Far from Perfect, Far from Terrible

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

This is an odd experimental film featured on a multi-DVD set from American Film Archives. Like most of the film, it's an ephemeral sort of thing--the type film that normally wouldn't survive since it has little commercial appeal.This is a trip down the Hudson River by boat. However, the filmmaker decided to greatly speed up the trip--I assume by over-cranking the film. However, the film speed varies. Sometimes it's at warp speed, other times it's about normal speed or a touch faster. I am sure folks of the day thought all this was pretty neat. Seen today, however, it all seems a bit silly. I just wish they ran it slower so I could get a nice view of the shore. Probably not everyone's cup of tea, that's for sure.

This one's pretty good. What could have been quite an ordinary travelogue-type film is transformed into something quite unique by the occasional speeding up of the film - a simple idea that helps the film stand out. It looks like the kind of film the Old Grey Whistle Test would have used as a video for some progressive rock track back in the 70s. That said, the film will probably only be of interest to those with an interest in film history or the countryside at the turn of the 30th century. There's plenty of views of the river bank, some of it quite dull, other parts - such as the slow pass of an old paddle boat steamer - quite interesting.

Down the Hudson (1903) *** 1/2 (out of 4)Technically terrific little film where the directors take a trip down the Hudson but use a higher frame rate to make the film seem almost like 3-D. If you get sea sick I'd guess this film will also make you sick because it does that great of a job of making you feel you're on a boat.Captain Nissen Going Through Whirlpool Rapids, Niagara Falls (1901)*** (out of 4)Made up story of a captain going down Niagara Falls just as the title says. An unknown director from Edison Studios made this and this too is a big leap over the normal for its ear. The camera races down the side of the falls getting some great shots.Ghost Train, The (1903) *** (out of 4)Special effects film with a train double exposed on the negative to give a ghosting image. I'm sure this was something special back in the day but it's pretty weak today.Westinghouse Works, Panoramic View St. Car Motor Room (1904) *** (out of four)G.W. Bitzer film takes place in a motor room where the camera glides through the air from the front to the back showing us everything that goes on. This is a very neat looking film from Bitzer who would go onto become the cinematographer for D.W. Griffith.

This is actually a pretty incredible creation for what it is. While the early films are often hardly interesting or accessible to anyone but a historian, this one actually has a sense of fun. It also shows a huge development in the process of film-making, showing rudimentary close-ups, wide-angle, and medium shots.It's also, despite its filming of actual spaces and areas, somewhat of an animation. The film speed is tweeked in order to create a fast movement through space, one that is unimpressive to modern eye's used to helicopter shots, but one that's still energetic and especially creative to those who are interested in seeing the development of the form.--PolarisDiB