I never listen to them if they're actors, but will listen to a director commentary.

I also never listen to them when the film's a comedy. Whoever is doing it always feels like they have to be funny for it, and they're always not.

The best one I remember listening to was Tobe and Gunnar on the Texas Chain Saw Massacre - they just giggled through the whole thing and sounded exactly like Beavis and Butthead. 

If I've bought it, I'm going to listen to the commentary.  In fact, I've bought several films which I wouldn't have otherwise, based upon the reviews for the commentary.  I very much enjoy hearing discussion on the craft of making the movie.  Of course, I'm often disappointed by commentaries that are just general chatting and offer no interesting insights into the director's or actor's reasoning & methods, but I'm willing to take the chance on anything I've bought.  Since I essentially never rent movies, my answer is "Always."

I've always enjoyed the Director commentaries too,, as it is kinda like having them over to the house and they sit with you in your abode and discuss their craft with,,'
BUT  alas I  don't think Spielberg has  done one commentary (that I know of),  and he should provide  'the boy genius'  look at his craft for the 'Generation Z kids'  waiting in the wings ...

Also,on Dr. Horrible, Joss makes up a story abotu Sarah Michelle Gellar being an extra and everybody plays along.

Quoting widescreenforever:

Quote:

I think a lot of these commentators 'toke up'  before they speak ... 

Yeah, and some don't care.
I was stunned when Fear of a Black Hat finally came to dvd. I listened to the commentary and found out I knew far more about the movie than the person who wrote and directed it. How does that happen? (redundant question, I'd watched dozens of times since VHS came out, he never went back until doing the commentary, but still, he was there making it, he has to know something I don't!).

It's not like this film had books about it's making or websites dedicated to it. Everything I knew I picked up from watching and from what other commentaries/making of's had taught me. This made it easy to spot how concert a became mixed in with concert c and d, but none of this was mentioned.

I like the commentaries from Uwe Boll 

While I like to listen to commentaries, I have to admit that I don't have the time to listen to very many of them nowadays. It's a pity, because you can pick up a lot of interesting tidbits, even in otherwise rather dull commentaries.

One example - in the commentary for The Guns of Navarone, director J. Lee Thompson mentions that when you see shots from inside the gun cave with the sea in the background, that's not really water but long strips of aluminum foil glistening in the background. It's a perfect illusion, and a perfect illustration of the kind of inventive solutions filmmakers had to come up with before the age of CGI.