What is your favorite commentary? (1 Viewer)

[Colin Jacobson]

John Frankenheimer.

Biggest weakness with the "Manchurian" track is the acres of dead air. When JF speaks, it's good, but ya gotta sit through a lot of nothing to get there!

 

[Robert Crawford]

John Frankenheimer.

Yes, John Frankenheimer's commentaries are better than most directors as far as information. I liked his "The Train" commentary, but his delivery is dry and there are instances of silence throughout it.

 

[Dick]

I have just given a listen to the 3+ hour-long commentary on GIANT, and it's loaded with useful information, with very few lulls. It is by director George Stevens' son George Jr, critic Stephen Farber, and screenwriter Ivan Moffett. Moffett sounds to me exactly like the actor Roscoe Lee Browne (THE COWBOYS), and Stevens often sounds like Cliff Robertson. Those similarities actually made this commentary even more listenable.

 

[Jeffrey D]

Friedkin's 1990s "Exorcist" commentary is good. His commentary for the "Expanded Cut" is simply awful.

I agree the "French Connection" commentary is mostly interesting, albeit erratic.

His "Rules of Engagement" and "Live and Die" tracks are also pretty good.

So IMO, only that circa 2000 "Exorcist" commentary is a Friedkin dog among the ones I've heard!

Have you heard his track for To Live And Die In
L.A.? He does provide some good info, but the way he tells it isn’t great (the kid of the property master took one of the one-sided $20 bills to try to buy something from a store- funny behind the scenes stuff, but he comes up a bit short on his telling of that incident).

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Have you heard his track for To Live And Die In
L.A.? He does provide some good info, but the way he tells it isn’t great (the kid of the property master took one of the one-sided $20 bills to try to buy something from a store- funny behind the scenes stuff, but he comes up a bit short on his telling of that incident).

Yeah, I mentioned the "Live and Die" commentary in the post you quoted...

 

[Jeffrey D]

Yeah, I mentioned the "Live and Die" commentary in the post you quoted...

Whoops- I overlooked that.

I don’t know if these have been mentioned yet, but I think all 3 tracks on Titanic are very worthwhile.