# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2003, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-commentary-tracks-any-really-good-or-insightful-ones-to-recommend/221286/21 "2003-12-28T03:07:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Number Six \* > **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.** To further elaborate They hated the film ---
**Author:** ![The\_Raven\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@The\_Raven\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Raven_1)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2003, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-commentary-tracks-any-really-good-or-insightful-ones-to-recommend/221286/22 "2003-12-28T04:22:48Z")
Howyadoin, I recommend John Boorman’s commentary from _Excalibur._ Very enlightening example of how a low-budget film doesn’t have to look like one. Some very funny stories, particularly one about Nicol Williamson and Helen Mirren battling on the set, the result of a previous romantic involvement. -Rav ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2003, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-commentary-tracks-any-really-good-or-insightful-ones-to-recommend/221286/23 "2003-12-28T05:17:19Z")
> [@](#): > > 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. Second that, and two other Russell-Carpenter movies, _Big Trouble in Little China_ and _Escape From New York_ also have commentaries by the two of them; the neat thing is that they keep forgetting they’re supposed to be commenting on the movie, and just start chatting, and possibly drinking. George Romero’s offbeat movie _Knightriders_ has a very enjoyable commentary track by Romero and some cast and crew, who obviously are like family with each other and have very fond memories of the summer they made the movie. (I’m waiting for the new two-disk edition of _Dawn of the Dead_, which should have commentary by Romero and Tom Savini). ---
**Author:** ![BuckleberryFerry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5f9b8f/32.png) [@BuckleberryFerry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BuckleberryFerry)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2003, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-commentary-tracks-any-really-good-or-insightful-ones-to-recommend/221286/24 "2003-12-28T05:22:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*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.** Thirding; Dom and Billy are hilarious together. ---
**Author:** ![rackensack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@rackensack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rackensack)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2003, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-commentary-tracks-any-really-good-or-insightful-ones-to-recommend/221286/25 "2003-12-28T05:52:52Z")
I really enjoyed director Ron Shelton’s commentary track on _Bull Durham_; his comments ranged all over the place from particular favorite moments or line readings by the actors to the technical details of how scenes were shot to the decision-making process involved in creating a scene to scenes that he loved but had to cut. I never felt like I was in a film school lecture series, but I did learn a good bit about the technical aspects of film directing. The track with Kevin Costner and Tim Robbins was mostly just reminiscing about the shooting, which was sort of amusing, but far from essential. I rented the DVD of _Secretary_ this week, and ended up watching most of it a second time through with the commentary from director Steven Shainberg and screenwriter Erin Cressida Wilson. Nothing terribly surprising about what they had to say, but again I came away from the experience having learned quite a bit about the thought process involved in making a film (Shainberg and Wilson were much more apt to call out particular scenes as having been inspired by or intended as an _homage_ to scenes from classic films – not surprising, since they both seem to be film school products). I also greatly enjoyed the cast commentary track on _This Is Spinal Tap_. Eric Idle’s commentary on _All You Need is Cash_ is fun, but in a lot of places there’s not a lot to say. I should also put in a plug for the commentary on the documentary _Standing in the Shadows of Motown_, about the Funk Brothers, the lengendary house band at Motown in the 1960s and early 1970s. The movie itself is fascinating, but there’s a whole ton of extra information and insight in commenttary track from director Paul Justman and project creator Allan Slutsky, particularly about the Funk Brothers who were alive when the project started but died before filming could begin. ---
**Author:** ![A\_wizard\_song\_for\_thee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/46a35a/32.png) [@A\_wizard\_song\_for\_thee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_wizard_song_for_thee)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2003, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-commentary-tracks-any-really-good-or-insightful-ones-to-recommend/221286/26 "2003-12-28T06:08:09Z")
I hate to be the guy who brings up Joss Whedon’s shows in every “What’s your favorite…” thread, but his DVD commentaries are always entertaining and frequently hilarious. The one that sticks out most in my mind is the one he did with Nathan Fillion for _Firefly_’s pilot, “Serenity.” You could really tell how much those guys liked working with each other. ---
