DVD commentaries

[trailerguy]

Some of the best DVD comms i have listened to:

Die Hard <- One of the best technical commentaries ever

Fight Club

Donnie Darko: Directors Cut - Kevin Smith and Richard Kelly

Go - Doug Liman

Primer <- Where so much more of the film is explained.

[Porkchopexpress]

Let the right one in - The commentary between the author and the director is warm, engaging and quite funny in places, a genuine sense of friendship between the two, with a dry sense of humour.

Have to echo Carpenter/Russell commentaries, my favourite being Big Trouble in LIttle China, as you may have guessed.

Dog Sodiers cast commentary is aces too, lots of insight and banter.

Commentaries bring me back to mediocre films that have congealed in my collection, a good commentary is a great addition to a dvd and is always the first extra I look for.

Apart from Will Ferell ones where the staged comedy is just too forced and comes across more annoying than funny.

[magenta50]

My favourite commentaries include the Fincher and cast one on Fight Club, Carpenter and Russell on The Thing and George Romero, Tom Savini and Lori Cardille on Day of The Dead. The best one I've listened to in a long time though is Gaspar Noe's one on Irreversible. So packed and informative like a good commentary should be.

[Jeffbiscuits]

Anyone remember The Usual Suspects VHS release. Came with two cassettes. The second one had a commentary with Chris McQuarrie and Bryan Singer. This was the first film commentary I ever heard. Was it the first ever film commentary?

P.S. I know this post isn't about a DVD commentary but VHS.

[Roba Fett]

Yeah, I had that VHS edition. It was the first commentary I'd ever seen/heard too. I just put it on out of curiosity - wasn't sure if I'd make it all the way through but it turned out to be highly entertaining and quite insightful (which I guess is the point). Haven't watched too many since but Fight Club and The Thing were very good. Actually (and this may be a touch masochistic) I've made it through all three cast commentaries of The Lord Of The Rings trilogy - extended cuts!

Did you know, Viggo broke his toe when he kicks the helmet after discovering the pile of burnt bodies in The Two Towers? The scream as he drops to his knees is real.

I must admit I've watched all the hours of documentaries included in the special editions too... man, I love those films.

[Jeffbiscuits]

Do you think that was the first film commentary. It was a new experience for me when I watched it. When I buy a DVD I gradually work my way through ALL the extra features, except crap music videos and stuff like that. If a DVD has several different commentaries I eventually get round to watching them all.

[Roba Fett]

Now that's dedication, I'm impressed. I've watched the commentaries on maybe 2% of my dvd collection - I just don't get the time. I was an early convert to dvd and in the beginning film choices were very limited so I tended to watch every scrap of bonus material including a few comms, but as dvd's became more prevalent and my collection grew I found myself watching less and less of the extras (LOTR aside).
They're not something I really consider watching now (there's too many good films I haven't seen) but I might dip my toe if one came highly recommended.
Back to your question, no it wasn't the first. The original King Kong on laserdisc started it all off apparently, way back in 1984!

[Kiba.]

I think laser discs were the first format to make audio commentary a regular standard feature. It then spread to DVD.

[Jeffbiscuits]

Originally Posted by The original [B

King Kong[/b] on laserdisc started it all off apparently, way back in 1984!

Wow! Didn't realise they went back so far. And I feel that if I watch all the extras I'm actually getting value for money from my purchase. I can take a couple of months to work my way through all the comentaries. I suppose though if it's a film you like or love, then the value for money is in the repeated viewing of the film and not the extras.

[rickyroma316]

The Criterion Collection edition of RoboCop has a fantastic commentary. I also love the commentaries for the Monty Python films.