Anybody hear any good DVD commentaries?

[Sharktopus]

The commentary for the uncut Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker is great. There's a hilarious moment where they talk about Mark Hamill getting worried that he might have to record another "Joker-falling-from-a-really-tall-location" yell (which apparently happened a lot during Batman: The Animated Series) during one of the recording sessions, and someone does a pitch-perfect impersonation of him whining "He's not gonna fall from someplace really high again, is he?"

I forgot all about that! All the Bruce Timm DC Animated commentaries are full of nuggets like that. I remember them mentioning how they put a bunch of weird props on the Joker's operating table in the flashback in an attempt to tone down the horror - I think there's a plunger, among other things - but it just made the scene creepier. That happened a lot with the Joker. Like, they couldn't have him outright kill people, so they had him gas his victims, leaving them laughing uncontrollably with a horrible rictus that's way more disturbing. Good stuff.

[TTYT]

The commentary for Pitch Black (Director's Cut) is great, too - David Towhy talking about Keith David getting pissed off at the sled the characters drag across the planet in one of the chase scenes is probably the best part ("MotherFUCKER!")

Oh, and the commentaries by the dub crew and cast for the anime series Read or Die: The TV (R.O.D. The TV) are pretty good, too. My favourite moment is the British guy who dubbed the character "Joker" noting that when he did the dub for Hellsing, a lot of the fan complaints were that the British accents in the dub were fake, and apparently his - real - British accent was singled out as "being the most fake."

[Thrifty]

The commentaries for Thank You For Smoking are great.  There's one by director Jason Reitman, and a second where Reitman is joined by actors David Koechner (the gun lobbyist) and star Aaron Eckhart.

There's a scene toward the end of the movie where the Merchants of Death are in the restaurant, and Koechner orders a slice of apple pie with a slice of cheese.  Apparently there's a very critical thread on IMDB where people complain about the inconsistency of the state of the cheese.  In the Reitman only track, he angrily berates the critics, basically saying "Get a life.  I had a million more important things on my mind than the fucking cheese."

[Thrifty]

Yes, I'm pretty sure Spielberg thinks that too. Unless he's still using that "too busy" excuse.

I think his official excuse was that a commentary distracts the viewer from the movie.  Which is stupid because who the hell watches a commentary before they've seen the movie (Rifftrax excepted)?

I've noticed that most commentary tracks have one of the commenters saying "you should watch the movie / episode of the show before watching this commentary".  Oh really?  Gee I never realized that.  Is anyone really that stupid that they don't realize the commentary completely drowns out the movie's dialogue, and you need to watch the movie first if you're at all interested in following it?

[stansimpson]

Yes, I'm pretty sure Spielberg thinks that too. Unless he's still using that "too busy" excuse.

I think his official excuse was that a commentary distracts the viewer from the movie.  Which is stupid because who the hell watches a commentary before they've seen the movie (Rifftrax excepted)?

I've noticed that most commentary tracks have one of the commenters saying "you should watch the movie / episode of the show before watching this commentary".  Oh really?  Gee I never realized that.  Is anyone really that stupid that they don't realize the commentary completely drowns out the movie's dialogue, and you need to watch the movie first if you're at all interested in following it?

That's come up a surprisingly amount of times to me.  I'll be listening to the commentary and then the conversation gets brought up, "Oh, in case you haven't seen this yet..."  And inevitably, the other guy asks "But then why would they be listening to this?"  But it's even weirder when the other guy doesn't bring that up or also apologizes for spoilers.  I've never heard of anybody watching a movie they haven't seen and switching to the commentary.  Ok, unless maybe they're bored... but if they're that bored, I think spoilers aren't gonna be a big thing to the guy who's lost interest in the movie.  It's uncanny.

[Doctor Who?]

The new Toy story Blu Ray has a pretty great track,my only gripe it that an voice comes on and tells you the name of the person speaking every time it changes.  First of I am not an idiot I can keep track of who is talking,second it gets in the way of people talking to each other and that is really the best part of the track.  Still it's pretty good,I had no idea they used so many cheats just to make the shots work.

[Thrifty]

Yes, I'm pretty sure Spielberg thinks that too. Unless he's still using that "too busy" excuse.

I think his official excuse was that a commentary distracts the viewer from the movie.  Which is stupid because who the hell watches a commentary before they've seen the movie (Rifftrax excepted)?

I've noticed that most commentary tracks have one of the commenters saying "you should watch the movie / episode of the show before watching this commentary".  Oh really?  Gee I never realized that.  Is anyone really that stupid that they don't realize the commentary completely drowns out the movie's dialogue, and you need to watch the movie first if you're at all interested in following it?

