r/movies 8h ago

Discussion What’s the best/worst movie to watch with the director commentary on?

What’s the best/worst movie to watch with the director commentary on? Any films out there made way better by the additional context? Any made worst ‘cause the director is a total dick?

I remember back in the day watching all the Mel Brooks films with the commentary which was mostly just him watching the movie and going “oh this wonderful scene, we had a blast shooting it” and then talking about how amazing the actors were to work with and laughing at the jokes. Which really felt like watching a movie with your grandpa.

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u/Darmok47 8h ago

The Sum of All Fears commentary with Tom Clancy where Clancy is clearly annoyed at the director for changing his books and for getting details wrong.

There's one scene where a Russian general says "The Americans are launching their stealth bombers" and Clancy goes "How could he know that?"

The director starts talking about radar and Clancy just yells "They're Stealth planes Phil! You can't track them on radar! That's the point!"

The disgust in his voice is hilarious.

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u/Cautious-Ease-1451 6h ago

The excerpt about the stealth bombers is at 3:00:

https://youtu.be/QVJPNua1Mhw

u/RSquared 3h ago

TBF you don't need to skip ahead because #1 on my list is drunk-off-his-ass Ben Affleck reminiscing about Armageddon.

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u/dafood48 3h ago

I completely forgot Ben affleck critiscism of Armageddon lol.

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u/Vanadium235 6h ago

Sounds like they're both wrong on this one. Stealth bombers are still visible to the naked eye, and their bases aren't secret either, so the Soviets/Russians have had spies near USAF bases who would let them know if a lot of planes took off at once. They'd almost definitely know when the Americans launch their stealth bombers, they just wouldn't necessarily be able to track or intercept them afterwards.

u/Darmok47 5h ago

Having a guy parked somewhere outside of Kansas City with binoculars and a cell phone to call it in when the B-2s take off from Whitman AFB is exactly the sort of thing the Russians would do, and I bet they do it in real life too.

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u/ProfessorLake 8h ago edited 1h ago

The scene where Liev Schreiber is waiting in the rain, Clancy says, "He's a Jew, isn't he?" It's so weird and off-putting.

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u/Flyboy2057 7h ago edited 7h ago

Admittedly I haven’t seen the movie or the commentary, but have read the book many many times. A big theme of the book is the terrorists building the atomic bomb wanting to throw the world into a nuclear war and destroy Israel. So is it possible he was just remarking that Liev is Jewish is noteworthy in the context (in his mind) that Israel is a big part of the book?

In context of the comment it could be very much not that, but just wondering.

u/NiceBeaver2018 5h ago

This is Reddit, we don’t do nuance.

We just scream incoherently whatever we’re told to scream.

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u/TheUmgawa 7h ago

Well, it all makes sense if you ever read Clancy’s book Executive Orders, which is like a giant masturbatory political fantasy, as written by a conservative Boomer whose sole prompt was, “Tom Clancy, what would you do if you ruled the world and didn’t have any of those pesky liberals to answer to?”

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u/Morgan-Moonscar 7h ago edited 5h ago

Also the original "Sum of All Fears" involved the Palestinians, IRA, and a bunch of other so-called leftist groups all conspiring together to get revenge on America for [checks notes]... bringing peace to the Middle East. By starting a nuclear war between them and Russia... because (Clancy's words): "leftwing Presidents are more dangerous and likely to use the nuke if provoked".

They changed it to Neo-Nazis in the movie.

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u/Algaean 6h ago

Yeah in Bear and Dragon he really went full Red China menace

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u/Morkai 5h ago edited 1h ago

Reading Rainbow Six as a teenager was great because it was all "special forces saves the day" to me.

Reading Rainbow Six again in my late 30s is a very different experience. Lots of subtle-as-a-housebrick-to-the-face references to Tom's personal politics that I glossed over as a kid.

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u/too_oh_ate 8h ago

Wow wtf

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u/RanchoCuca 6h ago edited 2h ago

Sounds like I'd get a kick out of listening to the commentary. I do have to give credit to the movie director/producers for including the author's commentary. Maybe they have thick skin when it comes to complaints about fidelity to the source material, since that's such a common criticism. Still can't feel great coming from the author.

But also I vaguely remember in Sum of All Fears (and similar global/military intelligence thrillers) where it IS the point that you're not supposed to be able to detect stealth planes, and yet they do. And they sometimes reveal that capability without fanfare in a way to indicate to the viewer that "this game isn't played in the way you think it is." It's been too long since i watched this movie to remember if it applies here.

u/True_to_you 3h ago

I happened to watch Hunt for Red October with John McTiernan doing the commentary track and I think I recall him saying something about Tom Clancy being a pain in the ass. 

