A Trip to the Moon

It’s impossible to really critique this by any modern standard. It’s 120 years old. Concepts like editing and cinematography and acting didn’t mean the same thing then as they do now, just due to the limitations of the medium (did the word “cinematography” even exist in 1902?). What I can say is this is a work of art in its own right. A simple story, told with energy, in an imaginative setting. For a movie that came out when Teddy Roosevelt was President, that it’s even something we can watch is impressive. That it’s something we can watch and find something notable in is astonishing. It’ll never be anyone’s favorite movie, but as a landmark piece of cinematic culture, everyone should see it once. I mean, it’ll only take 15 minutes out of your day.