I’ve watched exactly 3 DVD’s from beginning to end with the commentary track on.
[ul]
[li]Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory: commentary by the five “kids” who are now all grown adults. I’d give it a B+ as far as general enjoyment. The best part, IMHO, was near the end when the women got a little farklempt.[/li][li]The Exorcist: commentary by director William Friedkin. I’d give it an F. Absolutely no insight ("…now we shot this scene using yada yada yada"); it was all a very wooden Friedkin explaining each scene in excruciating detail as if the audience is full of fifth-graders.[/li][li]A Christmas Story: commentary by Peter Billingsly (Ralphie) and director Bob Clark. I’d give it a B. Interesting insights include the facts that [minor spoilers ahead] all the actors who played the boys (Ralphie, Randy, Flik, Schwartz, Scut Farkas and Grover Dill) got along really well and became good friends; and that the boys all had a crush on the actress who played Miss Shields.[/li][/ul]
So, can anyone recommend an A+ commentary, or perhaps provide some highlights for us?
All of the commentaries by director Terry Gilliam are worth listening to. The commentary on the movie Election by director Alexander Payne is also a particularly good one that springs to mind ( but I haven’t heard any of his other ones ).
If you like the Evil Dead/Army of Darkness movies, try and find the commentaries with Bruce Campbell and Sam Raimi and B.C. by himself. Funny as hell and interesting to boot. The Pirates of the Caribbean DVD has a commentary with the screenwriters that’s really good, funny and informative. One of the best commentaries I’ve watched.
Stay away from Spaceballs. Its commentary is from an old laserdisc and Mel Brooks sounds just out of it.
The absolute best commentary track I have listened to (and I’ve listened to a lot) is Sam Mendes’s on American Beauty. He talks a lot about the technical challenges of making the movie, his choices for composing certain scenes, working on the story with Alan Ball (who is also on the commentary but doesn’t talk much) and other stuff. It is the best insight I’ve heard into modern filmmaking on a commentary track.
Director Bob Spiers’ track for the Fawlty Towers set (he directed the final 6 episodes from 1979) is quite illuminating as to how a sitcom is put together, the technical aspects, the rehearsals…he even delights in pointing out on-camera gaffes that made it into the finished shows! Director John-Howard Davies (he directed the first 6 episodes from 1974), not so much. There are painful long stretches of silence in his track; at one point at episode’s end he remarks, “I didn’t have much to say on that one. Sorry.”
The Fellowship of the Ring and Two Towers Extended Edition commentaries are all very interesting - there’s four per movie (Director/Writing Team, Design Team, Production/Post-Production Team, and Cast) so you can pick which area interests you the most.
I think the one for Gremlins is pretty humerous. But I’d probably give it a B+. The best one, like maralinn mentioned, is Citizen Kane with commentary by Roger Ebert. He really knows his stuff and his enjoyment doing the commentary shows. It’s like a really interesting lecture by a really good professor.
My favorite is Dead Again, with one track by Kenneth Branagh and another by Lindsay Doran (producer) and Scott Frank (screenwriter). Lots of insightful stuff on what it takes to get a movie made. Branagh is funny and humble, as is Frank. What I like best is they tell contradictory stories about the same scenes.
And Lindsay Doran’s Parable of the Red Lantern is the most important lesson a filmmaker can learn.
Highlander 10th Anniversary Directors Cut has an amusing commentary track by the director and producers. I don’t know whether it’s available on other editions.
For entertainment value, the cast commentary for This is Spinal Tap.
For film-school geekery, Marian Keene’s on the Criterion edition of Notorious. (Not that I didn’t enjoy Keene’s; it’s just that hers emphasizes gender politics and the political implications of camera angles and that sort of thing, all delivered in an earnest manner.)
Clerks is quite an experience. A drunken,incoherent Jason Mewes is hillarious. He actually passes out somewhere in the middle of the commentary and you can hear him snoring! Kevin Smith makes the whole shibang worthwhile. An A+.
I thought The Thing had a great commentary by John Carpenter and Kurt Russell. Just the fact that they really seem to like each other and the film makes it all enjoyable. I felt as if they were watching the movie as well as commenting on the scenes.
I agree with HeyHomie that The Exorcist had one of the worst commentaries out there. Friedkin was trying to explain his film to a blind person.
To elaborate on why this one is so great, the commentary is done by the band members in character, as if they were watching a real documentary made about them 20 years before.
The commentary by Steven Soderberg and writer Lem Dobbs on The Limey is great. They almost get into a fight! It’s also directly non-linearly like the movie itself.
I’ve heard good things about the Resident Evil commentary as apparently all the participants are drunk or sound like it.
