Trying to put together a group of excellent DVD commentaries for our next movie marathon (on the back of the succesful Romero Zombies/potted Arnie History.)

We'll probably watch Aliens, and maybe return to Conan the Barbarian.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Trying to find 6 to stick with. Doesn't necessarily have to include the director, of course.

the kurt/carpenter one for Big Trouble In little China is good as is the Mallrats if you're in to that kinda thing. For something more cerebral try PI.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Pi sounds interesting, and is pretty feasible. We were thinking of doing a Carpenter movie marathon for the following one, so we'll probably save BTiLC for that (haven't seen it for ages so would quite like to watch it with the s/track. I'm a Mallrats fan, but my buddies aren't as much so. I think the consensus would be that if we were to have a Kevin Smith movie, it would have to be Clerks!

Agreed on the Carpenter/Russel tracks, aswell as 'Mallrats'. Those are all ones i've went back to numerous times.

The cast/crew commentary for 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2' is also a firm fave, never a dull moment in that. Features Bill Mosley, Caroline Williams and Tom Savini.

A commentary that is as good as it is bad is Bey Logans commentary for 'Once Upon A Time In China' with "co-star" Mark King, Logan is his usual informative self but Kings rather shitty attitude and apparent hatred of film in general make for some amusing albeit cringe worthy moments.

And finally the track for Steve Wangs 'Drive' is great, funny and informative.

Loved the commentary on Chopper by Chopper. HIGHLY recommended.

David Warbeck and Catriona MacColl on the Anchor Bay edition of 'The Beyond' is somewhat amusing (if you're a fan of the film), and, of course, Bruce Campbell on the solo 'Evil Dead' commentary is right up there.

Cronenberg does great commentaries - great insight without getting boring.

Another good one is Mark Kermode with Robin Hardy, Edward Woodward and Christopher Lee for The Wicker Man.

The League of Gentlemen do a very funny commentary for Blood on Satan's Claw.

Yup the Carpenter and Russell commentaries are great. Watched The Thing with it on many times. Hellboy 1 & 2 have very good commentaries although Hellboy 2 does not have Ron Perlman which is a shame. Luke Goss comes across as suprisingly intelligent!

One time I flicked onto the commentary track for the blind on hellboy 1 which was very entertaining as a gravel voiced guy had to describe hellboy beating the tentacle thing at the end.

Blazing Saddles is a weird one as it sounds like Brooks rattled through all the best anecdotes then just stopped. Like Krusty the clown in that Poochie epsisode where he comes into the recording studio and rattles off some quotes for the latest talking doll before abruptly leaving.

Tron is a good one. They cover a lot of ground in it.

Jabberwocky is very good. Palin and Gilliam talking about how low budget it was.

Airplane is a good one. Very funny.

Dawn of Dead is a good one (remake).

24 hr party people is the best I have heard. I think there are 3 tracks and they are all really entertaining.

I've enjoyed most of the commentaries I have heard but then I tend to only buy films with them on and only films I love. Actually I got really bored / annoyed with the 10th anniversary edition of Clerks. And there is a way of watching them talk while you also watch the film. Snore.

I really liked the Thing's. I havent listened to many commentaries--the Thing I just had to, as well as the cut scene bit from Alien.

I just listened to the Howling's, which I had heard part of online at a Howling site. Its not bad--funny, some interesting stories.

Coolest opening to a commentary has to be on The Shining - "Hi, I'm Garrett Brown. I invented the Steadicam" . . .

I generally won't buy a film unless there is a commentary. The extras are the main selling point for me.

I forgot to mention that Herzog's commentaries are the best I have heard. In fact I watched Fata Morgana with it on from the off as the film is experimental (to say the least) and the story behind it is more interesting.

Of course his anecdotes about Kinski are great but his views and opinions on most things are fascinating. Heart of Glass was especially good as he points out the oddities of filming with a hypnotised cast. I'm pretty sure on one or more of the commentaries he and his interviewer (who is coaxing him though the commentary) are joined by the guy who played Marty Mcflys dad!

I too second, or third the Mallrats and The Thing commentaries alng with anything that has Arnold on it. The best from the Governator has got to be the commentary he does with Paul Verhoeven for Total Recall...one of the funniest things I have ever heard! Another one that is great is for a film called Drawing Flies which has commentary from the director, Kevin Smith, Jason and Carmen Lee, and a completely wasted Jason Mewes amongst others. Good stuff.

I would like to offer up Transformers The Movie for consideration. Let me first clarify that I am talking about the animated movie that was ground breaking, as opposed to the Michael Bay outing which was heart breaking.

If you're familiar with the animated flick, especially if you were a child when it made its theatrical run, then you know the groundbreaking nature of having your favorite characters all get killed off in the first 20 minutes of the movie. You also know that other things happened in the movie, but who really gives a rat's ass when all of your beloved got iced in front of your eyes. You can also remember the pain of watching the guys you didn't even care about receive the Grim Reaper's calling card, because it only compounded the fact that everyone you ever cared about, who could change into a car or jet, just died.

Fast forward 25 years; now those beloved moments can be relived with people talking over those pivotal moments of your life. The best commentary is really the main one with the director Nelson Shin, story editor Flint Dillie, and voice actress Sue Blue. This is highly recommended because it is almost like having two commentaries for the price of one. While Blue and Dillie recollect the good times during the production of the movie, Shin is busy getting lost in color schemes. It almost feels like two people were asked to provide audio commentary, and one person was asked to drop acid while that happened.

Hardware commentarty with director Richard Stanley and the film's producer is extremely interesting. Stanley's frankness and willing to name names is probably one reason he hasn't directed a full feature since Dust Devil.