Birth of a Nation

Pros: Gish and Walthall, the "art" of the movie, editing
Cons: The message

This silent movie goes on record as being one of the first if not the first movie to attempt a long narrative story telling. Directed by the legendary (and controversial) DW Griffith, it has earned its place in history for its power, artistry and impact....

Pros: Lavishly produced
Cons: Bogus history, offensive, unintentionally hilarious

Anyone who is remotely literate in film history has probably heard of this famous silent epic by now. Critics have for years fallen over one another praising D.W. Griffith's civil war film. "The Birth of a Nation" has been called the landmark of motion ...

Pros: undeniable historical importance
Cons: racist, pro-KKK, polemic, misguided, unfocused

"The Birth of a Nation" is considered to be the first great silent film, the one film that transformed cinema from mere entertainment into an art form. In an era when even feature films were under an hour in length, the 190 minute running time was...

Pros: First in the "Spectacle" and "War torn family" genre
Cons: Hasn't aged well at all

D. W. Griffith is rightly held as one of the first of the modern directors for giving us "The Birth of a Nation". This is the first of what would become a cliche genre: family members before a war, torn apart by the war and re-united in the...

Pros: Very different form the movies today
Cons: No sound, black and white

I think it had a good plot and excellent acting.It was a very exciting movie. And is far as the movie being full of "racism", they put the same stuff in movies today, albeit reversed if you know what I mean. I certainly enjoyed it, although I couldn't...

Pros: Everything!
Cons: Historically inaccurate, and pro KKK

Yes, the first silent movie I ever sat through, and the longest. Three hours to be exact! This movie was responsible for the revival of the Ku Klux Klan in 1915, because the innacurate history portrayed in this movie fueled much hatred towards blacks....

Pros: Good action
Cons: racial stereotyping

According to some historians this movie helped to bring about the re birth of the Ku Klux Klan. Given the time and social climate that this film represents and the time of our country in which the film was released in it did have a very real social...