That's come up a surprisingly amount of times to me.  I'll be listening to the commentary and then the conversation gets brought up, "Oh, in case you haven't seen this yet..."  And inevitably, the other guy asks "But then why would they be listening to this?"  But it's even weirder when the other guy doesn't bring that up or also apologizes for spoilers.  I've never heard of anybody watching a movie they haven't seen and switching to the commentary.  Ok, unless maybe they're bored... but if they're that bored, I think spoilers aren't gonna be a big thing to the guy who's lost interest in the movie.  It's uncanny.

I think maybe I'm just going to start renting movies I have no intention of watching, just to watch the commentary tracks.  Then I'll write angry letters to the commenters expressing my rage for spoiling the movie for me.

[Doctor Who?]

Yes, I'm pretty sure Spielberg thinks that too. Unless he's still using that "too busy" excuse.

I think his official excuse was that a commentary distracts the viewer from the movie.  Which is stupid because who the hell watches a commentary before they've seen the movie (Rifftrax excepted)?

I've noticed that most commentary tracks have one of the commenters saying "you should watch the movie / episode of the show before watching this commentary".  Oh really?  Gee I never realized that.  Is anyone really that stupid that they don't realize the commentary completely drowns out the movie's dialogue, and you need to watch the movie first if you're at all interested in following it?

That's come up a surprisingly amount of times to me.  I'll be listening to the commentary and then the conversation gets brought up, "Oh, in case you haven't seen this yet..."  And inevitably, the other guy asks "But then why would they be listening to this?"  But it's even weirder when the other guy doesn't bring that up or also apologizes for spoilers.  I've never heard of anybody watching a movie they haven't seen and switching to the commentary.  Ok, unless maybe they're bored... but if they're that bored, I think spoilers aren't gonna be a big thing to the guy who's lost interest in the movie.  It's uncanny.

I think maybe I'm just going to start renting movies I have no intention of watching, just to watch the commentary tracks.  Then I'll write angry letters to the commenters expressing my rage for spoiling the movie for me.

That would be so awsome!

[bratpop]

I've watched movies with only the Rifftrax, but I was never outraged that they were talking over. Well, okay, a couple of times I wanted to know what the dialogue was, since they don't pay much attention to whether or not what they're talking over has any relevance later in the movie. But in the case of it being too awful to watch unriffed, it can be an issue.

But in regards to spoilers in the commentary... I think they're overthinking the concept of the track.

[Darth Geek]

The new Toy story Blu Ray has a pretty great track,my only gripe it that an voice comes on and tells you the name of the person speaking every time it changes.  First of I am not an idiot I can keep track of who is talking,second it gets in the way of people talking to each other and that is really the best part of the track.  Still it's pretty good,I had no idea they used so many cheats just to make the shots work.

Is it different than the DVD commentaries? Those are great.

[Doctor Who?]

The new Toy story Blu Ray has a pretty great track,my only gripe it that an voice comes on and tells you the name of the person speaking every time it changes.  First of I am not an idiot I can keep track of who is talking,second it gets in the way of people talking to each other and that is really the best part of the track.  Still it's pretty good,I had no idea they used so many cheats just to make the shots work.

Is it different than the DVD commentaries? Those are great.

I have never been able to get a copy of the dvd that had the extras because it seems it was only released for 15 minutes so i don't know if it is the same one but it is pretty good.

[stansimpson]

A must-see for anyone who's listened to a dvd commentary before.  It's College Humor's "Commentary: The Movie" (I love the concept here):

http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1931871

[Sharktopus]

The new Toy story Blu Ray has a pretty great track,my only gripe it that an voice comes on and tells you the name of the person speaking every time it changes.  First of I am not an idiot I can keep track of who is talking,second it gets in the way of people talking to each other and that is really the best part of the track.  Still it's pretty good,I had no idea they used so many cheats just to make the shots work.

Is it different than the DVD commentaries? Those are great.

I have never been able to get a copy of the dvd that had the extras because it seems it was only released for 15 minutes so i don't know if it is the same one but it is pretty good.

I have this DVD release:



Never actually listened to the commentaries though. I should do that before Toy Story 3 comes out.

[Darth Geek]

The new Toy story Blu Ray has a pretty great track,my only gripe it that an voice comes on and tells you the name of the person speaking every time it changes.  First of I am not an idiot I can keep track of who is talking,second it gets in the way of people talking to each other and that is really the best part of the track.  Still it's pretty good,I had no idea they used so many cheats just to make the shots work.

Is it different than the DVD commentaries? Those are great.

I have never been able to get a copy of the dvd that had the extras because it seems it was only released for 15 minutes so i don't know if it is the same one but it is pretty good.

I have this DVD release:



Never actually listened to the commentaries though. I should do that before Toy Story 3 comes out.

That's the set I have. The commentaries are great.

[Sharktopus]

That's the set I have. The commentaries are great.

And the box is so shiny!