Hey y’all, question for ya. Which movies do y’all think have the best commentaries? I’m thinking of having a Commentary Day movie day next month and so far the ones I can think of are:
Big Trouble in Little China - AMAZINGLY funny commentary.
Serenity - Great Picture in Picture commentary from much of the cast.
The Limey - Haven’t seen this one yet, but I’m told it’s AMAZING.
Might y’all have any other recommendations?
Thanks!
John Milius and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s commentary on Conan the Barbarian!
The Evil Dead movies, particularly Evil Dead 2.
Terrible movie, but absolutely fascinating commentary from Rob Zombie. House of 1000 Corpses. It almost redeemed the movie in my eyes. There were so many crazy issues on set that it amazed me that the movie ever got completed. It was really a growing experience for Rob Zombie. He had to deal with surly and unresponsive actors, as well as altercations between the crew.
Does Dr. Horrible count? The entire commentary is singing.
Oh yeah, Commentary the Musical is awesome. Apparently the in-character commentary for Spinal Tap is also fantastic.
Apparently? Try indubitably!
Peyton Reed’s commentary for “Down With Love” is excellent.
Was just coming by to recommend Commentary! The Musical, but saw that it has been done. Serenity was going to be my other recommendation. So, I have absolutely nothing to contribute to this thread. :-/
Oh maybe! I LOVE the commentary on Without a Paddle.
Without a Paddle with Seth Green right? Haven’t seen it but I do adore him.
I was looking for some commentary recommendations a while ago and stumbled on a few threads on CHUD. Not the greatest movie site, but there are lots recommendations over there if you want to check it out…
recommended, best, favourite, greatest
They seem to REALLY hate reviving old threads over there! :)
seven samurai
And if possible I recommend listening the commentary by Michael Jenk afterwards. The man obviously loves the movie and researched the hell out of it, pointing out flaws, camera work, plot points, actor histories, Japanese culture, behind the scenes stories, and all the stuff I mentioned above. He manages to talk his way through the entire length of the movie.
Thanks for all the suggestions so far, and for those lists, Cormac. This makes me wanna snag these movies eventually just for their commentaries. :)
Roger Ebert’s commentary tracks for Citizen Kane, Casablanca, and Dark City are all fascinating and highly recommended.
A few other favorites:
-The in-character track for This is Spinal Tap
-Tom Clancy nitpicking the hell out of The Sum of All Fears
-Pete Docter and Bob Peterson’s track on Up
It’s not a commentary, per se, but the Thermian language track on Galaxy Quest is worth a listen just to marvel at the fact that there’s a Thermian language audio track.
I’ve mentioned if in this forum before, but the commentary track on The Limey is outstanding - its not the usual backslapping “look how great this movie is” commentary.
The writer (Lem Dobbs) wrote a script he thought was deep and fantastic. The director (Soderbergh) decided it was too long, and cut out big parts of it “to make it move quicker”. The writer was unhappy. Very unhappy. He felt that the resulting movie was lacking character insight and backstory.
The resulting commentary track has the writer and the director arguing over what was cut, and why each version was better. The writer even ribs the director when he thinks that the scene was not shot as well as it was written.
If commentaries were like this - debates about the merits (or lack thereof) of a movie - I think they’d be listened to more.
Came here to say this.
Also, the box set of The Matrix Trilogy has two sets of commentary: One by philosophy professors who like the films, and one by movie critics who hate them. The latter is incredibly great.
Fight Club. Because Edward Norton is a subversive little fuck, and Brad Pitt is a moron. It’s hilarious.
Zodiac’s commentary track with James Ellroy. Pure unadulterated awesome.