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IMDbPro

The Great Buster

  • 2018
  • Not Rated
  • 1h 42m
IMDb RATING
7.5/10
2.7K
YOUR RATING
Buster Keaton in The Great Buster (2018)
A look at the life and times of the legendary comic and filmmaker, Buster Keaton.  Directed by Peter Bogdanovich.  Starts October 5 in NY, October 19 in LA & coming soon to more cities.
Play trailer1:49
1 Video
3 Photos
BiographyComedyDocumentaryHistory

Documentary on the life and works of comic genius Buster Keaton, directed by Peter Bogdanovich.Documentary on the life and works of comic genius Buster Keaton, directed by Peter Bogdanovich.Documentary on the life and works of comic genius Buster Keaton, directed by Peter Bogdanovich.

  • Director
    • Peter Bogdanovich
  • Writer
    • Peter Bogdanovich
  • Stars
    • Peter Bogdanovich
    • Dick Cavett
    • Frank Capra
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.5/10
    2.7K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Peter Bogdanovich
    • Writer
      • Peter Bogdanovich
    • Stars
      • Peter Bogdanovich
      • Dick Cavett
      • Frank Capra
    • 24User reviews
    • 39Critic reviews
    • 71Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 win & 1 nomination total

    Videos1

    The Great Buster: A Celebration | Official US Trailer
    Trailer 1:49
    The Great Buster: A Celebration | Official US Trailer

    Photos2

    View Poster
    View Poster

    Top cast36

    Edit
    Peter Bogdanovich
    Peter Bogdanovich
    • Self - Narrator
    • (voice)
    Dick Cavett
    Dick Cavett
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    Frank Capra
    Frank Capra
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    Jim Curtis
    • Self
    James Karen
    James Karen
    • Self
    Dick Van Dyke
    Dick Van Dyke
    • Self
    Johnny Knoxville
    Johnny Knoxville
    • Self
    Louise Keaton
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    Harry Keaton
    Harry Keaton
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    • (as Harry "Jingles" Keaton)
    Buster Keaton
    Buster Keaton
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    Paul Dooley
    Paul Dooley
    • Self
    Patricia Eliot Tobias
    • Self
    Bob Borgen
    • Self
    French Stewart
    French Stewart
    • Self
    Richard Lewis
    Richard Lewis
    • Self
    Carl Reiner
    Carl Reiner
    • Self
    Bill Hader
    Bill Hader
    • Self
    Mel Brooks
    Mel Brooks
    • Self
    • Director
      • Peter Bogdanovich
    • Writer
      • Peter Bogdanovich
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews24

    7.52.6K
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    Featured reviews

    9nedeljkodjukic88

    The greatly missed Buster

    People's collective sense of humor change with time. But, this reminds me of people frantically trying to keep up with technology that is supposed to make their lives easier. Just as we become more and more addicted to and dependent on technology and all its modern gadgets - we gradually lose our own resourcefulness and creativity.

    This is what happened in movie industry with comedies (and not just comedies). First we had silent B&W movies where you needed to be a genius to make audience laugh with no use of sound and color, with things you could barely call special effects today and smart use of dialogues only when necessary. A while later, it was easier for actors and directors as they could use all those things to make a good movie. Need for ingenuity lowered.

    Then suddenly, the only thing that worked was actors swearing in almost every line they spoke. Nowadays, almost exclusively, directors rely on swearing, sarcasm and cheap irony (in other genres blood, nudity, violence, etc.).

    Need for ingenuity practically disappeared. Or do we need it more than ever?

    One of such original genius of the silent era was Buster Keaton. And he pretty much did all his best work himself - he wrote the scenes, directed them, acted in them and pulled many highly dangerous stunts to achieve perfection each time. This documentary by Peter Bogdanovich (Petar Bogdanovic in Serbian - he's my countryman :)) puts the Great Buster under the spotlight right in time as the cinema is crying for it. And it will serve as a quality intro for announced restoration of the comic's top movies. Bogdanovich's choice of talking heads is questionable, but some of them are obviously selected to draw the younger audience.

    It is truly a celebration of Keaton's legacy but also a reminder what the real, healthy humor is all about - not vulgarity and humiliation, but simplicity, originality and inventiveness. This brilliant comic was known as the Great Stone Face, but - as pointed out by Cybill Shepherd (and as told by John Ford once) - you act with your eyes, not with your face.

