Maybe I never got it, but D W Griffith's "Birth of a Nation" is a STUPID MOVIE!!!

[Taverner]

Just rewatched this, and it's just like I thought when I first saw this in college: this is a stupid movie. Jude Suess wasn't this paint by the numbers.

In fact, you could say this was the first slasher film, with the "Dangerous Neegro" taking the place of Jason or Freddy.

Seriously - compared to other movies from this time period (Regeneration, The Lamb, or really anything by Harold Lloyd) this movie sucks to high heaven.

Yeah, they did some impressive battle scenes. So did Battlefield Earth.

Does that mean BE deserves the same respect as Birth of a Nation????

[Aristus]

1. I couldn't agree more.

I saw this film when I was 10 or so. My parents took me to a screening at a local museum. Even at ten I knew a great deal about the Civil War and the KKK. I was shocked almost out of my seat when they portrayed the Klan as noble rescuers. And the acting was atrocious. When soldiers died on the battlefield, they always spun around five or six times before collapsing in a heap. When civilians died (as the young girl did after jumping from a cliff to avoid being raped by 'Dangerous Neegro') they always rolled their eyes madly like a frightened horse before expiring.

I agree with you about the battle scenes; good filmmaking in service to a bad film...