Tedium:
The audio commentary track, a staple of films on optical media, may not last into the age of streaming. Is it a victim of indifference by Netflix?
In an age of Gmail, Dropbox, and Netflix, people rarely worry about losing their favorite entertainment. One artform, inextricably tied to a dying format, is endangered—damn near extinction, even. Today’s Tedium looks at the lost art of DVD commentary.
The only DVDs I’ve ever bought have been because of the commentary track. Not having them available anymore is a shame and a real loss to moviephiles.
It’s not lost. They’re regularly included with digital movies today for any collector. Check iTunes extras.
If you’re only streaming, sure, but people who only rented DVDs were rarely interested in commentary tracks as well.
Between this and IMDb turning off their message boards, it’s become harder to get some in-depth insight into classic movies.
agreed, very disappointed by the loss of the IMDB forums — while there were trolls (everywhere, even on this site), the value of the analysis outweighed those posters. ill have far less reason to go to IMDB now.
Good audio commentary is a must for me, especially for genre entertainment. You can get some great stories from the people who made the film, some of which can explain why the film could’ve been better.
I really wish Netflix would start including the commentary.
I’m of mixed minds. I do like getting insights into a movie, but at the same time, it always strikes me as odd that studios will produce so much extra content (commentary, behind-the-scenes clips) that they dwarf the actual movie. That they’re almost more interested in creating the eventual download/disc release than the actual movie.
When we rented 3 Kings 25 years ago my wife insisted on watching the making of documentary first on the DVD. We never got to see the movie because the documentary was longer than the movie and we ran out of time. Finally say the movie 15 years later.