Buster Keaton: 3 Films Sherlock Jr., The General, Steamboat Bill, Jr. Masters of Cinema

As my wife and I watched Steamboat Bill Jr., the music changed halfway through. My wife described it as "preschool western music". After laughing at that perfect description, an electric guitar suddenly came in...an electric guitar in a silent black and white movie...?I wish I taken the warning from the other reviewers on here about the music. Fantastic movies otherwise.

I had seen The General twice before purchasing this DVD, and acquiring it was my main goal for this purchase. I had not seen Steamboat Bill, so this 2 in 1 DVD seemed like the best buy.Overall, I was not disappointed. The images are extremely sharp and clean for movies of this vintage. They almost look brand new, save for some inevitable, but minor artifacts of age. The General is tinted monochrome. Mostly sepia, with some blue tinted night scenes, a common effect in silent films. Steamboat Bill is straight black and white.Many people are not aware that The General is based on a true story about a locomotive stolen during the Civil War (see: [...] and that the real locomotive now resides in a museum in Kennesaw, GA. The Keaton film is one long exciting chase scene. The first time I saw it, I was actually a little disappointed. It really isn't a comedy, like most of Keaton's films. Rather it is an action movie with sight gags. Once I understood that, I really appreciated the genius of the film, and it is now one of my all-time favorites. It was filmed on location near Cottage Grove, Oregon.Steamboat Bill Jr. is pure fun. It ranks among the best of Keaton's works, I think. Its the story of the son of a steamboat captain, who falls in love with the daughter of a rival boat operator. The climactic storm scene boasts a number of special effects that rival, or even surpass, today's computer generated effects for believeability. There is also one really hokey, but funny effect involving a flying tree.My favorite scene in Steamboat Bill was in a hat shop, where there is an inside joke that will be understood only by those who have seen more of Keaton's work.I would give this DVD five stars instead of four, except that I have mixed feelings about the Alloy Orchestra soundtrack. Their percussive style was very effective in The General with its rapid-fire chase scenes and mechanical locomotive movements. On this film I give them an A. However, they were far less impressive on Steamboat Bill. Here, the music often felt intrusive and distracting, drawing attention away from the action to the orchestra itself. Moreover, a couple of times the style of the music failed to match the mood of the scene. On this movie I give the orchestra a C-. I would really like to see some DVD's with a "Mighty Wurlitzer" theater organ soundtrack to mimic the performance one might have experienced in most theaters of the 1920s. Orchestral accompaniment was quite rare in the silent era, except in the largest big city theaters.

More mature than earlier keaton work. The careful digital restoration shows these movies off in excellent high definition on bluray. Lots of action. An absolute threat compared with modern morally inferior movies. Clean escapist fantasy, impossible for modern actors to duplicate.

These are two of the greatest silent comedies and the finest of Buster`s meticulous `stone faced` work. An Image DVD is usually a guarantee of highest quality material and these transfers are absolutely are no exception.Taken from the highest quality 35mm material itself drawn from restored original nitrate negatives, the image quality is unbelievable for films almost 80 years old.These prints really highlight what excellent films these are and with detail so crisp and sharp it is like watching a new version.Now the soundtrack: They are presented with a new stereo soundtrack composed and performed by the Alloy Orchestra which is actually incredible. It has a beautifully synchronised music and effects track using instrumentation that would make even Buster`s stone face crack. It has a quirkyness and originality that is so fitting with the two films. It really breathes new life into these movies.The Alloy orchestra, 3 brilliant musicians from Boston, make their living creating modern soundtracks for restored silent classics. They make watching silent movies a new experience.Overall this is the finest presentation I have seen of two of the greatest silent films of all time!

ordered movie and received faster than noted. movie great. was a birthday gift. nice service. thanks.

While the Kino releases of these and other Buster Keaton films are entertaining, this release has the advantage of (1) being taken from excellent prints of the movies, and (2) the music (non-intrusively) complementing the story. In The General the music has a simple chugging quality, and changes tempo with the speed of the trains, while in Steamboat Bill it imitates the windstorm. It's a great effect - the music, while not a "soundtrack," onomatopoeietically (?) does what the musicians in the original theaters likely did - it helps bring out the excitement in the story.

I'm happy with my purchase thank you

I was very disappointed when I watched this dvd. I had seen "The General" for the first time at an outdoor theatre last summer in Greece. I was absolutely blown away by Keaton's genius. I, along with a international audience were entertained, moved, and inspired by this film. I did a bit of research as to what dvd edition to purchase and took a chance on this one. Wrong choice. In my opinion the music here just doesn't "feel" right. And, at times even becomes a bit irritating. It really is too bad because the visuals of this eition are superb. Shame on Roger Ebert for saying The Alloy Orchestra is "the best in the world at accompanying silent films." I highly recommend this film but not this dvd.

