Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
After the train station clerk is assaulted and left bound and gagged, then the departing train and its passengers robbed, a posse goes in hot pursuit of the fleeing bandits.
The Great Train Robbery is a landmark of cinema history, pioneering narrative filmmaking, cross-cutting, and location shooting in ways that were genuinely revolutionary for 1903. Its cinematography earns a 4 for its era-defining techniques including camera panning and multiple scene locations. Novelty is equally high as it essentially invented the grammar of the action film and the Western genre. The plot is simple but functional for its 12-minute runtime, earning a solid 3. Acting reflects the broad pantomime style of early silent film, which reads as crude by modern standards. The ending — with the famous outlaw firing directly at the camera — remains iconic and justifiably celebrated.