It’s often claimed that good things come in threes, but try telling that to anyone who sat through the Big Momma’s House trilogy. Film sequels, in essence, are nothing new in Hollywood—the very first sequel came back in 1916 with the silent film The Fall of a Nation, Thomas Dixon Jr.‘s follow-up to D. W. Griffith’s jaw-droppingly racist epic, Birth of a Nation.
However, the concept only became commonplace in the 1970s when a string of follow-ups to successful dramas made waves at the box office. The Godfather, Part II, Rocky II, and The French Connection II were among the first movies that helped usher in this new era of filmmaking. Today though, moviedom has expanded beyond even the sequel and into new territory where the word “franchise” is king. Buoyed in recent times by the dominance of comic book movies and an increasing appetite for nostalgia,...
However, the concept only became commonplace in the 1970s when a string of follow-ups to successful dramas made waves at the box office. The Godfather, Part II, Rocky II, and The French Connection II were among the first movies that helped usher in this new era of filmmaking. Today though, moviedom has expanded beyond even the sequel and into new territory where the word “franchise” is king. Buoyed in recent times by the dominance of comic book movies and an increasing appetite for nostalgia,...
- 7/8/2023
- by David Crow
- Den of Geek
It’s a CineSavant guest reviewer debut for journalist Sergio Alejandro Mims. In its first ever 2-disc set Twilight Time makes a bold statement with a domestic release of an important U.K. restoration. It’s without question extremely influential as filmmaking — techniques used in The Avengers: Infinity War can be traced back to D.W. Griffith’s classic. But this controversial picture is also one of the most vile, racist movies ever made. It has a lot of answer for, yet still makes an impact today. What other film released over a century ago can make that statement?
The Birth of a Nation
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1915 / Color tinted / 1:33 flat full frame / 191 min. / Street Date May 22, 2018 /Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store /
Starring: Lillian Gish, Mae Marsh, Henry B. Walthall, Ralph Lewis, George Siegman Walter Long, Joseph Henabery Jennie Lee, Mary Alden.
Cinematography: G.W. Bitzer
Film Editors: D.W.
The Birth of a Nation
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1915 / Color tinted / 1:33 flat full frame / 191 min. / Street Date May 22, 2018 /Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store /
Starring: Lillian Gish, Mae Marsh, Henry B. Walthall, Ralph Lewis, George Siegman Walter Long, Joseph Henabery Jennie Lee, Mary Alden.
Cinematography: G.W. Bitzer
Film Editors: D.W.
- 6/9/2018
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Christian movies: Starring Nicolas Cage, the widely panned 2014 apocalyptic thriller 'Left Behind' was a box office bomb – unlike (relatively) recent popular 'faith movies' such as 'Heaven Is for Real,' 'Son of God' and 'War Room.' A thought on the New Christian American Cinema: Tired of the blatant propaganda found in 'mainstream' Christian movies Two films that might be called “Christian movies” opened last week, and I decided that I wouldn't watch them, write about them, or review them – at least directly. I'm not even going to mention their titles here because I don't promote propaganda films, and that's what this recent advent of Christian movies has become: propaganda. After all, since nearly all American cinema is Christian cinema, the New Christian American Cinema is in fact pure propaganda – not cinema. Worse yet, it bores me. So, here's the thing about what we've come to call...
- 4/14/2017
- by Tim Cogshell
- Alt Film Guide
Dw Griffith’s landmark film was one of the most influential in early cinema, but as well as sophisticated cinematic techniques it was also drenched in racism. In the week of its centenary screening, Ashley Clark reassesses its standing
Dw Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation – which premiered in New York 100 years ago this week – has a just reputation as one of cinema’s greatest problem pictures. Based on Thomas Dixon’s novel The Clansman, it chronicles the relationship of two families in Civil War- and Reconstruction-era America over several years. It is undeniably a technically astounding achievement: critics have long praised its editing techniques, shot composition and epic sense of scale, while its pioneering aesthetic qualities are taught in schools and universities worldwide.
But – and it is a big but – The Birth of a Nation also happens to be an egregiously racist piece of work. It is the...
