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To be a tad cliched, each set in this new collection is a de facto film class. It is an achievement that works on two levels, allowing for a purely entertaining peek at the legacy of the most acclaimed and world-renowned silent filmmaker in history as well as the opportunity to dive headfirst into a veritable wealth of biographical, cinematic, and intellectual analysis of the works themselves. This box set is a silent cineastes best friend as well as an academic watershed Ð I guarantee film schools across the country will be using these as study guides. The Chaplin Collection gives DVD a good name.

However, after saying all these nice things, I must admit to being a Buster Keaton fan first and a Chaplin fan second. (Editor: What!? Are you trying to incite hate mail!?) I can't resist the wondrous physical play at work in The Gold Rush and Modern Times (my favorite Chaplin film), but as for my own personal tastes, well, I don't warm to Chaplin quite as readily as Keaton. I find myself reveling in such indelible works as The Great Dictator and City Lights, but aside from a few truly magical sequences, I don't really laugh that hard, instead marveling more at their sheer technical brilliance. Whereas with, say, The General, it still infuses me with a sense of giddy goose-pimpliness every time. Guess you're either a Keaton fan or a Chaplin fan, but can't be truly both?

So let's start with the most problematic Chaplin work here, Limelight. Made in 1952 way after his heyday, the film is an almost true-to-life version of Norma Desmond's turn in Sunset Boulevard and not really a piece of organic moviemaking. It's vain and self-serving: Chaplin plays an aging stage star who must nurse a fellow performer (Claire Bloom) back to the theater after she attempts suicide. The film works wondrously as a mirror of Chaplin's real-life bid to reclaim his stature after the advent of sound, but as an entertaining dramatic narrative it is just plain boring. It is, however, heartbreaking, due to both the hit-and-miss quality of the film itself as well as its admittedly intriguing themes.

Most fascinating about Limelight, however is Buster Keaton's role in the film which was terribly truncated. Supposedly, Chaplin was so irked by the fact that Keaton's character was getting so many laughs in early versions that he had his part cut to shreds. (Keaton is only on screen for a handful of minutes here). But like von Stroheim's Greed, Limelight is a picture notorious and worth seeing simply for its maligned existence, not for any real virtue.

Modern Times ,however, is just as astonishing today as it ever was. Chaplin was able to truly harness the magic of sound for the first time - his "Nonsense" song here is still pretty darned fun - and the playful, vaudeville-inspired antics are, all exaggeration aside, extraordinary. And the film's last image of Chaplin's most famous character, Little Tramp, and his ladyfriend walking hand-in-hand off into the horizon is a marvel. Modern Times is a paean to both the beginning of the sound era that would eventually sandbag Chaplin's career and to the energetic, wholly unique magic of silent film itself. A classic.

The Great Dictator, however, has never been a favorite of mine, perhaps because of its sheer narrative aspirations. This film is arguably one of the most subversive comedies to ever hit American movie screens, and while the film has more than its fair share of inspired comic lunacy, I find myself entranced more by its historical relevance than by any actual dramatic success. In fact, on this disc's exceptional supplementary material, we get a mind-blowing documentary paralleling the lives of Chaplin and Hitler Ð both were born only days apart Ð and how they both devolved from culturally-adored heroes to virtual exiles from the universes they once ruled. I, for one, continue to find The Great Dictator a shade impenetrable as a cinematic beast, but I sure appreciate the hell out of it.

Finally, we have The Gold Rush, which is simply to die for. Chaplin himself said this was the picture he wanted to be remembered for, and in 1,000 years, that will probably be the case. For the sheer rush of the humorous and inspired physical craziness, this is Chaplin's finest hour. It's a wonderful film, and is presented here in both its 1925 and 1946 versions. But there is plenty more to tell, so let's get to the DVDs themselves...

Video: How Does The Disc Look?

Stellar. Each film has undergone a major restoration effort that rivals Warner Home Video's work on Citizen Kane. Due to the age of these films, with the exception of Limelight which was produced far ahead in 1952, none of these can, of course, compare to the sheer magnificence of Kane, but you would be hard- pressed to find any silent-era pictures that look this good.

