Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

Go West Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 10, 2020

Note: This version of this film is available as part of The Buster Keaton Collection: Volume 4.

A "little" thing like a global pandemic may have momentarily put the kibosh on a more regular release schedule, but Cohen Film Collection is back now after more than a year with its fourth installment of Buster Keaton classics, after having offered fans The Buster Keaton Collection: Volume 1 (which included The General and Steamboat Bill, Jr.), The Buster Keaton Collection: Volume 2 (which included Sherlock Jr. and The Navigator), and The Buster Keaton Collection: Volume 3 (which included Seven Chances and Battling Butler). As with the previous volumes, this Cohen release is a “two-fer”, and it also boasts new restorations and new scores, along with what might be at least a bit of an improvement in the supplements category.

As with all of the other Keaton greats that Cohen has thus far resurrected for this series of new releases, Go West has had a previous release on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino. For those wanting a plot summary, I refer you to Casey Broadwater's Go West / Battling Butler Blu-ray review of the Kino release. Casey's review is also a good source for screenshot comparisons between the two versions.

Go West Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Go West is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Cohen Film Collection, an imprint of Cohen Media Group, with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.34:1. This release doesn't even feature the typical "minimalist" insert booklet from Cohen that only very rarely provides technical information in any case, but this presentation starts with a series of text cards which state:

The Keaton Project was launched in 2015 by Cineteca di Bologna and the Cohen Film Collection to restore all of the films made by Buster Keaton between 1920 and 1928.

For the restoration of Go West, nine elements were inspected and analyzed, eight of those - deposited in Columbus and at the Library of Congress by Cohen Film Collection - were digitized and compared.

The four reel original camera negative was not complete, some portions were severely affected by chemical decay and it only included flash titles. It was therefore necessary to integrate it with three other elements: a first generation nitrate positive, a second generation safety dupe negative, a third generation safety positive.

Restoration works were carried out at L'Immagine Ritrovata laboratory and completed in June 2018.

Despite this evidently having been cobbled together from a variety of sources, Go West has an appealingly homogeneous look that aside from some minor differences in brightness and the fact that the frame in this version does not have rounded corners, looks at least substantially similar to the Kino release. While there are still certainly signs of age related wear and tear that pop up, along with occasional fluctuations in contrast, this version arguably has less overt damage than the Kino release, while retaining a healthy grain field and very organic appearance. The biggest issues here are some pretty significant scratches that are especially noticeable in some of the "wide open spaces" sequences, since there's not much in the upper part of the frame to mask them. As with the Kino release, occasional moments can look slightly washed out when compared to the bulk of the transfer, which I'm assuming is due at least in part to the varying inherent quality of the different source elements utilized. The Kino release may arguably be just a tad darker overall than this Cohen version.

Go West Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

This version of Go West features a score by the perhaps slightly misnamed Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra, at least insofar as this is more of a chamber ensemble in this iteration. The score's nice blend of piano and strings sounds full bodied and the actual music nicely supports the visuals.

Go West Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

As with previous releases in this still nascent series, this volume of Keaton is presented on one disc, with a slate of supplements that is at least incrementally better than some that have graced previous volumes in this series. This may be a tacet recognition that many of the Kino Lorber releases came packed with extra features.

• Go West Re-release Trailer (1080p; 1:00)


• College Re-release Trailer (1080p; 00:57)


• Buster Keaton, Screenwriter (1080p; 59:19) is a fantastically interesting audio recording of Keaton developing a script idea which he intends to pitch to (get ready) Wagon Train.


• Go West (1080p; 12:01) is the 1923 short.

Go West Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I hadn't seen Go West in several years, and it was an absolute delight to revisit it again. It remains one of Keaton's strongest characterizations and the gags are always well thought out and perfectly executed. It occurred to me watching the film this time that a central "relationship" might have inspired a similar pairing in the fun 1936 film that was one of Frances Farmer's breakthrough vehicles, the Bing Crosby outing Rhythm on the Range, where Bing is in fact "co-starred" with a bovine, albeit in this case a bull. While source elements have some noticeable damage, the restoration Cohen is offering provides a generally very commendable viewing experience, and the accompanying score is fun and colorful. Recommended.