[QUOTE=VarlosZ]
Se7en had a very well-organized track. Instead of one person or group of people trying to find things to talk about for two hours, the track was “hosted” by a film historian, who would introduce clips from the director, writer, FX guy, etc. talking about specific things. Not a lot of dead air on that one.
[/QUOTE]
Actually, the deluxe version has 4 commentaries: Acting (Actors), Story (Writer, Editor), Visuals (Cinematgrapher, Production Designer) and Sound (Sound Designer, Music Composer). Fincher is on all 4, and there is actually surprisingly little overlap between the four. Very very comprehensive (my understanding is that the deluxe Fight Club does something similar but I don’t own that one).
[QUOTE=Woottonite]
I’m truly baffled about the posters who have mentioned commentaries where the participants are drunk or stoned.
Why does being shit your pants drunk/stoned make for a good commentary exactly?
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Depending on the person, it’s often massively entertaining. The sounds of people having a good time and shooting the breeze as they talk about the film are infinitely preferable to dry recitations of camera setups, or (even worse) a simple description of what’s happening in the movie you’re already watching along with the commentary!
Three that spring to mind:
A cheesy swords’ n’ sorcery movie called Deathstalker 2. No, you don’t have to have seen Deathstalker 1. It has Jim Wynorski, John Terlusky and Toni Naples…just having a good time and funny.
2 other “approachable” commentaries are CHUD and a personal great film, Re-Animator. Both have the cast talking and both are just damn entertaining.
I’m annoyed that they didn’t put a Knightly and Davenport one on Pirates 2, it was very good.
Ronin has an excellent commentary track by the late John Frankenheimer where he basically instructs the viewer on how to craft an intelligent action movie. (Of course, he comments extensively on the driving stunts, but he offers other guidance as well, especially on set design and cinematography.)
Stranger