Buckley vs. Vidal. 2 Men. 10 Debates. Television Would Never Be the Same.
A documentary about the legendary series of nationally televised debates in 1968 between two great public intellectuals, the liberal Gore Vidal and the conservative William F. Buckley Jr. Intended as commentary on the issues of their day, these vitriolic and explosive encounters came to define the modern era of public discourse in the media, marking the big bang moment of our contemporary media landscape when spectacle trumped content and argument replaced substance. Best of Enemies delves into the entangled biographies of these two great thinkers, and luxuriates in the language and the theater of their debates, begging the question, "What has television done to the way we discuss politics in our democracy today?"
Best of Enemies (2015) is a documentary and history film directed by Morgan Neville, released on July 31, 2015 with a runtime of 1h 27m. It stars Gore Vidal, William F. Buckley Jr., Kelsey Grammer and John Lithgow. Viewers rate it 7.2 out of 10 across 149 ratings.
Watch the official trailer for Best of Enemies before you stream it.
Official trailers, teasers, clips and featurettes for Best of Enemies.
Trailer
Trailer
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)
Reid Buckley
as Self
Andrew Sullivan
as Self
Todd Gitlin
as Self
Brooke Gladstone
as Self
Paul Newman
as Self (archival)
Directed by Morgan Neville, written by Morgan Neville and Robert Gordon, produced by Morgan Neville and Robert Gordon.
Average viewer score of 7.2/10 from 149 ratings.
Interesting watch. Vidal's name was recognizable to me but I had never really known how successful he was as a author (and playwright!). It is interesting to see how profit-seeking capitalism in media (in this case TV, but now also on social media platforms) really incentivizes content that is belligerent and argumentative. I have a hard time believing that anyone would say that this is the ideal stuff to be…
Reviewed on April 11, 2021
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Best of Enemies (2015) is available to stream on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Netflix Standard with Ads and Amazon Prime Video with Ads, and to rent or buy from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube and Fandango At Home. Streaming availability is checked against JustWatch data and can change by region.
The main cast of Best of Enemies (2015) includes Gore Vidal, William F. Buckley Jr., Kelsey Grammer, John Lithgow and Dick Cavett. The film was directed by Morgan Neville. You can see the full cast and crew list, with character names, further up this page.
Best of Enemies was released on July 31, 2015 and runs for 1h 27m.
Best of Enemies (2015) holds an average rating of 7.2 out of 10 from 149 viewer votes, and is a good pick if you enjoy documentary and history films. Read the viewer reviews on this page to decide for yourself.
Yes. The official Best of Enemies trailer is embedded in the trailer section of this page and plays instantly, no download or sign-up required.
