Rating: 
Summary: There is no funnier movie.
Review: Keaton directs, acts and does all his own stunts - no wonder Jackie Chan lists him as an idol. His timing is perfect: the cannon scene alone earns him immortality. This is a movie where you can actually think you might die laughing, so don't forget to breathe. It's particularly enjoyable to see it with a crowd of people. Some of the greatest physical comedy and sight gags you will ever see, and the battle scenes are worthy of the big epics of the 50's. Laugh 'till you drop!
Rating:
Summary: You gotta see it.
Review: This is, I must confess, the only Keaton film I have ever seen but I've been told it's the best. Maybe it is because I like the story - Maybe I like Keaton. It's all so... Well composed. The music makes up for the silence. It follows the American Civil war story, except for the fact but the Southerners win. Anyway, if you like Keaton and haven't seen this film. See it! And if you don't like Keaton and haven't seen it... Watch it! By Michael Robserts.
Rating:
Summary: Get this edition not only for The General but for the shorts
Review: Okay, maybe some of us prefer this or that Keaton film, but like Citizen Kane, The General is a choice all of us can live with as #1. Many video editions exist, and the print quality on the Thames TV version is arguably a hair better, but this is stll the video edition to own because it throws in what all of us could just as well live with as Keaton's best two shorts. Cops is built around the gloriously dark and surreal image of Keaton being pursued by an army of cops; The Playhouse is, after Sherlock Jr., the best example of Keaton as tinkerer with the medium, as he uses (flawless) double exposure to play an entire minstrel show, all the members of the pit orchestra-- and the entire audience.
Rating:
Summary: Simple: The most perfect American film ever made.
Review: A joy to behold. One of the sublime achievements of cinema, and hilarious to boot. See it in a theatre, if you can. This film attains an absolute perfection that no film made since has been able to approach. There is not a single frame out of place, not a single element that does not fit in with the grand design. What more do you want?
Rating:
Summary: Not just one of the all time top 100; at worst in the top 30
Review: Although the pre-1930 period represents over 30% of the time period covered by the AFI selections, pre-1930 films only represent 2% of the selections. Something is clearly amiss here, and the most rediculous omission is "The General". Buster Keaton's brilliantly plotted, hilariously gagged and ultimately touching movie may well be the greatest silent movie of all time (although clearly a case can be made for one of the Chaplin films or "Birth of a Nation"). You wouldn't want to miss Keaton's "Sherlock Jr" or "Our Hospitality" either.
Rating:
Summary: the great train robbery
Review: keaton was robbed and the the history of film tarnished when the american film institute overlooked "the general" as one of the 100 best films of all time. not only is this masterpiece still as laugh out loud funny today as it was 70 years ago, it took the chase film to a whole new level. it is perfectly acted and planned, there is not a moment of boredom from the opening credits to the impressive finale (keaton actually destroyed that train) making it one of the most costly laughes of early cinema.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful movie
Review: This movie is a masterpiece that should have been listed on the 100 best movies, and was left off. I hate those Hollywood idiots. Well, this movie is a funny perfect little movie. Buster Keaton is very good as the Johnnie Gray. Well, I think Keaton is a genius, and a wonderful actor. Excellent movie!! END
Rating:
Summary: Quest and Love
Review: This movie is ranked in top twenty best films ever made. It is a tribute to Keaton that words matter so little in what must have been a technological marvel for its day. The incredible danger that Keaton and Marian Mack endured while skipping and lurching on top of very real trains and locomotives would not be duplicated by preening stars today. Part of the charm of a story of quest and love, is the danger endured by the hero and heroine against all odds. As in most films of this era, there is a naive quality to romance. The action however, especially on a big screen is fascinating. How did Keaton think up all the possibilities of locomotive spills and chills? This film is totally original and has influenced 100's of films that followed.
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: Johnnie get your gun!
Review: "The General" is a film that is so well-paced and well-crafted, you don't even realize you've been watching a film that is an hour and a half in length. This is easily one of the best comedies ever made (silent or otherwise) and among my favorite films of all time. Buster Keaton plays Johnnie Gray, a train engineer in the south during the Civil War. Johnnie's two loves in his life are his train, The General, and his girl, Annabelle. Imagine the horror when, after a daring plot by Union army spies, Johnnie's train is hijacked and his girl is kidnapped in the process. It's Johnnie to the rescue as he gives chase by another train to save his beloved General, get the girl, and maybe even become a hero. With an ever-present blank expression on his mug, Keaton treats the viewer to feats of daring, physical comedy. The movie itself zooms from gag to gag as if riding a train from station to station. And what a delightful ride it is.
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