Interesteg What makes it different from others?

Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

Janae Milner Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

Ariella Broughton It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

mattlow This is by far the most underrated film of the early film era. The composition and editing is way beyond its time, the acting was beyond words, and the direction was superb. Why it was snubbed at the 1904 Academy Awards, I will never know, perhaps it was a race issue, but I digress. Topsy the elephant's performance is really outstanding, and we would not see a performance of that caliber until Jake Gyllenhall's in Donnie Darko. My final thoughts are that this film is an American triumph of not only film, but artistic expression in general.

MisterWhiplash Now here is some bad storytelling. This is one minute long - sure it's 1903, literally, but still - and we get barely any head up, just two shots: one of an elephant, bound with some wraps, coming up to the camera, and then the next shot the elephant gets electrocuted and falls over to his/her side. Dead. Who committed to this? Why did no one step in, like the police or possibly (if it existed) 1903's version of PETA? And what was Thomas Edison doing there filming it, for posterity? Why didn't he come with a script prepared and some stakes? Where's the three act structure here? Even for a documentary this is poor work.OK, so that's no very funny, I know. I think it's all I can do to try and mask the fact that I just watched an elephant get electrocuted. It's a purposeless act, but I haven't read the history on it so perhaps there was some context that was there. Maybe the elephant was old or sick and it came from the circus and it was time to set the elephant out to pasture? No, it looks relatively healthy, and as it stands there in poise before the electroshocks happen it seems content enough.Seriously, I have no idea if it was Edison's notion to shock the elephant, and I'd assume it wasn't (I looked it up and it wasn't his exactly, the elephant would've been killed anyway for killing a couple of people). But the fact is he documented it not for himself but for others to view, and it comes down to one of two things: anthropological purposes (that we see this horrible act for future generations to see and to be horrified by so that we further appreciate the life around us) or, most likely, to gain some public blood-thirst (or again to publicize his electricity, which sounds and is about right). These were the primitive days of cinema, when movies played very quickly, probably at some of the same circuses (or at least in that carnival atmosphere, and to audiences who's attention was brief before going on to this or that.How did people react then? I'd be curious to see if they were mortified or found it somehow, some way, entertaining. I'd sincerely hope not the latter, and it suddenly occurs to be the irony that it was because of Edison creating electricity that this could be a possibility to start with. It IS a part of history and in the context it was set in I know I should give it a pass. But in the 21st century, after so many decades where elephants have been decimated and Dumbo has become the example of elephants in cinema, it's really shocking (no pun intended).I don't know if this should even get a rating, but it does here.

WakenPayne Thomas Edison May Have Done Lots Of Great Inventions But WTF Is This!!!! I Am Sorry But This Movie Is Simply Awful. The Plot Is That This Elephant Walks To A Certain Point & Gets Electrocuted. Okay The Picture Quality Looked Like Someone Used It For Toilet Paper. I Thought That The Early Charlie Chaplin Films Were Awful. Okay Thomas Edison May Have Been An Inventor But Why Did He Make This Film He Could Have Filmed A Baby Being Fed & It Would Have Been Better. People Might Say I'm Being Harsh On The Times But Would You Enjoy Something Like This From What I Have Said Edison May Have Made The Lightbulb But Why Did He Make This Particular Movie. Well I Might Sound Like A Complete A##hole But Watch This On Youtube Then You Will See This Abomination. I Still Can't Believe This Film Is Completely Awful. All In All The Worst Short Film I Have Ever Seen.Rating: 1/10

mirosuionitsaki2 It breaks my heart to see an animal die, but seeing how the year the film was made was many years from now, I can forgive the camera men and everyone who participated in the execution of that Elephant.This can be viewed with having a lighter side. This is a historical piece of film that is now in a museum because this was an old film. It may not be the first, and there may have been other films between the years of 1900 through 1906, this being in the middle, this is still an interesting film.I do not recommend this for those who do not want to see an Elephant lose her or his life, but you may watch if you will.