Rating: 
Summary: =The= movie!
Review: A good comedy is a unusual. A comedy that you can watch a second time is a true rarity. A comedy that you don't wince a little because you =thought= it was funny ten years ago but now is painfully dependent on dated pop references is a genuine find.A movie that's still funny almost seventy-five years later and funny for you and your kids and your parents and their parents? Well, this would be that movie. I've seen "The General" in a theater twice, both times packed with people of all ages (toddler to 90+ year olds), and all of us howling with laughter throughout this movie. A must see.
Rating:
Summary: Must have for any film collection
Review: A flawless movie that represents the pinnacle of Keaton's film career. His mastery of the film medium and the continuity of the train story line along a single track of rails makes this film a great addition to any collection. Keaton was more than a genius; he was technically flawless and the soul of a professional. The soundtrack is good on the King Video version, but I've seen better prints.
Rating:
Summary: Genius, One of The Best Comedies Ever!
Review: Buster Keaton was a genius when it comes to physical comedy. And this film features some of his best stunts. Here he plays locomotive engineer Johnny Gray who only loves two things; his girl and his locomotive. And when Union Spies kidnap both one of the greatest and funniest chase sequences of all time begins. Filled with sight gags, hair-raising stunts and inspired comedy. Probably the Great Stone Face's best film. A classic and it gets better with age. From a scale of 1-10 I give this film a 10!
Rating: 
Summary: pure genius
Review: Its not for nothing this movie is considered one of the top 10 movies of all time. It holds up well even for repeated viewing. Amazon's offer features a sort of random classical soundtrack that one would be advised to turn off and substitute a scott joplin cd or something as I found a definite lack of "synchronicity" with the supplied music and the on screen action. Bravo Buster! True genius!
Rating:
Summary: Highly Recommended for Keaton Fans
Review: This is a good sampler if you are just getting started on viewing Buster Keaton films. "The General" is a classic, and "The Playhouse" and "Cops" are among his best shorts. Film #1 is "The General", a Civil War tale involving trains, one of Keaton's obvious real life obsessions. "The General" was filmed in 1926 in the town of Cottage Grove, Oregon. He stars as the engineer of a train who tries to join the Southern Army but is rejected as being too important to the southern cause as an engineer to be sacrificed as an infantryman. Keaton helps out anyway and is chased throughout the film by the mean Yankees. There's a scene where the engine of one of the trains collapses a bridge and tumbles into the river, which happens to be the most expensive scene filmed in the entire silent film era, and it's kind of thrilling. Keaton took great pains in making sure that authenticity of the Civil War era (1861-65) was shown throughout the film, but I wish he didn't dress the Confederates in matching uniforms, like their counterparts, the Yankees. With the limited resource material he had at the time, it is understandable; however, the reality was that matching uniforms in the Confederacy was rare, for reasons too long and detailed to go into here. Film #2 is "The Playhouse" (1921). Although this isn't as fun as the Keaton shorts that involve his being chased around Los Angeles, I found it unique and interesting. In one scene, Keaton falls asleep and dreams that he is every person inside a live theater, from the spectators (women, too), the actors - including a monkey!, the guys in the orchestra pit, and backstage help. It was hilarious to see him take every part in a minstrel show, a softshoe act (my favorite), and he had the monkey act down perfectly. Just from seeing how Keaton imitates the precise details of the various acts shows us that he absorbed A LOT from watching the other performers when he toured in vaudeville his first 20 years of life. Film #3 is "Cops". This is one of Keaton's all-time classics. Keaton is swindled out of a wad of money by a con man who sells him some poor family's junky-looking furniture, who think Keaton was hired to be their mover. When a bomb is thrown at a policemen's parade and ends up on Keaton's wagon full of furniture, Keaton uses it to light his cigarette and then tosses it out, landing in the parade and exploding. This, of course, causes a million cops to chase Keaton through the streets. We get to see a lot of 1922 Los Angeles in this film, and sometimes you may find yourself getting too distracted at looking at the interesting streets instead of him. If you're interested in seeing more 1920's L.A. in Keaton's films, try "Sherlock Jr." and "The Goat".
Rating:
Summary: The Funniest Ever
Review: Althought Silent, Teh General will please audiences old and new. I saw this film in a Film class in school and roared. Doing all his own stunts, Buster Keaton really makes a lot of laughs in this film.
Rating:
Summary: GREAT entertainment for the whole family
Review: Buster Keaton has always been a personal favorite and I'm EXTREMELY HAPPY that Kino International is putting out such high quality DVDs of his work. Since many of the copyrights are now public domain, there are many garbage DVD transfers out there. Fortunately the Kino Buster Keaton series is gorgeously preserved. If you are new to Buster Keaton's work, I recommend starting with The General DVD. It is his most seminal work and rated as one of the 10 Greatest Films of all time by Sight and Sound. The scene with the trainwreck is a cinema classic, and one of the biggest budget effects of it's day. 2 20 minute extras, 'The Playhouse' and 'Cops' are on this DVD as well, and are an excellent and welcome addition. 'The Playhouse' uses film trickery to simulate multiple Buster Keatons at the same time and stretches the technology of the day to new creative heights. 'Cops' is a great slapstick chase flick which all ages can equally enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: What a collection!
Review: Much has already been written about "The General", but I need to point out that the two shorts on this disc are also incredible. In "The Playhouse", Keaton plays different characters on screen simultaneously. I'm amazed that such seamless multiple-exposure shots were done in 1921! Keaton's solution for distinguishing his girlfriend from her lookalike, at the end of the short, made me chuckle out loud, primarily due to the comic timing in the scene. "Cops" was the main reason I bought this disc. I wanted a nice print of this masterpiece, and that's what I got. As is typical of the Kino/Image DVD's the prints of this old film looks beautiful. Oh, and you'll probably enjoy "The General", too....
Rating:
Summary: Great, unfortunately 5 minutes cut off!
Review: The General is one of my favorite Buster Keaton movies. I remembered a sequence where he has a half and half uniform to get past an area where the Union army is on one side of the landscape the train is on and the Confederates are on the other. It is not present in this tape! I looked up in imdb.com, and sure enough, this movie is only 75 minutes while the original is 80 minutes. BIG bummer. I thought The Playhouse was an utter bore and turned off the tape. I have seen Cops before and it is another of my favorites and look forward to seeing it. (I also wish amazon would list the running times.)
Rating:
Summary: American Cinema Glory: the 1920s!
Review: I hate to make the painful choice: Chaplin or Keaton. I love both, but I adore Keaton. As a director he is Chaplin's superior, I think. "The General" is based on a true Civil War story, but this film is crackingly funny, and well-crafted! Keaton's best picture, I think, is "Sherlock, Jr.", but any "stone Face" flick is great. Apparently, Disney liked it too. They redid the same story in 1956 as "The Great Locomotive Chase".
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