Dw Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation – which premiered in New York 100 years ago this week – has a just reputation as one of cinema’s greatest problem pictures. Based on Thomas Dixon’s novel The Clansman, it chronicles the relationship of two families in Civil War- and Reconstruction-era America over several years. It is undeniably a technically astounding achievement: critics have long praised its editing techniques, shot composition and epic sense of scale, while its pioneering aesthetic qualities are taught in schools and universities worldwide.
But – and it is a big but – The Birth of a Nation also happens to be an egregiously racist piece of work. It is the...
- 3/5/2015
- by Ashley Clark
- The Guardian - Film News
It’s the happiest time of the year! Goop’s holiday gift guide time! “This year, we decided to shake things up a little bit...” Gwyneth Paltrow explains alongside her holiday wish(es for you) list. Does that mean there won’t be thousands of dollars worth of linens like last year?!
“...and organize our annual gift guide by category.” Oh. Though she does say they “tried to keep as much as possible at the $100 mark, though there are some splurges on here for your nearest and dearest.” But how much would it cost to buy Gwyneth’s entire gift guide?
News: Take an inside look at all of Oprah’s favorite things for 2014!
If you want to say, “One of each, please!” it will cost you — scroll down for a sampling of the items from each category and scroll all the way to the bottom for the grand total (excluding “Price Upon Request” items).
goop[p...
“...and organize our annual gift guide by category.” Oh. Though she does say they “tried to keep as much as possible at the $100 mark, though there are some splurges on here for your nearest and dearest.” But how much would it cost to buy Gwyneth’s entire gift guide?
News: Take an inside look at all of Oprah’s favorite things for 2014!
If you want to say, “One of each, please!” it will cost you — scroll down for a sampling of the items from each category and scroll all the way to the bottom for the grand total (excluding “Price Upon Request” items).
goop[p...
- 11/14/2014
- Entertainment Tonight
Dw Griffith's silent epic lionised the Ku Klux Klan and depicted black Americans as ignorant rapists, but cinema still owes a debt to the director's pioneering techniques
The birth of cinema was brutal and ugly, and the photographic evidence comes with a health warning attached. The Birth of a Nation, directed by Dw Griffith back in 1915, has a reputation as one of the greatest movies ever made – and one of the most purely vile. In the past few decades it has been rarely screened and hard to find. This, perhaps, is akin to physicists discovering the God particle and deciding not to tell us – on account of the God particle actually being a murderous old bigot.
Until this week I confess I'd seen only snippets from Griffith's film (the same film, remember, that is reputed to be the forefather of every other film). Then, as luck would have it, The Birth of a Nation...
The birth of cinema was brutal and ugly, and the photographic evidence comes with a health warning attached. The Birth of a Nation, directed by Dw Griffith back in 1915, has a reputation as one of the greatest movies ever made – and one of the most purely vile. In the past few decades it has been rarely screened and hard to find. This, perhaps, is akin to physicists discovering the God particle and deciding not to tell us – on account of the God particle actually being a murderous old bigot.
Until this week I confess I'd seen only snippets from Griffith's film (the same film, remember, that is reputed to be the forefather of every other film). Then, as luck would have it, The Birth of a Nation...
- 7/29/2013
- by Xan Brooks
- The Guardian - Film News
Dw Griffith's silent epic lionised the Ku Klux Klan and depicted black Americans as ignorant rapists, but cinema still owes a debt to the director's pioneering techniques
The birth of cinema was brutal and ugly, and the photographic evidence comes with a health warning attached. The Birth of a Nation, directed by Dw Griffith back in 1915, has a reputation as one of the greatest movies ever made – and one of the most purely vile. In the past few decades it has been rarely screened and hard to find. This, perhaps, is akin to physicists discovering the God particle and deciding not to tell us – on account of the God particle actually being a murderous old bigot.
Until this week I confess I'd seen only snippets from Griffith's film (the same film, remember, that is reputed to be the forefather of every other film). Then, as luck would have it, The Birth of a Nation...
The birth of cinema was brutal and ugly, and the photographic evidence comes with a health warning attached. The Birth of a Nation, directed by Dw Griffith back in 1915, has a reputation as one of the greatest movies ever made – and one of the most purely vile. In the past few decades it has been rarely screened and hard to find. This, perhaps, is akin to physicists discovering the God particle and deciding not to tell us – on account of the God particle actually being a murderous old bigot.
