Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Sexyloutak Absolutely the worst movie.

Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

FrogGlace In other words,this film is a surreal ride.

charlytully . . . in a not-so-beautiful balloon. In this short, Buster Keaton plays "The Young Man"--also referred to (ironically?) as "The Prince" on one mid-film title card--who turns out to be a serial womanizer. The young man also is blessed with remarkably good luck, as he proceeds from mishap to mishap at a frenetic pace, coming out of it no worse for wear (unless you count the black eye he receives off-camera from doing who knows what to a stranger lady in the tunnel-of-love-type boat ride). Oh, the humanity, the humanity!--if the young man had just been on the Hindenburg the following decade, it's doubtful lightning could have struck. A decade earlier, he would have saved the Titanic by just being in steerage. With the luck and pluck displayed by the title character of THE BALLOONATIC, the possibilities are endless. Whether threatened by the ladies, bulls, bears, squirrels, or the raging abyss of a waterfall, this character leads a charmed life. Too bad for him that personal podcast cameras were not around in 1923, since showing just a few of his lucky escapes to his potential dates should prove him a worthy suitor, just on the basis of his being a human-sized rabbit's foot.

JoeytheBrit This minor offering from Keaton is really just a collection of sketches cobbled together to make a 20 minute short; as such, it lacks any cohesion and struggles to hold the viewer's interest despite containing a number of decent sight gags and Keaton's ever-reliable comic timing. In this one he finds himself atop a hot air balloon that has drifted from its moorings and which transports him deep into the countryside where he encounters young Phyllis Haver, a rather strapping young wench whose initial coolness towards him thaws after a number of escapades. There's very little that is memorable here, and probably the best moment is Keaton's reaction when he realises he is standing beneath a chute that dispatches visitors from the 'House of Trouble' fairground ride just after a heavy young lady has entered.

Ron Oliver A BUSTER KEATON Silent Short.Intrepid Buster faces danger on land, on water & in the air - generally because of his disastrous attempts to impress lovely young women.THE BALLOONATIC - which actually gives very little screen time to the hot air balloon - is rather a jumble of disjointed (but funny) scenes which bare scant relation to each other. With any other star it would be easy to dismiss, but Keaton holds it all together (barely) by the sheer force of his undeniable talent and some very amusing moments. Highlight: the trajectory of a large lady sliding precipitately out of an amusement park's horror house causes some impact problems for Buster.Born into a family of Vaudevillian acrobats, Buster Keaton (1895-1966) mastered physical comedy at a very early age. An association with Fatty Arbuckle led to a series of highly imaginative short subjects and classic, silent feature-length films - all from 1920 to 1928. Writer, director, star & stuntman - Buster could do it all and his intuitive genius gave him almost miraculous knowledge as to the intricacies of film making and of what it took to please an audience. More akin to Fairbanks than Chaplin, Buster's films were full of splendid adventure, exciting derring-do and the most dangerous physical stunts imaginable. His theme of a little man against the world, who triumphs through bravery & ingenuity, dominates his films. Through every calamity & disaster, Buster remained the Great Stone Face, a stoic survivor in a universe gone mad.In the late 1920's Buster was betrayed by his manager/brother-in-law and his contract was sold to MGM, which proceeded to nearly destroy his career. Teamed initially with Jimmy Durante and eventually allowed small roles in mediocre comedies, Buster was for 35 years consistently given work far beneath his talent. Finally, before lung cancer took him at age 70, he had the satisfaction of knowing that his classic films were being rediscovered. Now, well past his centenary, Buster Keaton is routinely recognized & appreciated as one of cinema's true authentic geniuses. And he knew how to make people laugh...

Snow Leopard This is not one of Buster Keaton's best short features, but it has some good moments. Most of the gags are of good quality, and most of the sequences work well enough. The main thing it really lacks is that, unlike most of Buster's movies, it never really builds on itself or gets much momentum. In his best features, the setting and story help make the decent gags very funny and the good gags hilarious.Buster becomes "The Balloonatic" when he is trying to help a balloonist prepare his craft, and it accidentally takes off with Buster on top of the balloon. He winds up in the wilderness, where he and a young woman that he meets (Phyllis Haver) have to fend for themselves.Although this one doesn't fit together quite as well as his best comedies, being mostly a series of only loosely-connected gags, some of them are very good in themselves. If nothing else, it has enough that it should probably be of interest at least to those who are already Keaton fans.