DVD commentaries: Most informative and most entertaining?

From those involved with the film itself, I want something with some spark to it - ie, the participants sound interested in the discussion - that also gives us good insights into the creation of the flick.

From historians, I'd like the same "tone" - not too dry/aloof - with a mix of history about the filmmakers and facts about the production itself.

That's why I defended Rudy Behlmer earlier - I think he always sounds "invested" in his commentaries and he nicely balances the elements I mentioned.

On the "filmmaker" side, actors and producers tend to be the worst. Actors tend to be superficial about the movie, whereas producers are too "safe" - they don't want to alienate anyone they might have to hire again!

Exceptions occur, of course...

 

Pan's Labyrinth, by its director, has been the best so far.

 

Agree that it's an excellent commentary. From my review:

"In other words, del Toro touches on pretty much everything one would want to learn about the movie. A veteran of the format, he handles the commentary with ease and reveals a thoughtful filmmaker who invests a ton of energy into his work. Del Torn gives us a terrific and insightful chat. "

That's typical for del Toro, though, as he has literally never released a commentary I thought was less than great.

Del Toro is the gold standard for director commentaries - he always offers fascinating chats!

 

According to DVD Commentary - TV Tropes , the commentaries on the old Criterion laserdiscs of the first three James Bond films were so controversial that they've never been able to be included on any of the DVD/Blu-ray editions. Anyone here own these discs and/or know what was so controversial about the commentary tracks?

 

I have Dr. No. The commentary is insufficiently deferetial to the Broccolis.

 

I like David Kalat's commentaries. He does a lot of research and dead space in his commentaries is very rare. On the Criterion Godzilla/Gojira DVD I love how he shows a film critic's hypocrisy regarding the movie. He quotes him saying it is a terrible movie and no one in it knows how to act. Then he refers to the same critic praising Ikiru's star, Takashi Shiimura, as probably the greatest movie actor in the world at that time. Shimura has a prominent role in Godzilla/Gojira. Too bad Kalat has retired from doing commentaris.

 

I only owned "Goldfinger" and haven't had it for decades, but I don't recall anything provocative or "controversial". I think someone made a slightly critical remark but nothing extreme...

 

He probably doesn’t like doing a scene by scene commentary, and the Making Of featurettes are more general in tone, although the commentaries I have heard, aside from academics, are usually a general overview anyway. David Lynch is another who avoids commentaries, preferring the film to speak for itself, but he does include copious amounts of behind the scenes stuff, especially on the Twin Peaks releases. He was even against including chapters on his dvds, preferring the films to be viewed from beginning to end, but he has relented in recent years.

Personally I prefer commentaries where the commentators are together; I’m not so keen when they are compiled from different recordings and locations. I find them disjointed, and less interesting as a result.

 

Lately I like "The Outer Limits" commentary tracks on the new box. The one on "The Thing" with Carpenter and Russell was one of the best around.

 

I like Philip Kaufman's commentary on The Wanderers DVD. Very entertaining and informative without smothering the movie.

 

he does a great one on invasion of the body snatchers too

 

I loved Roger Ebert's commentary on Citizen Kane. The man knew his stuff, but he also had the gift of making the commentary feel conversational, like he's in the room talking with you - not at you.

Another commentary I loved was Sam Mendes discussing Skyfall - he's very candid about the challenge of making a Bond movie seem fresh for an audience that's seen all sides of James Bond and at the same time, affectionate about the fun elements he felt had been missing from the series.

Now, I don't know if it qualifies as "great" but the audio commentary to Alien vs Predator is worth hearing simply because the actors - Lance Henrikson and others - are drinking red wine while doing it...and you can hear them start to get lit as the film progresses...

 

I suspected it was something inconsequential like that.
Another "controversial" commentary I've always been curious about is the one for the Italian post-apocalyptic film 2019: After the Fall of New York. The commentary was included on Shriek Show's original DVD release, but the disc was quickly recalled and replaced with a reissued version that had the commentary removed. Most likely it was just another case of a participant making a relatively harmless or mildly offensive remark and someone else totally over-reacting.

