Roundhay Garden Scene

When you watch this 2 second short you are watching the first film ever (i think). Congratulations to Director Louis Le Prince for creating this. He created an entirely new form of entertainment, though he probably did not know it at the time. Alas he did not live to see his invention turn into one of the biggest industries in the world. Le Prince started the movies, though it was helped along with other early directors.

The short shows a few people (Le Prince's friends and relatives) walking around in a garden. Realizing that this was made over 110 years ago is enough to give it 10/10.

If ever there were the case for a ten out of ten rating, this and 'Traffic Crossing the Leeds Bridge' are it. This is the first film ever made -- or at least the earliest film to survive. It is absolutely priceless and has an incalculable value for the history of film. The wonderful thing is that anyone can watch it through the 'Video Clip' link on the IMDb. Very interesting to have a brief glimpse of life 118 years ago. 'Traffic Crossing the Leeds Bridge' is equally fascinating (and brief). There is really no comparison as they both show a brief glimpse of the nineteenth century, but, if forced to choose, I'd say watch that one. Both are tremendous, however, and we're extremely lucky that they've been preserved.

It is impossible to judge this film, seeing as it was made in 1888 and involves two seconds of people walking around in a yard. Louis Le Prince never would have known, that by filming a family in their yard, that he was creating a new form of art and entertainment, the most important form of entertainment of our time. This is indeed the most important movie ever made, as it is the first movie ever made. This should be shown in all history classes and to anyone interested in film or history, it is an extremely under-recognized landmark in the progress of art. The only way this film exists now is on an Internet web site (featured here on the Video Clips page). By all means, watch this, as it is the most important two seconds in all of cinema. Lastly, this is proof that from small things, comes great things (or something around those lines).

Oh my God! It's Attack of the 80's all over again... the 1880's!! This smashing blockbuster was not only the absolute first of its time, it stands well on its own as an epic mystery story. The questions this movie raises are plenty:

1) Who is the woman in the funny hat? Why does she turn away from the camera? Is there some dark secret she is desperately trying to hide?

2) Why is the man to the left so eager to leave? Afraid that the camera will make evidence of a murder eternal?

OK, so maybe two questions may not count as plenty in today's plot twist-jaded audience, but still it is quite an amazing feat for a two seconds long film to leave you feeling both dazed and confused, left wanting for more, yet afraid of what horrible truths you might find and wondering if the truth can really live up to your imagination.

Roundhay Garden Scene is a masterwork, right up there with "Leeds Bridge" and "Train Pulling Into Bombay Station". Recommended for all ages! 10/10

(r#10)

No plot. No sound. No credits. But it was the first ever moving picture and it was directed by Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince, a man who's dad was pals with the earliest of photographers.

The film simply involves Le Prince's family standing in the garden of a large Victorian house, moving around each other in circles. They had to do something I guess. Mad isn't it, the first ever film and it's just people doing the first crazy thing that comes to their head.

It's weird watching this 120-year-old film and seeing a more vivid look at life in those days. Le Prince disappeared of the face of the earth in 1890 and his vanishing was never solved. He never knew how much of a pioneer he was.