Double Talk: The History of the DVD Commentary

Table of Contents

And a DVD is…

To start at the very beginning- a very good place to start, I’ve been made to understand- we actually need to go back even further. Not to DVDs, but to LaserDiscs.

In 1977, VHS was a revelation. At the time, home entertainment usually meant dinner conversation, a good book, or a dinner conversation about a good book. But VHS made in-residence movie magic possible. It triumphed over Betamax (that would be going too far back), cornering the market and establishing itself as the primary format for watching films at home. But only a year later, in 1978, something stranger arrived: LaserDisc.

That same year brought a new pope and the first Home Depot. Amid this chaos came a shiny disc called “MCA DiscoVision.” LaserDisc was all optical: it read movies with a laser, unlike VHS, which relied on magnetic tape. Though the DVD wouldn’t be introduced until 1996, it inherited much from LaserDisc, and the two shared a surprisingly similar infrastructure. Both use a laser to read a disc covered in tiny holes, which is translated by a player into picture and sound. Both offered features VHS never could: you could skip to a specific scene, pause on a frame, and even use slow motion. They were also far superior in quality.

Where DVDs improved on LaserDiscs was mainly in storage and convenience. DVDs can hold more video and audio data on one side. No flipping required. They’re quieter, smaller (more like CDs than LPs), and don’t have the inconsistencies in picture that plagued LaserDisc players. LaserDiscs were noisy. They were fickle. Some players displayed better picture than others. Still, they were revolutionary- especially in Japan, where they briefly dominated- and set the stage for what DVDs would become.

Things to do:

When Movies Started Talking Back

Here’s where things get more interesting. In 1984, the Criterion Collection did something no one had done before: they added an audio commentary track to their LaserDisc release of ‘King Kong’ (the 1933 original). Film historian Ronald Haver provided a “lecture tour” of the movie’s visual effects and technical production. It wasn’t promotional. It wasn’t scripted like a junket. It was educational and reverent- a masterclass tucked inside the disc.

That track is now considered not just a neat extra but a pioneering moment in film scholarship. For the first time, a film had an official second voice- one that could interpret, analyze, or critique the main one.

DVDs didn’t invent the commentary, but they perfected it. Where LaserDiscs were expensive and cumbersome, DVDs were small, stackable, affordable. And they had room to spare. With studios finally relaxing the rental window that had restricted home video releases during the VHS era, DVDs quickly became the default format for collectors and cinephiles. And with that came an explosion of bonus features- chief among them, the commentary track.

Martin Scorsese is one the first directors to ever record a commentary, though it’s hard to verify. What’s easier to confirm is how influential commentary became. Suddenly, aspiring filmmakers could hear their heroes explain lighting, pacing, performance, or inspiration. You could learn more from listening to one commentary than from a semester of film school. Or at least, that was the promise.

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Directors Gone Wild

Of course, not all commentaries are created equal. Some are dense with historical context and thoughtful deconstruction. Others are freewheeling chaos.

One famous example is Ben Affleck’s commentary on ‘Armageddon.’ While visiting the Criterion Closet in April, Affleck admitted that he’s asked about it almost more than any film he’s ever done. In the track, young Affleck- full of Bostonian buddy-buddy energy- doesn’t just give standard insights into the making of the movie; he roasts the plot, questions the logic, and skewers Michael Bay’s more excessive choices. It’s peanut gallery humor with insider access. Affleck dismantles the film from within, and the result is pure gold.

On the other end of the spectrum are the writer-directors who treat commentary as an extension of authorship. Kevin Smith, Quentin Tarantino, and Scorsese again all come to mind. They don’t just explain what happens- they tell you why, and where it came from. Tarantino’s track on ‘True Romance’ is a prime example: he dives into his life story, his inspirations, his strained relationship with his stepfather. You hear not just the story on screen, but the one behind it.

Then you have the party commentaries. ‘Superbad’ is legendary in this regard. The whole Apatow crew is in the booth, and instead of a thoughtful deep-dive into teen comedy tropes, they mostly just mess with Jonah Hill. He’s stuck next to Judd Apatow’s daughter Maude (then very young), and so he isn’t allowed to curse. Eventually, he snaps. Judd leaves the recording to take Maude home. The rest of the commentary feels like a dorm room with microphones.

That unpredictability was part of the charm in this early period of commentary tracks, where no one recording on them thought it was going to last. Michael Bay for instance was surprised to learn that Criterion still existed. The commentary track, at its best, feels like winning a raffle and getting to hang out with the filmmakers. But even when it fails, it still documents something. A moment. A memory. A personality.

Now Playing: Everywhere

Today, we don’t really buy DVDs the way we used to. Blu-rays tried to carry the torch, but streaming took the wind out of its sails. You don’t flip through jewel cases anymore- you scroll through thumbnails. And streaming services, for the most part, don’t offer commentary tracks. Too niche. Too expensive. Not enough return on investment.

But the commentary track isn’t dead. It just moved.

YouTube now hosts hundreds of ripped commentaries from old DVDs, synced up unofficially by fans. Podcast culture, too, has picked up the slack. Shows like ‘Blank Check’ offer deep, longform analysis of individual films, often going scene-by-scene with more nuance than any director had time for in a booth. Directors and writers now go on press tours that double as commentaries- appearing on film podcasts, talking through decisions, offering the same kind of insights, just not under studio control.

The “second voice” still exists. It’s just more fragmented.

And sometimes, it still works its magic. I don’t think I really appreciated- or even necessarily liked- Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Vertigo’ until I listened to William Friedkin’s commentary. The way he talked about the camera, about obsession, about color and movement- it reframed the whole film. Suddenly, it wasn’t just a classic. It was personal. Friedkin helped me see it with new eyes.

That’s the real power of the commentary track. It isn’t just trivia. It’s translation. It’s someone telling you: Here’s why this matters. Here’s what you missed. Let me show you.

In a world full of disposable content and infinite scroll, that kind of attention feels radical. Maybe even essential.

By Joseph Tralongo

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Joseph Tralongo

Joseph Tralongo is a playwright and screenwriter who approaches storytelling with a deep respect for film’s ability to distill human behavior into meaningful moments. His personal work- i.e. his plays, screenplays, and films- leans into semantic tension, moral ambiguity, and the quiet unraveling of social dynamics- not to preach, but to parse. For him, writing is a slow excavation of truth through craft. With a background in theatre and independent film, he brings a structural precision and dramatic instinct to every film he reviews. Hollywood Insider’s mission to champion substance over spectacle aligns with Joseph’s belief that storytelling should investigate, not dictate.

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Joseph Tralongo

Joseph Tralongo is a playwright and screenwriter who approaches storytelling with a deep respect for film’s ability to distill human behavior into meaningful moments. His personal work- i.e. his plays, screenplays, and films- leans into semantic tension, moral ambiguity, and the quiet unraveling of social dynamics- not to preach, but to parse. For him, writing is a slow excavation of truth through craft. With a background in theatre and independent film, he brings a structural precision and dramatic instinct to every film he reviews. Hollywood Insider’s mission to champion substance over spectacle aligns with Joseph’s belief that storytelling should investigate, not dictate.

Joseph Tralongo

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