#1. A Trip to the Moon (1902) & #2. The Great Train Robbery (1903)

Le Voyage Dans La Lune (A Trip To The Moon) (1902)

France 14m Silent B&W 
Director: Georges Méliés
Producer: Georges Méliés 
Screenplay: Georges Méliés, from the novel De la Terra á la Lune by Jules Verne

As if listening to 1001 albums wasn't enough, I've decided to spend my "free time" catching up on the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die. I doubt that I'll offer any new insight to these movies. I just thought it would be fun to give my two cents and compare notes with anyone else who has seen them. Piece of cake, right? We'll see...

I begin my journey with what is most likely the first ever science fiction movie, Georges Méliés' A Trip to the Moon. It starts with a group of scientists who vote to explore the moon. They are ceremoniously shot into space inside a missile-like spaceship and land in the eye of the moon, literally. The scientists encounter the hostile inhabitants of the moon, the Selenites, who take them to their King. They soon discover that their captors are easily dispersed with a simple touch of their umbrellas.

This is a great piece of film history, but I think kids today with their Avatars and Dark Knights would probably think the special effects aren't that special. But when you consider that this film was made over 100 years ago, it puts things into perspective.

I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

Oh, and for a great "re-make," check out the Smashing Pumpkins' video for "Tonight Tonight."

The Great Train Robbery (1903)

US 12m Silent B&W (hand-colored)

Director: Edwin S. Porter

Screenplay: Scott Marble, Edwin S. Porter

I wasn't so crazy about this one. It was only 12 minutes, but I caught myself checking the clock a few times. I don't dispute its place in cinema history, it just didn't hold my attention. But with its simple editing techniques and linear story, it became one of the first narrative movies ever made.

Four bandits force a telegraph operator to send a false message so that the train will make an unscheduled stop. The robbers board the train, blow up a safe and rob the passengers. It seems that they are getting away, but the telegraph operator from the beginning of the movie regains consciousness and sends for help.

Most historians argue that this was the first Western. Maybe they didn't know it was filmed in Delaware.

I give it 2 out of 5 stars.

NEXT: Birth of a Nation