The Thief of Bagdad

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Teddy B A special extravaganza that really deserves more attention in the mainstream. Douglas Fairbanks makes even the longer scenes captivating with his irresistibly charming performance. The visuals are a masterclass in production design and most certainly deserve to be studied. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 10/07/24 Full Review Leaburn O It starts excellently but starts to drag towards the end. Still, it is pretty good stuff given it was filmed 99 years ago. Watched this classic silent film on Prime but also to be found on YouTube. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 11/11/23 Full Review Alexander B The middle of the film is a little boring but the beginning and ending are really a joy to watch. Some of the special effects are really impressive for the time it was made as well. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/20/23 Full Review Audience Member This is an absolute spectacle of a film and is a relic of a bygone era of Hollywood filmmaking. Freely adapted from One Thousand and One Nights, it tells the story of a thief who falls in love with the daughter of the Caliph of Baghdad. The film features extraordinary special effects for the time (including a flying carpet, magic rope and fearsome monsters), and huge, lavish sets, the likes of which can never (and would never) be duplicated today. If you can, try and get a version scored with an adaptation of Rimsky-Korsakov's orchestral piece Scheherazade. It makes the experience all the more magical. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/23/23 Full Review Ethan S A long movie, but great, fantastical sets that meld the exotic crowd scenes of a D.W. Griffith picture with with fantastic whimsy, capped off with Douglas Fairbanks' ever-physical performance. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/25/22 Full Review jordan m I imagine this would've been my favorite movie and a tremendous spiritual experience had I watched this 100 years ago. From a technical perspective this is surely the absolute peak of the silent era with its practically unlimited budget, compelling plot, charismatic acrobat of a leading man, mind-boggling special effects & perfect usage of intertitles (progressing the scene instead of excessively providing dialogue that could've been pantomimed or inferred). Watching this in the 2020s the technical merits are still appreciable, but the ample runtime and the lack of an auteur director conflict with my preferred viewing experience when it comes to silent movies. There were no surprising or inventive camera angles like there were in The Lodger, the dense plot required hours of rapt attention lest I miss an intertitle and I went into this knowing there was an acclaimed remake with color and sound that I'd be watching soon, all of which combined to give me the impression that this movie was rather cold & soulless. It's still among the best silent films I've seen, but it didn't end up being my favorite. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews

The Thief of Bagdad

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