Simple question- have you ever found that a commentary by cast/crew on a DVD has enhanced your enjoyment of the movie?
I can only name a scant few- any David Fincher movie, and Austin Powers 2.
Most other commentaries just plain suck. Case in point- Gladiator. During The scene where they recreate the battle of Carthage, the crew keeps saying all this junk about how they used different angles and shadows and such and blah blah blah. Who cares? I’m not sure what I want to hear, but it’s defintely not a bunch of useless dribble about camera angles.
I thought the commentary for “Fight Club” was pretty neat. Then again, I’m a “Fight Club” fanatic and love just about anything associated with the movie in any way.
I enjoyed the commentary for ‘Blade’, they really went into the special effects they used, the kind of mood they were trying to evoke in different scenes, talked about scenes that were cut and ones they wanted to cut but didn’t, choices behind casting, and funny stories of things that happened while filming.
Of course, I’ve only listened to the commentary track on two of my DVDs (got a DVD player last week). The commentary for Little Nicky was pretty lame.
Fight Club for sure; I think my favorite moment was when Ed Norton was ranting about how perfect it was for Tyler and “I am Jack’s Narrator” to be smashing up the new VW Bug; how it was a symbol of old ideals perverted by the corporate whatsis and so forth–and Brad Pitt chimes in and utterly derails him by saying, “you know, I took a test drive in one after filming, and it’s a great little car, so I can’t really agree, Ed.”
All the View Askew commentaries are amusing.
The commentary to Ronin was excellent on the technical side, especially on the filming of the main stars of the film, the car chases.
Spinal Tap as well; sadly, only the new release, I got into DVD only after the original Criterion edition went out of print.
The commentaries on Evil Dead, Evil Dead II, and Army of Darkness are amusing. Bruce just kicks ass. The commentary on a neat little film he did, Running Time was also enjoyable.
My favorite is the commentary that Terry Glliam did for the Criterion release of Brazil. Instead of going into the whole controversy regarding the release of the movie, he gives you tons of detail on why certain items were used, how it was filmed, and what it all means.
I’d also give a big thumbs up to the new release of Spinal Tap. In the commentary, Guest, McKean and Shearer comment as their characters, relentlessy ragging on Marty DiBergi for making them look bad. It’s very much like seeing a whole second movie.
I like Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure with it’s commentary by Tim Burton and Paul Ruebens. I also like the first two The Omen movies, and A Nightmare on Elm Street with everyone except Robert Englund (which was too bad, because that would have been neat).
I’ve found that there are two kinds of commentary: Monologues and ensemble. Monologues, I think, have more useful information about what you’re seeing. Ensembles tend to deviate too much from what’s going on on the screen.
Lots of people care. I bought the DVD for Three Kings (my first DVD) because I wanted to find out how they got the washed-out effect with the film. As someone who works on no-budget films from time to time, I like the technical information. What I don’t need is, “Okay, who’s that girl? The one in the hat. Oh yeah, she was Ricky-the-soundman’s girlfriend. She was nice. They broke up later.” I don’t care who she is, and I don’t know Ricky-the-soundman, and I don’t care if they broke up; but this is the sort of thing I see on some ensemble commentaries. I’d much rather hear, “We took the door off the hinges and the actor positioned himself as if he had just closed it. The bad guy comes bursting through just as the good guy gets out of the way. But the bad guy couldn’t hear the director when he told him to wait one second before bashing the door in, and he bashed it down immediately. The good guy really is being bonked in the head in this shot.” or “We got the effect by closing the shutter down to about 45º and opening the aperture for correct exposure. It gave a nice stroboscopic effect.”
One of the first commentaries I’ve heard was the one for Notting Hill which was pretty interesting. Nowadays having a commentary on a DVD will turn that DVD from a “I’ll buy it one day” to a “I’ll buy it now” DVD.
Now if I only had time to watch all the DVD I’ve purchased.
I also have the DVD of Three Kings, and it’s a joy to listen to David O. Russell’s commentary. He’s so obviously a brilliant, thoughtful man, and his contemplations on the Gulf War and his moviemaking philosophy are a significant value-add.
The producers’ commentary on the same film, on the other hand, is utterly forgettable. “We wanted [big-name actor] for this role, but he wasn’t available, so we went with [smaller-name actor] instead, and he did a great job for a smaller fee, so we were really pleased!” Snore.
John Boorman’s commentary on Excalibur is good too; he talks a lot about the Arthurian myths and his casting and location decisions. Another very intelligent, articulate artist.
I like a little bit of formality in the commentaries. I wouldn’t even mind if they rehearsed them beforehand. In the crew commentary to American Movie there’s a point where one of them says “You guys mind if I step out for a smoke?” and then his voice is missing for several minutes until we hear him say “Okay, I’m back.” Don’t do that.
How could you not love the live commentary on Muppets From Space that lets you watch the movie with Kermit, Gonzo, Rizzo, and the director? (Although, to be fair, Kermit misses the entire movie as he’s out getting popcorn…)
The commentary for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is great, too. Gunnar Hansen, the guy who plays Leatherface, has a lot of great stories to tell including one that’s kinda freaky: in a scene where he is supposed to cut a girl’s finger, they had been shooting for something like 29 hours straight in a non-air conditioned house in blistering heat. Hansen got the worst of it, being in the Leatherface getup. Anyway, the knife blade was taped and he had a squeeze bulb for the blood effect, but the line kept clogging. Finally Hansen gave up, ditched the bulb, and removed the tape. Since the girl was supposed to be screaming, no one realized that Hansen had actually cut her finger. Director Tobe Hooper evidently heard about this for the first time on the DVD commentary and sounds rather shocked.
My favorite moment on the Fight Club commentary: when the characters go into the club’s basement for the first time and Norton says to Fincher, “Okay, Fincher, this scene is underlit, admit it.” Fincher’s such a fan of darkness…
I second that any commentary from Kevin Smith with cast and crew, always adds to a film’s enjoyment.
Slight Hijack ~ I thought Chloe (the woman who was at the cancer support group, looking for a little sumthin-sumthin) was a great little character. Funny and sad, mainly funny. Whatcha y’all think?
I have to agree with Johnny L.A.. I much prefer just the director explaining his vision. Having said that, check out the commentary for “The Usual Suspects”. The Bryan Singer and the screenwriter (I forget his name) have such chemistry doing the the commentary. Plus you get to hear Bryan Singer do a great imitation of Chazz Palminteri.
