A well researched and informative commentary. It covers everything from Welles' childhood, his early career, the making of "Citizen Kane", its innovation and influence. There is also discussion of symbolism, mise-en-scene and other cinematic technique. The problem with the commentary is that it is scripted and sounds scripted. It's not very welcoming for the uninitiated. It can be fairly dull at times and it took me a few goes to get through it. There's also a fair amount of silence. I also doubt it has anything new for "Citizen Kane" aficionados. So in that case it caters neither for the casual listener or the hardened fan. The same information delivered by a more lively speaker would have served a great purpose.

Unlike the above reviewer, I found this one of the more enjoyable "critic" commentaries as Barnes has a less formal, more chatty approach than many which stops it getting monotonous, and he serves up a good blend of biography and technical detail. If it's not the "film class" that the Roger Ebert commentary on the Region 1 release is described as elsewhere on this site it should still have something to offer to all but the most stringent KANE connoisseurs.