10 Great Movie Commentaries

Recently I picked up Collateral on Blu-Ray, a very good movie which I thoroughly enjoy. One of the main reasons I picked it up though was that I noticed the Blu-Ray contains commentary by Michael Mann on it which my DVD version does not.

I very much enjoy commentaries on movies, they're easily one of my favorite features. A good commentary can add so much additional great information to a movie. Over the years I've listened to many good commentaries and some really awful ones. Since I haven't listened to every movie commentary, hell not even every commentary on the movies I own, I don't feel right calling this the "10 Best Commentaries" and instead I've decided to give you a list of ten really good commentaries worth listening to.

In no particular order:

First Blood

This is with David Morrell, writer of the novel that First Blood is based off of. This one is rather interesting because it's almost a look at this movie from a fresh set of eyes. Sure this is the man who wrote the novel, but he didn't appear to have a whole lot to do with the actual making of the movie. So it's almost like insider knowledge but from a different point of view, it's not a star, it's not a director, and it's not a producer but it's a man who knows a lot about Rambo. It's also interesting to hear the differences between the novel and the movie. The novel ends completely different from the movie, and hearing about it from a very interesting guy makes me want to read it that much more.

Aliens

The cast of Aliens. This is kind of a cheat, because not the entire commentary is done with the cast. There's actually three commentaries, one with James Cameron and I believe a couple other execs, the woman who played Newt and I think her real life brother who also plays her on screen brother as well, and then random cast members. They then took these three commentaries and spliced them all together to make one. The parts with James Cameron and the execs? Not all that exciting. The ones with Newt? Kind of interesting because that was her only acting job, she later went on to become a school teacher... but the cast commentary? Gold. It's like one big party with them, they're laughing they're joking and they're telling stories. Their part of the commentary is brief, I think they only have about three, five minute sections in the entire movie but even in the short time I realized that I want an entire commentary with these guys.

Citizen Kane

With Roger Ebert. I've always enjoyed Citizen Kane since the first time I saw it, but I don't think I ever really appreciated it until I listened to the commentary with Roger Ebert. Even though I don't necessarily always agree with him, I can't deny that the man knows his stuff when it comes to cinema. He talks about Citizen Kane in such a way that it made me view the movie in an entirely different way. He points out the little things in the movie that I would have never known about. Which in the end helped make the movie what it was, one of the best movies ever made.

The Usual Suspects

With director Bryan Singer and screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie. The odd thing about this is that I don't actually remember what made this commentary so good. It was one of the first commentaries that I listened to and I remember just being transfixed with what they were saying. Basically what it comes down to is that you have the minds behind one of the greatest movies of the last twenty years telling you how they did it... what's not to love?


Black Hawk Down

Special Forces Members. First off it you haven't read the book go out and do so. Mark Bowden is a phenomenal writer and Black Hawk Down remains one of my favorite books of all time. I loved the movie as well, so when they released the 3-Disc Special Edition DVD I had to have it. I believe there's three separate commentary tracks on the DVDs, but the one that stands out is the one done by the people who were there. That's right, you get to hear it straight from the horses mouth. Members of various special forces groups who were actually being portrayed in the movie. I was very glad to see that this little gem made it on to the Blu-Ray release as well.

The Thing

John Carpenter and Kurt Russel. These two seem like they're just having a lot of fun. They come off as two guys who you could sit and have a beer with while you bullshitted about the movie, and really those kind of commentaries seem to make for the most interesting ones. It's also kind of interesting in the fact that it seems in Hollywood people rarely speak ill of each other, you don't really hear people publicly saying they don't like someone. Not in this commentary. If you want to hear two people who really don't like Wilford Brimley talk about what a pain in the ass he was on the set, this commentary is for you.

Platoon

With Dale Dye. Dale Dye has a very small part in Platoon and was the military advisor for the film, you might not recognize him as Captain Harris in the movie but I guarantee you'll recognize him from one of his countless other roles. Much like the Black Hawk Down commentary it's interesting to hear someone's perspective who was actually there since both Dale Dye and Oliver Stone served in Vietnam. A lot of the commentary talks about his experiences with the movie, his experiences in Vietnam and what the movie did and didn't get right. I still haven't listened to the Oliver Stone commentary but it will be interesting to hear what he has to say about the movie as well as his experiences.

Kevin Smith Movies in General

Usually with Kevin Smith, Jason Mewes, Scott Mosier and various cast and crew. This is kind of a cheat since I didn't narrow it down to just one movie. And while I don't believe I've listened to the commentary on all of his movies, of the ones I have they're all hilarious. If you enjoy his movies and you enjoy his "Evening's With..." you'll most likely enjoy the commentaries as well.

I know I said these were in no particular order, but I've saved the best for last. These are my three favorite commentaries that I've listened to.

Heat

I've talked about this movie and the commentary in the past. All I have to say is it's absolutely amazing. Michael Mann gives you great insight into what went into making Heat such a great movie, coming in at three hours long the commentary never seems to get boring or slow down. If you're a fan of the movie this is a must listen to commentary. Actually almost all of the special features on the 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (some which are on the Blu-Ray) are all very interesting.

Futurama

The cast and crew of Futurama. One word for you: hilarious. What do you get when you get a bunch of a great comedy writers as well as some very funny voice acting talent together in a room to do commentary? A commentary that's just as funny and interesting as the episodes that they're talking about. Four seasons with commentary on every episode. I highly suggest the Bend Her episode in Season 4 just so you can hear the story of "Gay Guy and the Ghost."

The Simpsons

I have a confession to make, I'm not sure how many times I've actually listened to the commentaries on The Simpsons. They're just that good. Because they've released 13 Seasons on DVD (so far) you have many different members of cast and crew across those seasons, and they're all extremely funny and informative. If you like The Simpsons (and how couldn't you?) these are something you absolutely have to listen to. Let's put it this way, they just released Season 20 on blu-ray to coincide with the 20th Anniversary of the show and you could tell it was rushed out. None of the special features that all of the other seasons have, and that includes commentary. If they ever release it again and the new version does have the special features/commentary I will double dip in a heart beat and not feel at all bad about it. The commentaries are just that good.

So there you have it, 10 really good commentaries. If you're a movie fan or are just looking for some good commentaries I highly suggest you start out with some of these movies. They're all very good commentaries and really what commentaries should be.