He splits things up between background information on the film and an analysis of what we are watching. Eder explains how the film was a bridge between Michael Powell’s low budget thrillers and the art films he made with Emeric Pressburger. Eder gives us a brief rundown of how Powell and Pressburger met and formed a partnership as well as the films Powell made previously to this one. He points out that the big stars worked for half their normal fees to insure that the film would get a major release. Eder clearly did his homework and it shows on this highly informative track.

I found this commentary on the Criterion DVD, so the warning that it is specific to the laserdisc only must be outdated. And speaking of outdated, who still uses laserdiscs anyway? Those were considered ancient 20 years ago, even while Tower Records stocked a few new ones in a random bin. Anyway, after reading reviews mocking the set pieces and plot lines of this classic as ridiculous, I gained an entirely new perspective and admiration from this highly engaging commentary. Well done!