Anyone listen to the new commentary on the Blu-Ray "Classic" movies?

[potablog]

..I just finished all 6. For the most part, I was happy with them... in particular Star Trek TMP and Star Trek V since they had some great info from the Okudas, the Reeves-Stevens, and Dochterman.

I was blown away by how bad the new commentary on Star Trek III was though. I'm really not sure why Paramount thought it was a good idea to have Ron Moore and Michael Taylor do commentary on this (since they had nothing to do with the movie) but whoever did should have maybe listened to the commentary before releasing it. Much time is spent either trying to crack lame jokes at the film's expense, or promoting other work from the 2 (like Battlestar Galactica). Oh, and they do a fine job of not really knowing much about classic Trek- stuff like referring to Rand as the "captain's woman", saying the Klingon Language was invented for Star Trek II, and stating there had never been an away team jacket in Star Trek before (ummm..."The Cage"?). Really awful. A true waste of time.

potablog

 

[Bones2]

Re: Anyone listen to the new commentary on the Blu-Ray "Classic" movie

I've heard them all. That's III you mean btw, not II. But yes, TMP and TFF have the most interesting ones.

 

[Kirk1980]

Re: Anyone listen to the new commentary on the Blu-Ray "Classic" movie

Not surprising that Ron Moore comes off like that...there's just something about the guy I've never liked based on the various interviews he's given. He kinda reminds me of Christopher Bidmead in the Doctor WHO commentaries he's been involved in. Nothing but slagging off on the stuff that came before him/them.

 

[JarodRussell]

Re: Anyone listen to the new commentary on the Blu-Ray "Classic" movie

I'm really not sure why Paramount thought it was a good idea to have Ron Moore and Michael Taylor do commentary on this (since they had nothing to do with the movie) but whoever did should have maybe listened to the commentary before releasing it.

I wondered about that myself. Also Lindelof, Orci & Kurtzman are doing the Star Trek 4 commentary, aren't they (or was that the DVD, I dunno)? What possibly interesting could they have to say about that movie other than some probably lame jokes, time travel stuff about the new movie and promotion of the new movie?

 

[Kegg]

Re: Anyone listen to the new commentary on the Blu-Ray "Classic" movie

I'm really not sure why Paramount thought it was a good idea to have Ron Moore and Michael Taylor do commentary on this (since they had nothing to do with the movie) but whoever did should have maybe listened to the commentary before releasing it.

It's weird, because Nicholas Meyer was on the commentary track of The Day the Earth Stood Still, along with the director Robert Wise. He's mostly there to prompt him with questions and move the discussion along, and it's pretty interesting stuff. He only once, tongue-in-cheek, refers to anything he's done - in comparing his Star Trek movie to Wise's Star Trek movie. I forget the context, but it was a fairly good one.

So, there's Nick Meyer on a commentary of someone else's movie showing guys how it's done, and yet, allegedly...

Yeah, as a rule I sort of frown on that sort of hucksterish self-promotion, so if the Moore commentary is as you describe I'm probably better off not listening to it... though honestly I'm probably going to stick with my TWOK DVDs anyway.

But then, hey, what else can these guys talk about? They're just like us, guys who've seen the movie. It's my experience the best commentaries are given either by people who worked on a movie or film historians (or other experts), and custodians of things Trek like the Okudas, Reeves-Stevens etc. are probably much better candidates for commentaries then the BSG guy.

 

[Jeyl]

Re: Anyone listen to the new commentary on the Blu-Ray "Classic" movie

To Ron's credit, he does give TSFS a better rating than his own Generations.

I've watched all of them except for The Undiscovered Country, and I couldn't stand those two. They hardly talked about the movie in question and just went on and on about irrelevant stuff.

My favorite moment would probably be from Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

Uhura: A faint signal from Starfleet sir.
Daren Dochterman: It says "HELP!"

And Nicholas Meyer's cheese trick with the Ceti Eels gets a close second.

Don't you think it's interesting how Nicholas Meyer likes to not disclose how certain techniques were done, but he does commentary tracks? And this is his second going for Star Trek 2!

 

[potablog]

Re: Anyone listen to the new commentary on the Blu-Ray "Classic" movie

I've heard them all. That's III you mean btw, not II. But yes, TMP and TFF have the most interesting ones.

Thanks! Fixed it...

 

[trevanian]

Re: Anyone listen to the new commentary on the Blu-Ray "Classic" movie

It's weird, because Nicholas Meyer was on the commentary track of The Day the Earth Stood Still, along with the director Robert Wise. He's mostly there to prompt him with questions and move the discussion along, and it's pretty interesting stuff. He only once, tongue-in-cheek, refers to anything he's done - in comparing his Star Trek movie to Wise's Star Trek movie. I forget the context, but it was a fairly good one.

I think that may be a matter of dates. I'm pretty sure he recorded that thing with Wise a very long time ago, way before the commentary even showed up on laserdisc. In December of 1990 I was in the Hart Bldg at Par and in addition to all the usual trek writer-producer-director names on doors, I was astonished to see Wise's name listed. Meyer's was there too, but this was about 10 weeks before TUC was even greenlit. So this would be Meyer at an age closer to when he was 'on' with KHAN and maybe before he settled into the funk of the 90s.