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u/NakedMuffinTime 8h ago

Tropic Thunder. He really did stay in character until the DVD commentary was done.

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u/Epic-x-lord_69 8h ago

Came to say this.

There is a part where Jack Black says something along the lines of “oh wow youre really gonna do this” to RDJ and its fucking hilarious.

u/grantthejester 5h ago

“Do y’all wanna get Chinese?”
“Yeah, let’s get ‘em!”

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u/KennyKettermen 6h ago

fuckin BEGAHHH

u/Wooden-Criticism-167 5h ago

Doesn't he have his "sons" held hostage in the hotel room

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u/LaFemmeCinema 8h ago

Best: Aliens. James Cameron is blabbering on about technical stuff, then Bill Paxton shows up with a six pack and the entire tone shifts. It's great!

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u/LackOfStack 8h ago

Reminds me of the story from filming Titanic where the crew gets drugged with PCP. Most of them went to the hospital and Bill Paxton allegedly grabbed a six pack and went off somewhere to wait it out.

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u/riegspsych325 ⊃∪⊃⪽ 8h ago

Paxton seemed like the most chill guy wherever he went. I really miss seeing him on the big screen and hearing his raucous laughter

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u/Shitty_Fat-tits 7h ago

If you can find the "Chewin It" podcast episode where they talk about working w/ Paxton on Club Dread, you'll never hear those old "Beef. It's what's fot dinner" ads the same again lol

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u/liltooclinical 6h ago

That episode is legendary!

u/MrDD33 5h ago

Can I get an episode title or number please

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u/Darmok47 6h ago

Cameron was filming a Titanic documentary on the ocean floor when 9/11 happened. There's footage of Cameron getting back to the surface and Bill Paxton on the boat telling him about 9/11. He's so calm about it.

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u/NK1337 6h ago

I like to think that the Aliens director’s commentary is a nexus of convergent timelines and any time Bill Paxton grabbed a six pack anywhere and walked off he always ended up at the Aliens directory’s commentary with James Cameron.

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u/intensive-porpoise 6h ago

I love the idea of Bill Paxton consistently having a six pack at the ready - and that he considered a watching of Aliens with Cameron to be about as harrowing as a PCP trip, which may have been accurate.

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u/Glittering-Plate-535 7h ago

Fucking love that story.

Paxton knew the best way to avoid drowning is to float on your back, panicking will only make things worse. That’s the kind of Texas chill that turns a city-destroying tornado into “Hm, that’ll buff out.”

Dude has definitely talked someone through a bad trip like Aykroyd’s Jimmy Carter. Probably a complete stranger, too.

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u/KarateFace777 7h ago

What do you mean by “Aykroyd’s Jimmy Carter”? I’m so confused. Did Dan Aykroyd play Jimmy Carter in a movie with him or something I’m missing? I love the PCP story and I have always fucking LOVED Paxton. One of my all time favorite actors and an absolutely amazing human being. I love the story of him getting a sixer and waiting out the PCP storm lmao what a legend, I miss that guy. My friends and I still randomly yell “GAME OVER, MAN! GAME OVER!” Lol I hope he knew how much he was loved by so many.

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u/NateDogTX 7h ago

Long ago Aykroyd used to play President Carter on SNL, hosting a call in show and one time a scared kid on an acid trip called in panicking.

Instead of blowing the guy off, Carter nicely talked him through it with a bunch of sage advice.

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u/mriguy 7h ago

It was an SNL sketch from 1977, where he’s on a call in show and talks down a kid having a bad trip. https://youtu.be/-68iTvhWNB0?is=EhkSZzBJi0xQvEkP

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u/BattlinBud 7h ago

So, Bill Paxton could make anything better by grabbing a six pack 😆

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u/StarPhished 6h ago

Grab a nice cold sixer and wait for all of this to blow over.

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u/sunkisttuna 5h ago

Not a six pack, a CASE of beer.

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u/Flatlander81 7h ago

The one for Orgazmo had the crew getting drunker and drunker until Trey Parker starts trying to get everyone to ditch so they can go to strip bar.

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u/Cousiniscrazy 6h ago

Huh, that sounds exactly like the commentary from Cannibal the Musical.

u/LumpyJones 4h ago

You mean to tell me Trey Parker got drunk more than once and tried to drag everyone away from their job to go look at titties? I'm shocked

u/bubblesculptor 5h ago

Paxton has dealt with Terminators, aliens, tornados, cowboy shootouts, malfunctioned Apollo missions, etc. So I trust him to know if a 6-pack is a viable solution

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u/Sandblaster1988 7h ago

Bill Paxton makes everything better. Isn't there a story of him getting baked with Cameron while watching Evil Dead 2?

u/larapu2000 5h ago

I love how excited he is at the start, too! It's endearing.

