Best DVD audio comments tracks with technical info

gumonstro

gumonstro

Well-known member
I´ve been addicted to directors´ and dps´ audio commentaries on dvd. The problem is that they almost say the same things all the time: "remember how that day was raining a lot and we had that problem with the audio guy?" OR "tom cruise is awesome. look at his face now!".

SOMETIMES, only sometimes, we´re lucky to find some very good audio commentaries. i.e. The Sum of All Fears. A very nice class of the dp and the director on composition and acting.

So, what´s the TOP 10 (or TOP 50...) of the best DVD audio commentaries with technical info (on directing, cinematography, acting, etc)??
 
In the Mouth of Madness has a fantastic commentary track. Most of it is John Carpenter asking DP Gary Kibbe how he lit everything. It's a great technical conversation.
 
Seven
Fight Club
Panic Room
Bubble
Serenity
Lord of the Rings extended cuts

The Fincher discs in particular have really extensive, mutiple commentary tracks insightfully covering many aspects of production, including acting, writing, cinematography, editing, and production design.
 
i'm not going to say which was or were best, but i will say look for commentaries done by the screenwriters :) because they get into the production of the movie. how their words came to life.
 
What a great thread!!!

I will do my best to go through my DVDs to find which ones have great audio commentaries. It would be wonderful to get a longer list going, I love audio commentaries where you learn too but unfortunately there aren't that many. I am excited to get Mouth of Madness and I hope others can add to this!


Some greats ones off the top of my head are :

Traffic
Citizen Kane
Smultronstallet (Wild Strawberries)

Steven Soderbergh is another great audio commentator like David Fincher. Almost any Soderbergh DVD will have a great commentary tracks. Traffic, Sex, Lies and Videotape, and Ocean's 11 talk about the making of the movie more technically than his others.

The best audio commentary IS (if you like Steven Soderberg) - SCHIZOPOLIS. It isn't technical and doesn't contain information but is it the best. :)
 
Just thought I would add to this old thread, the Gladiator audio commentary is pretty good. I am watching it now. well more listening. But it goes into a great deal about how the story was crafted, why certain scenes (no matter how small) were essential for laying the bones of the story (i.e. why we see Commodus training with a sword early in the film), etc.
 
Children of Men. Has a nice extra on filming 4 actors' conversation, in long continuous shots, in a tiny car.
 
If you want to know how to make a horror flick, I was impressed with Wes Craven's commentary in Nightmare on Elm St. He talks quite a bit about how they set things up to create suspense, scare you, etc.
 
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