Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Noooooooo!, August 3, 2006
This review is from: The Charlie Chaplin Collection (DVD)
Not another cheapo crummy box set! No No No!!
Okay, so here's what we have -
The Keystone films - Once again, the SAME crummy prints that are used every time. Sadly, only a couple of these are available in any good condition. They are -
TIllie's Punctured Romance and Mabel's Married Life, available on Image's "Tillie's Puctured Romance" dvd. let me put it this way - Tillie on the present set is a 50 minute pile of poorly narrated and terrible condition garbage that is missing a lot of essential scenes. The Image disc has a mostly complete print that is actually quite watchable and - wait for it - actually makes sense! Amazing!
The Knockout and The Rounders - available in the "Forgotten Films of Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle" set. These look quite nice here. The Rounders is also available in the Slapstick Encyclopedia set, along with a Chaplin fragment unavailable anywhere else.
Okay, that takes care of the films filmed at Keystone. The fact is, if you want to see most of the Keystone films, you might as well get this set or one even cheaper if possible. But there are MUCH better copies of ALL of these films out there, waiting to be released.
AS far as the rest of the material from the Essanay, Mutual, and First National years, this set is nowhere near as good the the Image and M2K releases, and shouldn't even be considered in those cases. In fact, it still remains to be determined if the use of some of these prints is even legal, since they were clearly duplicated from official releases.
There is also a documentary included. Sadly, it's not really about Chaplin, but is a fascinating documentary about how badly somebody can screw up a life story. The information is often false, misleading, or simply a big fat pack of lies. And it's boring. And poorly made. I'm sure talking this one up, aren't I?
If you want a GREAT documentary, try Unknown Chaplin, which is still a knockout 20-odd years later.
Avoid this title, buy all the Image and M2K releases, and then come back to this only when you really MUST see crummy versions of the Keystones. Hopefully soon, we'll have comething better.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Stirrings of Genius ..., January 15, 2005
This review is from: The Charlie Chaplin Collection (DVD)
I claim no more knowledge of Chaplin movies than the average fan. I gave this collection four stars, and I'll give 4 reasons why.
1. i don't think that, considering the fact many of the shorts are roughly between 80-90 years old, it is too much of a stretch to imagine that the image quality is less than stellar. we in the digital age are lucky to have them at all, given the fact that many early movie pioneers (m.sennett included)considered their finished products disposable, to be used until they couldn't be thread into the projector anymore.
2. it's been said that CC's Keystones are only fit for antiquarians and sentimentalists. i disagree. it's in his keystones, that we can see the stirrings of CC's genius. his lack of over acting (excessive mugging/gestures) immediately sets him apart from his contemporaries. chaplin's economy of movement, his deft manipulation of props, and his ability to convey his attitude to the audience with only quick facial expressions,all begin here in his keystone efforts.
3. not only do we get chaplin in this collection, but we also see other great stars of the silent era. mable normand, chester conklin, ben turpin, mack swain, and of course the incomporable edna purviance are just a few of the luminaries contained in these discs. i think you'd be hard pressed to find this much talent in one set.
4. lastly, i don't think i'm alone when i say that to a great degree i find silent movies in general a refreshing alternative to some of today's movie offerings. i'm constantly amazed at how much silents give to their audience, when you consider how little they had to work with, compared to today. and no one was more of a master of that than Charlie Chaplin - don't pass this opportunity up to get so much, for so small a price !
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
25 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Avoid!, January 7, 2004
This review is from: The Charlie Chaplin Collection (DVD)
I received this collection (the "Essential Charlie Chaplin Collection" box set from Delta Entertainment) as a gift, watched about five minutes, and returned it right away. It is a cheap public domain set to which no apparent thought or care has been given.
An example: In the middle of "Easy Street," you suddenly hear a break in the music and people talking. Why? Because the producers of this collection just threw any old public domain music onto the soundtrack, in this case an old blues song in which the musicians begin talking and laughing. It's a great song, to be sure, but totally inappropriate and distracting, having nothing to do with the action on-screen and really ruining the experience.
I should add that the prints look terrible.
Save your money.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|