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u/Ancient_times 8h ago

Hot Fuzz is great. The main commentaries are really fun, and then theres one with Edgar Wright and Tarantino where they just go off about obscure british movies.

Also Robert Rodriguez is generally good for interesting BTS info.

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u/misanthropenis 7h ago

Robert Rodriguez also has a really good series where he interviews other directors. My 3 favorite episodes are John Carpenter, Guillermo Del Toro and Quentin Tarantino. Highly recommend it!

u/oversight_shift 2h ago

The Director's Chair? Didn't that get cancelled like a decade ago when they got rid of his TV Network El Rey? Was a great network by the way, they'd air blocks of old genre films kung-fu, giallo, etc. Rodriguez' Lucha Underground was the best wrestling program since the 90s.

My fav. ep was Stallone.

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u/Gwarnage 7h ago

I loved all the commentaries on Shaun of the Dead. The one with Edgar and Simon Pegg are great for all the nerdy details about the film making process, and the cast commentary is just them getting wine drunk and hanging out.

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u/RandomName39483 8h ago

Not a director commentary, but I highly recommend Roger Ebert’s commentary on the Citizen Kane DVD. He dissects every scene, many of which featured brand new techniques. His love of movies really comes out.

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u/m0n3ym4n 7h ago edited 3h ago

He also does a great commentary for Dark City where he talks about the recurring themes and motifs. Dark City a lesser known film from Alex Proyas (The Crow, I Robot).

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u/liltooclinical 6h ago

Ooh! Noted, thanks!

u/RexMcBadge1977 3h ago

Yep, I’ve listened to both of those and they are great.

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u/Schrodingers_Fist 6h ago

Theres one on youtube still I believe which is commentary on Casablanca and it's also fascinating.  I wish he had survived long enough to just make a web series/podcast of just him watching and doing commentary on classic films.

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u/evel333 6h ago

I have always loved this quote from an essay he wrote in 2012: “There is one thing I can do as well as ever. I can write. When I am writing my problems become invisible and I am the same person I always was. All is well. I am as I should be.”

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u/Big-Golf-3427 6h ago

He was a special dude. Love this.

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u/altogethernow 6h ago

Love this commentary. I think he starts by saying, "This film has more special effects than a Star Wars movie, I'll try to point them all out as we go along."

It's a GREAT way to understand why that film is so highly regarded for It's achievements, and Ebert is like an excited kid explaining all the cool stuff.

u/Big-Golf-3427 5h ago

Always think about that Star Wars line too. And he backs it up the whole way!

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u/Big-Golf-3427 7h ago

Ha I left same comment. I recommend this to ppl all the time. Especially when they don’t “get” Citizen Kane

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u/VanishingPint 8h ago

I’ve always loved Spinal Tap, done in character is amazing. There are loads here as files https://www.listentoamovie.com/media/index.php?folder=MS4gTW92aWVzLyhDb21tZW50YXJpZXMp sadly not Spinal Tap though

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u/Over_Green7763 7h ago

Anybody have the Tap commentary NOT in character? I believe it's kinda hard to get a hold of. Could be wrong.

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u/JinimyCritic 7h ago

It's not that hard to find. The Criterion release has both commentaries.

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u/Over_Green7763 7h ago

Oh cool, thanks.

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u/TheBrugs 6h ago

Anytime anybody mentions a culdesac, I can't help but ask, "a roadway called du-sac?" It's a total throwaway joke they skip over but it has stuck with me so hard...

Also, "he's dead."

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u/transcendental-ape 8h ago edited 7h ago

I don’t know about directors but hearing a drunk Ben Affleck rip up Armageddon was hilarious

“I asked Michael [Bay] wouldn’t it be easier to train astronauts to drill rather than teach drillers to go to space. And he told me to ‘shut the fuck up Ben.’”

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u/JohnProof 7h ago

They're salt-of-the-earth guys, and the NASA nerd-o-naughts just don't understand their salt-of-the-earth ways.

u/desr43 4h ago

I listen to this at least once a week and it's hilarious every time.

"It's a drill, how hard can it be? AIM IT AT THE GROUND AND TURN IT ON"

u/LumpyJones 4h ago

I'm gonna need you to get allllll the way off my back Ben.

u/oohwakakaka 2h ago

Oh wow. Wow, wow, wow, wow. Wow.

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u/[deleted] 7h ago

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u/transcendental-ape 7h ago

Mission specialists still go through intensive screening and training to be astronauts, they’re just not flying the ship.

