BUSTER KEATON: SHERLOCK JR., THE GENERAL and STEAMBOAT BILL, JR. (Masters of Cinema)

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.

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.

Eureka have excelled themselves with this box set of three of Buster Keaton’s films. On previous versions, I hasten to add, not done by Eureka, the image was good to patchy, this set, without a doubt is of the best image yet, on Blu-ray no less. Top marks to Eureka, sincerely hope that more of Busters films will become available on Blu-ray, or even 4K Blu-ray, now that would be something special.The icing on the cake would be if a new feature length documentary, by some of the best movie consultants in films from the Silent era. It might give younger audiences an insight to the great man, also as to how he ended up, such as the English actor, James Mason who bought his house, only to discover a large number of Busters films in an out building, some close to fading away and to be forgotten, thankfully this didn’t happen. If you’re one of the lucky people who managed to obtain this product, then you are indeed lucky.

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.

A great collection of Buster Keaton films. A "must have" for anyone that loves silent films. Keaton, Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd ruled the comedy films and shorts of the 1910s and 1920s.Sherlock Junior is probably one of the best silent comedies ever!

I mainly got this bluray for the general. but the overall quality of the restoration of these films are top notch 👌 interesting extras too.

Simply marvelous! Only, I would like to have the subtitles, in english and in other languages.

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!