**Author:** ![Eternal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@Eternal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eternal)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2003, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-commentary-tracks-any-really-good-or-insightful-ones-to-recommend/221286/27 "2003-12-28T06:17:21Z")
I’m haven’t listened to many, but of those I have, the commentaries on _Ravenous_, taken as a whole, were pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2003, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-commentary-tracks-any-really-good-or-insightful-ones-to-recommend/221286/28 "2003-12-28T06:33:20Z")
I haven’t listened to the **Firefly** commentaries yet, but all of Joss’s commentaries on the Buffy DVDs are fantastic. My favorite is for um…New Moon Rising from S4. It’s Joss, Seth Green, and Marty Noxin, and Joss and Seth mock Marty the entire time and she’s completely oblivious. Um, as for movies…I agree that **Fight Club** is great. ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2003, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-commentary-tracks-any-really-good-or-insightful-ones-to-recommend/221286/29 "2003-12-28T06:54:45Z")
The commentary track for _Pirates of the Caribbean_ by Jack Davenport and Keira Knightly is really funny. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2003, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-commentary-tracks-any-really-good-or-insightful-ones-to-recommend/221286/30 "2003-12-28T08:30:32Z")
As a computer geek and animation buff, I’ve got a soft spot for all of the Pixar movie commentaries. Funniest commentary I’ve heard was the one for “Weird Al” Yankovic’s **UHF**. Guest stars “drop by” during the commentary, and he phones(!) Victoria Jackson for her comments at one point… ---
**Author:** ![VivaEuropa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ed655f/32.png) [@VivaEuropa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VivaEuropa)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2003, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-commentary-tracks-any-really-good-or-insightful-ones-to-recommend/221286/31 "2003-12-28T08:38:30Z")
Anything Kevin Smith. He and all of the other actors in the commentary are hillarious. Also, Waking Life (great flick) has an excellent feature length text commentary that is very useful and informative. ---
**Author:** ![Electronic\_Chaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Electronic\_Chaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electronic_Chaos)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2003, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-commentary-tracks-any-really-good-or-insightful-ones-to-recommend/221286/32 "2003-12-28T09:20:03Z")
Agree with Kevin Smith movies. All the ones I’ve watched have had funny and insightful commentaries. Also, Donnie Darko. Two seperate tracks, one with the director and the boy that played Donnie, and then the other with pretty much all the other actors. Great movie, great commentary. ---
**Author:** ![Rainbowthief](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4bbf92/32.png) [@Rainbowthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rainbowthief)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2003, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-commentary-tracks-any-really-good-or-insightful-ones-to-recommend/221286/33 "2003-12-28T11:54:11Z")
I liked Darren Aronofsky’s commentary on _Pi_. ---
**Author:** ![scotandrsn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@scotandrsn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotandrsn)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2003, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-commentary-tracks-any-really-good-or-insightful-ones-to-recommend/221286/34 "2003-12-28T15:26:22Z")
If you ever liked New Order, acid house music, or any other music out of Manchester, England from the 70s to the 90s, you need to rent a film called “24-Hour Party People”. Watch the film (which is just great), then watch it again with commentary by Tony Wilson, the real-life TV reporter who is the protagonist character for the film. Lots of leftover hippy traces, but absolutely transcendant. ---
**Author:** ![Zap\_Rowsdower](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3da27b/32.png) [@Zap\_Rowsdower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zap_Rowsdower)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2003, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-commentary-tracks-any-really-good-or-insightful-ones-to-recommend/221286/35 "2003-12-28T17:46:07Z")
_Cannibal the Musical_ With Trey Parker and Matt Stone and other cast members. Very enjoyable _Maniac/Narcotic_ another informative commentary on low budget exploitation films. _I Spit On Your Grave_ A very difficult movie to watch, however Joe Bob Briggs provides a very good commentary. _Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS_ Another difficult movie to watch, but it does have a fun commentary by Ilsa herself with a few others. _Attack of the Killer Tomatoes_ _Killer Klowns from Outer Space_ Also most of **Something Weird’s** commentaries are very informative, especially the ones by Dave Friedman, one of the last of the exploitation/sexploitation masters. The only truly dissapointing one I have listened to was Ted V. Mikels [iThe Doll Squad\*. Very dull unfortunately, with comments like, “oh don’t go in there…” ---