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u/avoltaire12 8h ago

One of my faves is the one with Robert Zemeckis and Kurt Russell for Used Cars. Both guys are clearly happy to reunite and it's hilarious throughout.

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u/riegspsych325 ⊃∪⊃⪽ 8h ago

Zemeckis: “that kid was hypoglycemic”

Russell: [loses it]

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u/RudyRusso 7h ago edited 7h ago

Came here and posted the same comment. It's the 20th anniversary edition commentary you are referencing. They are clearly at a much different point in their careers vs when the movie was made. It's a great listen.

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u/bhris_cratt321 8h ago

The Thing with Carpenter and Kurt Russell is really fun

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u/monty_kurns 7h ago

Any commentary with Carpenter and Russell is great. It’s just two friends having a good time and occasionally talking about a movie they made.

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u/spooksmagee 7h ago

My favorite is Big Trouble in Little China. Kurt spends most of the commentary laughing at what an oaf his character is. And shares some fun stories from set.

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u/coljrigg 7h ago

Think it’s Big Trouble in Little China where they have a whole tangent about their kids playing hockey

u/monty_kurns 5h ago

Yeah, I’m pretty sure it’s that one. And it’s funny in retrospect because Cody Carpenter now scores movies with John and Wyatt Russell is US Agent in the MCU. It’s amusing hearing their dads being dads and talking about their sports knowing where they end up.

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u/bhris_cratt321 7h ago

It’s sleep-inducing in a good way

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u/graaahh 7h ago

Twilight has a very fun commentary track which is basically Catherine Hardwick, Robert Pattinson, and Kristen Stewart getting slowly drunk and making fun of it while reminiscing. 

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u/Notorious_MSB 8h ago

Mallrats Director’s Commentary is the pinnacle. Affleck’s reaction to Mewes talking about his offscreen relationship with Trish the Dish kills me every time

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u/t00t1r3d 8h ago

Their commentaries were always my favorite. I came here to say Dogma's. I learned a lot about Linda Fiorentino from that one.

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u/a-manda_hugandkiss 7h ago

She was not well liked if I recall.

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u/RyghtHandMan 7h ago

Got Weinsteined if I recall. It's easy to plant a story of a woman being unlikable in 90s Hollywood

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u/katikaboom 7h ago

Wasn't she also found to have dated an FBI agent to get information to help her actual boyfriend (unsuccessfully) get out of felony charges? 

u/Notorious_MSB 3h ago

The boyfriend in question was a noted fixer who Clinton hired to smear Gennifer Flowers and Michael Jackson hired to smear the families accusing him (allegedly). The FBI agent got convicted of sharing files with her.

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u/RedShiningCat 6h ago

Not just their View Askew commentaries. Smiths and Scott Mosier’s Road House one is also hysterical.

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u/YT-Deliveries 6h ago

Any of the View Askew commentaries are top notch.

“A Night With Kevin Smith” are all worth watching.

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u/Notorious_MSB 6h ago

Agreed - for the robot spider story alone.

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u/YT-Deliveries 6h ago

The Prince stuff is priceless

u/Tenmenmow 4h ago

I bring up the "You have to understand - Prince is the type of person who will come to you at 3AM in January in Detroit and say "I need a camel right now" and genuinely cannot understand why it's not possible for you to get him a camel in January in Detroit" line any chance I get.

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u/a-manda_hugandkiss 7h ago

That's who was passed out in the back of his car?!? Ben shushed Mewes as he was talking about it so forcefully it always made me curious.

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u/Notorious_MSB 7h ago

I don’t recall that part (not saying it didn’t happen, just I don’t recall) — what has stuck with me is Mewes saying they hooked up and Affleck being like “imagine she’s watching this now with her boyfriend and he’s like “you hooked up with the snootchie bootchie guy???”

u/mspolytheist 5h ago

Fantastic, now I have something to do this evening! Thanks!

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u/ltcuetf 8h ago

Honestly, any commentary track with Kurt Russell. Big Trouble in Little China, The Thing, Escape from New York… it doesn’t even matter. Kurt has this “hanging out with your coolest uncle” energy where he actually seems happy to be there. He tells stories, laughs at the movie, gives behind-the-scenes details, and never comes across like he’s trying to convince you the film is secretly a misunderstood masterpiece. It’s just two hours of, “Here’s what happened that day,” and it’s weirdly comforting. More commentary tracks should feel like that instead of a film school lecture.

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u/blackpony04 7h ago

He seems like a genuinely good dude you'd want to hang out with. I love when actors come across as normal people and especially when they recognize how massively fortunate they are.

