Buster Keaton's Steamboat Bill, Jr. coming from Kino! (1 Viewer)

[Matt Stieg]

It looks like Kino might be coming out with Steamboat Bill, Jr. I must say I'm totally blind-sided by this because I think most of us were expecting the Our Hospitality/Sherlock, Jr. double feature to be the next Keaton blu, but this news has me stoked as Steamboat Bill is not only my favorite film from my favorite filmmaker, but my all-time favorite movie ever.

http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=4454

 

[John_S]

Sounds great-- I'll be buying!

 

[felipenor]

I'm buying it.

 

[Matt Stieg]

http://www.classicflix.com/kino-steamboat-bill-ultimate-bluray-plus-lost-keaton-a-726.html

I love this movie so much, I think I might buy the DVD set as well, just for the completist junkie in me.

 

[Brandon Conway]

Just buy the Lost DVD separate (which is what I'm doing).

 

[Greg_S_H]

Is there a big boost with Blu for this kind of material?

 

[Brandon Conway]

The General comparison http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDCompare5/thegeneral.htm

Battleship Potemkin comaprison http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDCompare8/battleship-p.htm

 

[Greg_S_H]

To my untrained eye, the Kino DVDs come out the worst. The Blu-Rays are the best, but the MK2s look acceptable. If I had those, I might not upgrade. I have the Kinos, so I will over time.

 

[Matt Stieg]

Kino has the blu-ray on their website with extras listings; the biggie is a complete ALTERNATE version of the film with alternate takes! Wow. I mean, this just seems like big news for the silent film world.

Major disappointment imo, however, is the now exclusion of Gaylord Carter's magnificent organ score which graced Kino's earlier incarnations of the film. I'm REALLY bummed about that one. I'm keeping my fingers crossed it's just a mistake on the website.

 

[Brandon Conway]

Very cool news about the alternate version.

 

[Rodney]

Originally Posted by Matt Stieg

Major disappointment imo, however, is the now exclusion of Gaylord Carter's magnificent organ score which graced Kino's earlier incarnations of the film. I'm REALLY bummed about that one. I'm keeping my fingers crossed it's just a mistake on the website.

I hope that is a mistake on the website, as I love Gaylord Carter's scores! Had the pleasure of listening to this man perform a few times, and he even autographed his book "The Million Dollar Life of Gaylord Carter" for me when he was at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland, CA.

 

[bigshot]

I've got my fingers crossed that when Sherlock Jr is released, it'll include a viable alternative to that amateurishly unidiomatic Clubfoot Orchestra score. Every time I watch the DVD, the music makes me angry.

 

[dana martin]

Sherlock Jr. (1924)
Dramatizing the uproarious exploits of a meek theater projectionist turned amateur sleuth, the film blends the knockabout physical comedy normally associated with more subtly crafted moments of humor -- such as the sequence in which Buster leaps through the silver screen and lands in the midst of the action.

Packed within its modest 45 minutes is enough comic material for several ordinary features, but Keaton chooses to compress it all into a dazzling display of cinematic inventiveness that races along like the driver-less motorcycle hurtling through a traffic-clogged city in the film's unforgettable climax -- with a stone-faced Buster perched obliviously on the handlebars.

Three Ages (1923)
A brilliant historical satire teeming with inventive flourishes, Buster Keaton's Three Ages is a silent comedy of truly epic proportions. This clever parody of D. W. Griffith's Intolerance follows Buster's hard-luck romantic adventures throughout world history: form the dawn of man in the Stone Age, through the gladiatorial arenas of Ancient Rome, to the city streets of the American Jazz Era.

By flavoring the ancient stories with bits of modern comedy (e.g. the "spare tire" with which Buster repairs his chariot, the "home run" that he scores against an angry caveman), Keaton not only won raucous laughter from the audience but forged an original approach to history, humor, and cinema that clearly foreshadowed the Mel Brooks and Monty Python films that followed half a century later.

BONUS FEATURES:

• Sherlock Jr.
  • Music by The Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra in 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround (DTS on the Blu-ray) and 2.0 Stereo
  • Music by The Club Foot Orchestra
  • Vintage jazz score compiled by Jay Ward
  • 15 minute documentary on the making of the film
  • Audio commentary by historian David Kalat
  • Stills gallery

• Three Ages
  • Music arranged and directed by Robert Israel in 2.0 Stereo
  • Organ Score by Lee Erwin
  • Piano score
  • Man’s Genesis (1912): A nine-minute excerpt of the D.W. Griffith prehistoric romance that inspired Keaton’s parody
  • Visual essay on the film’s locations by Silent Echoes author John Bengston
  • Three Ages re-cut as a trio of stand alone short films