 

[Harvey]

Re: Anyone listen to the new commentary on the Blu-Ray "Classic" movie

I found Moore's commentaries on the movies he wrote (Generations and First Contact) to be wonderfully honest and open to self-reflection (and self-deprecation). While it seems rather pointless for him to be commenting on Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, especially since most of the people involved with that film are still alive and well, I wouldn't expect or want him to treat the film with any sort of false reverence. Missing a few points of minor trivia (and the "captain's woman" comment, without hearing it, sounds like sarcasm and not an error) or bringing up his own work hardly seem points of significant demerit. Because, really, what else is he supposed to talk about? As Kegg wisely pointed out, he's neither a film historian nor has anything to do with the production.

I just hope Paramount shells out for commentaries from more relevant figures when they inevitably re-release these films in the future, as there are alternate cuts and/or far better transfers to be had for all.

 

[Hober Mallow]

Re: Anyone listen to the new commentary on the Blu-Ray "Classic" movie

It's weird, because Nicholas Meyer was on the commentary track of The Day the Earth Stood Still, along with the director Robert Wise. He's mostly there to prompt him with questions and move the discussion along, and it's pretty interesting stuff. He only once, tongue-in-cheek, refers to anything he's done - in comparing his Star Trek movie to Wise's Star Trek movie. I forget the context, but it was a fairly good one.

He never compared his Trek movie to Wise's. The only mention of TWoK I remember in that commentary is when Meyer was talking about how the studio didn't want Kirk to have a book in the future. I think the topic they were discussing was something along the lines of movie studio views of what the future was supposed to be, or something like that.

That was indeed a good commentary track.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Re: Anyone listen to the new commentary on the Blu-Ray "Classic" movie

The point of each of these new commentaries: they are fan commentaries, by people who happen to have been connected to the franchise in some way, and are more like pro fans.

I like that they are discussing a film they didn't necessarily work on. And it makes for very different commentaries than the pre-existing ones.

 

[JarodRussell]

Re: Anyone listen to the new commentary on the Blu-Ray "Classic" movie

There's no such thing as a pro fan. They have not anymore useful to say than the normal fan. They weren't involved in the production, so what they say is only just as interesting as what's here on the message boards.

 

[Jeyl]

Re: Anyone listen to the new commentary on the Blu-Ray "Classic" movie

There's no such thing as a pro fan. They have not anymore useful to say than the normal fan. They weren't involved in the production, so what they say is only just as interesting as what's here on the message boards.

Ok, you have two choices.

1. The TMP fan commentary
2. Stuart Baird's Nemesis commentary

Choose wisely, for one will kill you.

 

[JarodRussell]

Re: Anyone listen to the new commentary on the Blu-Ray "Classic" movie

Since fan commentaries tend to kill me...

 

[Jeyl]

Re: Anyone listen to the new commentary on the Blu-Ray "Classic" movie

Since fan commentaries tend to kill me...

Really? Well, you've never heard a Stuart Baird's commentary.

 

[Harvey]

Re: Anyone listen to the new commentary on the Blu-Ray "Classic" movie

Don't be silly. Baird's commentary wouldn't kill him. It would probably just put him in a coma for 10, maybe 20 years.

Seriously, the only commentary I've heard that was more boring was John McTiernan's commentary on Hunt for the Red October.

 

[JarodRussell]

Re: Anyone listen to the new commentary on the Blu-Ray "Classic" movie

Since fan commentaries tend to kill me...

Really? Well, you've never heard a Stuart Baird's commentary.

Oh I did. And while that guy is crazy, it's still a much better commentary since he actually had something to do with the production and has something useful to say about it. All those other fan dudes, what do they have to say? Each of you guys could make those commentaries, and it would be just as informative.

 

[Harvey]

Re: Anyone listen to the new commentary on the Blu-Ray "Classic" movie

To each his own. Personally, Baird strikes me as uninterested and unprepared in his commentary track. At least in the fan commentaries, there should be a faint ray of actual interest in the film they're commenting on. And they've probably sat down to watch the thing more than once, which makes them more prepared than Baird, too.

Roger Ebert had nothing to do with the production of Dark City. He's just a professional fan. But his commentary on that film is fascinating, and (IMO) more interesting and informative than Proyas' directors commentary on the same disc.

 

[Kegg]

Re: Anyone listen to the new commentary on the Blu-Ray "Classic" movie

Roger Ebert had nothing to do with the production of Dark City. He's just a professional fan. But his commentary on that film is fascinating, and (IMO) more interesting and informative than Proyas' directors commentary on the same disc.

But he's a film critic, which I guess I should have included with film historian.

All the Ebert commentaries I've listened to - Dark City, Floating Reeds, Casablanca, Citizen Kane - are excellent. Because he's basically a professional at talking and writing about movies, and it shows.

 

[Joker]

Re: Anyone listen to the new commentary on the Blu-Ray "Classic" movie

One of the worst commentaries I've heard was Tim Burton from one of the Batman movies.

He kept using a certain expression every 5 seconds... y'know, or something. It became intolerable after 15 minutes.