Until this week I confess I'd seen only snippets from Griffith's film (the same film, remember, that is reputed to be the forefather of every other film). Then, as luck would have it, The Birth of a Nation...
- 7/29/2013
- by Xan Brooks
- The Guardian - Film News
Ever since the dawn of the medium, film has been borrowing from outside sources as inspiration for its cinematic endeavors. D.W. Griffith’s controversial Reconstruction epic, The Birth of a Nation, was based on Thomas Dixon’s racist ode to the Kkk, “The Clansman: A Historical Romance of the Ku Klux Klan.” F.W. Murnau’s Nosferatu was based on Bram Stoker’s classic horror novel, Dracula (although the film failed to receive permission from the Stoker estate to do so, which almost led to the complete obliteration of the film after a court ordered the destruction of every copy of the movie). Thomas Edison’s The Sneeze is said to have been influenced greatly by Fydor Dostoyevsky’s Notes from Underground.
Okay, so this last one isn’t true, but nevertheless, you get the picture. Hollywood loves to borrow ideas for their films from other narrative-bound arts, always have and always will.
Okay, so this last one isn’t true, but nevertheless, you get the picture. Hollywood loves to borrow ideas for their films from other narrative-bound arts, always have and always will.
- 6/21/2013
- by Christopher Lominac
- Obsessed with Film
The St. Louis Globe-Democrat is a monthly newspaper run by Steve DeBellis, a well know St. Louis historian, and it’s the largest one-man newspaper in the world. The concept of The Globe is that there is an old historic headline, then all the articles in that issue are written as though it’s the year that the headline is from. It’s an unusual concept but the paper is now in its 25th successful year! Steve and I collaborated in May of 2011 on an all-Vincent Price issue of The Globe and I’ve been writing a regular monthly movie-related column since. Since there is no on-line version of The Globe, I post all of my articles here at We Are Movie Geeks. This month’s edition of The Globe takes place in 1865, the year President Lincoln was shot .Steve and I originally decided I would write an article...
- 4/15/2013
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Quentin Tarantino has no love lost for John Ford. "One of my American Western heroes is not John Ford, obviously," Tarantino, who directed the Spaghetti Western "Django Unchained," told TheRoot.com in a new interview. "To say the least, I hate him."
That disdain comes, in part, from the fact that Ford appeared in the 1915 D.W. Griffith film "The Birth of a Nation" in an uncredited role as a Klansman. In the film, Ford's character is forced to raise one side of his hood so that he can see clearly while riding a horse. The scene inspired Tarantino to write a similar one in "Django Unchained," where the Regulators -- an early iteration of the Klu Klux Klan -- argue about being able to see through the bags on their heads.
"[Ford] got on the horse. He rode hard to black subjugation," Tarantino said to The Root. "As I'm writing this -- and he rode hard,...
That disdain comes, in part, from the fact that Ford appeared in the 1915 D.W. Griffith film "The Birth of a Nation" in an uncredited role as a Klansman. In the film, Ford's character is forced to raise one side of his hood so that he can see clearly while riding a horse. The scene inspired Tarantino to write a similar one in "Django Unchained," where the Regulators -- an early iteration of the Klu Klux Klan -- argue about being able to see through the bags on their heads.
"[Ford] got on the horse. He rode hard to black subjugation," Tarantino said to The Root. "As I'm writing this -- and he rode hard,...
- 12/27/2012
- by Christopher Rosen
- Huffington Post
Turner Classic Movies (TCM) has unveiled its list of 10 Most Influential Silent Films in celebration of Michel Hazanavicius’ ode to the silent era, The Artist, which won three Golden Globes® Sunday night, including Best Picture . Musical or Comedy, Best Actor . Musical or Comedy for Jean Dujardin and Best Original Score. The Artist also picked up 12 British Academy Film Award nominations. The Weinstein Company will expand its release of The Artist nationwide on Friday.
TCM’s list of 10 Most Influential Silent Films spans from the years 1915 to 1928 and features such remarkable films as D.W. Griffith’s groundbreaking (and controversial) The Birth of a Nation (1915), which revolutionized filmmaking techniques; Nanook of the North (1922), a film frequently cited as the first feature-length documentary; Cecil B. DeMille’s epic silent version of The Ten Commandments (1923); Sergei Eisenstein’s oft-imitated Battleship Potemkin (1925), which took montage techniques to an entirely new level; and Fritz Lang’s...
