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Very well executed

Sorry, this movie sucks

Just perfect...

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

Well, it's fair enough that almost every living soul on Earth knows about Charlie Chaplin, even though they have probably never seing one of his movie, and this is great, Chaplin was indeed a genious, one of (if not the) greatest of all time. But man, it's really sad that few people know about Buster Keaton.I say that because I'm a living example of it, I didn't know the guy until a couple of months ago, when I really started to dig in Silent Movies, so, I really believe 90% of the movie goers don't know who he is, and it's sad, but from know on I will try to "spread his word as much as I can.But ok, let's talk about the movie itself. The General is timeless, and to me this is the greatest complement any art form can receive, the movie is almost 100 years-old, and still holds up, and will continue to hold up 100 years from now. Do you want a pratical example? My most delightful experience in watching this movie was that I've seen it with my sister, who is 11 years-old and isn't that much into movies, I've tried to show her a couple of my favorite ones, but not like this one, this was her first time ever seing a movie this old, and, man! She had a great time watching it. At first she was a little uncertain about it, but with something like 20 minutes within the movie she was already laughing with a bunch of different scenes (I didn't laugh that much, but the movie is still truly fun). And really, this is for me the best way to say how great this movie is.Keaton's performance is irreproachable, he is a comedy genious. One thing that almost impresses me is his style of filming, it's truly impressive to see how well he captures the Train's moviment throught the whole movie. This movie has other amazing sequences, like the battle in the end, there is a big amount of extras, and you buy the side of it. Others scenes, like the train falling into the lake, or all the horses passing throught the lake, are amazing. That shot where he is working above the train, and the war is happening at full potential behind him is geniously, it's at the same time a clever joke, and a stunning scale of filming.In fact, I saw here on IMDb that aparrently the movie's budget wast 750.000 dollars, which back then was a insane budget for a movie, so, that's explains a lot. Overall, I'm just glad that Keaton was able to "assemble" that much money to do the movie.To sum up, The General is a masterpiece, from one of the genious of slient film, Keaton and Chaplin are with no doubt two of the most influential actors in movies (even today). Keaton was a genious, and this movie is a masterpiece. Timeless. C'mon! The guy destroyed A REAL TRAIN! If that's isn't reason enough to see this movie, I don't know what is.

The General is the greatest silent movie ever made. While I am not a fan of silent movies, this one is an exception. The part that makes this film so great is Buster Keaton. He took a story that happened during the civil war and added humor to it. Keaton shows what life was like in the south, particually the conscription act of 1862; which is when Keaton tries to enlist but is told he is no use to the south. Then, Keaton's girlfriend refuss to talk to him until he is in uniform. When she is kidnapped, the locamotave chase begins as he sets out to find her, which is one of the funniest scenes in all of cinema. Keaton's gags and jokes make this movie enjoyabe, and I would recommend this movie over any other movie of the 1920's. I am proud to give this movie a 9/10.

There are some truly wonderful scenes in this film, which is full of adventure, comedy, and some pretty impressive stuntwork on moving trains by Buster Keaton and the other actors. The premise is that Keaton, a train conductor, has volunteered to fight for the South at the outset of the Civil War, but been turned down. When his train is stolen by Union soldiers, he immediately gives chase, on foot, then a handcar, briefly a bicycle, and then finally another train, not knowing quite yet that his girlfriend (Marion Mack) was inadvertently also kidnapped.In one of the memorable early scenes, Keaton is sitting on the connecting rod of the locomotive, lost in thought, when it starts up, bobbing him up and down. In another, he packs a cannon on his train with a massive charge, and as its angle slowly descends before firing, it appears he's going to blow himself up, until his train at the last minute hits a curve and he nearly hits his intended target. It's just wonderful. There is also of course the scene with a Union train going out onto a burning bridge which then collapses, one of the most iconic (and expensive) scenes of the era.In addition to those "big" moments, there are also innumerable little things Keaton does which highlight his genius. He is just so lovable and talented. He uses one of the large railroad ties intended to derail him to knock another off the track, as his train is moving. When he's hiding under a table surrounded by Union officers, he's subtly kicked and jostled in funny ways. As he makes his escape with Mack, he stuffs her into a large sack that he had emptied of shoes, only to lose his own shoe in the process and struggle to locate it. I also thought I saw bits of Woody Allen in the scene where he urges her to be quiet, only to knock things over and make noise himself.Ambitious, awe-inspiring, influential, clever, and still funny 90+ years later. Is it the best ever? I don't know, I liked 'The Cameraman' (1928) even more, but still – damn good.

To me Buster Keaton is more unknown compared to his other silent era rivals like Harold Lloyd or Charlie Chaplain whose work were shown more often on British television. Maybe Chaplain is more appreciated in Britain because he was British.The General is an epic silent comedy and at the time was an expensive undertaking comprising of many extras, dangerous stunts and a steam engine falling from a burning bridge.Set during the Civil War Keaton plays a devoted train engineer called Johnny Gray who tries to enlist in the Confederate Army to impress his girl and is turned down because he is more valuable as an engineer but no one tells him that was the reason.His girl think he is a coward who refused to join and will have nothing to do with him until he shows up in uniform. Some months later his beloved steam engine his stolen by Unionist soldiers and in a serious of escapades he tries to recover it and also rescue his girl.It is an elaborate chase film with for the time some clever sequences and slapstick. However it does go on too long as a chase film and despite some flourishes it does not showcase Keaton's acrobatic skills as much as I desired.The film was inspired by a true incident but to a modern viewer you still feel ill at ease that even 90 years ago the Confederate South was somehow being painted as heroic.