DVD Commentaries

[Madeleine]

Hello all, I have all the s1-6 DVDs, and have generally enjoyed the commentaries from the directors, actors et al.

I'm skint right now, so I might not be able to get all of the s7 discs. The episodes themselves I can tape from Sky, so I'm not bothered about getting the 'good' eps right now, but the good commentaries. Can anyone recommend which ones were fun or interesting?

[sgeureka]

There are many S7 commentaries transcibed at http://stargatedanielfriendly.net/ht...mentaries.html

Very funny ones were
- PdL & Damian Kindler for "Fragile Balance" (lots of Asgard exit talk )
- PdL & Gary Jones for "Evolution Part 1" (those guys should really have their own radio talk show)

And interesting to listen to are Fallen / Homecoming. I don't have all the DVDs and I bet in the end it depends on the taste.

[the_fours]

it depends because some people like the deaadly serious ones(8i need matchsticks to keep my eyes open for those) or there are the ones that have a bit of humour in each one. I can tell you that each s7 dvd has had at least one commentary with ms or at and i think the ones with the actors are always best.

[Albion]

Can't help on the question itself, because I'll wait for the boxed set before I buy. But just had to agree with sgeureka about the commentaries of Gary Jones and PdL. The ones on the season six boxed set are hilarious and I'm delighted to hear that there are more to come in the S7 disks.

I was really delighted to see more of a mix in the commentaries lately - I enjoy the SFX/production-based ones, but they get boring to me after a time if that's all there is for commentary after commentary, as that's not my main interest. Mixing them with some from the actors' side of things a little is much more entertaining a balance imo and I hope that trend continues in future boxed sets. For me, it doesn't have to be the main cast either. It would be nice, for example, to hear from Alex Zahara or Dion Johnstone on what it was like playing Chaka or other aliens; guest stars are as interesting as the main cast and can have a unique insight on what it was like to work on set. And bring on 'Major Davis' or 'Graham Simmons' for a commentary or two, I say. <g>

I also loved the addition of the Director's Commentaries series, which were a lot of fun. Are they continued in the S7 disks?

Quick Edit: sgeureka, thanks for that url!! I'm now trying to resist spoiling my enjoyment of the boxed set by playing them now, but not sure I'll hold out for long. When it comes to Stargate I have no willpower. I'm a wimp. And, The Fours, for some reason I seem to have missed your post before posting mine, but just to say thanks for the insight - happy to hear that MS and AT are involved!


Albion (who is desperate to hear the commentary for FB, one of her favourite episodes)

[MadEyeTed]

Not sure if you just arent talking about them or arent aware of them, but there were commentaries for seasons 4 and 5 as well...not just 6 and 7.

I think they are just something else that separates SG-1 from the rest - whether the speakers are charismatic or not, whether there are technical or creative voices, they all have somehting in common - they show a real passion for what they are doing. Its nice to know that they like making it as much as I like watching it, a fact which is evident in both the commentaries and the final product itself.

[Ugly Pig]

Well, I think every DVD has had at least some fun or interesting commentary, but the first one to come to mind was the commentary for Homecoming:
"Hello, I'm naked Michael Shanks!"

[Skydiver]

for me, the ones with the lighting guys, jim menard, etc are pretty dry

yes, it's fascinating to hear how they did this lighting angle or the such...but, well, you know, it's dry

however any of them with Peter DeLuise, Joe Mallozzi, Gary Jones, Amanda Tapping are hysterical. I think the funniest one was Death Knell and Peter starts going off about the codpiece of death.

disclosure was an absolute scream, i think it was don, peter and maybe gary
there's one that's peter adn gary only and i don't think they really talk about the eps at all, they jsut talk and i laughed my tushie off

so if you want to learn cool insider info, go for the one with the lighting guys, you want to laugh, go for the ones with peter and sometimes martin

[Hawkeye]

Where did you find commentary on "Death Knell? I'm enjoying for first time "StargateDanielFriendly" which has excellent variety but did not find any commentaries after "Chimera". Also, nice to find another "Gater" in Kansas!

[Ugly Pig]

We're talking about the audio commentaries on the DVDs. That's where we've found the commentary for "Death Knell" and the others.

[keshou]

The best thing about the season 7 DVD's is probably the Director's Series and the Beyond the Gate features on the actors (those have all been good). I usually find something of interest in all of the commentaries, even on episodes I didn't care for. I prefer the ones with the actors, Martin Wood, PDL (except when he goes off on bodily functions a *little* too much. . The set decorator and lighting guys, yeah a little dry at times, but I appreciate the passion they have for their craft and for the show. I really miss James Tichenor's input (he only does one commentary, on Fallout), I love the VFX stuff and he was informative and fun without getting too technical.

