I totally agree with those who've stated that the RDM podcasts are terrific. They're really informative as well as highly entertaining ("Tonight we're drinking..."). He covers all sorts of aspects of the production, which IMHO makes the podcasts really worth listening to. I think it's also cool that he brings in other guys (such as Weddle/Thompson) from time to time.

 

[ScottDS]

I don't listen to every commentary like I used to but for those of you who haven't listened to any (or are interested in sampling one or two), the following are definitely worth your time (IMHO):

FUNNIEST:
Kentucky Fried Movie (funnier than most movies)
Used Cars
Mallrats
Airplane!
The Naked Gun

MOST INFORMATIVE:
Star Trek II
Star Trek Generations
Star Trek: First Contact (w/ Moore and Braga)
Aliens
Back to the Future Trilogy (the moderated Q&A sessions)
Brazil
Ghostbusters
anything by Ridley Scott or David Fincher
Die Hard II (love him or hate him but Renny Harlin can make a kick-ass action movie when he wants to)
Terminator 2

 

[The Old Mixer]

The best thing about Moore (Ron, not Roger), other than the general entertainment value, is that he's quick to fess up to things that he feels didn't work in the episode, always taking the blame himself because he's the guy in charge. No spin, no bullshit. I'll often appreciate a weak episode more after he's gone over what went wrong with it, and what they were trying to get across.

A pet peeve in commentaries is the occasional guy whom you just can't understand for one reason or another. I dutifully watched through all of the LOTR:EE extras, but I'll be damned if I could understand half of what Alun Lee was saying in his commentaries, the way he spoke in that accented whisper.

 

[MyCylon]

^
That's definitely a great quality, I completely agree. There aren't that many in the business who are as blatant about things that didn't really work out the way they intended it. There are even times when I've felt he's being to hard on himself, but better that way than the other way around, I guess.

 

[Smiley]

^^I know what you mean about Alan Lee, The Old Mixer. I love all four commentary tracks on those DVD sets, but his speaking voice is difficult to parse.

I enjoy commentary tracks in general. For one thing, they give many minutes of bonus material without taking up the huge disc space of a documentary or other video feature, so when they are done right, they add a lot of value.

Two crucial things are the right mix of people and the editing of the commentaries. Most people involved in making movies and TV shows have at least one or two interesting stories to tell. Sometimes, those stories need to be mixed in with other people's comments or coaxed out by a co-commentator. Some people are simply commentary-challenged, such as Tim Burton, and they should just stop recording them. The biggest pet peeve I have with commentaries is dead space, followed closely by uninteresting time monopolizers. The editors and producers need to keep the end listeners in mind and deliver a final product that entertains, informs, or both.

If a movie only has one commentary track, then my gold standard for comparison is the Toy Story commentary. The people recording it are having fun, transmit that fun to us, and educate us about computer animation, the story, and much more.

For pure laughs, I like the in-character commentaries on Brother Bear by Rutt and Tuke (the moose) and Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie by Larry the Cucumber and Mr. Lunt.

 

[Samurai8472]

Roger Moore's commentaries are like your old grandpa mumbling to himself in the recliner

"I don't like Coriander"

Tobey Maguire and Sam Raimi's Spider-man 2 is funny especially Tobey's laugh.

It depends on the commentary, who is talking, and how it is edited. For example, the Generations and First Contact commentaries are great, because BB and RDM don't hold back and are pretty easy going about it. Same thing with X-Men: The Last Stand. You can tell those guys had a good time on the movie and are generally excited to do the commentary.

Then you have the boring ass ones where you can tell the actor/whomever doesn't like to be there, like Pierce Bronson's Die Another Day one. It seemed like he went in there totally unprepared and didn't really care. "Oh, that's me running. There I am again. Hey, random story about my kid."

I also dislike the pieced together commentaries, where various members of the crew pop-in at certain parts and then leave. I like it when everyone is there from beginning to end (also, I find it a bit of a cheat when they take audio samples from other interviews and place them in the commentaries). Star Trek: The Motion Picture is like that, as are the Star Wars movies, but for some reason, the OT commentaries
are pretty good and seem to be an exception to my dislike.

I agree I didn't like the randomness of one actor just popping in 45 minutes during the movie.

The Love Bug one is funny

Buddy hackett- why's herbie doing that?

*Dean Jones Explains to Buddy*

Buddy- Did you know I use to work with so and so?

Dean- no I didn't

Dean- Now I want to be quiet on this part buddy

 

[ITL]

The commentaries for the episodes of the only season of Garth Marenghi's Darkplace are hilarious, as they're done in character by the "actors" of the show-within-a-show.

 

[ToddPence]

Best one, hands down, is for "This is Spinal Tap." "oh, him, he's dead now . . ."

 

[TheBrew]

Futurama and Spinal Tap are the commentaries that I might have watched more than the movies/presentations themselves.

 

[CommodoreKong]

I just finished watching season 3 of Battlestar Galactica on DVD and I listed to a number of Ron Moore's commentaries/podcasts for the first time and I really enjoyed them. He does a great job of explaining how a script changed, along with elaborating on things that aren't completely clear.

Other then that I loved the Futurama commentaries, I think I listened to all of them (I still need to listen to the ones on the DVD movies). I still remember during one of the commentaries when they had 3 voice actors do the voice of Zoidberg and they had the viewers guess who it actually was. It turned out Billy West intentionally did a bad Zoidberg while the other 2 voice actors did a nearly perfect Zoidberg.

 

[BigFoot]

I listen to them every once in a while (very rarely though). Sometimes I really like them, and sometimes I turn them off after 10 minutes.

 

[Nerdius Maximus]

Depends on the commentary. I always like listening to the commentaries on the Simpsons and Futurama dvd's. Best commentary ever, though, Spinal Tap. Anchorman is good, too.

 

[Hermiod]

I listen to them all the time. I watch every episode of the Simpsons with the commentary on.

I find the fact that every episode of Stargate has a commentary now very useful. It means I can watch episodes like "Travelers" and have something else to concentrate on.

 

[ITL]

Depends on the commentary. I always like listening to the commentaries on the Simpsons and Futurama dvd's. Best commentary ever, though, Spinal Tap. Anchorman is good, too.

Yeah, the Anchorman commentary is a nice one. Not done in character, but done with a fictionalized version of reality as it's basis. It would have been nice to have had a "proper" commentary as well, though.

 

[Hermiod]

^Er, yeah, don't they spend the first 30 minutes or so talking not realising that they're supposed to be talking about the film and what they're saying is being recorded ?

 

[ITL]

Yep, all part of the improv fun!

 

[Bishbot]

....Some of the commentaries on Firefly DVDs are hilarious.

Whedon and Fillion are hi-larious on the commentary for the episode "Serenity". Joss always gives good commentary.

I loved the bit where Wash is playing with the dinosaurs that goes something like this:

"See that's something we wanted to do - a planet of dinosaurs. But we didn't have the money, so we've just got Alan."
"But Alan's good."
"Oh yeah, Alan's good, but he's not dinosaur good, is he?"

 

[Hermiod]

^I could have sworn there was a commentary either on a Firefly episode or on Buffy when Fillion was in it where they spent a good portion of the time taking the piss out of David Boreanaz.