Yes, grime and grain still haunt the the prints Warner was able to find here, but overall the source material appears clean and clear. All are presented in their original glorious black and white (thank god Ted Turner wasn't involved!) and blacks are astonishingly robust and deep. Contrast and overall tonality is smooth, consistent and well-defined, which renders very good detail for films this old. Limelight may look the best to modern eyes, as it was produced in the 40's, and The Gold Rush suffers the most from some extremely noticeable visual inconsistencies. But these are restorations of the highest order. Well done.

Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?

Each film also receives a new 5.1 Dolby Digital remix, which are presented here along with the original mono tracks. Again considering the age of the material, these are exemplary soundtracks. Yes, crackle and fuzz are still audible, but all feel like they have cleaned up as much as was probably possible, which greatly benefits the often tear-jerker scores. Frequency response for the older films here is rather phenomenal, with the mono tracks sounding almost as good as the 5.1 remixes. Low end is very flat, but to be expected for material this dated. Effects and atmospherics are well directed in the 5.1 mix, and let it be said that there has never been any such thing as a "silent" film - dialogue or not, the success of any true classic rests in large part on its sound. These mixes demonstrate that beautifully.

However, it is also here where The Chaplin Collection falls painfully short of being definitive. The 1946 version The Gold Rush is presented with a greatly enhanced 5.1 remix, but the actual re-release music accompaniment is nowhere near as effective as the original (and longer) 1925 version. We have a wonderful new score Ð written by Chaplin himself Ð but this version of the film excises all the original cut's intertitles, replacing them with horribly annoying "narration" by Chaplin, where he verbally illustrates every action that we see. The 1925 version is included on the second disc of the film's two-disc set (thank goodness), but even this is marred by Neil Brand's piano-only reinterpretation of Karli D. Elinor's original compositions, and it is presented in 2.0 stereo only. It is super-cheesy, and since it sounds like it was recorded on an electric piano, it actually takes away from the film's antiquated charm. The Gold Rush is a wonderful film, don't get me wrong, but neither of these soundtracks do it full justice.

The Great Dictator offers French and Spanish mono dubs while the rest only feature French options, while all include English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Thai and Korean subtitles and English Closed Captions.

Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

There are so many extras on these discs that it is tough to know where to begin, so let's just go film by film....

On The Gold Rush, the introduction from Chaplin biographer David Robinson sets the tone with a discussion on the film's beginnings, its production and eventual riotous commercial success, plus its subsequent re-releases. It's a bit annoying that the definitive version of the film Ð its original 1925 version is smooshed in here among the extras, but at least they didn't leave it out completely. But its inclusion also means that this is the most feature starved of the four films in this set, which is disappointing since it is arguably the best of the bunch.

The 24-minute featurette Chaplin Today Ð The Gold Rush, isn't quite as impressive as other documentaries in this collection, but it nevertheless speaks volumes about the film, its creator, and the undeniable effect it still has on audiences today. Other extras include an international selection of the film's many theatrical trailers, plus two extensive still galleries with photos and posters.

Moving on to Modern Times, we get another lively introduction, this time by historian David Robinson, then we go right into the short-ish featurette Chaplin Today Ð Modern Times. It's not as solid as other docs on this collection, but as a discussion of Chaplin's monolithic fame and his place in the industry before his downfall, it is a fascinating. We next two deleted scenes. One is an appealing, if incidental, minute-long segment of the Little Tramp trying to cross the street, and the other the complete version of Chaplin's loony "Nonsense Song," including its long-lost final verse. In addition to this, we get a bizarre karaoke version of the "Nonsense Song" with phonetic subtitles of his hilarious gibberish.

Then we get to the meat of the extra features for this film. Behind the Scenes in the Machine Age is a 1941 educational film on the solidarity and "nationalism" in assembly line labor. It's a long, silent, 42-minute piece (there is literally no audio included here), but as a cultural artifact, it's mesmerizing. Also along these lines is a promotional musical(!) called "Symphony in F," filmed at the Ford assembly lines (ironically, the specific inspiration for Modern Times). The music is almost unbearably muffled and muddy, but if mid-century American propaganda interests you, this one is a can't-miss.