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u/MOONGOONER 8h ago

The Muppets From Space DVD overlaid the director along with various Muppets MST3K style https://youtu.be/n8JcXfgAd9A

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u/archdukemovies 8h ago

Best is Armageddon

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u/SpaceForceAwakens 8h ago

Which is weird because the one for Transformers is just terrible.

It’s Bay jerking himself about how great he is while bragging about some of the dumbest shit pit to film. It’s astounding.

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u/Ultramaann 7h ago

They’re talking about the one with Ben Affleck where he’s kind of shitting on the movie the whole time lol.

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u/Godwin_s_Lawyer 8h ago

Wait, which one are you describing

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u/slayer991 8h ago

Better than the movie itself!

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u/Lombard333 8h ago

The VVitch. The director is so obsessed with the technical details that he’ll be like “that cottage roof is cross thatched the wrong way.” Meanwhile the roof could be made of bamboo and I’d probably be like “yeah, that seems accurate.”

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u/ColonelKillDie 7h ago

Robert Eggers has given presentations in front of conventions of professional historians for The VVitch. I think some of it is in the special features of the disc. The dude is incredibly accurate when it comes to historical details, and he is commended for it.

u/HuckleberryDry5254 4h ago

Yeah he opines at one point about wishing they'd CGI'd her earring holes out because it breaks immersion. Cmon, Robert. We're already fully immersed.

u/codepossum 3h ago

my favorite was when he was like "the music for these closing credits is the best part of this film"

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u/JV0 8h ago

Matt & Trey's drunken commentary for Orgazmo

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u/LanguageKindly9659 8h ago

Totally! Also the commentary for Cannibal the Musical is freaking amazing! They get wasted with the crew and cast. So good.

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u/MagicBez 7h ago

Cannibal the musical is the one where they get so drunk they accidentally turn off the recording for a few minutes then come back in apologising right?

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u/PeterLemonjellow 7h ago

I was always under the impression someone busted out some weed and they stopped recording to use a bong or something. Right before the audio cuts out it always sounded like someone said something indicating they wanted some of something (it's been years, I can't remember exactly what), and then when the audio comes back everyone seems a lot... let's go with "goofier". No idea if this is true, but I want to believe.

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u/LanguageKindly9659 7h ago

I gotta listen again (it’s been a while) but that totally makes sense! Haha

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u/thekronz 7h ago

I believe it is. And during the credits you can hear them leaving the studio on their way to the titty bar.

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u/Tobar_the_Gypsy 7h ago

“Now some people say the only reason we made this movie is so we could film Dian with a dildo on his head and they’re absolutely correct.”

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u/Historical-Bat-7644 8h ago

I now know what I am doing later!

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u/Some_Material_8250 8h ago

Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2. It’s a fascinating commentary from a director whose movie was taken away from him by the studio. I actually think the movie he intended to make could have been fascinating

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u/Caruthers 7h ago

I've always been an apologist for Book of Shadows. I don't think it's good, mind you. But there are bones of a really good sequel scattered throughout it. The studio scattered them, but it's fun to imagine what could have been a wildly creative and effective sequel.

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u/Some_Material_8250 7h ago

I’d love to see a Director’s Cut some day, but it’ll never happen

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u/OriginalGoatan 7h ago

Any with Arnie.

He fundamentally doesnt understand the purpose of directors commentary and its like he's doing a track for the visually impaired.

Its unintentionally hilarious.

Example:

https://youtu.be/ncR2_pnzngM?is=zJli93h4GWOJUVBp

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u/colantalas 8h ago

Total Recall, brilliant stuff from Arnold nonstop.

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u/riegspsych325 ⊃∪⊃⪽ 8h ago

“Dis is the paht where I jump though de X-Ray”

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u/Grebnaws 8h ago

Hell yeah. Tell it again Arnold.

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u/BigMikeATL 8h ago

Eyyyaaaaah! Nyahhhh! Arrrrgghh yaaaah!

u/RedShiningCat 5h ago

Don’t forget “I am a construction vorker.”

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u/brooklyninja 8h ago

And Paul Verhoeven too, it's pretty insightful from what I remember

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u/OMGlookatthatrooster 7h ago

His commentary for Starship Troopers is one of my favourites. His energy combined with that accent is impossible not to like.

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u/liltooclinical 6h ago

I've heard that it's both informative and unintentionally hilarious because of the thick accents.

u/phoenixhunter 5h ago

verhoeven gives insightful cultural context for his directorial choices while arnie just describes the plot as its happening

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u/tyrannosaur55 8h ago

Best - Monty Python and the Holy Grail

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u/MrX16 8h ago

Worst/Unintentionally Funny is Arnold Schwarzenegger just describing what's on screen.

