Watch Coney Island at Night For Free

That was an excellent one.

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

The title of this review is not meant to be negative, but this short documentary from 1905...well, the title says it all. Somehow, Porter managed to make a film camera that could record glowing lights, so he could show the beauty of Coney Island's lights at night. That's what we see for 4 minutes: Panning shots of the place. First a general view, then a tower in dreamland, and finally the interior of Luna Park. It's not really an outstanding movie and there's not much action in frame, but it serves as a good documentary of Coney Island as it was in 1905. Otherwise, not much for the average movie-watcher of today.

This is so cool. Now I know that most viewers won't think so, but seeing Coney Island's Luna Park and other parks at night in all their lit up glory is something to behold. Talk about history! And, apparently, by 1905 film and film techniques had improved so that when you see the panoramic shots today, they appear far less than 106 years-old! Quite beautiful and interesting--even though there isn't a lot of action--just nice sweeping views of the lights that illuminated the parks--parks and attractions that have long since disappeared--demolished or burned down over the decades.So would the average person be impressed by all this? Maybe not. I am a retired history teacher and so naturally I liked it--and I think a lot of New Yorkers would also enjoy seeing this tiny glimpse into the past.

Porter showcases his innovation of being able to film glowing lights so well in this beautiful and eerie panorama of Coney Island at night. The camera pan from high above the attractions as well as at ground level, showing all the glowing lights from the area. This, apparently, was one of the first films to be able to show such lights so well at nighttime. Add the difficulty of filming at night because of the length of exposure needed to do so, and Porter's short film was quite an achievement for 1905.My interest, though, really is not in the technical skill on display. I gave this a 5 out of 10 (a high score for most films, in my opinion, in 1905) because of its dazzling display of lights. What can I say? I like shiny things.

Skyscrapers of New York from the East River (1903) *** (out of 4) A camera is placed on a boat and we get another view of the buildings in NYC. I'm not sure what time this film was shot but the streets are pretty empty.Panorama from Tower of Brooklyn Bridge (1903) *** (out of 4) Biograph film from director Billy Blitzer who would eventually become famous for his work with D.W. Griffith. It's also worth noting that this was shot in 65mm.Demolishing and Building Up the Star Theatre (1901) *** 1/2 (out of 4)Early gimmick film from Biograph uses exposures caught every four minutes to see the Star Theatre being built. At the end of the film the footage is shown backwards to bring the thing down.Coney Island at Night (1905) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Edison film directed by Edwin S. Porter shows just what the title says. This film really isn't too interesting but it's worth noting that this was one of the first film that could show glowing lights thanks to a special camera built by Porter.