DVD extras and Commentary Tracks

[the dead one]

A new department...thanks Arrow!

The one thing that I do enjoy when it comes to the DVD format, is in the extras department. Companies that are more fan friendly, really deliver the goods. Blue Underground, Anchor Bay and a whole host of others come to mind, giving us a vast wealth of information. It can be a very enriching experience to take full advantage of what a DVD can deliver.

Commentary Tracks~

They can be very powerful tools for aspiring filmmakers; many filmmakers practically take you to school with their passionate commentary on what it took to get a film done from start to finish.

So, my question is...How many here utilize their extras features and enjoy them. If so, please elaborate.

Thanks! :)

[Mr-Blonde]

1RST RESPONSE!

I really dig special features on horror DVDs. As an aspiring filmmaker working on a low budget horror flick I usually watch the behind the scenes special features. My absolute two favorites would be the 30 Days In Hell doc on disc 2 of The Devil's Rejects doc and the behind the scenes footage and outakes from the Anchor Bay 2002 release of Evil Dead. In 30 Days it's awesome because you can really see the strain on Zombie's face as they get nearer to the end of the shoot!

[zombievictim]

Woah Sweet! New FORUM!!! YEAH!!!!

Can never get enough stuff in the Horror forums.

Thanks ARROW!:D

And yes Devil's Rejects featurette kicks all kind of ass!

[Cronos]

i love special features with my horror films, i love seeing how effects are done such as the stages of doing makeup or creating a creature

although i need to listen to more commentaries, most of the ones ive watched have had some really useful information on doing effects and filmmaking in general

[the dead one]

Originally posted by Mr-Blonde
1RST RESPONSE!

I really dig special features on horror DVDs. As an aspiring filmmaker working on a low budget horror flick I usually watch the behind the scenes special features. My absolute two favorites would be the 30 Days In Hell doc on disc 2 of The Devil's Rejects doc and the behind the scenes footage and outakes from the Anchor Bay 2002 release of Evil Dead. In 30 Days it's awesome because you can really see the strain on Zombie's face as they get nearer to the end of the shoot!
Mr. Blonde,

Nice to know I am not the only one who really appreciates audio commentary tracks. The more informative the better, I highly recommend to all aspiring filmmakers to take full advantage of filmmakers commentaries. Here's a sample of recommended DVD commentary tracks to check out:

Scalps (1983) Fred Olen Ray delivers a very lively and educational commentary, along side co-creator T.K. Lankford. Recommended for any aspiring filmmaker. Great stuff!

The Evil Dead (1981) Bruce Campbell has the best commentary track, which is hilarious and enlightening. Awesome!

The Deathmaster (1972) This time Fred Olen Ray gives cult horror fans a 'Special Treat', because none other then Mr. Robert Quarry himself does a commentary track, with Fred as moderator. This is a personal favorite of mine. Being a big "Count Yorga" fan, but in the Deathmaster Quarry plays a different kind of Vampire all together. A manson-esque vamp aptly named Khorda!

Quarry gives an extremely enthusiastic commentary that is amazing, his insight of films and the history involved is worth more then just one listen. He shares some real horror stories about the seedier side of the business, along with an amusing story about the young cast, whom at a rap party, slip Quarry a little LSD in his coke. Plus, he has some rather pointed comments about one 'Sam Z. Arkoff', It’s a hoot!


This is just a small example of DVD Audio commentary tracks that come recommended, I will post more soon! :D

[Mr-Blonde]

Thanks dead one, dig the new avatar. I'll be sure to check those out sometime. Then again I try to rent every film I can get my hands on.

Other commentaries I have listened to:

The Many Days of Day of the Dead: A fascinating look into how Tom Savini and then beginner Greg Nicotero made all of the gruesome makeups for Day. You won't believe how they pulled off Captain Rhodes!

The Nightmare Series Encyclopedia: As far as I know this has only been available in the fancy N1-N7 box set which I happen to own. It is a treasure trove of Nightmare info for the diehards.

[Ratlehed]

I really enjoy the Evil Dead series commentary tracks by Bruce Campbell and Sam Raimi. I also like the John Carpenter/Kurt Russell commentary on Escape from NY, The Thing, and Big Trouble in Little China.
Lloyd Kaufman does good commentary tracks for Troma. He makes fun of his films but also is very insightful. Any new directors should listen to them to hear tricks of the trade for low budget films.

