Three Ages (1923)

Date	User	Rating
Aug 11, 2020	closedmouth	70 _41st
Better than I was expecting, though the Stone Age and Roman gags are pretty asinine. Could have easily been a two- or three-reeler with a couple of cutaways to the past to make the point. But, it's still fun.
Apr 01, 2020	DougCollins	70 _10th
finally found a buster keaton film that i didn't love.
Feb 21, 2019	napolenbrady	86 _40th
85.50
Oct 19, 2018	caffe	35 _12th
Not really one of Keaton's better working movies for me. It's all down to singular gags and you really think the idea behind it would have created better material.
Sep 30, 2017	xacviant	73 _32nd
A lovelorn nebbish (Buster Keaton) tries to get the girl (Margaret Leahy) in three separate eras - the Stone Age, ancient Rome, and the modern day. Wallace Beery is his foil in each lifetime. Buster's first autonomous feature is really three interwoven shorts (it was designed as such), none of which are quite among his best work, but it certainly has its share of good gags.
Feb 01, 2017	smuhu	50 _15th
With its mix of three storylines momentum is constantly interrupted. Thus, storylines are also underdeveloped.
May 19, 2015	Heliophage	63 _80th
Three middling Buster Keaton shorts for the price of one, essentially. Not bad, but tepid and tentative for Keaton's feature debut. It has a few good bits though: the car in the opening, the roof jumping stunt, the chariot race, etc.
Jan 01, 2015	lisa-	3 _30th
tries to be clever instead of brazen, and it doesn't really work at all. i only laughed properly at the car joke. so we can only rely on the narrative, which is very tedious, and just like most other american silents, where the actor-director imagines himself as a bumbling but brave and oh-so-lovable hero who blunders through a series of hilarious misadventures so he can win the love of the beautiful woman. and buster, you just couldn't stop yourself from adding a touch of racism, could you?
May 21, 2014	karamazov.	21 _24th
Even the gags are bad [with the exception of the car one-- that was fucking cool]. I will choose not to comment on the rest.
Mar 10, 2014	TrixRabbi	74 _41st
Much like Seven Chances, it's weak in the beginning. Repetitive puns, random racist jokes. But as Keaton ups the physicality in the second half the movie greatly improves. Absolutely love the climax of the prehistoric sequence. Also, is this the first instance of the "sundial watch" gag?
Feb 12, 2014	Clark Nova	94 _73rd
the STONEFACE age was cool! I also loved the blazed lion
Feb 06, 2014	PerryStroika	66 _74th
Not as good as Keaton's best-for my money, Sherlock Jr.-but still very worth watching. I am still struck by the extravagant imagination of the stunt work. You can see why Jackie Chan loves him so much.
Apr 27, 2013	Bagger	71 _54th
Coming from someone who really liked "Intolerance" (you may now ignore the rest of this review) I was somewhat disappointed by how a lot of comedic potential was kind of missed. But I guess that it is actually pretty good on its own.
Apr 05, 2013	graveyardtan	80 _57th
Though the jokes have aged considerably politically (Keaton pulling his lover by the hair in the caveman skit), they are all brilliantly silly, and the structure keeps the ante up high. A good watch.
Mar 06, 2013	Amadeus	71 _56th
Keaton's Intolerance! I liked "Last National Bank" and gambler slaves gags most at the beginning.
Mar 06, 2013	oskarhu	74 _33rd
The best gags are not good enough to make this notable.
Sep 04, 2012	Icarus	60 _27th
A few funny moments interspersed with long sections of oddly paced narrative. The car gag is great, the restaurant scene is alright, and the final chases are pretty solid. However, the film mostly feels repetitive rather than clever. And the craps joke? Ouch.
Aug 31, 2011	Bojangles	60 _61st
Buster's car falling apart is probably one of his best gags. A solid short.
Jun 29, 2011	Barthalen	73 _64th
It's the same story told three times, but switching between time periods keeps things from becoming stale. Some cute (and corny) effects and a few cool stunts.
Mar 24, 2010	JooJoo	4 _55th
lol Wallace Beery
Jan 12, 2010	Freder	75 _63rd
Buster's somewhat cautious venture into features is actually three short subjects joined by a common theme: LUHVE. The results are uneven, with some wonderfully funny material undercut by the narrative device, which does effectively parody D.W. Griffith's INTOLERANCE. His comic mind is hard at work, but the momentum isn't there. Still a pleasure if you catch it in the right mood. Nifty stop-motion dinosaur and pantomime lion for those of us who delight in such things.
Dec 04, 2009	Seryxa	25 _43rd
The star's first feature film, not his strongest, is saved by the final chases.
Jun 21, 2009	Nathan S	4 _74th
Buster Keaton's first feature-length directorial effort is one of the most influential comedies of all time, paving the way for trend-spoofs like Mel Brooks and the recent "____ Movie" craze. My first impression was that the periods shouldn't be presented in an intertwined fashion, but this lends the movie a swift pace that constantly refreshes itself. The gags don't rely on the large-scale choreography Keaton is known for, but it's still very funny, with frequent use of hilarious anachronisms.
May 22, 2009	Luna6ix	74 _48th
This movie quite possibly created the stereotype that cavemen drug women around by their hair--and on top of that it has the earliest Claymation I've ever seen. Aside from those two things, this movie really doesn't have enough Keaton-esque antics to make the first half engaging at all, now the second half...that is much better.
Mar 22, 2009	darkman	58 _17th
Some nice ideas and some really stupid ones.
Feb 08, 2009	PeaceAnarchy	81 _64th
Quite an entertaining Keaton film. The way the three stories are weaved together is effective and even though the plotting is predictable it doesn't fail to be amusing and reasonably engaging.
Jun 25, 2007	Stain	0 _8th
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Average Percentile 54.28% from 274 Ratings