Best of Enemies (2015)

This documentary put me in mind of Rumble in the Jungle, the documentary about the fight of the same name; like that one, Best of Enemies looks at a staged conflict which had an impact on popular culture. In this case it was a series of televised debates between Vidal and Buckley – two men on polar political extremes. It was interesting to watch this in the run up to the 2016 Presidential Debate between Trump and Clinton (at the time of writing this, the first one will be in 2 days' time) because it hearkens back to a time where the discourse was a little more civil. It is also interesting to note that there is still an edge to their communication, with Vidal using snide insults (as is the liberal way), and Buckley using more direct language in a jokey way (as is the conservative way).Not knowing anything about these debates, the film does a pretty good job of introducing the characters and their tensions, however it doesn't totally deliver in some key ways. Specifically it didn't bring out the period and the event as well as I would have liked; with Rumble in the Jungle you had a real sense of time/place, as well as the cultural importance of the event. With these debates that was not quite there; it didn't show enough of the debates to really explain why they were such an audience grabber. Likewise the film did not really link to its wider impact particularly well – a lot of this plays out under the credits, which felt weird considering that this was the moment of that shift.As an event, and with its large characters, it still is an interesting and engaging film, but it doesn't feel like it captures the event or its cultural impact in as compelling a way as it could have done.

The best conversation I have seen. Very informative talk and creative people. We miss those days where individuals differ in idea still talk with respect and true admiration with others. Holding opinion and saying it blatantly is not a lot of happening these days. I really love the people who produced and got all the tapes together. True regards to them and sharing ideas is great art than anything. I like the points made by Vidal, the propagator of peace and liberty. The hard work they put into learning things is great which current generation has to learn and adapt. We are looking for the means to the resource and not interested in the knowledge of it.

Considered a Pivotal Political TV Event that immediately and irreversibly Changed the way Television covered Controversy with Confrontation. Specifically Politics, Social Studies, and National Philosophical Divides.William F. Buckley and Gore Vidal, two Popular and Influential Voices with Polarizing Opinions on just about everything, were Hired by ABC News to Flavor Their 1968 Convention Coverage to Opine on the "State of the Nation" and Connect it to the Republican/Democratic National Conventions.It was New, Captivating, and Exciting Live Programming. What wasn't known at the Time was just how much..."The Whole World is Watching"...Slogan would have Resonated even without this Breakthrough Televised Event, because on the Streets of Chicago and Bleeding onto the Convention Floor, the Massive Demonstration by Anti-War Protesters became a Spontaneous and Iconic Video Record of a Nation seemingly in a Nuclear Meltdown.It is not surprising the 9th Airing of the 10 Scheduled "Debates" that was Broadcast just after the Aforementioned Police-Demonstrators Confrontation, would Result in a Meltdown of its own. Gore Vidal called Buckley a "Crypto or Neo Nazi" and Buckley, Outraged, and on Live TV shouted..."Listen you Queer, stop calling me a Nazi or I'll punch you in the Goddam face..."The Documentary Centers around those Personal Attacks and the Ramifications and Confrontations between the Two that continued till "Death Put Them Apart." But it also Contains Footage Before and After and in a Limited Contextual Framework, the State of the Country on the" Left" and the "Right" at the Time.Highly Recommended.Note…The complete footage of all 10 Televised Debates is on YouTube.

As a documentary, this fails on several levels.First, for non-Americans, or even for Americans under 40, there is far too little background given to enjoy this documentary. Am I supposed to google the facts before I watch it? Maybe this documentary was made with a limited target audience in mind. I thought it a pity, I would have liked to have been informed about the politics of the time and the main characters at the beginning of the film, not guess while watching until the last third. Every American party has red white and blue, how does that help? ;-) Just sayin'...I found myself thinking I'd rather watch the original debates, the snippets we were given left me highly dissatisfied, the voice-overs from the respective autobiographical accounts could have been dealt with more satisfactorily as well, e.g. a transparent picture of the person in a corner of the frame instead of the name in letters.As a portrayal of how it came about and the effect it had I suppose it kind of works, but even that was sketchily done, it all became tangled and mixed up and nothing was really revealed and nothing really gelled.For me, it went on too long, it made too much of something that was not the real issue (Buckley losing his cool), and spent too little time putting the spotlight on reasons and motivations - it was like typical TV then and now, a superficial look on a show event. The news they have to sell, and what is news and what isn't is decided by market shares. Oh shock horror who knew...Two narcissistic men playing verbal tennis, ad hominems galore, what has changed? ;-) I've watched debates that managed without it. Watching this documentary does not inform me enough to have any kind of insight into either of those men. Conjectures was all I got, plus bits of original material. If an annoyed wish to be rather watching or reading the original was the objective of the producers then they succeeded.As documentaries go, a rather frustrating offering.