Best director commentaries?

Depends on what kinds of movies you want to make. Pick your favorite movies, listen to the director commentaries. I liked the Social Network one a lot.
 
Peter Jackson's have always been my favorite. I also listen to the commentaries on a few Judd Apatow movies -- they're not as informative, but they are fun and do reveal a thing or two about directing (particularly about directing good actors, about improv, about writing good characters, etc.).

I want to check out Joe Carnahan's commentaries, 'cause he seems like the kind of guy who could talk for hours about how he shot this scene or that -- and given the level of excellence at which he performs, he's got a lot to talk about.

-JMT
 
The best DVD Director commentary track is the Total Recall. Watch a clip here:



It's so good... the Director knows when to relax and let others take centre stage...

Other personal favs are Peter Jackson's in LOTR I'd say.
 
Lammy said:
The best DVD Director commentary track is the Total Recall.
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That's an example of a perfectly useless commentary.
Instead of saying how they did the Johnny cab, the bug in the nose, the fat woman mask, the faces bloated by the vacuum,etc... they just babble on and on without providing any useful information.

I'm interested in commentaries where the directors explains what lights did he use, what lenses, how did he record the sound, how did he do the special effects, how did he get the actors to act in a certain way,etc. - everything that would provide an insight in the actual process of film-making.
 
kittykatro said:
I'm interested in commentaries where the directors explains what lights did he use, what lenses, how did he record the sound, how did he do the special effects, how did he get the actors to act in a certain way,etc. - everything that would provide an insight in the actual process of film-making.
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You're only going to find tidbits of that s--t spread out throughout numerous commentaries from numerous directors. I think what you're looking for is BTS, which is a lot more informative/instructional. Commentaries are usually just fun anecdotes about the production. You'll find plenty of insight, sure, but not much instruction.
 
Try Ridley Scott's commentary on the Duelists...

Or Ridley again on the extended/Direcor's cut of Kingdom of Heaven (which also has some great documentary/BTS that follows the entire pre-production/production+shoot/post production process).

Or maybe Paul Schrader's commentary on Mishima - a life in 4 chapters.

It does depend a lot on what you want to pull from these commentaries and what type of film aesthetic you're into.

But, the best way to learn Directing is to get hands on and Direct :) - bear in mind that each Director has their own way of doing things... some will block and rehearse, others will be specific about marks, others will chase a certain mood or nuance from the talent... it's all about knowledge, experience, skill and vision.
 
Michael Mann gives great commentary. Heat especially.

Also Roman Polanski for Repulsion one of my faves. Also the one for his first film Knife in the Water excellent.
 
+1 on any Ridley Scott commentary. Sir Ridley came from the Art department, so he's got a real workman-like attitude towards the work. For real nuts-and-bolts, listen to the commentary from Alien. He talks lights and sets, and everything else. Does the same with Gladiator.

You can learn a ton by watching those two movies and listening to the commentary.
 
I can tell you the worst one I've ever heard, and one I particularly liked:

BAD: Resident Evil (2002). Milla Jovovich over powers the entire track and sheds no light on any aspect relevant on filmmaking or even the film itself really. At times she sounds like that drunk girl at a party who just won't shut up. Director Paul Anderson who also tried to offer some bits about the film should have have turned into a zombie and eaten her so we wouldn't have to listen to her anymore. 0/5 rating.

Good: Disappearance of Alice Creed (2009): A really great director commentary from J Blakeson that goes in depth about how he developed the idea for the story based on limited resources, an extremely low budget, and short production time - something all of us here at DVX can appreciated. 5/5 rating. This one is worth listening too.
 
It's a BTS doc, so not directly answering your question, but the 2 hour 'making of' doc on the Star Wars ep II DVD set (I think it was called "One Minute" or something like that) is an absolutely fascinating step-by-step of *everything* that went into making a one-minute segment of the film (the "Mustafa" lava-planet sequence where Anakin and Padme try to dodge an iron-smelter assembly line). From casting through post and literally *every single thing* in between. For 2 hours. One minute of finished film. Massively informative, even if you hate the SW films (which I don't).
 
It isn't exactly informative, but the "Tropic Thunder" commentary is almost as funny as the movie.

I appreciate all of your suggestions. I'm gonna check them out.
 
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