I also enjoy watching deleted scenes. Sometimes they are nothing special but one in awhile you see something that adds to the film. Some of the deleted scenes for Big Trouble in Little China are great. I also like the original ending for Army of Darkness. Which was a deleted scene untill the "paper bag" version of Army.. came out.

[SpongeBod]

The commentaries I enjoy the most.
Evil Dead 2 with Sam Raimi, Bruce Campbell, Scott Spiegel and Greg Nicotero. I watch it with the commentary as much as I do without it. I just wished my Book of the Dead version said "Join us" when pushed the eye instead of screaming, but it's still a cool as hell DVD.

Re-Animator: Millennium Edition also has a great commentary with Brian Yuzna, Jeffrey Combs, Robert Sampson, Barbara Crampton and Bruce Abbott. Plus another one with Stuart Gordon.

I think the best "look back" documentaries are on The Thing and The Fly: Collector's Edition DVDs.

Being that I'm a B-movie fan. I'm looking forward to getting some of the new Roger Corman DVDs that have been coming out, like the new Special Editions of Death Race 2000 and Big Bad Mama.
Has anybody checked those out?
How is the picture, sound and extras?

[doaflip]

I watch every extra on every DVD I get. I only tend to buy films that I really love (luckily I love a lot of films) and so want to know everything about them.

A lot of commentaries are good for dispelling myths and rumours surrounding films. They can help you appreciate films more, a good example would be the extras on Robocop; most people think it's a brainless action movie and I always defend it as an impeccably made satire. After watching the DVD stuff though, I realise how much of a satire it really is. There's so much in that film.

I like it when filmmakers point out mistakes and stuff in their films, and how much little things like that annoy them. Like on the Phantasm 2 commentary, Don Coscarelli points out that a car boot (trunk to you Americans) doesn't quite close in one scene. You can barely see it but he says how he wished he could cut it and reshoot it.

Actually the extras on the Phantasm boxset are amazing. When Coscarelli elaborates on all the different endings that he came up with for the first film... woah.

[blk_flower]

extras are the best on horror dvds
commentaries are the best thing that you could ever happen, it's like a behind the scenes featurette thats as long as the film.

it may depend how good the commentary is but most of the time I get a real understanding for so much in a film. I love special effects and it is always so interesting

take "the thing" for example
the commentary has almost no dead noise and I got to learn so much from all the creature effects. I do enjoy a director's mistakes they wish they could redo, and why they think there movie is good in their own way even if I think it's a bad film.

[doaflip]

Originally posted by blk_flower
take "the thing" for example
the commentary has almost no dead noise and I got to learn so much from all the creature effects. I do enjoy a director's mistakes they wish they could redo, and why they think there movie is good in their own way even if I think it's a bad film.

I think that's one of the benchmarks for DVD commentaries. All the John Carpenter and Kurt Russell ones are great, the only point they've lapsed is during Big Trouble In Little China when they start discussing their families and how they should meet up some time.

The commentary on A Nightmare On Elm Street is pretty informative too, in almost every area; like how the real life case of teenagers dying in their sleep didn't just inspire the film in general, but specific scenes (i.e. coffee machine under the bed).

[zombievictim]

There are a few dvds that I LOVE the commentary on them. Either they're full of details or the people are hilarious and fun. The following are my favorite commentary tracks.

Evil Dead - Bruce Campbell is very inciteful and full of fun facts. He's also hilarious at times and I love this just as much as the movie itself.

Underworld - Len Wiseman, Kate Beckinsale, and Scott Speedman (for half) do a good job at giving information on the movie. They taunt each other throughout. (Scott: Wait I don't remember that? Len: See we're watching this movie, its called Underworld. You should watch it sometime). My only problem is, which I have with any commentaries that have this, that Len and Scott sound very alike so its hard to distinguish between the two at times.

Resident Evil: Apocalypse - Milla Jovovich, Oded Fehr, and Sienna Guillory talk throughout about the shoot. They basically tell what happened behind the scenes at each different point. Its a lot of fun to listen to.

That's about it. I've listened to a few others such as Resident Evil, Final Destination, and Scream but none really stand out. The Resident Evil one is barely even about the movie, at least thats what I remember. The Scream one is boring as hell. Anyways, commentary tracks are a lot of fun to listen to. I'll definitely check out some of the other ones listed.