**Author:** ![confessorknight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9a140/32.png) [@confessorknight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/confessorknight)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2003, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-commentary-tracks-any-really-good-or-insightful-ones-to-recommend/221286/36 "2003-12-28T18:00:40Z")
My favourite commentary, and one I’ve listened to repeatedly, is the Region 2 cast commentary to _Dog Soldiers_ which seems to be the only one i’e heard which genuinely is a group of eople who genuine;y enjoy each others company deriving great pleasure from watching (and mockn) their movie. As an afterthought I’ll second to recommendation for all the _Evil Dead_ commentaries too. By and large anything featuring a group recording instead of a duo or lots of seperate contributors recorded separately. ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2003, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-commentary-tracks-any-really-good-or-insightful-ones-to-recommend/221286/37 "2003-12-29T20:00:40Z")
I second the vote for “Election.” Alexander Payne really breaks down his movie-making process and gives insight to a lot of the subtleties. Sadly, the commentary for his first film “Citizen Ruth” was a lot less insightful. The four participants seemed to be really out of sync with one another. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2003, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-commentary-tracks-any-really-good-or-insightful-ones-to-recommend/221286/38 "2003-12-30T00:08:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by racinchikki \* > \*\*The commentary track for _Pirates of the Caribbean_ by Jack Davenport and Keira Knightly is really funny. \*\* Haven’t heard that one yet, but the one with director Gore Verbinski and Johnny Depp is pretty loopy, as you might imagine. High point: When the scenes in the treasure cave come up, Verbinski grumbled how they had to keep dressing the set because the small treasure bits had a habit of disappearing during the day. Depp retorted, "Well, you hired 'em to be _pirates_. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2003, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-commentary-tracks-any-really-good-or-insightful-ones-to-recommend/221286/39 "2003-12-30T01:45:48Z")
The commentary on **The Texas Chainsaw Massacre** is good. Not sure if the one on the currently-sold edition is the same as the original, but it really was quite informative and neat. You also learn some interesting behind-the-scenes tidbits from Gunnar Hansen, who played Leatherface. The **Muppets From Space** commentary is a lot of fun. You watch with the director, and Kermit the Frog, and Gonzo, and Rizzo the Rat. They appear as silhouettes, kinda like Mystery Science Theater 3000. One from way back when that I thought was interesting was **Disturbing Behavior**. The DVD has about 11 deleted scenes on it, and in the director’s commentary, you can kinda hear him seething about the studio cuts and how they ruined his movie. He was absolutely right; leaving some of those in would have improved the movie greatly. Speaking of that sort of thing, listen to the track for **The Sum of All Fears** if you want to hear the director and Tom Clancy nearly get into a fight. Clancy is pretty mean and hateful about stuff they changed from the book to the movie. I swear that at one point they must have stopped taping for a while and then come back later to record the rest. The OP seemed to be doing “worst” as well, so here’s some of those: **Dungeons & Dragons** is absolutely atrocious. If you can listen past the end of the opening credits, you’re a better man than I. And the commentary track for **Death To Smoochy** is basically Danny DeVito reciting names of cast and crew members and saying what a great job they did. ---
**Author:** ![Nanook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nanook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanook)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2003, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-commentary-tracks-any-really-good-or-insightful-ones-to-recommend/221286/40 "2003-12-30T04:21:03Z")
Peter Bogdanovich’s commentaries for Paper Moon and Daisy Miller are terrific as is Tim Blake Nelson’s for his marvelous film Eye of God. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-commentary-tracks-any-really-good-or-insightful-ones-to-recommend/221286.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-commentary-tracks-any-really-good-or-insightful-ones-to-recommend/221286.md?page=3)