Best of Enemies: Buckley vs. Vidal
2015 · Movie · 87 min · ★ 7.2 · 85% critics
This documentary revisits a series of nationally televised political debates from 1968 that paired two sharply opposed public thinkers. As the exchanges grow more combative, it traces how TV incentives helped turn argument into spectacle, raising questions about what that shift has meant for democratic discussion ever since.
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Watch free on Tubi — also streaming on Netflix, Magnolia Selects and Dox.
1 hour to watch.
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Details
- Original title
- Best of Enemies
- Years
- 2015
- Release date
- 2015-07-31
- Language
- English
- Runtime
- 87 min
- Max quality
- HD
- Critic score
- 85/100
- TMDB rating
- 7.2/10 (145 votes)
- Budget
- $1,000,000
About
You’ll likely enjoy this if you’re curious how televised political commentary evolved into today’s confrontational style, with plenty of wit and tension; Not for you if you want calm, issue-focused discussion or lots of background like The Fog of War or Inside Job.
Pros: fascinating media history; sharp verbal sparring; entertaining and informative | Cons: limited political context; not enough debate footage; can feel repetitive
Themes
- chicago, illinois
- miami, florida
- politics
- intellectual
- author
- debate
- archive footage
- television network
- 1960s
Cast & crew
Gore Vidal
as Self
William F. Buckley Jr.
as Self
Kelsey Grammer
as Voice of William F. Buckley
John Lithgow
as Voice of Gore Vidal
Dick Cavett
as Self
Christopher Hitchens
as Self
Noam Chomsky
as Self (archival)
- RB
Reid Buckley
as Self
Andrew Sullivan
as Self
- TG
Todd Gitlin
as Self
Directed by Robert Gordon, Morgan Neville