Do you ever bother with extras like commentary, etc.?

..and why not?
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GoogaMooga
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Do you ever bother with extras like commentary, etc.?

Postby GoogaMooga » 20 Dec 2018, 22:45

You know how it is, you find a 2 disc special edition, and somehow, you never get around to watching that second disc...
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Charlie O.
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Re: Do you ever bother with extras like commentary, etc.?

Postby Charlie O. » 21 Dec 2018, 00:04

Commentaries - depends. Sometimes they're interesting, sometimes they annoy me.

I tend to love "Making Of" documentaries and such.
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Re: Do you ever bother with extras like commentary, etc.?

Postby Matt Wilson » 21 Dec 2018, 00:54

I usually watch and listen to everything. I try to learn as much about the film as I can. Every once in awhile it's just too much though and I'm burned out by the movie and want to move on to another one.

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Re: Do you ever bother with extras like commentary, etc.?

Postby GoogaMooga » 21 Dec 2018, 02:12

I am interested in film history and ought to watch and listen to these things, but in a way I feel about them the same way I do with liner notes, I am just glad they are there. So much stuff, so little time...
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Re: Do you ever bother with extras like commentary, etc.?

Postby Charlie O. » 21 Dec 2018, 02:20

So if you had a choice of a 1-disc version with just the movie or the 2-disc Special Edition - assuming the movie was the same quality on both - which would you go for?
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Re: Do you ever bother with extras like commentary, etc.?

Postby GoogaMooga » 21 Dec 2018, 02:29

Charlie O. wrote:So if you had a choice of a 1-disc version with just the movie or the 2-disc Special Edition - assuming the movie was the same quality on both - which would you go for?


Depends on the price difference. In thrift, they don't distinguish when pricing... I'd pay extra for something really informative and rare footage, good interviews.
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Re: Do you ever bother with extras like commentary, etc.?

Postby Snarfyguy » 21 Dec 2018, 04:10

All of Werner Herzog's classic work is well worth a view with the commentary track on (provided you like his movies in the first place). It's like he's sitting next to you on the couch, and I could listen to him all day.

Unfortunately his interlocutor is kind of an annoying dimwit, but in a perverse way I suppose that makes it better.
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Re: Do you ever bother with extras like commentary, etc.?

Postby Darkness_Fish » 21 Dec 2018, 09:30

The Hitchcock boxset I got a few years back came with interesting little documentaries about each film, and they were well worth a watch. But then again, not many films are as interesting as Hitch's films. Outside of that, I think I've probably watched 9 or 10 bits of commentaries or deleted scenes, maximum. They're normally tedious and pointless. The commentary on the 1941 The Wolf Man film is excellent though, pointing out all the film's stupidities, from the casting of Claude Rains as Lon Chaney Jr's father, to the rare use of the telescope that allows you to see from much lower down than you're standing.
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Re: Do you ever bother with extras like commentary, etc.?

Postby $P.Muff$ » 21 Dec 2018, 10:41

Generally speaking, no. The history of cinema is interesting to me, but not so much the technical side of things. A lot of times I feel the extras ruin the magic.

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Re: Do you ever bother with extras like commentary, etc.?

Postby pcqgod » 21 Dec 2018, 16:42

Not so much anymore, but I do generally want to hear any director/actor commentary on a movie I enjoy as well as any "making of" doc that doesn't go on too long.
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Re: Do you ever bother with extras like commentary, etc.?

Postby Ghost of Harry Smith » 04 Jan 2019, 05:41

Well it depends on the film but yes I watch or listen to the notable extras.

I listen to director’s commentaries as if it was a podcast, wandering aroundy my house with wireless headphones on. I don’t think you necessarily need to watch the films while listening to a commentary... I don’t need a shot by shot breakdown, that’s boring.

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Re: Do you ever bother with extras like commentary, etc.?

Postby bobzilla77 » 01 Feb 2019, 22:03

Yeah I wouldn't guarantee I have watched the "extras" on manhy of them.

The only "commentary track" I watched that I would say was truly enjoyable was the one for Spinal Tap. All three members, in character, explicating on what was happening in their career at the time of each bit of footage. I've heard there are some punk documentaries that have commentary tracks that devolve into three old men yelling at each other, I might have to seek out some of those.

But I also like making-of documentaries, and the one included on the Taxi Driver DVD is excellent.
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Re: Do you ever bother with extras like commentary, etc.?

Postby Fonz » 19 Feb 2019, 11:57

Darkness_Fish wrote:The Hitchcock boxset I got a few years back came with interesting little documentaries about each film, and they were well worth a watch. But then again, not many films are as interesting as Hitch's films. Outside of that, I think I've probably watched 9 or 10 bits of commentaries or deleted scenes, maximum. They're normally tedious and pointless. The commentary on the 1941 The Wolf Man film is excellent though, pointing out all the film's stupidities, from the casting of Claude Rains as Lon Chaney Jr's father, to the rare use of the telescope that allows you to see from much lower down than you're standing.


That’s the last of the 8 Universal Horror films me and my boy have left to watch, from a blu ray box I got him for Christmas. Some of the extras have been pretty good- the Dracula one for example.

So, DF. Will I be frightened by ‘The Wolf Man’?
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Re: Do you ever bother with extras like commentary, etc.?

Postby Darkness_Fish » 19 Feb 2019, 12:50

Fonz wrote:So, DF. Will I be frightened by ‘The Wolf Man’?

It's actually not a bad film once you get over the casting and glaring errors. It is what it is, a monster film with a cheap and cheerful supernatural setting complete with gypsies and spells n' stuff. Great fun, with a cast who throw themselves into it, and a good humanising performance from Lon Chaney Jr.

I wouldn't worry too much about nightmares, but I bet you enjoy it quite a lot.
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Re: Do you ever bother with extras like commentary, etc.?

Postby Fonz » 19 Feb 2019, 13:47

Bride of Frankenstein is the apogee!
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Re: Do you ever bother with extras like commentary, etc.?

Postby the masked man » 19 Feb 2019, 15:23

Agree with the Spinal Tap commentary. Because the in-character comments add new layers to the narrative - essentially the band believe they were intentionally stitched up by DiBergi - it almost feels like a brand new movie, a weird sequel containing precisely the same footage as the original.

Also agree with Werner Herzog's 70s output. It's really weird how the director discusses, in calm and measured English, some of the utterly outlandish experiences in his dealings with Klaus Kinski, as if making films in this manner is entirely normal. The commentary for Aguirre Wrath of God is an absolute scream!


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