The Kid (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

A mesmerizing Chaplin classic at your fingertips to enjoy and share again and again

General Description Charlie "The Tramp" Chaplain happens upon a baby (The Kid) that he ultimately ends up raising. Through a series of events the kid's mother is trying to locate that baby years later. Music: 10/10 -- very bright and colorful sound track, that allowed for the expressions of the character to transcend. From speedy romp music, to slow melancholy, all the way to riveting fight music. This score truly plucks your emotion in a way that makes you feel more into that scene. Story:9/10 -- Premise of the story is sad and somber. Mother has child with a man, he abandons her, she abandons the child. The tramp finds the kid in an alley and tries to ditch him like the plague. The universe has a funny way of showing Chaplain that this is meant to be. Fast forward 5 years. The mother finds herself prominent in the entertainment industry, but longing for the one thing she can never have back -her baby. What will the mother do if she were to know her child is right under her nose this whole time. Watch to find out. Acting: 10/10 -- For me this is a tough category, by my interpretation a lot of acting comes from mannerisms, expressions, and delivery of the message their character has. Each and every character in this movie felt extremely unique (to their world) and had impact. From the nurse and doctor in the opening scene, all the way to dreamland each character is able to convey their role to utmost certainty without a word ever being spoken. You can see that body language truly does speak volumes, when used properly. This is a skill often forgotten in current films. Overall Score: 9.7/10 Explanation of grading. the music being top notch really exemplified what the story was reaching at. Overall the premise of the story is simple which allowed for the comedy, and sadness to be felt all the more while not being convoluted. The cohesion of everything was able to take simple movements, and simple technology from 1920s and turn this into a timeless classic that even a new viewer like myself can enjoy.

This is a wonderful two disc set; the first disc containing the movie itself, restored and with a musical score composed by Chaplin in the early 1970's for the re-release of the film. The story itself concerns an unwed mother who can't keep her child. She writes a note and leaves the child where he might be found. The child is found by the Little Tramp (Charles Chaplin) who tries to find someone to take the baby. Eventually he keeps the child and claims it as his own. He brings up the child in abject poverty, and the affection and caring between the two makes this a very touching film. Probably the most heart-wrenching scene in all Chaplin films, is in "the Kid." The child at one point is being taken away from the Tramp when it is discovered that he is not the child's real father. The child (Jackie Coogan) is crying pitifully and reaching out to the Tramp as he is being taken away from the only home and parent he has ever known. The film includes comedy, of course, but the pathos and sweetness of the film makes it one of my all time favorites. On the second disc, there are many supplementary features, the first is a short documentary by David Robinson, Chaplin's biographer which sets the film in its historical perspective and background. This disc also includes deleted scenes, several shorts starring Jackie Coogan and Chaplin, one is footage of Chaplin recording the new musical score in 1972. A longer feature included is "My Boy," starring Jackie Coogan and running 55 minutes. A feature I truly enjoyed is "How to Make Movies" recorded in 1918 and showing Chaplin's studio and a little bit "behind the scenes" of what went into making movies in that era. One interesting observation on my part, is that I have a hard time believing that this movie was made in 1921! It seems so fresh and timeless. Part of that may be due to the beautiful musical score and restoration of the film, but the story is so touching and well-acted that you forget that it is a silent film. Altogether, this is an excellent DVD set, essential to every Chaplin fan or vintage movie fan.

It cuts the strings of your heart.

Every Chaplin film, a masterpiece! This man was a great genius, so much of his work was way before its time &, to this day, unparalleled. From the composition of the accompanying musical score to the moment the celluloid reel was literally in the can, Chaplin obsessed over every aspect, down to the most minuscule detail like a man possessed - and it shows! Once you know that & watch any of his movies, you have an even greater appreciation for the man. He AND his "Little Tramp" tugged at my heartstrings during the first movie I saw him in, & still does to this day! *I sustained extensive burn injuries in an accident June 3 of '06 - and barely survived. When I came out of a drug-induced coma after 10.5 weeks, I faced a long rehabilitation period before I could be released. The hospital staff told my family to bring some things from home that might ease my restlessness & make me feel happier in general. One of the items they brought was my Chaplin DVD Collection. I was still battling the mental fogginess that follows the drugs used to "keep me under", & was unaware of the majority of comings and goings - family OR staff. Unfortunately, someone chose to take advantage of my mental state, & my belongings fell prey to their sticky fingers. The music CD's that "walked away" were no big deal to me, but I was DEVASTATED over the loss of my DVD's (and hurt that someone would stoop so low). That's the best way I know of to illustrate what a HUGE fan I am. I hope more people go back to using his artform as their form of entertainment. I think it might make the world a little bit gentler & a LOT happier!

I know some people would not see comedy films in the way the heading describes this movie, but Chaplin did such a great job with this film (as he did with many films). He was wise to restore the picture quality and redo the musical scores of his films before he died; the quality is amazing because he did his own restorations, and then digital technology came along and made them that much better. This film is about a vagrant (Chaplin) who finds an abandoned baby and takes him in and cares for him the best way he can. Unfortunately, when he becomes a small child (Jackie Coogan), an orphanage intervenes and separates the two. Comedy, drama, happiness, tragedy, laughter and tears are all of the things that sum up this story. It's a shame that the MK2 collections of Chaplin's films are now out of print and the remainder of them are expensively priced. Buy the MK2 versions of his films at the cheapest prices you can find.