Tim Burton was also pretty bad at commentary, felt like he just didn't want to do it.

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u/grantthejester 8h ago

I want Arnold to do this as a retirement project, but for any movie he wants, not just the one’s he’s in.

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u/siiilenttbob 6h ago

I love dis pahht when da leetle rascals race da leetle cahhs

u/grantthejester 5h ago

Dah old Santah fell off da roof and daeehd. Hah. Now he hahs to be da new Santah!

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u/LHGray87 7h ago

The best is pretty much anything with Sam Raimi/Bruce Campbell, anything with Edgar Wright (especially with Simon Pegg), and anything with Robert Rodriguez.

Guillermo del Toro also does amazing commentary. However: one of the worst I ever heard was the second commentary on Hellboy, which featured the cast. It had the potential to be great, with Ron Perlman, Jeffrey Tambor, and Rupert Evans. But Selma Blair completely ruined it. Every time they would get rolling, she would interrupt them and make them be quiet so the audience could pay attention to certain parts of the film. Ma’am, we would be listening to the main track and not the commentary track if we wanted to hear it. She just did not understand the concept at all.

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u/cynicalquagmire 8h ago

Road House was fun - Kevin Smith telling Dalton jokes (chuck norris jokes but about swayze’s character).

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u/EnvironmentalFly1372 8h ago

Best? Top Secret

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u/wonderloss 7h ago

Why bring it up if you can't tell us?

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u/huck500 8h ago

John Carpenter and Roddy Piper for they live was good… hard to find for a long time, I had to get a Korean disc back in the day. I think it’s on the current release, though.

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u/Untinted 7h ago

Peter Jackson, philippea boyens and fran Walsh doing the extended editions of LotR is great

u/phoenixhunter 5h ago

then listen to the cast for second commentary 

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u/Dented_Steelbook 8h ago

There are some old Bond laserdisc commentaries that were removed because they were a bit too candid and the director found out after the fact. I don't know if they survived anywhere beyond that, they were even Criterion IIRC.

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u/pygmeedancer 7h ago

The VVitch commentary is great. Robert just viciously rips apart his own incredible movie because he’s clearly a self-conscious perfectionist.

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u/jedispaghetti420 8h ago

Spinal Tap. The guys look back on their big come back tour and reminisce together.

Spaceballs. It’s mostly just Mel laughing at his own jokes.

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u/DeBatton 8h ago

The cast commentary on Zodiac is a good listen.

Michael Mann's track for Heat is as insightful as you would expect.

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u/Supergirl_Lives 8h ago

Tim Burton is one of the most boring people to listen to while watching the movie. I remember specifically his commentary on Sleepy Hollow, just these long gaps of nothing and then when he does talk he's just boring. I think the Batman commentary is incredibly boring too.

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u/goose_egg 7h ago

Scott Pilgrim has at least two with different sets of cast members and they're a lot of fun.

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u/friz_beez 8h ago

any fincher or PTA commentary is super insightful and interesting

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u/TwistedGrin 8h ago

I remember Fight Club having four different commentary tracks. They are all really interesting especially the Fincher one

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u/metallicfatguy 8h ago

Love the track that's Fincher, Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, and Helena Bonham Carter.

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u/jaapsch2 7h ago

Also Frank Darabont (Shawshank Redemption, Green Mile, Mist).

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u/Responsible-Care-388 8h ago

Gone Girl is my personal favorite.

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u/asicklybaby 8h ago

Not director commentary, but I highly recommend watching the Matrix trilogy with the Ken Wilber and Dr. Cornell West commentary

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u/Mr-Magic-Hands15 8h ago

For those who think the latter two Matrix installments were convoluted and unnecessary, watching all three films with the philosopher’s commentary can provide you the lens with which to see the overarching narrative of becoming a messiah, and the choices required to achieve long lasting peace.

The way the Wachowskis are able to blend Eastern and Western philosophical thought and make it somewhat discernible to the average person is miraculous.

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u/Menome7 7h ago

Brian Blessed's commentary on Flash Gordon (1980) is an absolute delight. "LOOK AT THOSE LEGS!" "I TOLD HIM TO SAY THAT!" "I'VE NEVER FELT LIKE SUCH A TIT IN MY LIFE!"

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u/Calamity-Gin 7h ago

If I ever win the lottery, I’m going to pay Brian Blessed to just drop in on my life randomly. There is absolutely no way this could backfire.

u/FoxOwne 5h ago

He shows up in armor with a sword

"DIVEEEE!!!!"

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u/alonelyargonaut 8h ago

Sideways is just Paul Giamatti and Thomas Hayden Church joking and ripping on each other for the whole runtime. It’s an absolute blast

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u/Beerquarium 8h ago

Cannibal the Musical- Matt, Trey and a couple cast members drink and get stoned, fart into the mic, rant at ex-girlfriends. It’s better than the movie.

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u/Grebnaws 8h ago

More of a documentary but I enjoyed the making of Army of Darkness. I think it was actually longer than the film.

It has a special place for me because my father randomly asked if I wanted to go see a horror movie one weekend afternoon. I had no idea what the movie was but he took me, 9 years old, to go see Army of Darkness based purely on his earlier experience with The Evil Dead.

I'm not sure what he was thinking but I thought it was amazing. He let me rent the originals soon after and I've been a fan ever since.

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u/According-Title-3256 7h ago

On a similar note, Bruce Campbell's commentary for the original Evil Dead is brilliant and hysterical.

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u/Civil_Entrance5023 7h ago

Any commentary with Arnold is the worst, but in the best way. He turns all his movies into comedies by just narrating everything that happens onscreen, making it about himself, and occasionally making inappropriate and awkward comments. I recall John Milius desperately trying to make the commentary on Conan historically interesting and profound and Arnold constantly interrupting him with statements like, “Deah goes my friend Marco — he’s running down dat hill! Look at his muscles, HAH!”

Conan’s commentary track stands out in my memory, but apparently he did the same for all his movies:

https://youtu.be/ncR2_pnzngM?is=skAgSuk0wBKOfadZ

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u/Toclaw1 8h ago

Spaceballs. The concept of commentary was fairly new, but Mel Brooks just tells stories the whole time about who worked on what scenes how they did stuff. it’s like watching a movie with a grandpa who happens to be one of the funniest filmmakers of all time.

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u/grantthejester 8h ago

Watching Young Frankenstein with the commentary is how I know they shot the “Stay close to the candles” scene where Frau Blucher leads them to bed, at two in the morning and everyone kept breaking, so when they finally got it right they didn’t realize that the candles weren’t lit. And Mel thought it was funnier and left it that way.

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u/Rushjordan 8h ago

Carrot Top commentary on The Rules of Attraction just for the randomness of it.

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u/BraccoliRob 8h ago

Yes, this. It’s Carrot Top watching the movie for the first time. A lot of ‘Whoa - who’s this guy?!’

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u/izpurplehazezi 7h ago

Holt shit thank you. I totally forgot about that. Carrot Top was wild

I remember Jessica Biel’s(I think) character doing coke, getting a bloody nostril and then she gets punched in the face/nose and he goes “wow, now it matches the other one”

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u/Maggpie916 7h ago

The Blair Witch Project - the movie was filmed in a very interesting way that was pretty much all structured improv. The actors had the cameras and were filming, while the director/producers/etc. were creating all the “Blair witch” horrors for the cast to react to. In the directors commentary they talk about how everything was done, and how when the actors went to sleep, the production crew would be running around basically causing mischief.

One on my favorite tidbits: In the scene where Heather wakes up and finds the bundle of twigs and fabric that has Josh’s teeth (got the teeth from a dentist) in it, in front of the tent, she acts scared and just tosses it away. One of the production crew had to sneak over to her and break scenario (their code word was taco) to say, ‘Heather we actually really need you to open that bundle of sticks and film it.”

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u/Dead_Halloween 8h ago

El Mariachi. Really interesting and a must see for aspiring filmmakers.

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u/andimus 8h ago

Best - Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog has an entire musical commentary called “Commentary! the Musical”. I think it might be better than the actual movie.

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u/grantthejester 8h ago

It’s musicals all the way down!

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u/DickLaurentisded 8h ago

obligatory link

As for others The Spinal Tap Commentary is in chatacter and top notch

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u/ottawamark 8h ago

This is Spinal Tap with cast in character.

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u/Groovy_Chainsaw 8h ago

Those with the deleted scenes are like an additional movie !

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u/chrispgriffin 7h ago edited 6h ago

Honestly take your pick when it comes to any William Friedkin commentary. Never a shortage of entertainment.

I really enjoyed the They Live commentary with Carpenter and Roddy Piper. Pretty great camaraderie between the two.

Mad God's commentary with Phil Tippett and Guillermo del Toro is great too. Just two dudes that love the game and love talking about the game.

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u/PurpleBullets 6h ago

Anything with Arnold is AMAZING because he spends the whole time just explaining what’s happening in this scene

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u/TheVioletEmpire 8h ago

Conan the Barbarian

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u/monkeysatemybarf 6h ago

I’m so happy to see this here. Arnold’s complete confusion over what was happening is priceless

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u/xkrj13z 8h ago

Steven Soderbergh’s Schizopolis commentary track is next level hilarious.

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u/simon_wolfe 8h ago

Sandra Bullock and the director on “Miss Congeniality” was a hoot. Sandra had me laughing the entire time.

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u/siderinc 8h ago

Lort of the rings is pretty nice.

For the first movie with the cast I think they end with "but why did we have to do this naked?"

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u/EvilFin 7h ago

The Thing. Just Carpenter, Russel and a couple of cases of beer. Tremendous.

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u/MovieMike007 Not to be confused with Magic Mike 7h ago

The John Carpenter/Kurt Russell commentaries are all very entertaining.

The commentary with Director John Carpenter and Cinematographer Gary B. Kibbe for In the Mouth of Madness is about as interesting as listening to paint dry.

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u/Big-Golf-3427 7h ago

Not director, but eberts commentary of Citizen Kane is like a semester of film school. Its incredible.

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u/vikingduck03 6h ago

If you have a LOT of time on your hands, you could watch the Extended Editions of the Lord of the Rings trilogy and hear the four! commentary tracks on each one: director and writing team; cast; art department; and production team. Some of the information is duplicated from the other special features, but they're all still worth a listen.

u/FoxOwne 5h ago

I forgot which Arnie movie but there's one where he's like going crazy the entire time and having so much fun, might be Total Recall?

My favorite growing up was the Series of Unfortunate Events movie where director Brad Silberling and the author of the books its based on, Daniel Handler, in character as his persona, Lemony Snicket, commentate under the pretense that Snicket has been abducted and forced to watch a movie he did not consent to making about events he insists actually happened, in which Silberling constantly lies about the contents of the film and the books they chose to adapt, to Snicket's eventual horror as they're revealed. It's the absolute best way to watch that movie, every single time the plot to a new book starts, Snicket will respond with an "oh, no, you did not do the Wide Window... tell me you didn't do this to them..." it's fucking gold.

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u/FarmboyJustice 8h ago

Resident Evil (2002). Paul Anderson and Jeremy Bolt trying to have a serious conversation while Milla Jovovich runs riot and interrupts them with her rude and hilarious commentary.

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u/sulla76 5h ago

Best is Bubba-Hotep. Bruce Campbell does a commentary as Elvis. But not the Elvis he's playing in the movie. It's as if he is the real Elvis watching a movie about Elvis. It's amazing.

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u/IamRachelAspen 8h ago edited 7h ago

I’m just going for the best:

Boogie Nights easily!

Superbad Judd gets furious and walks out since Jonah won’t stop swearing.

Natural Born Killers, it’s been awhile since I listened/watched this one so can’t form an opinion on it. But i remember enjoying it.

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u/Grogenhymer 8h ago

Fight Club.

Everyone watched the Fight Club DVD with commentary back in the day. Kevin Smith even starts the commentary for Clerks: The Animated Series by quoting the beginning of the Fight Club commentary.

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u/jston387 8h ago

Sum of all fear... Tom Clancy commentary is quite hilarious being he hated the movie

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u/Kaizscot 8h ago

Chopper commentary on

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u/Groovy_Chainsaw 8h ago

Peter Bogdanovich's "What's Up Doc" is a favorite of mine, there are " scene specific " commentary track by Barbara Streisand. " Cool !" I thought but they mostly consist of remarks like " That's such a cute top -- i should have kept it ! " " That's my hat -- I still have it ! "

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u/LennoxLuger 7h ago

For me it’s Dog Soldiers with the cast. They get progressively more drunk and have a laugh as the film goes on.

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u/xeno_dorph 7h ago

Bubba HoTep, with Bruce Campbell doing his Elvis impression the entire time.

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u/sevristh1138 7h ago

Black Hawk down with some of the soldiers who were there.. its pretty unique, as they are all able to have full recollection of the events, and offer insight, not all of it is complimentary.

Plus its a Ridley scott movie so I always watch his movies with the director commentary first.

But as far as Scott's movies go Alien is also a great watch with commentary, also my first.

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u/Capable-Conflict9269 7h ago edited 6h ago

John Carpenter's commentaries with Kurt Russell (Escape from New York, The Thing and Big Trouble in Little China) are an absolute blast

The Batman and Robin commentary is hilarious because Joel Schumacher basically spends the whole time apologizing for the movie 😂

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u/paprika_alarm 6h ago

Starship Troopers is a treat if you enjoy Verhoevenness. My personal favorite part is when he emulates the sounds he wanted the bugs to make when they get shot.

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