Reviews of silent film releases on home video. Copyright © 1999-2026 by Carl Bennett and the Silent Era Company. All Rights Reserved.

The Great Train Robbery (1903)

Edwin S. Porter’s production of this early Edison western, The Great Train Robbery (1903), has become essential viewing for the student of cinema and the collecting enthusiast. For its time, the film was a prime example of the greater attention being paid by filmmakers to story, film structure, and editing.

Also included are more than 130 other films produced by the Edison company, from early experimental films from 1891 through a full feature film produced in 1918, the collection runs the gamut of cinematic primitives shot in the Black Maria studio at Edison’s laboratories in West Orange, New Jersey, through actualities, to short dramas and comedies.

This Region 1 NTSC DVD edition is available directly from . . .

This DVD edition, with its slightly windowboxed video transfer, has apparently been made from surviving hand-tinted 35mm print elements, since there are few signs of paper-print artifacts in the picture (one shot contains a persistent white strand of lint that may be on the glass frame of a copy camera). Mere conjecture suggests that the source material may be the preservation print prepared for the “Before Hollywood” touring exhibition of the late 1980s. Some shots are marked with some fine vertical print scratches, the majority of the others are only slightly peppered with dust. After years of viewing Library of Congress preservation prints copied from surviving paper prints, the clarity in this surviving hand-tinted film print is exceptional.

The film is accompanied by a fine music score arranged and composed by Robert Israel, and performed by an ensemble with piano.

This is currently our suggested edition of The Great Train Robbery. Read also our full review of this boxset.

This Region 0 NTSC DVD boxset edition has been discontinued and is . . .

Essentially identical to the Kino edition above, since the program material for both editions was prepared by David Shepard for the original 1994 The Movies Begin videotape boxset, this early DVD edition has apparently been made from surviving hand-tinted 35mm print elements. The image clarity of this preservation print is exceptional for a film of this age.

Along with the Kino edition, we recommend this edition for its image clarity and fine music score. Read also our full review of this collection.

This Region 0 NTSC DVD edition has been discontinued and is . . .

This PAL DVD edition has been mastered from a 35mm print.

The film is accompanied by an improvised piano score performed by Neil Brand, John Sweeney or Stephen Horne, which includes permanent audio commentary by Barry Salt.

North American collectors will need a region-free PAL DVD player capable of outputting an NTSC-compatible signal to view this edition.

This Region 0 PAL DVD edition has been discontinued and is . . .

The silent films are accompanied by music scores performed by Neil Brand, Éric Le Guen, Eric Beheim and Gaylord Carter.

Note that there are no English language intertitles except for the American films and that there are no English language subtitles to Bromberg’s verbal introductions or to the foreign language films. North American collectors will need a PAL DVD player capable of outputting an NTSC-compatible signal to view this edition.

This Region 0 PAL DVD boxset is available directly from . . .

This DVD edition reveals a reasonably-detailed video transfer of a 35mm preservation print from the Library of Congress, apparently copied in whole or part from a paper print. The film is simply clearer and more detailed in other DVD editions than it is here, with (for example) what appears to be paper-print artifacts prominently seen in the watertower sequence. Shadow areas are darker in this edition than in others.

The film is available here in two versions, one a straight (and without musical accompaniment) presentation of the black & white transfer provided by LoC, the other a digitally color-toned version with a canned orchestral music.

This Region 0 NTSC DVD edition has been discontinued and is . . .

The film is likely accompanied by a soundtrack compiled from preexisting music recordings.

This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available directly from REEL CLASSIC DVD through . . .

The film is likely accompanied by a soundtrack compiled from preexisting music recordings.

This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available from ALPHA VIDEO through . . .

This DVD-R edition has been mastered from a poor to fair 8mm reduction print that is likely to have originated from the Library of Congress paper print collection, with dust, speckling, frame jitters, and other print flaws present.

The film is accompanied by a soundtrack compiled from preexisting low-fidelity music recordings.

For information about other films in this collection, see our An Arizona Wooing on home video, Out West on home video and The Ruse on home video pages.

Note: Our library copy of this disc was originally manufactured on a standard DVD. However, copies sold today will likely be provided on MOD DVD-R discs.

A prize winner for one of the worst-looking prints of this film. Not recommended.

This review was updated in 2026.

This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available from ALPHA VIDEO through . . .

Other EARLY FILMS OF THE SILENT ERA available on home video.