I think I'd have to go with American Splendor. Listening to Harvey Pekar and Toby Radloff being themselves showed how spot on the portrayals in the movie were.

Kenny Johnson----The Incredible Hulk series Pilot and the 2 hour episode "Married"

Bey Logan and Maggie Q---Naked Weapon (Region 2 HKL)----Probably the only time you will ever hear Maggie Q on a commentary track. She and Logan are very good friends.

Mark Gordon and Graham Yost---Speed-----Gordon and Yost were very fun to listen to and actually made fun of the movie at certain points. Gordon also mentioned that he had nothing to do with Speed 2 even though he was credited as Producer.

[QUOTE=jeffbase34]
Road House - commentary with Kevin Smith - absolutely hilarious. You feel like you are right there with the guys ragging on this hokey flick.

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I was looking forward to this commentary, and whilst its ok....they spend waaaayyyy too much time going through the Chuck Norris/Dalton jokes. It just seems like they have little to talk about and just put in the jokes to fill up time.

I really like the Fight Club commentaries with cast and director. Also Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas has awesome commentaries. Especially the Hunter S. Thompson commentary.

I really enjoy Paul Verhoeven's commentaries.

Any Edward Burns films. I like the way he explains where the scenes were shot. They are usually places around New York and Long Island where he grew up, so he is very familiar with them. He also tells you little tricks to shoot movies on a low budget. Obviously, I'm a big Ed Burns fan, so that helps.

I met him at the Mill Valley Film Festival a few years back.

All of Terry Gilliam's commentaries. He's extremely engaging, funny, and insightful. He talks constantly and he never seems bored by watching his own films (something that I think even good commentaries often suffer from). I tend to prefer his solo commentaries, such as the one on Brazil, but he is also good with other people. The Jabberwocky commentary with Michael Palin (I think?) is more entertaining than the film IMO. The two have great chemistry together, even on a commentary track. The track on 12 Monkeys is good as well, although I would say it's good despite the producer's presence rather than because of it.

Fear and Loathing has excellent commentaries as well, not only from Gilliam, but from Hunter S. Thompson himself. A real treat for any HST fan, this has to be one of the most unique commentary tracks out there, with Hunter randomly letting out high pitched screeches for ten seconds at a time.

I have yet to hear either the Munchausen commentary (finally released on the 20th anniversary DVD this month, so I'll have my chance soon enough) or the Fisher King commentary (my favorite Gilliam film), both from the original Criterion Laserdisc releases. Hopefully Fisher King will get the 20th anniversary treatment in a few years.

I like Cronenberg's commentaries quite a bit as well, particularly on History of Violence. There's so much in his films that I don't pick up on, or that I interpret in entirely different ways than Cronenberg himself does. You also get a really good sense of what his directorial process is like and how he works with actors. I had a whole new found respect for Maria Bello after listening to Cronenberg talk about her performance, and I really interpretted the character, and even the entire film, in a different way afterwards.

While it sort of feels like "cheating" to watch the commentary to help figure a film out, I always find it enjoyable and I don't think it corrupts my own idea of the film at all. Cronenberg's commentary on Spider for instance was completely removed from anything I ever thought while watching the film. I didn't particularly like it when I first watched it, I suppose it was over my head, but after listening to his thoughts on it I was really blown away by its treatment of sexual identity, trauma, and the massive impact that a damaged sexual psyche can have on one's entire life. Really astounding stuff if you ask me, and it takes a lot of the more disturbing themes of Crash to another level.

Speaking of Crash, I'd love to hear the commentary track for it but it's only on Criterion laserdisc. Someone posted the last ten minutes of it on Youtube, and it sounds like its really fascinating. I've actually considered getting a laserdisc player to finally hear some of these, as I love commentaries, but I haven't come up with enough titles that would be worth the investment, not to mention that some of the ones I had wanted are still coming out on DVD. Anyone know of other lost laserdisc commentaries not transferred to DVD? I know that there's a slew of Criterion editions that never made the switch.

On another Cronenberg note, has anyone heard the eXistenZ commentary? It's available on the Australian DVD I know, but not on R1. I've considered importing it, but I already have the R1 so I'd basically be paying for the commentary and nothing else.

I also like Michael Jeck's Kurosawa commentaries for Criterion. Donald Richie is okay as well, but I really prefer Jeck overall. His Seven Samuria commentary is one of the most in depth I've ever heard.

For least favorite commentators, I would have to say that I really don't like Bey Logan for some reason. A lot of people seem to, as he does almost every Dragon Dynasty release, and used to do almost all the commentaries for Hong Kong Legends releases as well. I love Hong Kong action cinema, but I really don't find this guy particularly interesting. I think RZA and Tarantino are far more interesting, Logan seems very dry to me. RZA on 36 Chambers for instance is a really great commentary track, not only does he know the movie inside out but he knows the specific Kung Fu forms practiced in the film, he even mentions the lineages of the masters who teach them.

This is Spinal Tap -- commentary by Spinal Tap (in character)

they are both excellent, the way Gilliam talks never seems tiring and he always finds something fascinating to say about the film

~

The Jungle Book's commentary is the by far my favourite Disney DVD commentary (sans the Pixar films)

MGM's commentary for Fame is fascinating because while it's Alan Parker in audio form, the DVD offers a branching off point to various cast members during the duration of the film in video form, the real surprise though is

[side comment: Room with A View has one the dullest most unengaging commentaries - a major disappointment for such a great film]

his commentary WITH Arnold for Total Recall is excellent btw.

Also Arnold's and director's Conan commentary was good.

I liked both commentaries on the DVD of May.

I should add also the commentary on Black Hawn Down from the army ranger guys was really good.

Practically anything by:

Kevin Smith
John Carpenter
Bruce Campbell
Joe Bob Briggs
John Waters
David Fincher
David Cronenberg


They certainly are. Hell, the man got me to purchase The Double-D Avenger for christ's sake! That is truly one of the worst movies ever made, yet his commentary had me in stitches for the entire 77 minutes.

I don't know if this counts but for you wrestling fans, Mick Foley and Kevin Kelly's commentary on the "Kennel in Cell" match on the Mick Foley: Hard Knocks and Cheap Pops DVD. It's basically a 20 minute riff on Al Snow and that ridiculous match.

That is way cool! I am jealous of you now!

Another vote for the Fincher/Pitt/Norton commentary on Fight Club.

The commentaries on Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz are entertaining. The Wright/Tarantino commentary on Hot Fuzz is a full-on geekfest.

The Fellowship of the Ring: Special Extended Edition - Cast Commentary

Opposite of subject but, No Country For Old Men should have had a commentary and I imagine it will when a SE or Director's cut comes out.

I liked the commentary from "Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday".