I'm a bit of a self-professed nerd, and accordingly, I enjoy commentaries a lot. I've heard some great ones (Goodfellas, Fight Club, Old School), but I've also wasted a lot of time on some terrible ones (Anchorman).


Any commentary addicts out there with any suggestions?

I really like commentary tracks too, the more of them that they can fit on a dvd the better. I have to recommend John Carpenter's The Thing for it's kickass commentary. It would be hard to listen to that one and not smile. Primer also has a two good commentary tracks which are really informative about low budget movies, and Brick has a good one too.

Then there are good movies with bad commentary tracks. I really liked A Scanner Darkly, but the commentary was just awkward.

I have this really weird pet peeve when the people on commentary tracks don't say goodbye or thank you for watching at the end. It's like this is their chance to say something directly to the viewer and they don't..

Love DVD commentaries too. The best I've encountered to date was on Shaun of the Dead (around four separate tracks featuring the principal cast, writer and director, background characters and extras.)

if you want the king of all commentaries, check out the extended edition of LOTR... 3 different commentaries - cast, production, fx... the most random one i've ever heard was the Dodgeball commentary where random people kept showing up and chiming in, with Vince Vaughn chewing on a bag of chips for a lot of the time lol

I have to recommend John Carpenter's The Thing for it's kickass commentary. It would be hard to listen to that one and not smile.

Love DVD commentaries too. The best I've encountered to date was on Shaun of the Dead (around four separate tracks featuring the principal cast, writer and director, background characters and extras.)

Wow, these are two great films I hadn't considered! Now that I think of it, I bet any Coen brothers' movie would have a great commentary track as well... The Thing and Shaun of the Dead are both such underrated, great cult films!

I have this really weird pet peeve when the people on commentary tracks don't say goodbye or thank you for watching at the end. It's like this is their chance to say something directly to the viewer and they don't..

I feel the same way... it seems really trivial and small, but I personally feel any filmmaker who doesn't take the time to say a simple thank you at the end of a commentary is probably a bit delusional of their own worth and self-absorbed.
For example, if I consider how a movie of my own might turn out (eek), I can't imagine anyone someone liking it enough to sit through it listening to me yap! But I would certainly thank anyone who would.

IMO check out any Tarantino commentary. Never a dull moment, he's always got something to say.

I like commentaries! Actually, I'd never watched them much, aside from bits and pieces of the LOTR extended edition commentaries, until this year when I started watching the ones on my boyfriend's Simpsons (early seasons!) DVD's. They were actually very funny, and more entertaining after I'd seen the episodes so many times.

I recently looked at the Lost DVD's and noticed that there's a couple on them, so I might watch one of those tonight. (I've been meaning to for a couple weeks, and this thread reminded me.)

most cast commentaries i've listened to is of them watching and laughing at the movie... some input, but mostly them laughing or making fun of each other... not a bad thing actually as it's fun to listen to but this is just an observation i had of purely cast commentary

I think commentaries are a great special feature. I far prefer them to featurettes and the like. Plus some are just as rewatchable as the movie itself. Especially if they involve members of the cast.
Some my favourites are the Alien commentaries just because they are so interesting but for entertainment value anything that involves Jennifer Tilly is hilarious. The Chucky movies (which are really hit and miss) have fantastic commentaries.

The worst was Dodgeball. Not remotely funny at all.

I love commentaries <3 My favorite will probably always be the many in-depth LOTR commentaries. Also, if anyone is interested in the animation or storyboarding process, I suggest watching the commentaries of old and new animated feature films, many are very interesting and inspirational.

The Jackass Movie ones are pretty funny - very random. Also, quick question - what are the Lost commentaries like? I keep trying to watch them, and never have the time, but I probbaly will if they're considered to be good.

One commentary I hate is the Exorcist commentary. It's one guy, and the entire commentary is just him telling you what's currently happening in the movie. It's like he's watching it for a blind person. Stay away from that one.

I have an edition of Alien with Ridley Scott's commentary. It's just him, eating. Well, he talks of course, but that's the thing I remember most about that commentary... He was eating.

My ultimate edition of A Better Tomorrow is graced with an informative but dull commentary by a HK movie expert of sorts, who talks in a monotonous voice about things and people connected to the movie, just trivia and facts.

I, too, love the LOTR commentaries!