TCM’s list of 10 Most Influential Silent Films spans from the years 1915 to 1928 and features such remarkable films as D.W. Griffith’s groundbreaking (and controversial) The Birth of a Nation (1915), which revolutionized filmmaking techniques; Nanook of the North (1922), a film frequently cited as the first feature-length documentary; Cecil B. DeMille’s epic silent version of The Ten Commandments (1923); Sergei Eisenstein’s oft-imitated Battleship Potemkin (1925), which took montage techniques to an entirely new level; and Fritz Lang’s...
- 1/18/2012
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Today's generation is surrounded by technology. Rapidly-advancing tools of all sorts are so prevalent in every aspect of our lives that we depend on them, nay, expect them to make our lives easier, more enjoyable, and more interesting. Multi-billion dollar industries such as cinema are in no way immune from the public's desire for bigger and better things. Moviegoers have the options of watching films in a variety of locales, in IMAX or 3D, via regular projection screens or the latest in digital picture. For those who prefer to stay close to home, the options multiply. Satellite TV, cable TV, Redbox, a widespread availability of DVDs, and even the disappearing neighborhood rental store all combine to contain every movie that the discerning film aficionado could ever hope to watch, available at the push of a button or a short drive up the street.
Well... almost every movie. It may seem...
Well... almost every movie. It may seem...
- 1/21/2011
- Shadowlocked
Dr Thomas Dixon delves into the BBC's archive to explore the troubled relationship between religion and science. From the creationists of America to the physicists of the Large Hadron Collider, he traces the expansion of scientific knowledge and asks whether there is still room for God in the modern world.
The relationship between science and religion has been long and troubled: from the condemnation of Galileo by the Catholic Church in 17th century Italy, through the clashes between creationism and evolution in 20th century America, right up to recent claims that the universe does not need God.
Delving through the rich archive of programmes from Horizon and BBC Science, Thomas Dixon looks at what lies behind this difficult relationship. Using original footage from 1925, he tells the story of John Scopes, a Tennessee teacher who was tried for teaching evolution. He sees the connections between religion and American politics in the...
The relationship between science and religion has been long and troubled: from the condemnation of Galileo by the Catholic Church in 17th century Italy, through the clashes between creationism and evolution in 20th century America, right up to recent claims that the universe does not need God.
Delving through the rich archive of programmes from Horizon and BBC Science, Thomas Dixon looks at what lies behind this difficult relationship. Using original footage from 1925, he tells the story of John Scopes, a Tennessee teacher who was tried for teaching evolution. He sees the connections between religion and American politics in the...
- 9/23/2010
- doorQ.com
“We do not fear censorship, for we have no wish to offend with improprieties or obscenities, but we do demand, as a right, the liberty to show the dark side of wrong, that we may illuminate the bright side of virtue – the same liberty that is conceded to the art of the written word – that art to which we owe the Bible and the works of Shakespeare.” — [Opening title card]
David Wark “D.W.” Griffith’s controversial 1915 masterpiece, “The Birth of a Nation,” occupies, on some level, similar stature in film scholarship as its subject matter does in American history. Like slavery’s vile stain on the memoirs of a constitutionally egalitarian nation, Griffith’s ode to Anglo supremacy and the plight of the White South represents the worst of artistic cinema through racist, exploitative, historical revisionism. Both film and subject are reviled, rightly so, for their unforgivable turpitudes. Of course no singular...
David Wark “D.W.” Griffith’s controversial 1915 masterpiece, “The Birth of a Nation,” occupies, on some level, similar stature in film scholarship as its subject matter does in American history. Like slavery’s vile stain on the memoirs of a constitutionally egalitarian nation, Griffith’s ode to Anglo supremacy and the plight of the White South represents the worst of artistic cinema through racist, exploitative, historical revisionism. Both film and subject are reviled, rightly so, for their unforgivable turpitudes. Of course no singular...
- 2/26/2010
- by Eric M. Armstrong
- The Moving Arts Journal
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.