My odyssey into silent film is largely thanks to Eureka Entertainment, a label that has distributed a considerable amount of physical media releases showcasing a broad selection of titles. Buster Keaton’s masterpiece, The General, is the latest, which was leased on May 18th, exclusive to 4K Ultra HD in the UK.
Set during the American Civil War, a lowly engineer rejected by the Confederate military gives chase by locomotive when a small band of Union spies steal a train in a cunning attempt to disrupt the enemy’s supply line.
I’m by no means a trainspotter, but I remember being enamoured by the steam engine in Back to the Future Part III, and casual fascination has since lingered. Even without signature locomotive sounds such as the whistle, The General still feels like the ultimate in rail cinema. Buster Keaton is our short-statured star who is drafted by the iron giants on wheels, and his genius as a physical actor and precise director asserts the awesome power of these machines.
Decades before the conception of digital technology, practical filmmaking was often performed at death-defying levels. Keaton’s skill and exactness as a physical actor, at times, seem supernatural as he spends most of the film either balancing on edges or inches away from certain doom, creating an engaging and universally entertaining experience. Unlike the trains in my corner of the world, the film is quick to get rolling, and the momentum rarely slows.
Associated primarily as a comedy, and rightfully so, The General has a war-adjacent quality given the setting and plot being adapted from true events. While modern films are quick to demonise the South as the clear enemy, this unbiased piece does not preoccupy itself with politics but instead presents a black and white view of the good guys vs. bad guys, both literally and figuratively.
SPECIAL FEATURES
- Limited edition O-card slipcase featuring package design by Nick Wrigley [2000 units]
- Limited edition booklet featuring archival material and essays by critic Philip Kemp and animator Richard Haynes [2000 units]
- Score by Carl Davis
- New audio commentary by film historian David Kalat
- New video essay on The General by Imogen Sara Smith, author of Buster Keaton: The Persistence of Comedy (2008)
- New video essay on locomotives in the films of Buster Keaton by film critic and editor Luke Ryan
- Interview with film scholar Peter Kramer
- Introduction by Orson Welles
- Introduction by Gloria Swanson
- Tour of Filming Locations featurette
- Video Tour archival featurette
- Home movie footage
Like many legacy 4K releases, The General includes several archival supplements from various generations of home media, including location tours from the ‘00s and introductions dating back to the 1980s. Thankfully, Eureka also include three new supplements in the form of two video essays and a commentary. Luke Ryan’s video essay might as well be a professional documentary, as it runs for 50+ minutes yet is so engaging and well edited that it goes by like a breezy freight train! While the segment dives into Keaton’s entire career from childhood to his final on-screen role, by highlighting three major roles, connected by a locomotion motif, Ryan ensures his featurette is concise and fluid. For a shorter, yet equally detailed and informative look at Keaton’s filmography (and love of trains), be sure to check out Sara Smith’s essay as well. – by Hannah Lynch
VIDEO AND AUDIO
The General can easily be assessed as the peak of silent cinema, while 4K Ultra HD will probably wind up as the evolutionary peak of disc-based formats. For the film’s centennial, this comes as a perfect marriage, and, incredibly, we can watch the film in 4K, from a digital restoration, presented in a new and exclusive Dolby Vision HDR (HDR 10 compatible). Often, with classic titles of this vintage, there are portions where the quality drops sharply, but The General is very consistent and actually measures up to Ultra HD standards, while the music is equally impressive in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1.
It’s oddly comforting to watch a movie as old and as cherished as The General. If only to ponder what people did before the internet. There’s not a cell phone in sight. Just a series of exaggerated actions and gestures that speak louder than words.
THE GENERAL
(1926, directors: Buster Keaton & Clyde Bruckman)
★★★★★
direct 4K screen captures provided by eureka entertainment
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