Admittedly, here's not much 'science' in this 'fiction' as an inventor develops an anti-gravity power that he then spills on himself, resulting in him flying (falling?) to Mars where he encounters immense animate trees and a satanic looking giant who eventually blows him back to Earth. Although not as ingenious or as visually intriguing as Méliès' 1902 'A Trip to the Moon' (to which it is often compared), Edison's film has its clever moments: the inventor arrives upside down on the underside of Mars and the split-screen matte as he moves through the 'trees' is very effective. 'A Flight to Mars' was produced for Edison's 'Home Kinetoscope' (an early 'personal-media' device) and in the context of the history of the genre (and film in general) is an imaginative, entertaining and historically interesting short.
