DVD Commentaries

Alt-F4 · 26/04/12 - 11:59

The only reason I buy DVDs is for the commentaries...they can be quite boring but some directors i.e Mel Gibson, Guy Ritchie and Peter Jackson are funny & entertaining.

Also just recently watched The Thing (1982) with john carpenter/kurt russell, amazing how they remember so much detail after so many years...

Am I the only person in the world that likes commentaries? Got any good ones?

CLL Dodge · 26/04/12 - 12:19

"Blood on Satan's Claw" has an informative but fun commentary by Jeremy Dyson, Mark Gatiss and Reece Shearsmith, none of whom had anything to do with making the movie. They are just fans.

gemma-the-husky · 26/04/12 - 12:21

offhand, 3 of the best I have listened to were

Topsy Turvy (Mike Leigh)

Once Upon a Time in the West (A critic did the wonderful commentary)

Rambo (the latest one, with Stallone doing the commentary. Completely changed the film for me.)

among the poorest commentaries was Harry Brown, and the cast commentaries on the TV series of "Ever Decreasing Circles". The commentaries on Mad Men aren't too good either.

I do enjoy a lot of special features.

i just came across this site, which may help (it has The Thing at No 13, but doesn't have 2 of my suggestions, and slates "Once Upon A Time ... ")

http://www.ratethatcommentary.com/

Alt-F4 · 26/04/12 - 12:32

gemma-the-husky wrote: »

i just came across this site, which may help (it has The Thing at No 13)

http://www.ratethatcommentary.com/

Nice find, good to see lord of the rings there, just for the sheer volume of commentaries on there from director, writers, actors, special effects. The cast ones are the best with merry and pippin.

The thing was great, you can tell they really enjoyed making it and also because there's no CGI which is mega boring, it's all hand made models.

Noiseboy · 26/04/12 - 13:31

Love 'em. I actually tend to record them / rip them to mp3 so I can listen on the go. A bit like radio really, only more interesting. Sometimes.

RaptureRider · 26/04/12 - 18:06

I enjoy listening to the commentaries for films that I'm a big fan of. John Carpenter is usually pretty interesting to listen to.

Matt D · 26/04/12 - 18:19

The only commentary I've ever bothered with fully was the one for The Usual Suspects... and that was actually on VHS not DVD. I had a two-tape edition: one tape with the film, one tape with the film + commentary.

finkly · 26/04/12 - 22:38

Bruce Campbell's commentaries for the Evil Dead films are brilliant. He's got an encyclopedic knowledge of every aspect of the films and he's hilarious too.

Can't remember which one, but one of the Alan Partridge dvds has in-character commentary from Alan and Lynn which are really funny

A lot of people find him boring, but I like Ridley Scott's commentaries too, especially for Blade Runner and Gladiator.

Can't think of any others. They're the best kind of extra feature though.

treefr0g · 26/04/12 - 22:46

Sometimes I don't want to know too much about how a movie was made but I've listened to a few.

A couple that I enjoyed were 'Blazing Saddles' with Mel Brookes (and maybe Gene Wilder) and 'Contact' with Jodie Foster.

I remember Jodie Foster saying that when she kissed Matthew Mconaughey she raised her eyebrow and being pissed of when she saw the movie as robert Zemeckis had CGI'd it out.

[Deleted User] · 26/04/12 - 23:29

Kevin Smiths are always worth a listen. .

i enjoyed Jay Roach and Mike Myers on Austin Powers

[Deleted User] · 27/04/12 - 07:43

Matt D wrote: »

The only commentary I've ever bothered with fully was the one for The Usual Suspects... and that was actually on VHS not DVD. I had a two-tape edition: one tape with the film, one tape with the film + commentary.

LOL - I have the same box set ..... How times have changed eh?

Alt-F4 · 27/04/12 - 09:38

Just watched Apollo 13 commentary with jim lovell, he adds a great deal to the story and his wife occasionally chips in

On similar lines, goodfellas commentary with henry hill - although he slurs most of the way through it still interesting to hear from the man himself, he did seem to be genuinely upset by the billy batts murder scene

[Deleted User] · 27/04/12 - 12:58

The only DVD commentary that I would really recommend is those on "Shaun of the Dead".
The Edgar Wright / Simon Pegg dialogue had me in stitches!
("Ooh look. Here comes Harry Potter and Britney Spears")

[Deleted User] · 27/04/12 - 18:13

I never bother with the commentaries for films anymore. They tend to be pretty uninteresting. It would be better if they were more honest.The best few I've heard were on Doctor Who (Original and proper series) DVD's as a few times they are honest and say that looks crap and what is he/she wearing and generally having a laugh at it.
Often I don't bother with all the extras either. Once you've seen them and kave seen how "the magic is done" from then on the film is never the same when you rewatch it. It's a bit like a blooper. Once you know the 3rd native in the back is wearing a watch you automatically look for it almost like you are checking he is still wearing the damn thing.
If they released films as vanilla editions for a few quid less I would buy those.

Straker · 27/04/12 - 18:48

treefr0g wrote: »

I remember Jodie Foster saying that when she kissed Matthew Mconaughey she raised her eyebrow and being pissed of when she saw the movie as robert Zemeckis had CGI'd it out.

I recently listened to that for the first time. How often do you get an a-list actor like Foster doing a solo commentary for 150 minutes? She was by no means gabbing throughout but her voice was so pleasant and soothing that I’d recommend it as a relaxant to anyone needing to de-stress. Despite the gaps it was an extremely informative and ego-free commentary and I came away from it with a whole new respect for her.

Commentaries are the best extra and cheap as chips to add to any release. Every DVD should have one.

CAMERA OBSCURA · 27/04/12 - 19:47

Has to be 'This Is Spinal Tap' in character commentary

DVD menu commentary

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnpB3_Oknmw

PJ1893 · 27/04/12 - 22:07

CAMERA OBSCURA wrote: »

Has to be 'This Is Spinal Tap' in character commentary

DVD menu commentary

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnpB3_Oknmw

Yeah, that one is funny

For entertainment value, the Love Actually one is quite good too - Richard Curtis, Hugh Grant and Bill Nighy.

xxstephiebabixx · 27/04/12 - 23:21

iv only ever listened to 1 commentary and that was for the goonies

theres actually a part in it where sean astin points out a movie mistake but richard donner didnt actually notice it until sean had pointed it out ... and now every time i watch it i notice it!

Bester · 29/04/12 - 23:56

The Goonies commentary is great, largely due to a) all of the Goonies actually being there (although Astin disappears halfway through), and b) at particularly interesting points it branches out into a video commentary.

The other commentary that I can think of worthy of note is another John Carpenter/Kurt Russell one, Big Trouble in Little China - where they're both clearly under the influence!

Hey there!

Quick Links

DVD Commentaries

Comments