Some things are just always going to be hilarious. The Kid is proof of that. The story is chock full of amazing physical humor and wonderful sight-gags (obviously, since the movie is silent). Just wait until you see the angel dog. Jackie Coogan, who plays John, the eponymous kid of the movie, is one of the best child actor's I've seen in any movie, being able to play both the comedic and dramatic moments with flair. The film is both funny and heart-warming!

It probably is the best way to watch the film, the cut is the re-release by Charlie Chaplin and itleft out a couple of scenes, but I'd say is for the best (I maybe only would have kept the scene at the bridge), but you can still watch the deleted scenes separately. It contains amazing interviews and essays.

このレビューは、輸入盤クライテリオン社製ブルーレイ「The Kid (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]」のレビューです。 この映画に関して私ごとき人間がとやかくレビューする必要がないので、詳しい説明や内容は省略させて頂きます。 チャップリン映画の名作中の名作です。 笑いと涙に満たされた感動のチャップリン初の長編コメディー映画です。 長編と言っても５２分ほどの映画ですが････。 今回日本版の発売を記念しまして、高画質ソフト販売の老舗クライテリオン社製のブルーレイと日本盤を比較してみました。 他にも「モダンタイムス」、「黄金狂時代」も比較してみました。 まず「モダンタイムス」ですが、日本盤がかなり奮闘し、画質の好みの問題もあると思いますが、クライテリオン社製のブルーレイよりも日本盤の方が画質では上でした。 ただし見やすい画質という感じで、大外面になればなるほどクライテリオン社製のブルーレイの方がよく見えますが、まずは一勝目！ 次に「黄金狂時代」のトーキー版は、日本盤もクライテリオン社製のブルーレイも、本編映像では差がわからないほどの高画質でしたが、特典映像にあるオリジナル・サイレント版の映像は、クライテリオン社製のブルーレイの方がかなり上でした。 この時点で、一勝一敗一引き分けと言ったところでしょうか？ その画像は、各映画のレビューをご覧ください。 さて、この「キッド」は、過去に発売されたこのソフトの中では間違いなく最高画質です。 日本盤とは比べものにならないほど綺麗です。 日本盤も確かに画質はアップしていますが、クライテリオン社製のブルーレイは更に高画質でした。 百聞は一見にしかず！ 画像をアップしておきますので比較して見てください。 日本盤ブルーレイは、ＨＤニューマスター版と言ったところですが、クライテリオン社製のブルーレイはレストア版と言った感じ。 モノの質感や輪郭のエッジが実に綺麗で、日本盤とは比較にならないほどでした。 日本盤は若干明るさが明るめで、一見、見やすく感じますが、大型テレビになればなるほどその差はハッキリして若干コントラストを抑えたクライテリオン社製のブルーレイの方が圧倒的に綺麗に見えます。 結果、モダンタイムス・黄金狂時代・キッドの３本を比較して見た結果は、日本盤は一勝二敗一引き分けというところでしょうか。 従ってチャップリンの大ファンと自負する方なら、輸入盤のクライテリオン社製のブルーレイを購入できるうちに購入した方が良いのではないでしょうか？ 確かに輸入盤なので日本語字幕はありませんが、元々サイレント映画なので字幕は必要ないか、日本人の一般的な英語力があれば十分に鑑賞できます。 在庫が少なくなってきているらしく、日本で購入するとプレミア価格になりつつあるので、Amazonさんで海外から購入できるうちに購入しないと一生悔いの残る結果になりそうです。 皆さんの購入時の参考になれば、幸いです。 と言うことで、この輸入盤のクライテリオン社製のブルーレイは、文句なく星５つとさせて頂きました。

Criterion Films are expensive and hence one of the criteria I use for purchase is Re-watchability. And, all of the Charlie Chaplin films are among them and you can watch them again and again. Criterion Hi-Def digital restoration is pretty good considering it is a 1921 film. While "The Kid" is perhaps not as famous as Charlie Chaplin's later films like "Modern Times" and "City Lights", this is Charlie's first full-length film as director and was a huge success and an excellent achievement for Charlie Chaplin. "The Kid" is very adorable, thoroughly enjoyable and delightful film. There is lots of slapstick, sentiments and completely immersive interesting story which will make you want to know what will happen next. Charlie's amazing art of combining laughter with emotions and tears while delivering inspiring message is evident in "The Kid" like all his films. "The Kid" will always remain one of the most memorable film as this was probably the first film to combine comedy and pathos and guaranteed to bring smile as well as tears to whoever watches this film. "The Kid' is truly a timeless masterpiece and shows how extraordinarily talented person Charlie Chaplin was as an actor as well as director. Charlie Chaplin is undisputed master of cinema. Thanks Criterion for bringing this to Hi-def to the life (and others: Modern Times, City Lights, Gold Rush, The Great Dictator, Limelight)

I was curious to see if a film of this age would look much better on Blu-ray, and I have to say it does. Of course it can't match the quality of later films, but you can see the resolution is still higher than you can get on a DVD. The Blu-ray sticks to the original film format, which I prefer. There's no stretching of the picture or cropping to make it fit a TV screen. Like most of these classic films, it has been well restored. The only flaws you can see are an occasional minor vertical scratch. It gives you a good idea of what this film must have looked like to the original audience. I'm finding films more enjoyable on Blu-ray. There's more detail, more to look at, bringing out things you never noticed before. They seem to have sorted out the problem of the missing DVDs with this series. The Extras are the same as those released on DVD before.

Laughs and pathos galore. For me Chaplin's best film and that's saying a lot.

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