[MisterTwister]

Great Commentary Tracks-

The Evil Dead (both, but Bruce's is cooler)

Evil Dead 2

C.H.U.D.

Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2

The Devil's Rejects (cast commentary)

Re-Animator (both are great)

Cabin Fever (I love all 5 tracks)

Basket Case

If i think of more, i'll pos them

[Horrorific]

I LOVE dvd extras. Many times I ended up buying so-so movies just because the extras kick ass.

The ultimate example of great horror dvd extras is ALIEN QUADRILOGY.

As for commentaries, I once said elsewhere on there boards that I can't bring myself to see a movie more than twice. Consequently, I don't enjoy commentaries since they mean that I would have to see a whole movie once more just to listen to the commentary.

[deadeye]

My fave commentary is to Madman. There are a lot of low budget effects they discuss, as well as the on-the-location change of plot points due to The Burning being filmed not too far away at the same time.

[Bud Bundy]

Commentaries can be good or bad, just like the movies. My favorites are the funny ones, like Resident Evil. Sounded like Milla Jovovich was drunk - or maybe she always acts like that. When she started saying "You're all going to die down here" I was absolutely cracking up. Some are pretty informative, but there's "interesting informative", and then there's "way too much information informative". No, I'm not interested in hearing how many paragraphs of the original script were cut from every freakin' scene. It gets really bad when it sounds like the people on the commentaries don't even care for each other and can't wait until the thing's over so they can get out of the room. Or the ones where they're silent for a long time, and finally somebody says something interesting but then, after not saying anything for 5 minutes, somebody else has to immediately butt in and change the subject.

Extras like behind the scenes featurettes pretty much depend on the movie. If I like the movie, I'm interested. If not, I don't care.

[MadmanMARZ]

Originally posted by deadeye
My fave commentary is to Madman. There are a lot of low budget effects they discuss, as well as the on-the-location change of plot points due to The Burning being filmed not too far away at the same time.

mmmm I will spare your life :D

A commentary or behind the scenes/making of from an old movie is always fun to watch...
The new movies like King Kong, Harry potter, Lord of the Rings or Matrix is not very exciting...
The best documentary is from movies like The Thing, The Fly, Jaws, The Frighteners etc, where they really tells you all...

[Cap'n Kronos22]

I love extras. Some movies like The Thing or Dawn of the Dead, I bought and since I had seen them countless times, Watched with commentary first. I enjoy learning about how some of my favorite scenes were shot, or how an effect was done. My favorite things are just the stories of the crazy things that have been done just to finish some of these low budget films. I have noticed a common " Us against the world " or " finish the film at all costs" attitude with a lot of low budget films. It is amazing how many stories about how a lot of these films were almost never finished. It makes you realize how tough the movie business is.

[teenkiller]

As long as it is a film that I actually like I will watch all the features for it. That is the benefit of owning a dvd! The first dvds I picked up when I got my dvd player were the NIGHTMARE series box set and Boogeyman: The Killer Compilation. I watched all the documentary/bonus footage and listened to the commentaries and thought it was so cool. The Sleepaway Camp trilogy, The Thing, The Janitor, THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT, The Hills Have Eyes, THE EVIL DEAD (BOTH commentaries), EVIL DEAD 2... any movie that interested me I listened to the commentaries. I love all those behind the scenes tidbits. Well thats all for now GOoD JOURNEY my fellow schmoes.

[!MorganOnyx!]

Any JOHN CARPENTER commentary kicks ass! I also enjoyed the commentaries on the SCREAM trilogy. Don't bother with SPIKE LEE'S commentary on SUMMER OF SAM. Unfortunately he seemed stoned and basically points out what's happening in the scene. Boring! The BLACK CHRISTMAS commentary is a good listen, hearing how the late great BOB CLARK made his classic. In fact, if you fuckers haven't heard it yet, DO IT NOW as a moment of respect for the big guy!

I'm still waiting on the VICTOR SALVA/NATHAN FORREST-WINTERS commentary on CLOWNHOUSE! For some strange reason it hasn't happened yet. "Ah yes NATHAN this is the scene we shot just after you sucked my dick in the bedroom! Good times! But then you ratted me out and I went down for a year and a half! Bad times!" :)

[teenkiller]

Ha ha. I wouldn't hold my breath for a Clownhouse commentary. Not any more than Victor Salva held his load anyways... Well thats all for now GOoD JOURNEY my fellow schmoes.