“Would I, growing up, like to have had access to stuff on DVDs like this? Oh God, yeah! It’s better than any film school, I think”

A lot of unexpected pleasure can be found listening to audio commentaries. It’s not only about learning a thing or two about the creative and filmmaking process from wise directors or eloquent actors and film crew members. It’s not even about changing the way you perceive the films in question, although from our experience, the viewer’s understanding and appreciation of films is often deepened by these inside analyses. Quite possibly the greatest thing about audio commentaries is that they give us an otherwise impossible opportunity to enjoy great films in the company of great filmmakers. Ladies and gentlemen, lend them your ears. The experience is nothing but rewarding. The quote from the title belongs to Steven Soderbergh. Here’s our selection, mostly from YouTube.

• Point Blank audio commentary with John Boorman and Steven Soderbergh
• The Verdict audio commentary with Sidney Lumet and Paul Newman
• The Third Man audio commentary with Steven Soderbergh and Tony Gilroy
• Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf audio commentary with Mike Nichols and Steven Soderbergh
• Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf audio commentary with Haskell Wexler
• The Devils audio commentary with Ken Russell
• Casino audio commentary with Martin Scorsese, Nicholas Pileggi, Thelma Schoonmaker, Barbara De Fina, Sharon Stone and Rita Ryack
• Gangs of New York audio commentary with Martin Scorsese
• The Limey audio commentary with Steven Soderbergh and Lem Dobbs
• Schizopolis audio commentary with Steven Soderbergh
• True Romance audio commentary with Quentin Tarantino
• Fight Club audio commentary with David Fincher and cast
• Reservoir Dogs audio commentary with Quentin Tarantino, Lawrence Bender, Monte Hellman, Andrzej Sekula, Sally Menke, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen and Kirk Baltz
• Mean Streets audio commentary with Martin Scorsese and Amy Robinson
• Apocalypse Now audio commentary with Francis Ford Coppola
• Salvador audio commentary with Oliver Stone
• A History of Violence audio commentary with David Cronenberg
• Thief audio commentary with Michael Mann and James Caan
• The French Connection audio commentary with William Friedkin
• The Conversation audio commentary with Francis Ford Coppola
• Se7en audio commentary with David Fincher and cast
• Hard Eight audio commentary with Paul Thomas Anderson and Philip Baker Hall
• A Fistful of Dollars audio commentary with Christopher Frayling
• Following audio commentary with Christopher Nolan
• Taxi Driver audio commentary with Martin Scorsese and Paul Schrader
• Once Upon a Time in America audio commentary with Richard Schickel
• Wall Street audio commentary with Oliver Stone
• 2001: A Space Odyssey audio commentary with Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood

• Zodiac audio commentary with David Fincher
• Panic Room audio commentary with David Fincher
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo audio commentary with David Fincher
• Collateral audio commentary with Michael Mann
• The Godfather audio commentary with Francis Ford Coppola
• Traffic audio commentary with Steven Soderbergh and Stephen Gaghan
• Sex, Lies and Videotape audio commentary with Steven Soderbergh and Neil LaBute
• The Graduate audio commentary with film’s scholar, Howard Suber
• Orson Welles’ Othello audio commentary with Peter Bogdanovich and Myron Meisel
• Some Like it Hot audio commentary with Howard Suber
• John Sturges’ audio commentary on the Bad Day at Black Rock LaserDisc
• THX 1138 audio commentary with George Lucas and co-writer/sound designer Walter Murch
• Glengarry Glen Ross out-of-print audio commentary with Jack Lemmon
• The Fisher King audio commentary with Terry Gilliam
• Midnight Express audio commentary with Alan Parker
• New York, New York audio commentary with Martin Scorsese & Carrie Rickey
• Crash audio commentary with David Cronenberg
• Rocky audio commentary with Sylvester Stallone
• Fata Morgana audio commentary with Werner Herzog
• Stroszek audio commentary with Werner Herzog
• Blue Collar audio commentary with Paul Schrader
• Pan’s Labyrinth audio commentary with Guillermo del Toro
• Donnie Darko audio commentary with Richard Kelly and Jake Gyllenhaal
• Die Hard audio commentary with John McTiernan & production designer De Govia
• The African Queen audio commentary with legendary cinematographer, Jack Cardiff
• Director’s commentary of Aronofsky’s The Fountain remastered for download

Legendary screenwriter Robert Towne and director David Fincher sit down for an informative and interesting commentary that examines the many facets of this fascinating film. Topics include the simplicity and understated power of Polanski’s direction, the movie’s distinctive music, choice of aspect ratio, the performances of Nicholson, Dunaway, and Huston, and the myriad nuances and creative touches that distinguish the film and separate it from others in its class. —David Krauss’ review of the film’s superb transfer to Blu-ray