The General
Directed by Clyde Bruckman, Buster KeatonAfter being rejected by the Confederate military, not realizing it was due to his crucial civilian role, an engineer must single-handedly recapture his beloved locomotive after it is seized by Union spies and return it through enemy lines.
The General Ratings & Reviews
- theLillyPadFebruary 17, 2025Buster Keaton was the Tom Cruise of his era. No, I'm serious. What this man pulled off for his stunts both stuns and amazes. Nowhere is this better showcased than the General, where we see him pull off every fantastic feat one could imagine with a train (and many you couldn't!) I highly recommend watching a little documentary on his life on youtube or something and then jumping in both feet first into this or Sherlock Jr. Otherwise, Keaton makes his stunts look so natural you might just miss how dangerous they really are!
- simonb111December 5, 2025Great film
- JacksonSeptember 18, 2025This is my first Buster Keaton movie, and I am very impressed with his stunt work. However I had to watch the movie twice to really grasp it, and for being a silent film, it shouldn't have required that. Knowing it has one of the most expensive scenes in silent-film history, I was not impressed by it at all. However it was a silly and moderately entertaining movie, the ending disappointed however.
- shreyasrayJuly 13, 2025Firstly, the Confederate propaganda is painfully evident and jarring personally. The technical aspects of the film are well done particularly given the limitations of the time. The train chase sequences are ingenious from an action perspective and well-choreographed. The plot, however, feels relatively bare-bones and becomes repetitive quickly. The two extended train sequences become repetitive after a while and contribute nothing to the story. Overall, a decent enough film, may be worth a watch just to experience the really impressive choreography and stuntwork.
- Thomas KeithJune 18, 2025Why are colorized version of a classic silent movie., ?
- Tyler SMarch 17, 2025👍👍 8/10
- Rowan KrzysiakJanuary 6, 2025I was all about ready to lay into Buster Keaton having seen two pretty shitty movies held aloft as classics and then I watched 'The General' and it helped reframe him a little for me. I naturally and perhaps unfairly drew comparisons against Chaplin to which Keaton has no chance of matching. Too often it seems he has the 'Family Guy' disease of just shoving in a joke or set-piece abruptly without it really serving much purpose toward the wider context at which Chaplin was the king. However, where these jokes also fall flat, the set-pieces and trickery are often startling and impressive. The stunts are also so raw that the treachery is real. So as for 'The General' well...here the set-piece essentially is the wider conext. It's not far off an hour long train-chase with every stunt and situation possible thrown at it. It remains entertaining throughout with a couple of moments that actually had me gasping. He's not particularly a storyteller or a clown and his screen presence is weak. It is as a human prop, driving the on-screen action where he is most successful and as a wholly action-packed and punchy movie I recommend this one. I am however also unlikely to watch another Keaton movie.
The General Trivia
The General was released on December 25, 1926.
The General was directed by Clyde Bruckman, Buster Keaton.
The General has a runtime of 74 min.
The General was produced by Buster Keaton, Joseph M. Schenck.
The key characters in The General are Johnnie Gray (Buster Keaton), Annabelle Lee (Marion Mack), Captain Anderson (Glen Cavender).
The General is rated Not Rated.
The General is an Action, Adventure, Drama film.
The General has an audience rating of 9.2 out of 10.