The first commentary I ever listened to was by these two guys, from ‘The Mummy’ DVD. It was a great track and this one is no different. These guys talk about everything you can imagine: production stuff (the sets were so big that even the interiors had to be built outdoors and shot at night), script changes (the ending was the first scripted ending and it didn’t change, while Anna’s introduction was pushed back from the second scene to the third), some anecdotes (some stunt people broke through a glass window, but it was tempered glass, not candy glass (because it was too big to be the latter), and the director went over to thank them and saw that their faces had many, many small cuts on them from the small glass shards), and many, many effects shots. They say how they did the vampire effects and they tell you what’s real and what’s fake. They also have time to joke about many things and actors. They don’t spare anybody with their small jabs, so it’s really fun to hear. One last thing: the cable cameras were going up to 50 miles per hour, and one of them crashed through the church door in the village. It’s an incredible track and many people will probably like it more than the movie itself.

While not as entertaining as some commentaries, this is everything a commentary should be. Early on, the writer and director mention how the movie is coming out in a week, so they have no idea how it will be received, but have a great feeling it will be thought of as great. And they mention how Hugh Jackman had not been in Xmen 2 yet, but they werent surprised he would become a big star.

They really cover all the bases you expect from a good commentary. Even they are impressed with the special effects and they point out the especially great effects, some of which you should not notice, and others you should be amazed by. The fangs and the flying were a big deal to them, and they give a lot of props to ILM, and they talk about how amazed they are at how far effects have advanced since they did Mummy Returns just a few years earlier.

They also point out the half dozen times a stunt person got hurt on the set, when the various ladies looked the sexiest, discuss what did not make it into the film and why. They mention questions they asked so that the audience wouldnt. And they bring up how Jackmans assistant is only an inch shorter than him, but even they dont know how he made himself look much shorter in every scene.

The commentary wont make you like the film if you hated it, but it will make you appreciate it more.

You already know who these three guys are but just for completeness’s sake, this is the ‘Monster’ commentary. The three guys play Dracula, Frankenstein and the Wolf Man, respectively. It’s yet another track done before the movie premiered and by people who’ve never seen the finished film before. More than once these guys come up with, ‘what’s going on now?’, or ‘how did they do that?’. They do poke a lot of fun at David Wendham (or ‘Daisy’). They talk a lot about how they shot things and mention many, many behind the scenes anecdotes. They recall how they walked on stilts or hung from the ceiling or did full body transformations, from werewolf to human. The sequence where Mr. Hersley goes up the wall on his back is extremely complex to finish and he says the F/X guys worked on it for about 6 months. They have some fun, and you’ll laugh a few times, but overall the first track is the better one. There’s some dead time, but despite that the three guys manage to say many interesting things. Worth listening to, but not too many times.