In honor of Eureka’s upcoming 4K release of The General, I present my Keaton collection! Why so many releases of the same movies you may ask? Let me give you a rundown!
Kino International
Kino first released Keaton’s films on blu-ray from 2009-2016, first individually, then cumulating in a big box set. The General was their first release (and why it doesn’t have a slipbox). I can’t recall where these prints & restorations came from, but they are known to be in rougher condition, but are interesting because of their tinting, which is mostly unique to these versions. Notable, this release of Steamboat Bill Jr is the only one that has the bonus feature of the entire film using different camera angles that was created with alternate takes for an international market.
Eureka / Cohen Media Group
In 2017, Eureka debuted their Keaton box sets, ending in 2023 with their individual releases of the 2 films that didn’t make it into previous box sets. These releases used the restorations done by the Cohen Media Group and Bologna. These were all 4K restorations and were cleaned up significantly. The Eureka releases have the same exact restorations as the 2019-2023 5 volume Cohen Media Group releases, so I never picked them up since I had Eureka’s. Note: the Buster Keaton short films use the Lobster restorations, because AFAIK, the Cohen Media Group never restored them.
Kino Lorber
Then this brings us to Kino’s current run of Keaton films, from 2017-present. These editions use Lobster’s restorations, which look different from Cohen’s restorations. Their current release of the Keaton shorts uses the Lobster prints like Eureka’s, so I never picked it up.
I have only compared The 3 versions of the General with screenshots, but the Cohen restoration is the best of the bunch (though I have a soft spot for the tinting in the old Kino release). Here is an album comparing screenshots if you’re interested:
https://imgur.com/a/general-blu-ray-comparisons-71BBo95
That being said, a lot of people speak highly of the Lobster restorations, so I really should compare some of their later versions side by side.
Other Releases
The rest of the images are other Keaton releases that have released throughout the years.
Lastly, there are 3 Keaton books I own. His autobiography, which I have reads bits and pieces of and it is fantastic. I am also currently reading Dana Steven’s The Camera Man, and it is fantastic! Can’t recommend it enough. Haven’t read the Dardis book yet.