This remastered Blu-ray Disc edition utlizes an excellent 35mm print, which has been transferred in a 2K high-definition scan with continuous greytones made-up of very-fine black pointilistic dots. The dots, which are quite a bit smaller than those that comprise the picture image of Kino’s previous BD editions, are nearly undetectable in a still frame and produce a very filmlike picture when in motion. Digital clean-up and stabilization of the picture appears to have been performed on the video master, which renders a very clean and stable picture.

The film is presented with two optional music scores, both in uncompressed LPCM 2.0 stereo: a new music score composed and conducted by Timothy Brock, and a music score performed on theatre pipe organ by Lee Erwin.

The supplementary material includes audio commentary by film historians Michael Schlesinger and Stan Taffel; an introduction by edition producer Serge Bromberg (in French with English subtitles) (4 minutes); and an Alka Seltzer commercial featuring Buster (1 minute).

This is our recommended home video edition of Steamboat Bill, Jr. We think that this edition makes it worth upgrading from any previous home video release.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region A Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region A Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
United Kingdom: Click the logomark to purchase this Region A Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.co.uk. Support Silent Era.

This Blu-ray Disc edition of Steamboat Bill Jr. has been mastered in high-definition. Two differing versions of the film are presented, the USA domestic version and the international export version. Our biggest rap on this high-definition edition is the coarse pattern of pointilistic dots that make up the video transfer image, seen clearly in any freeze frame, that seem like a swarm of black dots when in motion. The dots do not appear to be emulsion grains in the source print, but more that they are how the video transfer or the disc mastering rendered the continuous graytones in the source print. The resolution dots will look like very sharp picture details to some eyes but as distracting disc artifacts to others.

The films are presented with optional music scores by The Biograph Players 5.1 surround and 2.0 stereo, a theater organ score by Lee Erwin, and a piano score by William Perry (Killiam version).

The edition’s supplementary material includes a complete presentation of the version from the Paul Killiam collection (70 minutes); a featurette that compares the two versions of Steamboat Bill, Jr. (13 minutes); two historic performances of the songs “Steamboat Bill” (5 minutes total); a Kino-produced montage of Keaton stunts from his sound shorts set to music, “Why They Call Him Buster” (2 minutes); and a stills gallery (69 images).

This was a preferred Blu-ray Disc edition previously but now we recommend Kino Lorber’s updated BD edition, as noted above.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.

This Blu-ray Disc collection contains the high-definition home video release of two versions of Buster Keaton’s Steamboat Bill, Jr., which is identical to the single-disc edition noted above.

The films are presented with optional music scores by The Biograph Players 5.1 surround and 2.0 stereo, a theater organ score by Lee Erwin, and a piano score by William Perry (Killiam version).

The edition’s supplementary material includes a complete presentation of the version from the Paul Killiam collection (70 minutes); a featurette that compares the two versions of Steamboat Bill, Jr. (13 minutes); two historic performances of the songs “Steamboat Bill” (5 minutes total); a Kino-produced montage of Keaton stunts from his sound shorts set to music, “Why They Call Him Buster” (2 minutes); and a stills gallery (69 images).

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
United Kingdom: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.co.uk. Support Silent Era.

The film versions are presented with optional music scores by The Biograph Players 5.1 surround and 2.0 stereo, a theater organ score by Lee Erwin, and a piano score by William Perry.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.

The video transfer for this Kino DVD edition, from an excellent 35mm print, is virtually identical to that originally released on laserdisc and videotape in 1991, and rereleased on both formats as part of the Art of Buster Keaton boxsets from 1995.

The theatre organ music score performance by Gaylord Carter is identical to all of Kino’s 1990s home video editions (DVD, laserdisc and VHS) and is well reproduced in Dolby Digital mono sound here.

Also included in this edition are two of the most reputedly incomplete Keaton films, Convict 13 (1920), a two-reel film identified for years as having only survived in one reel and Day Dreams (1922).

Previously recommended, we now advise passing up this edition for one of Kino’s new HD remastered discs noted above.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
United Kingdom: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.co.uk. Support Silent Era.

The films feature new musical accompaniment by The Alloy Orchestra.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.

The film is likely accompanied by a modern music score soundtrack.

North American collectors will need a region-free PAL DVD player capable of outputting an NTSC-compatible signal to view this edition.

United Kingdom: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 2 PAL DVD edition from Amazon.co.uk. Purchase supports Silent Era.

This DVD-R edition has been mastered from a very-good 35mm print (and the video transfer may have been lifted from another company’s laserdisc or DVD home video release). The picture is reasonably detailed but slightly dark and has a very light amount of speckling and dust but overall looks pretty good.

The film is accompanied by a low-fidelity music score performed on a theatre pipe organ (not the recordings by Gaylord Carter or Lee Erwin) that likely originates from the source print’s optical soundtrack.

Over the years, this company has released DVD-R editions under a number of company names, with the same catalog number and UPC number, including Nostalgia Family Video, Hollywood’s Attic, RetroFlix, and (as of 2015) Reel Vault. The lower catalog number may indicate that this disc was originally offered as a Nostalgia Family Video release in the mid-2000s. If you are on a tight budget and are looking for a low-cost home video option you would be OK with this disc but, honestly, you might be happier with one of the Kino DVDs noted above.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.

The film is likely to be accompanied by a soundtrack compiled from preexisting recordings.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.

The film is likely to be accompanied by a soundtrack compiled from preexisting recordings.

We seriously doubt this edition is worth the money being asked for it these days.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.

This DVD edition was mastered from a soft analog video transfer from a 16mm reduction print. The results are only moderately passable, with plugged-up shadows, nearly blasted-out highlights and smeary image details.

While the temptation is to get three discs for a low price, the quality of prints used for the video transfers are commensurately low.

For years, Steamboat Bill, Jr. has been available in higher-quality home video editions. Why bother with cheap discs? Not recommended, and it’s out-of-print now anyway so no big loss.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.

Other FILMS FROM 1928 available on home video.