Re: No holds barred commentaries
 

I still think of the Hulk Hogan movie every time I see this thread.

Re: No holds barred commentaries
 

:banana: Agreed. I actually got a bit excited too.... Damnit.

Re: No holds barred commentaries
 

Re: No holds barred commentaries
 

The commentary for the movie "Cheerleader Massacre" bashes the movie for most of the running time. The director and one of the lead actresses basically mock the movie for two hours, and they each pause once during the commentary to answer their cellphones and have a conversation. It's both annoying and funny.

Re: No holds barred commentaries
 

Rob Cohen's commentary for The Running Man is probably one of my favorites. He talks about the how the project came to be, casting, hollywood politics, his thoughts on the final film, and other stuff. I think this may be my favorite type of commentary. More behind the scenes and general thoughts than the actual specific filmmaking itself. Although I certainly like those, too.

List of my other favorite behind the scenes/general thoughts commentaries:

Footloose: Craig Zadan/Dean Pitchford
Rain Man: Ronald Bass
First Blood: David Morrell
American Psycho: Guinevere Turner

Re: No holds barred commentaries
 

I can't believe it took this long for someone to mention Caligula! The 3rd commentary track from Penthouse writer Ernest Volkman is a total trip into the insane, impulsive & narcissistic head-space of Bob Guccione.

The Caligula Imperial Edition DVD set is the king of "no holds barred"!

Re: No holds barred commentaries
 

-Alien 3 Special Edition: various mentions of its troubled production & some criticisms of the studio's final cut
-C.H.U.D.: Hilarious. Pretty much non-stop razzing from the cast.
-I Spit On Your Grave: the Joe Bob Briggs track
-Salvador: Oliver Stone does a good job explaining this film's rich, conflicted & perilous history
-The Wicker Man (1973) [OOP 2-Disc Collector's Edition, Anchor Bay, 2006] : Christopher Lee repeatedly states his dismay & suspicions over what really happened to the missing footage

Re: No holds barred commentaries
 

Almost everything juicy on that was cut. It's weird they didn't allow some of the comments that spoke bad about the studio to be on the DVD when at the same time the original Alien has tons of stuff with bitter old man Dan O'Bannon attempting to take credit for everything in both the commentary and the documentaries.

But anyways, I actually get annoyed when people hold back commentary. I have never really noticed too many DVDs where the commentary turns mean or slanderous, though.

My nominations to the thread:
- John K. on Ren and Stimpy and about anything else - John K. is a very difficult person, angry as well, but he's not afraid to loudly say his opinion. On his Ren and Stimpy commentaries, multiple times names have to be bleeped out since he's talking bad about them. He's not afraid to tear apart the episodes he didn't direct, for better or worse. He also seems to randomly appear on other classic cartoon DVDs, not just Looney Tunes, but usually it ends up with him gushing about Bob Clampett or finding phallic symbols. Always entertaining at least.
-Mike Mignola on Hellboy Animated - Mike Mignola doesn't exactly fit, but he wasn't afraid to be critical about a lot of the ugly characters or bad animation of the Hellboy Animated movies. Unfortunately, he's not critical enough, and I get the feeling the guy was holding back a lot, especially when the director makes excuses for the deadline being tight or having to deal with resending bad animation back to Korea etc...
- William Goldman on Panic Room - He had nothing to do with the movie (he was joined with a producer) but I felt he was honest and didn't pull any punches when talking. He obviously enjoyed the movie enough, but was critical when he needed to be when all of the other commentaries did nothing but gush about Fincher.

I like Fincher movies and all, but the guy seems extremely difficult to work with just based on his intense OCD like precision. Disc 3 of Panic Room also has a great series of shorts all on the special effects and the visual effects supervisor comes off hilarious as well, speaking honestly about his grief with Fincher wanting to do everything the most difficult and complex way possible. Great insight into what special effects guys go through as well.

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Yeah, but you still have stuff like the Irish actor who played Gallic (sp?) explaining how his character makes no sense in the theatrical cut. I enjoyed all the talk on the extended cut about the completely excised subplot where they actually caught the alien a first time but the psychotic Gallic breaks out of quarantine to release "the dragon," at which point he meets his end. In the theatrical cut Gallic just inexplicably disappears.

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Why isn't this out on DVD?!?

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I believe Vince McMahon owns the rights to the Rip character and I know he owns the right's to Zues so that is probally why there is no DVD.

