The epitome of "Weimar Cinema's" expressionist movement.

Continued the tradition of outside artistic mediums influencing the content and nature of the on-screen world, but in much more twisted manner than the literary adaptation films of prior movements.

An actively unsettling film, where incredible distortions of scenery and performance turn characters into elements of design for sinister plots. Some truly unforgettable imagery and images that add up to the surreal feelings of navigating an unsafe world, of watching someone's thoughts and feelings transform their surrounding reality.

A revolution in popular narrative content and formal techniques in filming and storytelling.

Rare examples of female agency; plots that intersected in an episodic format while being both effectively self-contained (like a series) and possessing payoffs across multiple installments (like a serial); popularized the importance of integrity in stunts (no longer relying on camera tricks, but bringing technical virtuosity to the actions of bodies on-screen).

Also possesses sophisticated use of space with hierarchies of knowledge in different parts of the frame, tracking shots on elaborate sets, color tints for mood and time of day, and surprising reveals galore.

Edison did well to hire fellow American film pioneer Porter to take many of the strategies they were developing and combine them to tell what was at the time a major commercial step in primordial narrative.

THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY boasts the makings of a plot, a story based on preexisting content, complex movement within frames via matte effects, genre tropes, and popular stage and film actors.

The famous final shot of a gunman targeting the viewer re-contextualizes the entire experience of the movie, as well as films themselves.