# DVD Commentary Tracks: Any REALLY Good or Insightful Ones to Recommend? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 27, 2003, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-commentary-tracks-any-really-good-or-insightful-ones-to-recommend/221286 "2003-12-27T19:10:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2003, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-commentary-tracks-any-really-good-or-insightful-ones-to-recommend/221286/1 "2003-12-27T19:10:16Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2003, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-commentary-tracks-any-really-good-or-insightful-ones-to-recommend/221286/2 "2003-12-27T19:21:10Z")
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 ). - Tamerlane ---
**Author:** ![aoty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9e8a1a/32.png) [@aoty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aoty)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2003, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-commentary-tracks-any-really-good-or-insightful-ones-to-recommend/221286/3 "2003-12-27T19:25:10Z")
**Dark City** ’s commentary track by Roger Ebert, hands down. I got this dvd back in '99, and the commentary track is still unsurpassed, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2003, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-commentary-tracks-any-really-good-or-insightful-ones-to-recommend/221286/4 "2003-12-27T19:28:25Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2003, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-commentary-tracks-any-really-good-or-insightful-ones-to-recommend/221286/5 "2003-12-27T19:47:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by GMRyujin \* > **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.** Because Bruce Campbell is The Man. Ivan Raimi also gives commentary on Army of Darkness. His part’s a little dead, but Sam and Bruce pick up the slack. ---
**Author:** ![BabaBooey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dfb087/32.png) [@BabaBooey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BabaBooey)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2003, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-commentary-tracks-any-really-good-or-insightful-ones-to-recommend/221286/6 "2003-12-27T19:57:54Z")
Fight Club’s featuring Fincher, Pitt, Norton together and HBC seperately is great, though I wish they had just cut out Carter all together. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2003, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-commentary-tracks-any-really-good-or-insightful-ones-to-recommend/221286/7 "2003-12-27T19:59:35Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2003, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-commentary-tracks-any-really-good-or-insightful-ones-to-recommend/221286/8 "2003-12-27T20:11:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tengu \* > \*\*Because Bruce Campbell is The Man. > > Ivan Raimi also gives commentary on Army of Darkness. His part’s a little dead, but Sam and Bruce pick up the slack. \*\* Oh, yea, Sam Raimi’s glee at clubbing B.C. with various objects is hysterical. “Hit him again! He likes it!” I THINK it’s Evil Dead 2 that has one of B.C. by himself and it’s a really good commentary. ---
**Author:** ![Torgo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@Torgo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Torgo)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2003, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-commentary-tracks-any-really-good-or-insightful-ones-to-recommend/221286/9 "2003-12-27T20:40:56Z")
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.” ---
**Author:** ![Waenara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@Waenara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waenara)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2003, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-commentary-tracks-any-really-good-or-insightful-ones-to-recommend/221286/10 "2003-12-27T20:51:06Z")
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 also enjoyed the commentary on _Three Kings_. ---
**Author:** ![maralinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@maralinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maralinn)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2003, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-commentary-tracks-any-really-good-or-insightful-ones-to-recommend/221286/11 "2003-12-27T21:24:59Z")
I thought the Silence of the Lambs commentary track was pretty good. Oh, and Citizen Kane. ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2003, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-commentary-tracks-any-really-good-or-insightful-ones-to-recommend/221286/12 "2003-12-27T21:29:58Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![HelenGawn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@HelenGawn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelenGawn)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2003, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-commentary-tracks-any-really-good-or-insightful-ones-to-recommend/221286/13 "2003-12-27T23:21:30Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![WereOtter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ac91a4/32.png) [@WereOtter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WereOtter)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2003, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-commentary-tracks-any-really-good-or-insightful-ones-to-recommend/221286/14 "2003-12-28T00:09:40Z")
_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. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2003, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-commentary-tracks-any-really-good-or-insightful-ones-to-recommend/221286/15 "2003-12-28T00:33:21Z")
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.) ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2003, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-commentary-tracks-any-really-good-or-insightful-ones-to-recommend/221286/16 "2003-12-28T00:59:46Z")
There are some good recommendations in [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=231558) as well. ---
**Author:** ![TheBobo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9bd4f/32.png) [@TheBobo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheBobo)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2003, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-commentary-tracks-any-really-good-or-insightful-ones-to-recommend/221286/17 "2003-12-28T01:04:57Z")
**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. ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2003, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-commentary-tracks-any-really-good-or-insightful-ones-to-recommend/221286/18 "2003-12-28T01:44:52Z")
> [@](#): > > For entertainment value, the cast commentary for This is Spinal Tap. 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. Any Roger Ebet commentary is wonderful. ---
**Author:** ![dreamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@dreamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dreamer)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2003, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-commentary-tracks-any-really-good-or-insightful-ones-to-recommend/221286/19 "2003-12-28T01:57:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Waenara \* > \*\*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 will second this and add that the Cast commentary on both DVD’s can be quite entertaining and funny. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2003, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-commentary-tracks-any-really-good-or-insightful-ones-to-recommend/221286/20 "2003-12-28T02:56:04Z")
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. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-commentary-tracks-any-really-good-or-insightful-ones-to-recommend/221286.md?page=2)