TeenzTen An action-packed slog

ChanFamous I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Edwin The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

He_who_lurks This 1903 film by Cecil M. Hepworth is said to be THE first adaptation of the classic story "Alice in Wonderland" by Lewis Carroll. Running at a little over 8 minutes, the film is laughably poor when looked at today because of its primitiveness. However, such a comparison is not allowed because of its age. You cannot criticize this movie for having no computer graphics because there were none by 1903. Instead, superimposing and dissolves were done in a much harder way and took a deal of work. Thus, the special effects used in "Alice in Wonderland" are actually very good for the time.The entire story is not even told in this short adaptation. Instead, they show some of the highlights of the book--the shrinking and growing to get through the door, the Cheshire Cat, the Mad Hatter's Tea Party, the Queen of Hearts. Because it is so old, it is understandable they didn't tell the whole thing--full-length features were still in the future. But the fact is, the surviving print of the film is very deteriorated looking. Not your typical few specks and scratches, I mean actual, crumbling deterioration. You can still see what is going on enough, but the fact is, modern audiences just won't find much value is what's here and film buffs who are used to this sort of thing will get much more out of this beat-up copy.That said, it does have some interesting things to note. At the beginning of the film, they superimposed the film's title on the bush by which Alice sits before she falls asleep. This is something I don't think I've seen before from the early silent era and looks more up-to-date then a title card (although it was still there when the White Rabbit came along, and when he passed his head in front of it you could see his head right through the type). Also, several title cards too which looked authentic, not modern cards added to help with the story. This makes it one of the first movies to use title cards!

Lee Eisenberg The very first screen adaptation of Lewis Carroll's novel will look crude to the modern viewer but it's still impressive what they managed to accomplish with the minimal resources. This "Alice in Wonderland" only lasts a few minutes, so it only contains the novel's major scenes, but they look pretty neat.I understand that in cinema's infancy, a number of the short movies were based on famous novels - "A Christmas Carol", "Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde", etc - so that people would understand the stories without having to hear anything. I've seen a few of these early adaptations. More than anything, they're interesting to watch, just since they give one an idea of what movies were like in their first years. Anyway, this one's worth seeing.

Prismark10 At eight minutes this was actually considered a long film and it is a very condensed version of the book Alice in Wonderland.Unfortunately these early film stocks have degraded and even though this version is restored, it still makes for difficult viewing but at least its preserved.Special effects are used to show Alice growing and shrinking and the latter scenes has a large gathering of costumed characters as Alice encounters the Queen of Hearts. The footage of the Cheshire Cat looks rather charming as it also highlights almost 'stone age' special effects technique.Its hard to rate these films properly as they are essentially surviving examples of the history of the cinema.

tedg Spoilers herein.I suppose we should be amazed at seeing any film that is 100 years old. But this has no appeal or interest either as a film, or as an Alice. Don't bother the search it out unless you are a collector.Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 4: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.