There’s a myth out there that claims Quentin Tarantino doesn’t do director commentary tracks. It’s half true. He rarely sits down and overanalyzes his own films. But Tarantino LOVES talking over other people’s films. He chimed in on Robert Rodriguez’s From Dusk til Dawn (which he co-wrote and starred), and Eli Roth’s Hostel. And then there is the marathon session Tarantino agreed to do with Wright for the Blu-ray release of my personal favorite Cornetto Trilogy film: Hot Fuzz.
This isn’t as off-the-wall as one might assume. Apparently these two have been friends or years. As Wright explains on the commentary track, Tarantino coached the director through the writing stages of Hot Fuzz by playing him a double-feature for inspiration that consisted of Walter Matthau’s The Laughing Policeman and an Italian cop film called Live Like a Cop, Die Like a Man. “One of the greatest titles of all time!” Tarantino raves on the commentary track.
Plus, of course, Wright helmed the bogus horror trailer Don’t for Tarantino and Rodriguez’s Grindhouse experiment:
For some reason (likely tied to copyright), I’m not able to include Tarantino and Wright’s actual commentary track. But do yourself a favor and track down the Hot Fuzz Blu-ray or 3-disc DVD set that Universal put out a few years back. At the time, Tarantino considered Fuzz to be his favorite movie of the year “so far.” And yet, the two directors spend very little time actually discussing Wright’s excellent movie. Instead, they pass two hours celebrating movies in general, and the action genre specifically. In fact, here’s a comprehensive list of the 190 films mentioned in passing by Wright and Tarantino the epic Hot Fuzz director’s commentary track. I’ll list the first 20 below. Rent one of them this evening! The audio track is a Holy Grail for Cornetto fans, and the element we’re choosing to celebrate on Day 9 of our Golden Mile marathon, leading up to the release of The World’s End on Friday, Aug. 23.
1. Hot Fuzz 2. The Mechanic (directed by Michael Winner, who EW would like to have do a commentary for Hot Fuzz; starring Charles Bronson; EW's favorite Michael Winner film) 3. Lawman (directed by Michael Winner; starring Burt Lancaster) 4. Scorpio (directed by Michael Winner; starring Burt Lancaster; later discussed as featuring Alain Delon and Gayle Hunnicutt) 5. Firepower (mistakenly referred to as Flashpoint; directed by Michael Winner; featuring OJ Simpson and Sophia Loren) 6. The Nightcomers (directed by Michael Winner; starring Marlon Brando) 7. Won Ton Ton, The Dog Who Saved Hollywood (directed by Michael Winner) 8. James Bond films (filmed around the world "with Sony money" and therefore not "British" anymore; some starring Hot Fuzz's Timothy Dalton) 9. Death Wish 3 (set in New York but filmed in the UK; directed by Michael Winner) 10. Full Metal Jacket (set in the US but filmed in the UK; directed by Stanley Kubrick) 11. Beyond Therapy (set in New York but filmed in Paris; directed by Robert Altman) 12. The Laughing Policeman (good old cop movie QT showed EW; starring Walter Matthau) 13. Live Like a Cop, Die Like a Man (good Italian cop movie QT showed EW; QT: One of the greatest titles of all time, and it lives up to its name!) 14. The Rookie (similar plot to Hot Fuzz; starring Clint Eastwood and Charlie Sheen; written by Spiegel and Yakin) 15. Hostel (produced by QT and the writers of The Rookie) 16. That's My Boy (similar plot to Hot Fuzz; QT's favorite Dean Martin-Jerry Lewis movie) 17. 48 Hrs. (by allusion: "Nick Nolte is a cop. Eddie Murphy is a con.") 18. Dirty Harry (by allusion: "Dirty Danny"; later referenced directly) 19. Shaun of the Dead (directed by EW; starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost; later when discussing editing cheats, EW mentions that he removed zombie blinking) 20. The Matrix (film that didn't need sequels, like Hot Fuzz)