    I just hope that at least a part of today's spoiled audience that only ask for new, loud, fast (and senseless) movies will recognize the great value of Buster's works - all presented timely and nicely by Bogdanovich - and discover it for themselves. I sure will, although I decided this already after watching The General.The Genius Buster - the one we need today...
    8jellopuke

    Great introduction to Keaton

    While maybe not the most definitive look at the man, this does a great job of explaining why and showing why he was so great and will leave you wanting to track down all of his movies you can. IF you've seen lots already and already love him, it's not really much new, unless you really wanted to know what Johnny Knoxville thinks... That said, Keaton was amazing so this is well worth watching.
    6mbrindell

    Not particularly great

    A good doc on Keaton, but not great.

    Once again another film confronts its viewers with talking heads telling us why ***they*** think the title character was great. Please, don't tell us, show us! Give the viewer credit for having some substance between his/her ears. Show us why Keaton was a great comedian. Don't inundate us with personal opinions. It's easily demonstrated, i believe, because the man was truly great.

    I tire of entertainment personalities acting as qualified historians. If they have good, unbiased insight into the man, I'll listen; however, none of this movie's talking heads are unbiased. They all have a dog in the fight. They all passionately adore BK. That's fine, but please don't think because you knew the man that you have some secret insight into him. Many of the talking heads are simply repeating apocryphal stories.

    A good written biography and a small selection of his best film's on DVD is a fine introduction to the man.

    This film is more hagiography than insightful biography.

    Having said all this, I'd still recommend the film. Just make sure you pick up those DVDs.
    9gbill-74877

    Buster was the man

    An excellent overview of Buster Keaton's life and work. The man was such a genius and seeing this touching documentary made me smile. I liked seeing all the miscellany and smaller things he did in his later life, even the commercials, because I had never seen them before. I also liked getting a little excerpt out of so many of the early two-reelers, and of course those extraordinary moments from his major works. I'm not sure about all the choices Bogdanovich made in terms of the celebrity interviews and would have preferred a little more depth in places that didn't get it, but it does show the scope of the influence Keaton had. In the end I appreciated the balance in the documentary, between all of the little clips and rare bits (running the risk of turning attention away from the major films) and the truly amazing physical comedy in those epic moments (running the risk of just becoming just a montage of film clips). It's not perfect, but I saw and learned new things, and was touched and inspired afterwards.
    8masonfisk

    BUSTER THE GENIOUS...!

    A 2018 documentary on one of the kings of silent film Buster Keaton directed & narrated by the late, great Peter Bogdanovich. Most people will say Charlie Chaplin others my say Harold Lloyd but in many circles the undisputed silent film champ is Keaton. Tracing his roots as a vaudevillian who was the child in a family act, he soon gained the eye of Fatty Arbuckle who gave him a chance to make shorts w/his studio which afforded him to make feature length productions gaining him worldwide fame & notoriety but as bad follows good, things turn when he became a contract player for MGM. Never having owned his material didn't give Keaton the cache that Chaplin would command so his inventiveness (he was a consummate tinkerer figuring out his gags in advance) were relegated to the sidelines as his talent was further wasted when talkies took over. Happily he found appreciative fans overseas in Europe where he would be feted for his past triumphs & although later in life during the 1960's, dying from cancer he'd continue to work (appearing in some of the Beach Blanket films & tons of ads promoting different products but really a return to form as they were essentially the same kind of shorts he perfected some 40 years before). W/talking heads as varied as Richard Lewis, Dick Van Dyke, Mel Brooks, Werner Herzog, Johnny Knoxville, Bill Hader & former Pathmark shill James Karen to name a bunch, we're giving an unsung cinematic hero his due. My only complaint is the film finishes about 90 minutes in but Bogdanovich tacks on another half hour to illustrate his greatness w/a collection of his most famous sequences making this portion of the doc almost an afterthought but ultimately servicable.

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    Biography
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    History

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The final documentary & feature film of director Peter Bogdanovich.
    • Quotes

      Werner Herzog, Himself: Buster Keaton always had that quiet tragedy which is very, very funny.

    • Connections
      Features The Butcher Boy (1917)
    • Soundtracks
      1812 Overture
      Written by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

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    FAQ16

    • How long is The Great Buster?Powered by Alexa

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • October 5, 2018 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Official sites
      • Official site
      • Official site - NRK (Norway)
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • The Great Buster - A Celebration
    • Production company
      • Cohen Media Group
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $118,344
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $7,107
      • Oct 7, 2018
    • Gross worldwide
      • $125,807
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 42m(102 min)
    • Color
      • Black and White
      • Color
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.78 : 1

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