 

I have two favorites. First, the oft mentioned Spinal Tap "in character" commentary and second, the Trey Parker and Matt Stone drunken commentary on the Cannibal The Musical dvd. Neither for their insight, but for the sheer entertainment value.

 

the grown up kids on the willy wonka (original) is very good

 

I would offer anything with John Carpenter and Kurt Russell. Each one feels like you're having a few beers and watching the movie with some happily boisterous , highly-informative friends.

 

Agree! From my review:

"Throughout the track, we learn a slew of fun little details about the making of the film. Because it concentrates on the kids, we don’t hear too much of the more “adult” aspects of creating the flick, so don’t expect nuts and bolts details about the project. However, we get a compelling perspective that covers lots of notes one wouldn’t normally expect to learn. The five provide entertaining minutiae about their experiences, and they offer a load of cute and winning anecdotes.

Despite the emphasis on the “kid’s-eye” view, we still get a fair amount of additional details. For example, we hear a few changes between the book and the film, and we get some reflections on other perspectives, such as the Oompa-Loompa who apparently thought he was really guiding the Wonkatania. The participants maintain a very warm and lively chemistry and they make the piece quite charming. Ultimately, I found the commentary to be fairly terrific and it should be strongly embraced by Wonka fans."

 

The commentary for Sunset Boulevard is done by a film critic, whose name I can't recall now. It's a scholarly essay and very insightful and informative.

 

Jack Nicholson's for The Passenger is very interesting - it's surprising to hear him because he doesn't often do commentaries. At the end, he hopes he hasn't been 'too distracting.'

 

Neither of the two commentaries from the 2006 Sony DVD — Jack Nicholson and writer Mark Peploe — were well received at the time. I haven’t played the Nicholson one since I first bought the DVD, but I remember passages of silence, where he doesn’t have anything to say, and times when he’s just describing the action on the screen; not what I’m looking for in an audio commentary.

I recently upgraded to the Indicator BD, and have listened to the new commentary by Australian film critic Adrian Martin. Much more like it! Martin is always an engaging, and thoughtful, commentator. Here, he approaches The Passenger as a work of art, rather than simply listing off a series of production details.

Adrian Martin has done a lot of audio commentaries over the years, mainly for the Madman, BFI, and Masters of Cinema labels. Surprised he hasn’t been mentioned already in this thread.

Adrian Martin - Wikipedia

 

Any commentary by Ted V. Mikels. They are so ridiculous they're inadvertently hilarious. All he does is give a play-by-play of what you're watching. For instance, from The Doll Squad:

"Here's Tura again."

"Ooooo ... she just kicked him in the head!"

"Now it's night."

It just goes on and on ... and on!

 

It was Wilder biographer Ed Sikov. I had mixed feelings:


"Sikov provides an inconsistent track. At times, he tells us some good background information. He goes over the deleted opening segment as well as background for many of the participants and inside information that modern audiences might need to better understand the film.

Unfortunately, Sikov often simply tells us the on-screen action, and the piece also suffers from way too many empty spaces, especially during the movie’s second half. I dislike those gaps under any circumstance, but they’re particularly bothersome when they come from a film historian. Sikov could have covered many topics related to the filmmakers that would have filled the commentary, so the many empty sections make this track sporadically useful but often frustrating."

 

Well: one to definitely avoid is Peter Brunette's commentary on the Blow-Up DVD. The man has about as much of a clue as you or I as to what the film is about and practically telegraphs his cluelessness. Long, long stretches of silence, too.

 

That's mostly because del Toro is a huge film nerd himself, and knows what we all want. He's referred to himself as "The Geek from Guadalajara".

 

It's been a great many years, but I have a memory of some sexist remarks regarding the women on screen. I noticed it but felt it was a generational thing - just an old guy saying something that would have been allowed in the Mad Men generation but frowned upon today. That's my memory, at least.

Found a link to the complete commentaries:

Banned James Bond Commentaries | The James Bond 007 Dossier