What are your favorite actor/director DVD commentaries?

[SpandexFan]

I'm wierd. I think I enjoy commentaries more than the movie itself. I was hoping to find some suggestions for great commentaries I might have missed.

Some of my favorites:

Any Kevin Smith film only because he's brutally honest (tells u which actors were arses on the set) and a very funny guy.

Boogie Nights deluxe edition - Everyone sat down with some beers and had a fun time recording that.

Conan the Barbarian - to my knowledge the only commentary Ahney has done.

Most Quentin Tarantino commentaries. Just like Kevin Smith, a genuinely entertaining guy to listen to.

Francis Ford Coppola - usually a good storyteller

Superman the Movie - I didn't realize how many groundbreaking F/X that movie had for its time until the interesting commentary by Donner and the film's creative consultant

most Harold Ramis films - funny dude who usually surrounds himself with the same

Ones to avoid:

Jon McTiernan - very boring guy to listen to, only got through Predator's commentary because I love the movie

most films that record commentaries all separately and then edit together, much more entertaining when they're all in same room

Brian Singer - only tried his Xmen commentaries, not a talkative guy, little boring 2

 

[CFE]

Ones to avoid:

The ramblings of Tim Burton, especially the Batman films and Big Fish

CFE

 

[KenK]

Burton has a tendancy to not finish his sentences!! . . . .A LOT!!

But yeah, group commentaries are usually the best. I like commentaries where it's just people conversing about the film.

It's hard to watch Blade II with the Snipes/Goyer commentary now, though. Not to mention all the roundabout trash-talking about Wesley on the Blade Trinity commentaries.

 

[Wolfwood]

One to avoid:

The Farrelly brothers, they love to talk about how everyone in their movies is somehow related to them.

I like listening to Guillermo Del Toro, he usually tends to go into a lot of detail and is pretty informative about the process it took to make the film.

 

[Jspider13]

the back to the future commentaries are my great


anchorman has the worst commentary ever.

 

[cryptic name]

whenever John Carpenter and Kurt Russell do commentary together, it's pure gold.

 

[amazingfantasy15]

Best commentary ever is for This is Spinal Tap with the actors in character *****ing the entire time about how the director made them look like losers.

 

[Moviefan2k4]

The "Back to the Future" commentaries are great.

Agreed; Zemeckis & Gale eally love these films, and it shows in their interviews and commentaries. I only wish they could've had Christopher Lloyd in there somewhere (since he rarely does interviews, and BTTF is one of his 2 most famous roles).

As for my other faves, I liked Laura Ziskin and Kirsten Dunst's comments regarding the first "Spider-Man" film, and Sam Raimi was great as well (he did a great job with Tobey on the second DVD).

I also like the scene-specific commentary by James Cameron & William Wisher for the "T2: Extreme Edition" DVD, and the religion/philosophy tracks were interesting on the 10-disc "Matrix" boxset, too.

To date, the biggest disappointment I've encountered was the lack of a commentary by either Christian Bale or Christopher Nolan on "Batman Begins"; it would've been interesting to hear their tales about the project. Hopefully, they'll correct that issue with the (eventual) DVD of "The Dark Knight".

 

[Ender Durden]

Pixar commentaries are usually very good.

 

[StrainedEyes]

The Saw franchise has some good commentary.

Bride of Chucky has a great one

All of Romero's Dead movies have good commentaries too.

Horror movies seem to have the most entertaining.

 

[Carmine Falcone]

But yeah, group commentaries are usually the best. I like commentaries where it's just people conversing about the film.

Yeah, that's true. But in a way, it pretty weird and geekish. Because it's basically listening to a conversation between some people who so happen to be famous. (there are ofcourse exceptions, for instance when one person does the talking, which I also find a bit odd, listening to someone talking with a film playing on the background) That's why I have never watched a whole movie with commentary, just bits and pieces here and there. Most of the stuff you can read in the Trivia section on the IMDb page or elsewhere anyway.

 

[StrainedEyes]

I'm all about The Simpsons commentaries too.

 

[The Amazing Spider-Man]

Any commentary with Bruce Campbell.

 

[Prognosticator]

"Evil Dead 2" with Sam Raimi, Bruce Campbell, & others. It's truthful, informative, and most importantly HILARIOUS! You feel like you're there with them, kicking back with a cold one, watching old home movies. It's as good as the movie! (almost)

"Army of Darkness" - That's right, more of the same! The Raimi bros., Bruce Campbell, and LOADS of insider information. And what's even better is the rare "Boomstick Edition" dvd with the apocalyptic alternate ending.

"Big Trouble in Little China" with John Carpenter and Kurt Russell. Again, old friends reuniting with lots of laughs and reminiscent reviews of times past. ...I'm a big fan of DVD commentaries with a warm feeling to them.

 

[SWAT]

I never listen to commentaries. The only ones I've heard is Pitch Black and The Punisher.

I wasn't going to hear the commentary for Pitch Black, but it just happend and I sat thru it. It's some years ago but I remember enjoying it.
The Punisher commentary: I heard it was good, and it was.

 

[Victarion]

I liked Del Toro's commentary for Pan's Labyrinth. He pointed out several things that I missed before, such as Captain Vidal's office having the big cogs and such, just like the inside of a watch, and we know that the watch was significant to the character of Captain Vidal. One of the funniest parts was when Captain Vidal was beating that rebel with the bottle:

Del Toro said he and a buddy got into a street brawl with some other guys. As they were beating him with chains, all he remembered was seeing his friend getting pounded in the face with a bottle, and he noted that it didn't break like in the movies.

-Morzan

 

[Space Moose]

If there was an award for best audio commentary, it would go to 'The Thing' with John Carpenter and Kurt Russel. Pure gold.

 

[Prognosticator]

^Does it come on the HD DVD version?

 

[Drizzle]

The Goonies and the Lord of the Rings Extended Editions (Peter Jackson commentary, cast commentary). I generally listen to actors' commentaries more often than not.

 

[enterthemadness]

Jason X.

Resident Evil.

^Both are funny and entertaining.

 

[bullets]

definately bruce cambell doing evil dead 2 its hilarious

 

[Spider-Vader]

Irvin Kershner told some very entertaining stories for ESB.

My all-time favorite commentary is for the show Invader Zim those are as funny(sometimes funnier) than the actual show.

 

[SpandexFan]

I'm all about The Simpsons commentaries too.

Yes, for TV shows, especially box sets that have commentaries for EVERY episode, those are great! A lot of TV commentaries can bomb, but I always enjoy listening to the Simpsons commentaries, especially the golden years, the first ten or so seasons. They always have a good time in their commentaries, and you can tell the directors, writers, producers, and actors all enjoy working with each other.

 

[SpandexFan]

The Saw franchise has some good commentary.

Bride of Chucky has a great one

All of Romero's Dead movies have good commentaries too.

Horror movies seem to have the most entertaining.

I agree, horror movies do have a lot of good commentaries. Especially the flix that rely heavily on make-up and old school F/X. They also seem to be good if you're interested in the raw element of filmmaking, because a lot of them go into detail about what they did to make certain scenes. On that topic, Robert Rodriguez is a good guy to listen to if you're genuinely interested in filmmaking. He always throws in tidbits for film students (and states as such in his commentaries) and advice, on why certain scenes were filmed the way they were.

 

[Mr. Socko]

Avoid Bryan Singer and Tim Burton commentaries. They never know what to talk about and stutter alot.

Robert Rodriguez does excellent commentary.