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I wasn't sure if this question was worthy of a Poll but I've been watching all the Commentaries on all the versions and I was curious as to whose commentary people liked the best.

So far, I prefer the commentary by Paul Sammon on the Workprint version and the Syd Mead and Visual Effects Guys comments because I feel like they provided a lot of insight and kept their comments related to the scenes we were watching as opposed to the commentaries by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples who I felt sometimes drifted off into talking about other stuff like the back and forth about who wrote which scene and they forgot they were supposed to be commenting on the movie. I also enjoyed hearing what Ridley Scott had to say.

I wish they would freeze frame the movie sometimes when they are talking because it takes a few minutes to talk about certain scenes and they sometimes can't say all they want to say before another scene comes up that they want to comment on. I know it would make the feature too long but I'd love to hear everything they have to say about every scene.

I liked them all for different reasons. Fancher & Peoples made me smile with their little amicable quarrels and (subjective) insights into the myriads of script versions.

Off the top of my head I'd say: I'm quite content with the massive commentaries, the only thing one could wish for would be a commentary with the cast members, right?

have to listen at Scott's yet, but loved all the others. Sammon is so informative that he often had to "run" explaining and commenting scenes as they were going. Fancher/Peoples made me laugh, funnny guys. Trumbull & Co, great, especially Mr.Dryer, so informative and in-detail. the one i liked the less was Deeley/Haber's, because they talk something i can't get in (production issues and costs) and also because i really can't understand a word by Deeley. he speaches that damn condensed and compressed british, oh gawd...

anyway, i loved when Kathy Haber was referring to how they cast Hauer, and said something like: "Don't worry about what he's dressing and how he looks now, Ridley, he's GOT to be Roy... he IS our Roy!" how right she was!

For those who have endless amounts of free time and have already cruised through all 4 versions of the commentary offered on the DVD set, god bless you. I've been relegated to catching up on the collection during my free time on the weekends, so I'm still a little behind. So far I've only listened to Ridley Scott's commentary (historic, amazing - there it is, at last!), and am halfway thru the Deeley/Haber/Fancher/Peoples section.

Not to suggest that either Hampton Fancher or David Peoples could line up a shot through a camera lens with one-tenth of the amount of Ridley Scott's cinematic brilliance...but as far as the commentary goes, although it was terrific to hear Scott dish out his thoughts about the movie, so far I'm honestly more entertained by the Fancher and Peoples interplay. Those guys are totally hilarious together, it's awesome to hear them give each other sh*t (affectionately, of course) and rib each other ferociously. I know they've probably vowed to never work together (not that Fancher's infamously tender ego could ever withstand such a thing), but it's a shame, I bet they could write a hell of a terrific comedic screenplay if they ever put their minds to it...

There are some really amazing recollections, too, like People's divulging (finally) that it was Ridley Scott who asked him to include the Blake quote that Roy drops in Chew's eye laboratory. All these years, nobody knew who the hell was responsible for getting that quote into the movie (unless if I'm mistaken and Sammon had already caught that detail, like so many others, in Future Noir)...at any rate, awesome stuff.

Some favorite moments:

Introduction - "Hi, I'm David Peoples, and I was brought in to clean up the mess that Hampton Fancher made."

(this is my best recollection from memory)

Peoples: So, I was brought in when they were talking to Dustin Hoffman, and -
Fancher: Whoa, whoa, hold on, you were brought in when they were talking to Hoffman?
Peoples: Yeah.
Fancher: You mean you were already working on the screenplay that early in the game, and I didn't know about it?
Peoples: Yeah, I was.
Fancher: Oh, it just gets worse all the time!!


Some people have mentioned that they're a little irritated by Deeley's English accent, but the man has some incredible insights. I think it's fascinating to hear his estimate on overall inflation in the movie business, basically amounting to a 2.5% increase with each passing year. Incredible, when you consider that digital filmmaking potentially had the capacity to help reduce the bugets of movies, but they're actually more expensive to make than ever before. But as far as I'm concerned, the truth of the matter is that without a supremely visionary directorial talent (like, for example, Peter Jackson's with the LOTR trilogy), no amount of money that movie studios throw at their digital-effects departments is going to come close to achieving the visual magnificence of the painstakingly hand-crafted work that went into BR's production design and visual effects.

Can't wait to finish checking out the rest of the BR commentaries over the next several weeks!

You guessed correctly, Paul M Sammon the Great has:
Future Noir, Both Editions, Page 134

I too forgot about that, but the way Hampton Fancher reacted to Peoples' breaking the news to him is priceless and of course not in the book...

Have a better one,
Martin

Finally finished the Fancher/Peoples/Deeley/Haber commentary. Very good stuff, though it's amusing that about half of Fancher's and Peoples' conversation revolves around arguing over who wrote what scene or line of dialogue, etc. Fancher's final send-off to Peoples is very sweet: "I'm not trying to kiss your ass, but as far as life-changing experiences go, BR changed my life, and I would not be here right now if it wasn't for you!"

What a movie to have worked on! Either the cast and crew were freezing cold and gagging on fumes (in Chew's eye lab), or hot and humid to the point of barely wearing anything just to endure the conditions (the upper floors of the Bradbury set). They don't prepare you for working in extreme conditions like that in sunny southern California film schools

it was me, but i wans't mean Deeley's insights are useless or boring. quite the contrary: i was just ranting because his incomprehensible speak doesn't allow non-UK mothertongue peoples to understand his useful and interesting insights

Really? I'm from NJ and I understood every word.

Wait...that could be why...

well, i guess i could be typing more correctly "non-UK/USA mothertongue"... unless you think italians could ever understand some deep UK accent?

With all due respect to you and your wonderful Italian countryfolk, Planta, I think Michael Deely probably ran into Roberto Benigni at some point over the last several years, and during their conversation, you got all the linguistic revenge you could have ever possibly hoped for, and much more. Bravo, Roberto!

I am so confused.

So yeah...another fun Scottentary.

Michael Deeley is much fun to listen to, but I had to wonder...

Man, is everybody in Hollywood an "old, dear friend" of his???

I liked all the commentaries except for Hampton Fanchers input he just sounded like a whiny spoilt brat... Continually saying he was responsible for anything good in the film...i just wanted to slap him and tell him to STFU up !

Although I disagree with your opinion of Fancher as a "spoiled brat," I see your point. I find his brand of neuroticism extremely entertaining, because it usually serves to show how truly intelligent and creative a guy he is...but I also think it's indicative of how difficult he might've been to work with (as so many of the stories on the new DVD set attest to), in that he's so stubborn and completely entrenched with so many of his ideas.

It also reminds me of Warren Beatty's quote: "The narcicissm of an actor cannot possibly begin to compare with the narcicissm of a writer."