DVD with Fallen, Homecoming, Fragile Balance, Orpheus. Good. MS does Fallen/Homecoming with Martin Wood. Worth listening to, if only when they talk about Daniel and Jonas sitting next to each other and how much they look alike (except for the glasses). Fragile Balance (with PDL) is fun (watch for the joke about the name of the liquor store). Interesting background on Michael Welch's performance as young Jack.

DVD with Revisions, Lifeboat, Enemy Mine and Space Race. Meh. The Directors Series and commentary on Revisions (MW and MS) was probably more interesting than the episode itself, especially hearing Martin discuss how he set up certain shots, the location, the creepy extras, etc. Lifeboat comentary was okay, not great, the most interesting stuff was PDL talking about how RDA's father died that week and most of his scenes were filmed later. His double was used in a lot of the scenes with the other actors and later they filmed RDA's close-ups. Enemy Mine and Space Race. Don't remember anything great on those off the top of my head.

DVD with Avenger 2.0, Birthright, Evolution I & II. Okay. I was really looking forward to the Birthright commentary and was slightly disappointed -- too much discussion of the set decorations vs. some of the interesting guest actors and scenes in that episode. However the commentaries *really* made me appreciate the effort the set decorators put into this episode to establish a unique setting for Ishta's tribe. Avenger 2.0 commentary (MW and AT) - I actually enjoyed this more than the episode itself, especially the details on how they filmed the scene at the end in one shot. Evolution I - basically PDL and Gary Jones sitting down and having a chat about all sorts of stuff that didn't have much to do with the actual episode. I enjoyed Evolution II with PDL and AT more.

DVD with Grace, Fallout, Chimera, Death Knell. Along with the first DVD (Fallen, etc.) I'd put this as the most entertaining DVD of season 7 to date. Beyond the Gate with RDA was fab. PDL's Director's Series on Death Knell was one of the most entertaining I've seen. PDL was at his funniest "okay, super solider, turn around, flex your butt cheeks" and there was great stuff with all the actors in that one. Death Knell commentary with AT was also good. I enjoyed hearing her take on getting down and dirty and filming this one pretty much on her own. Grace commentary had a lot of technical info on how they framed and set up shots and some interesting info on how disjointed the filming was (AT worked on this episode over a really long period of time). They discussed the kiss a little, how they decided to go with the dream within a dream thing. Fallout I mainly remember because of the discussion of Jonas and his girlfriend having the same hairstyle. Some nice stuff from Martin on how he filmed the drilling scenes. Chimera was entertaining, but they pretty much just discussed Sam getting a boyfriend, Sam getting to dress up, DDL being funny, Pete the stalker coming back (and he's still a nice guy!) etc. Osiris side of story wasn't discussed very much.

[Skydiver]

Where did you find commentary on "Death Knell? I'm enjoying for first time "StargateDanielFriendly" which has excellent variety but did not find any commentaries after "Chimera". Also, nice to find another "Gater" in Kansas!

hi hawkeye. wow, another kansan. this is spooky. i think there are 3 of us now

teh commentaries are on the dvd's. from season 4 on, if you go to special features, there are audio commentaries of each episode...basically cast & or crew go to a studio, sit down in front of a microphone, watch the episode and talk through it.

sometimes it's cool tech info, where names come from, who's brother is an extra, and stuff like that. other times it's just them yakking away

[Hawkeye]

Kes: Where did you get DVD with commentaries for S7?? Enjoyed your comments re "factual" v."funny" commentaries-- all the bathroom/bodily functions comments get a bit tiresome for me, but I enjoy him as a director/writer. Thanks for any info re S7 DVD available for US.

[keshou]

Kes: Where did you get DVD with commentaries for S7?? Enjoyed your comments re "factual" v."funny" commentaries-- all the bathroom/bodily functions comments get a bit tiresome for me, but I enjoy him as a director/writer. Thanks for any info re S7 DVD available for US.

Region 2 DVD's are the only thing available for season 7 right now- you can order them from several places in the UK (amazon.uk, sendit.com, etc.). The trick is being able to play them in the U.S. (we're Region 1). You can set your DVD drive on your computer to Region 2 and watch them on that. Or you can get a multi-region DVD player that will play Region 2 DVD's.

I use the computer, just keep the drive set on Region 2 (on my computer you can only change the region code five times before the drive becomes inoperable). Play Region 1 DVD's on my regular DVD player hooked up to the TV.

[Ugly Pig]

Or just wait until October... The Region 1 DVDs will be out then.

[LtLisa]

There are many S7 commentaries transcibed at http://stargatedanielfriendly.net/ht...mentaries.html

Very funny ones were
- PdL & Damian Kindler for "Fragile Balance" (lots of Asgard exit talk )
- PdL & Gary Jones for "Evolution Part 1" (those guys should really have their own radio talk show)

And interesting to listen to are Fallen / Homecoming. I don't have all the DVDs and I bet in the end it depends on the taste.

thanks for the link...I'm a poor college student who can't buy the DVDs, but I love the commentaries!