Ah, Liberace! Thrill or cringe at a live performance of Modern Times' famous theme song, "Smile," from a young (and disappointingly plainly-dressed Liberace). And in true 50's TV performance style, he hardly ever takes his eyes off the camera. For four creepily campy moments, Liberace stares you down like a hawk. Hilarious. Next we have another really humorous artifact, the Cuban documentary Por Primera Vez/For the First Time is an astonishing look at how a group of Cuban peasants react to seeing Modern Times for the first time. Most amazing line: a young girl smiles and looks to the sky, cooing, "I don't even know what cinema is." Beautiful and unpredictable stuff.

Rounding out the film's extras are a smorgasbord of international theatrical trailers, a massive still gallery with photos, posters and selected scenes from all ten of the films in The Chaplin Collection.

Next we have The Great Dictator, which is the most notable in the set due to the 60-minute The Tramp and the Dictator, a wondrous documentary which parallels the life of both Hitler and Chaplin. Narrated by Kenneth Branaugh, this doc is no humdrum DVD extra, but exceptional moviemaking in its own right. Many of the people interviewed discuss how they didn't appreciate how astonishing The Great Dictator was during their first viewing of it simply because they were laughing too hard to notice the theme's Chaplin was going for. Ecstatic, fascinating filmmaking.

Next up is 26 minutes worth of behind-the-scenes footage in booming 16mm color, shot by Sidney Chaplin, which shows the colossal efforts that went into making this one-of-a-kind motion picture. Also included is a short from 1919, Charlie the Barber a cute 7-minute corker that was shot and ultimately cut out of his film Sunnyside. We also get a revealing scene from Chaplin's 1947 film Monsieur Verdoux that includes footage of Hitler himself and Chaplin as a businessman who becomes ruined by the ravages of the war. Interesting Ð but where's a gloriously-redone version of that film? Last but not least is a slimmer still gallery than the other discs, with a number of posters.

Limelight is up last, and again features an introduction by Chaplin biographer David Robinson, who offers a very candid, blunt and unnerving outline of how this controversial film came about and further proof that any pull it still has comes from what it represents rather than what it ended up being.

The 26-minute featurette Chaplin Today Ð Limelight is an equally devastating look, only this time instead of just having an authorial voice telling us all sordid details, we get an excellent array of stock footage, interview segments (including talks with Claire Bloom, Sidney Chaplin and Bernardo Bertolucci) and beautiful contemporary photographs. An excellent documentary and a must for Chaplin fans, even if you don't even like the film.

Next we get a historically interesting but rather over-the-top deleted scene in which Chaplin's character learns "just how much he has in his life" by talking with a one-armed man in a bar. It's wonderfully preserved here, looking almost as nice the main feature, but works only as a novelty. The silent short from 1919, "The Professor," has also been beautifully restored here, yet it falls short of Chaplin's other works from this period. It's mostly fascinating for the way Chaplin's character from Limelight all but duplicates what he does here.

Next is a real treat, a 2.0 stereo isolated score, the film's original, and all 59 minutes of it, too. Chaplin, Raymond Rasch and Larry Russell won Oscars for the music, and it really is marvelous. However, one must ask, why not a 5.1 remix? Anyhow, it's still delicious-sounding. The audio excerpts from "Footlight," the 100,000-word novel Chaplin originally wrote as the basis for the film, is also melancholy and extremely moving. Over stills from both the film and the original manuscript, you can tell from Chaplin's voice that he really wanted to make something special out of this.

The home movies included are a true find, gorgeous and woefully heartbreaking. We get two different sets, one of the Chaplin family in the United States in 1950 and one documenting Chaplin's return to his hometown in London in 1959. Both are marvelous time-capsules that both accentuate the beauty and simplicity of lackadaisical family life and amplify the already- booming sense of fatalism hanging over much of his work. Painful, but very evocative.

Rounding it out are the film's American and Italian theatrical trailers, plus another two still galleries, although the first is the most unnerving and chilling of them all. Included are shots from Chaplin and Keaton's notorious on-stage collaboration at the film's near-finale. And last, but not least, we have a look at the film's promotional campaign via a poster gallery.

DVD-ROM Exclusives: What do you get when you pop the disc in your PC?

No ROM extras have been included.

Parting Thoughts