Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.

Micitype Pretty Good

Jonah Abbott There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Allison Davies The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Carlos André 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.

dmataylor-43810 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.

SimonJack "The General" is one of the great films and treasures of the silent era. It's among the best movies of the talented comedy actor, Buster Keaton. In this film, Keaton shows the athletic ability and courage that made him one of the best of the early comedians who performed their own stunts. His physical antics on and off his train, The General, support his title as king of comedy stunts. All the silent era comedy actors seemed to have lots of energy. And, many had daring, courage, and even madness at times. Those were the actors who did all or most of their own stunts. While there were some stunt men around in the early 1900s, it wasn't until the last of the silent years and dawn of sound pictures that stuntmen were a regular part of the cast of films that required any amount of derring-do. And, while a small number of actors today will still do some of their own stunts, nothing can compare to the actors of old who performed their own high-risk and dangerous stunts – and sometimes those for other actors. The five best early actors at doing stunts were Buster Keaton, Douglas Fairbanks Sr., Harold Lloyd, Tom Mix and Yakima Canutt. The latter two specialized in Westerns, and besides acting and doing stunt work, Mix and Canutt regularly rode and performed in the rodeo circuit. Lloyd was versatile in his venues, but excelled at high stunts on buildings, and sometimes with wild animals. Fairbanks excelled in swashbuckler stunts, sliding down the sails of ships, swinging from anything hanging aloft and jumping (with the help of trampolines) into windows. Keaton was even more versatile. As a child actor in vaudeville, Keaton learned how to fall to avoid injury. He called his technique, soft falls or landings. But even with his training and practice, his film roles with derring-do often left him bruised at the least. At other times, he had suffered injuries from slight to serious. Still, he had become known for his physical resiliency During the filming of "The General" in 1926, Keaton was knocked unconscious by canon fire. He suffered a broken ankle while filming the 1922 short, "The Electric House." And, he broke his neck during the 1924 shooting of "Sherlock Jr.," but didn't know it until years later. This movie has an interesting plot, set during the U.S. Civil War. It opens with a scene and script that reads, "The Western and Atlantic Flyer speeding into Marietta Georgia, in the spring of 1861." The train seems to be traveling about 30 miles per hour. But the film is almost entirely about action and the comedy in the action, involving the train. There is an element of romance. The cast all are very good. The photography is superb. Much of the action with trains is filmed in West-central Oregon, from Eugene to Cottage Grove. There's no information about sound at all, so I assume the music we hear with the film is soundtrack that was added for modern viewing. It probably is meant to replicate the piano accompaniment that was usual with silent films in theaters of the day. This is one instance when I think the piano playing would have been better. The music seems to go overboard at times. This is one of the early great films from the silent era that showcase the talent and early mastery of movie-making skills. It's a fun movie with strong visuals that even a modern family of all ages should enjoy.

flumswack This is the first silent film I've seen, so I'd like to write this review for people who are also new to the silent film genre.Also: this is my only review (so far) without a rating. The General is a film that made me question the relationship between the quality of a film and how much I enjoy it.On one hand, The General is a well made film. The direction is interesting and engaging, the stunts are impressive (what do you expect from Buster Keaton?) and the story was surprisingly well-written.But did I laugh? Yes. I didn't guffaw, but some points made me chuckle. However, that's just what I thought. If YOU love this film, then fair enough. If YOU hate it, I can also understand. I simply didn't like it because I couldn't really get involved and interested with what was happening. I know I said that the direction was "interesting and engaging" but that's purely on an analytical level.DO NOT WATCH THIS WITH OTHER PEOPLE, especially those who will take the psis out of it/you. When you are reminded that this is a film, you realise how cartoony it is and can't really buy into it. If you don't care about what other people think - and we're talking The Big Lebowski levels of care-free here - then give it a shot.I would recommend this to someone getting into silent films for the first time, especially if you don't care give a fcuk about anyone else and you're a real gangsta. Thanks for making me censor myself, IMDb.