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Now...I LOVED this movie as a kid. Is it amazing? No. Is it a great piece of nostalgia from my childhood?..fuck yes it is.

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I will always dislike how "Ren & Stimpy" got treated on Nick, but I just can't bring myself to respect John K. when he screwed up the *NEW* R&S.

I'm glad he got the "all speed ahead" to do R&S without intervention, but not that it came at the cost of the original two season's subtlety and absurd humor.

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The "Superman IV: The Quest for Peace" SE audio commentary by the film's screenwriter is like that episode of "The Simpsons"--where Kevin Costner is apologizing throughout the "Waterworld" DVD.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what we were thinking..."

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Jodorowsky on his Fando & Lis commentary:
"Dees actor, I hate heem! Watch how I torture heem!"

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Ohh, I just remembered a great one:

VENOM (this Venom: http://blue-underground.com/product.php?product=11 ). The film is crap, but it is very entertaining to hear Piers Haggard talk about the constant screaming matches & obscenities spewed back and forth between Klaus Kinski & Oliver Reed. ("You fucking Nazi!" "You British ****!")
And some other unflattering behind-the-scenes info, like Klaus Kinski really hurting Susan George during their scenes together.
Poor Sterling Hayden just kept to himself and smoked pot in his trailer.

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Oh God, I remember that movie! It had slipped my memory for so long, but that post has just made it all come flooding back! Gonna have to pick that one up.

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James Ellroy in his hilariously profane commentary for Don Siegel's The Lineup
in the box set Columbia Pictures Film Noir Classics, Vol. 1.

One of the few times I have ever watched a film the whole way thru just to hear the commentary. I played this for my Brother in law and he enjoyed himself so much he wanted to watch it twice with the commentary!

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Lust for a Vampire's commentary track has some good surprises. Jimmy Sangster bounces between apology and anger for having almost no control as director, while Suzanna Leigh and Marcus Hearn relate some unflattering but amusing stories about Terence Fisher dropping out of the film's production.

Type O Negative's commentary tracks for After Dark and Symphony for the Devil are hilarious as they make fun of each other and rip apart their own performances.

Another favorite of mine is the Oliver Stone Director's Cut commentary for Alexander, especially his reaction to the controversy as to whether the character was gay or not.

Re: No holds barred commentaries
 

one that come to mind that i havent seen yet, the theatrical version of daredevil (anything to a bad cgi backdrop, some of the dodgy cgi people, pointing out the editing fuck up where ben says a line twice but the first time is lipped, the constant battles over the costume color and more are discussed.) also in the commentary (which i am shocked they didn't mute it), during the scene/shot where Elektra has to building hop, Johnson made a joke saying 'yeah, we almost hired John Landis', and the other guy that was there kind of did an 'oh shit, well they'll edit it out, and mention what it referenced)

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I must thank you for this suggestion, it made me laugh harder than I have in ages. And then I watched the movie with Rifftrax

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Shatner can whine all he likes about how the studio messed with his film, but the simple fact is that the script stank, (Shatner was the story creator and hired someone incompetent to pen the screenplay) and Shatner as a director stinks just as bad (his track record on all of the other films he's directed backs this up 100%) Shatner was also involved in hiring the jokester who did some or all of the effects (Bran Ferren). He also had a higher budget to work with than what Nimoy was given for Trek 4.

Shatner's ego is legendary, and I believe that he simply cannot admit his sizeable role in making a horrible film.

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Pink Floyd: The Wall
Participants: Roger Waters & Gerald Scarfe

Waters is open about the biographical elements & which scenes get to him, he hints a few times at his conflicts with Alan Parker, but at a certain point his wicked sense of humor takes over as he takes potshots at the non-stop somberness of the film; especially when Geldof makes physical contact with the wall ("Oi tink I hear somethin' tickin'!") He and Scarfe also reflect on some of the animation: "It's a bit misogynistic, don't you think?" Great commentary, Waters had me laughing out loud a lot.

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I love the commentaries for Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Philadelphia. They're both by the writer and director. Both tracks are laid back, and they don't seem prepared that much, they just have some really entertaining and informational thoughts.

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Why not Paul Verhoeven on Starship Troopers??

"Digital... Real... Digital.... Real.... Digital... *BLOODCURDLING SCREAM THAT WAKES UP THE NEIGHBORS*..."