Over the years, Buster Keaton is an artist that has always passed me by. I knew of the significance of his work, being an incredible silent actor, comedian and one of the finest stunt men in the history of cinema. However, I never took the time to properly watch his feature length films. I had seen small clips and shorts used on music videos and other media, but had never looked for the source. That was until I saw this Three Films collection from Masters of Cinema. It was an instant pre-order and one I most certainly didn't regret.This new Masters of Cinema box-set features presumably three of Keaton's most famous films. I say this because they are admittedly the ones I have heard about the most. You have Sherlock JR, from 1924. A short and humorous film about a theatre projectionist who fancies himself as a detective. The film involves some great comedic gags and excellent stunt work. Some of which were that impressive that it even caught the attention of my children, who were stunned. The second disc is, The General. A story from 1926 from the American Civil War in which a train engineer tries to sign up to defend his town and quickly denied. Only for Union solders to steal his train (named the General) and the result is a lengthy but entertaining chase sequence. The stuns are few and far between in this film but the humour is there to fill the gaps. I really loved this film and thought it was hands down the best of the three. The final film of the three is Steamboat Bill Jr, from 1928. This film is widely known for the most impressive scene where a portion of a house falls onto Keaton as he stands still, only to avoid being squished by a conveniently placed window. This is a good film that sits at just over an hour long. It adds to the collection rather nicely and will no doubt please fans.The collection comes in a standard bluray case. Each film has it's own disc with a nice assortment of extras. They are all housed in their own separate slot. You'll also find that there is a nice informative booklet on the left hand side. It's the standard affair for packaging with Masters of Cinema releases. It is simple but looks good and gets the job done. The image quality for the films is absolutely stunning. I was genuinely impressed at how well these films have been looked after and restored. The picture quality for the vast majority of the running time for all three films is so crisp and clear that it could have literally been shot yesterday. In fact, I have seen many modern movies that don't look this good and will likely never will. Those that look for clarity as well as great depth in the different shades etc will very pleased here. I have seen a good number of silent films from this period and not one of them looks as good as these three.Those that are looking for extras, you'll find some for Sherlock Jr and Steamboat Bill Jr. But the vast majority of the extras are for The General. I don't know if that is primarily down to the overall success and significance that the film has had over the years, but it's the one to look at for extra goodies. Among these extras is the documentary. The Genius Crushed by Hollywood. A fifty two minute documentary about Keaton struggling to work with Hollywood Studio system. A video interview with Peter Kramer, author of BFI Film Classics: The General, An audio interview with Keaton and television writer Bill Cox that lasts an impressive fifty eight minutes. That's just scratching the surface. There's considerably more and no doubt a must have for fans that don't already own the movie on bluray.With this collection, he price may have been a bit steep for the pre-order but what I got for my money is something I haven't got a single complaint about. It's three beautiful looking classic films with great humour and set pieces as well loads of extras. It's obviously classic material from a forgotten era of cinema and it's something that deserves to be given the spotlight again. After all these years. it still holds up very well and I would highly recommend this for some good honest fun.

Three classic Buster Keaton films and they look so so much better than the previous Blu Ray releases.... by far! This is the 3rd version of The General I've purchased. The initial KINO edition was pretty good (nice contrast , good sharpness , and color tinted), the upgraded Lobster edition soft and horrible (losing the tinted color)... and this version like the Lobster loses the tinting but wow.. it's restored, crisp , nice contrast... in a word .. beautiful! Bonus documentary on The Sherlock Jr Blu Ray is a nice plus.... I'm so glad I purchased an all region player if only for this set!

This set includes three of Keaton's strongest films: Sherlock Jr. (1924), The General (1927), Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928) on separate discs in one amaray case (the middle disc is on a hinged tray). Another edition is available which contains the same films in three individual cases within one box set.The picture quality is strong for films of this vintage. They are presented as close as possible to their original theatrical state, with the exception of a brief Cohen films opening credit sequence before the original title cards. The soundtracks are good, although there are some moments on Steamboat Bill Jr. which feature an electric guitar, which is initially jarring, but ultimately not a problem.There are numerous interviews and featurettes across all three discs.If you're looking for three of the best Keaton films (with the best picture quality to boot), this set is highly recommended.

I’m always looking for the best picture quality Of Charlie Chaplin , Bester Keaton, And Harold Lloyd films. I was a little disappointed with the Kino Edition. But now with this new three set of Keaton’s three classic films the General , Sherlock Jr. and steamboat bill jr all three of them look stunning in 4K Restoration. I hope to see more Buster Keaton films in 4k in the Future.

I’ve been watching black and white/silent films for the past few years now and if you are going to watch Buster Keaton this is a good place to start!Sherlock Junior is very funny and feel good and the General was the most expensive movie ever made at its time and sits as one of the greatest films ever made, a definite must buy to see this piece of cinema history, and to see the one and only Orson Wells deliver his opinion on this film.