Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic

Senteur As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

Kaelan Mccaffrey Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Marva-nova Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

mmallon4 Could there be a more enchanting silent adventure than The Thief of Bagdad? – A film which is enormously pleasurable, fun, captivating and relaxing to watch. Even at the lengthy running time there was never a dull moment and in my opinion is far superior to the 1940 version. The film has a dream like state, one which I'm happy to see go on and on. This is a rare film which I feel you can pop into at any point and watch from there.The Thief of Bagdad has a straightforward message which is literally spelled out in the stars at both the beginning and end of the film; "Happiness must be earned". The film also opens with a verse from The Koran; "Praise be to Allah – the Beneficent King – the Creator of the Universe – Lord of the Three World!". The remainder of the film however portrays the religion of Islam in a non-proselytizing manner. The film isn't afraid to show the extent of slavery in the Islamic world of the time, likewise the thief himself isn't big into faith and even dismisses Allah as a myth in a Mosque right in front of worshipers. What's particularly interesting about this scene is the Imam (Charles Belcher) prevents the worshipers from attacking the thief after the makes his comments. Islam is touted as the so called "Religion of Peace" and this is at least symbolised in this scene. The Thief's distaste of religion doesn't last though as he later asks the Imam to be his catalyst in his transformation ("Allah hath made thy soul to yearn for happiness, but thou must earn it"). Anyone who grew up associating Bagdad with bombs and terrorism, seeing a movie which refers to Bagdad (or Baghdad as other sources spell it) as "dream city of the ancient east" is surreal to see. What happened to this dream city? Did such a place ever really exist or is it just fictional fantasy?The Thief of Bagdad was one of the most expensive films of the silent era and that money sure went to good use. William Cameron Menzies' huge, D.W. Griffith like sets are a marvel to behold in their grandiosity and opulence. There's so much going in many shots with people moving in the background and doing their own thing. Like other silent epics The Thief of Bagdad is a movie of predominantly long shots which offer a voyeuristic like insight into this fantasy world. Not to mention many shots like a 2D platformer video game, so feel free to hold a controller while watching the movie and pretend to play away.Julanne Johnston's role as the Princess is very limited as she isn't given a huge amount to do. However the real stand out female performance is Anna May Wong at the Mongolian slave girl, a real toxic sexual siren. She acts as an insider for the villain of the film, the Mongolian Prince in helping him take over the city. Although considering she is a slave at the hands of a foreign power and the Mongolian Princes' seizing of the city could ensure her freedom, I can empathise with her character. She is last seen telling the Mongolian Prince to escape with the Princess on the flying carpet all while one of her fellow slaves sees her doing this; the viewer is left to decide what happens to her character. The Mongolian Prince himself does not have much to his personality other than being overtly evil but is delightfully evil all the same while giving off the Fu Manchu vibes.Like Errol Flynn who would come after him, on screen Douglas Fairbanks projects a real lust for life. He is a marvel to watch with his athletic prowess, feline grace as well as his ability to give the middle finger to the laws of gravity and physics; and nice pecks too. Like some of the great silent comics, he also displays lateral thinking skills. Just looks at the scene in which he creates a makeshift pulley out of a turban, a chair leg and a donkey in order that he can get up to a balcony and steal some food. If his later films are anything to go by, Raoul Walsh was a great director of action. The Thief of Bagdad is a movie full of glorious action set pieces full of those oh so glorious "how's he going to get out of this?" moments.The fantasy element of The Thief of Bagdad really kicks in during the final hour. The special effects on display are not of the delightfully fake kind but are actually very convincing. The creature in the Valley on the Monsters or that creature in the sea are definitely something to be feared, or the Enchanted Tree – very eerie stuff. The movie's two big money shots on the other hand do not disappoint. The first being the shot of the thief flying away on the winged horse, one of those cinematic images that always stay with you. The second of these being the first instance in which we see the flying carpet in action. You'll believe a man can fly…on a carpet.

gavin6942 A recalcitrant thief (Douglas Fairbanks) vies with a duplicitous Mongol ruler for the hand of a beautiful princess.Long before we had Disney's "Aladdin", we had the thief of Bagdad. For a film of such age, it sure has held up well. Both in entertainment and in picture quality. Other epics of the era, such as "Intolerance", seem to be aging poorly. They are not as fun for modern audiences and certainly the video is not so fine.I have to wonder how much this film inspired future films or just the popular imagination of the Middle East. When we think of the area today (Baghdad is in Iraq, remember) it is seen as a dangerous, violent place. Did films like this create a sense of romance about the region's history?

afgenovese500 The thief of Bagdad can easily be one of the most enjoyable and easy silent movies that I have seen. Not once have i been tempted to make a pause or to improvise a dub on the characters using funny voices (..okay i did do it a couple of times). Apart of the central 20 minutes the whole movie is quite fast-paced filled with gags, amazing costumes and stunning scenarios.Douglas Fairbanks is just THE actor for this kind of movie. Flamboyant, athletic, awesome smile typical of an overconfident reckless man who knows he is smarter than average.. he is the perfect hero for this story. The special effects used are admirable for the time. You just keep wondering how the hell did they do that in 1924, the genius behind some of the cinematography is praiseworthy, just look at the underwater scenes (this part was very exciting for me, CGI just took the fun out of guessing how did they do this or that effect). The costumes are quite funky, which was new for me to see in these kind of movies. Seriously, the costumes are so cool, everyone looks ready for their Saturday night disco or ninja parade. And the scenography.. seeing the underwater city and the city of Baghdad during the golden age just made me want to get a time machine and go see it myself. On the other side of the coin, the film drowns in orientalist commonplace stereotypes. The ancient arabic centre of culture is represented with the typical magical-dreamy architecture which is quintessential in orientalist productions (for the record, orientalism = western representation of eastern cultures) and the parallels with Disney's Aladdin come very easy for the young viewer. The Mongols are represented as a sort of mash-up between opium-café thugs from imperial china, and weird Japanese ninja-samurai, not exactly the mongols that you would expect given their nomad history etc..One special mention goes to the christianization of Islam. The one guy which role is to be a spiritual guide to the thief doesn't fail to show how good things and happiness must be earned through hard-work and sacrifice; in doing so he shapes the perfect Christian American citizen, a man now adverse to cheating and shortcuts, ready to pursue his American Dream by undertaking a near-impossible quest to get the princess of his dreams, showing that purity and determination will get him his happiness! GO American WAY! But in the end, is it a bad thing? Does orientalism offend the history of the middle east? Maybe nowadays it would, but what would the Hollywood people know in 1924 of how did the mongols look like, or whether golden-age Bagdad had penis-shaped towers or not. Besides, this version of Arabia is the coolest and most creative one I've seen, even for today's standards. Recommend 10/10!

Michael Neumann The acrobatic skill and charisma of Douglas Fairbanks fits well with the magnificent sets and magical special effects of this timeless romantic fantasy, but all the histrionic mugging and florid over-emoting only makes the silent epic look sadly dated when seen today. Thankfully the title role of the penniless thief who becomes a prince doesn't demand much acting prowess, allowing Fairbanks plenty of opportunities to express himself physically: jumping over walls, battling fierce supernatural creatures, riding his valiant steed over desert sands, and so forth. To win the hand of a beautiful princess he must embark on a quest to find the most wondrous object on Earth, and after triumphing over every adversity the two lovers are last seen floating away into the Arabian night on their flying carpet. The moral of story is spelled out in the twinkling stars overhead: Happiness Must Be Earned, and who can argue with that?