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Reviews
The General (1926)
Klutzy but Capable
This silent film was very impressing. At first it was hard for me to engage in without any speaking, but once I found the aim of the film when Keaton was told he was"of no use" to the army. What they failed to tell him was that they thought he was of more use to them in his role of an engineer. So this is where our hero gets his motivation for the film. I found the film very engaging after this. I was invested in our hero.
The plot isn't crazily complex and follows a classic storyline that has been around. With that said I still enjoyed it. Keaton makes his character very relatable and like-able. He is seen as the odd one out and feels that way, and this leads to many situations of misfortune. But he takes these situations and makes the best out of them and then some. My mind calls back to the scene where he stumbles into the house the union officers are occupying for the night. Coincidentally his wife is captured here and while saving her, he also gains the mission of reporting the Unions plans. You see this same idea throughout the film in smaller circumstances. He is a very cunning man.
Despite the fact that this film is silent, I was again impressed with how well everything else was constructed. You could tell it was a large scale production and a lot of thought went into it. Especially with the set design and the special effects. I was very impressed that at this time they would dedicate the resources required to create it. All in all it was a good film. A little predictable, but thats probably because I'm watching from the present.
The Great Train Robbery (1904)
Simplistic but innovative
I had heard of "The Great Train Robbery" before but I had always thought it was a classic western. To my surprise, it wasn't like the films I've seen with Clint Eastwood. This short film is as bare bones as a film can get. It reminded me a bit of a home movie that would have been made by millennial children. This isn't an insult, but more of an observation. As a kid, you took what you had around you, created a simple plot, and made your movie. And that's exactly what happened here. There was no depth to characters within the film and no place for relation. Again i'm not taking away from the short as it is just that, and not to mention the films age. The film also makes many breakthroughs and you can tell how its influence was carried throughout the life of film. It was a perfect plot and setting to start making movies in as what most people seek through films is an escape to a different reality, and during these times many outlaws were glorified for their wild lifestyles. My favorite moments had to be witnessing the early 1900s era special effects. I was actually impressed by the effects used for explosions and honestly wasn't expecting to see anything of the sort.