A Film a Day, Day 1: The Great Train Robbery

Name: The Great Train Robbery
Directed by: Edwin S. Porter
Year: 1903
Starring: A bunch of uncredited silent film stars you've never heard of.

I would like to welcome you to my latest attempt on a blog. My current project is to do a film review a day for one hundred days, looking at several films ranging from classics to modern day blockbusters. My first post features one of the earliest films out there, hitting an astounding 108 years old. The Great Train Robbery is one of the first films out there to actually use the medium to tell a story.

Kicking the ass of the previous victor, 'People Randomly Standing in a Fucking Garden'.

Thankfully, the film isn't very long, around 11 minutes. The whole film is actually in the public domain and can be viewed here. Watching it today makes it almost funny. The saloon-style music and campy over acting seem almost laughable, but all of cinema owes a huge debt to Edwin S. Porter for all of the innovations that this film brought.

Though he is equally responsible for the rest as well.

On location filming, cross-cutting (that is, to alternate shots between two scenes to elude that they are occurring at the same time), these techniques, though not originated here, are first used here to such an extent. While this film may not have withheld the test of time like many other films have, it is an important entry nonetheless.

Final Review: 4/5 (its age shows, but this is still a highly important and still entertaining film).

Should You Watch It: Sure, why not? I mean, it's free on the internet and isn't even 15 minutes long.

Believe it or not, this shot scared the shit out of people.

Up next, another really old and historically important film, filled with good old-fashioned hate and bigotry.