Pretty Good

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Admirable film.

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

Edison Studies was the first film company in the USA; their first films, which were Kinetoscope shorts and were very brief, were not released to the public at all as they were merely tests. Such is the case with "Men Boxing", a film so short being called a minute long on IMDb is technically not true. It's only a couple secs actually, and while only a film test that would never be released to the public it also is a bit fun. We see two young men in a boxing ring (both unidentified to this very day, I believe) swinging at each other. While Edison filmed boxing matches later in 1894 that were of true athletes, this short is obviously a test and the 'boxers' really have no idea how to box at all. That said it doesn't really matter as for 1891 it's slightly amusing and manages to be fun within its brief run time. Worth the watch if you wanna see a very old film from the silent era. A 7 outta 10 for the historical value, an 8 outta 10 because it can still amuse today.

The main purpose of this movie was to test if the kinetograph could capture the fast boxing movements well. Probably at its time this was considered a successful experiment but it's also far from a perfect one. Because of the shooting speed the movie seems to occur in slow-motion and some of the fast movements are blurry. Thomas Alva Edison still obviously had a long way to go before reaching perfection. This movie is one of their earliest experiments, which is sort of notable.The 'actors' seemed to have fun, since they're both obviously laughing. They wear their normal working clothes, though they took the bother to put on actual boxing gloves and they're Edison employees without doubt. They simply put a rope across the screen to imply that the events were taking place in a boxing ring. But of course the movie was just shot at the studio. The two are just posing and swinging without actually attempting to hit each other.The first ever real filmed boxing match was the "Leonard-Cushing Fight", from 1884, also shot by William K.L. Dickson and William Heise, just like this short and. Boxing matches on film actually became quite popular at the late 19th century and there was a huge demand for it. Also because of the fact that at that time boxing matches were banned in some states and this would be the only way for people to see a boxing match. Edison's Kinetoscope Exhibiting Company cleverly jumped on to this and their boxing films would eventually turned out to become their most profitable films. So in a way this early movie is a sign of things to come for Edison and Co. and future boxing films and commercialism.6/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

During the years from 1890 to 1892, there was a period of constant experimenting in Thomas Alva Edison's headquarters, as the team led by Scottish inventor Williak K.L. Dickson was working constantly in an idea that would revolutionize entertainment. That idea was the Kinetoscope, a project that Dickson had been developing since Edison told him about the "motion pictures" that other pioneers had began to make (French inventor Louis Le Prince being the first in 1988). Dickson took Edison's ideas beyond and conceived a machine able to show motion pictures through a hole, the Kinetoscope. Many experiments were done in order to discover the best way to produce movies, and what started with the raw experiments codenamed "Monkeyshines", by 1891 it would be a reality: Dickson was now able to produce motion pictures. The tests continued, each time with better quality, and this short, "Men Boxing", is another of those early American films.Directed by William K.L. Dickson and William Heise, "Men Boxing" shows a scene of a boxing match between two workers at Edison's laboratory. However, this is not a documentary movie like the ones Dickson would make for Edison in the future, the two fighters are only pretending to be boxing in a fake boxing ring (as usual, the movie was shot in Edison's laboratory), in order to test the camera. The scene allowed Dickson and Heise to test the amount of lighting necessary to achieve high quality images, as well as the recording speed the camera needed to capture the different movements of the boxers. While an entirely technical experiment (like most of the early films, this movie wasn't made to be shown to the public), it's interesting to see the two actors having fun in their roles of boxers, almost joking as the entire short seems to be done with a healthy dose of good humor.When William K.L. Dickson showed his "Dickson Greeting" short to the world, Kinetoscope was born and the era of motion pictures as entertainment was inaugurated. Soon, the Kinetoscope (or "peepshow machine") became widely popular thanks to Dickson's short films that depicted vaudeville acts and folkloric dances from around the world, as well as the short documentaries done for the devise. Like "Monkeyshines" or "Newark Athlete", the short experiment titled "Men Boxing" was a key factor in the success of Dickson's Kinetoscope, as this movie almost has the quality that the inventors desired. Charming and fun, this little experiment, while still incomplete, already shows how fun and entertaining the new medium would be. 7/10

This hotly anticipated film fails to deliver. The special effects are spectacular, but the real action is lacking. The characters aren't defined at all, you simply don't identify with them in any way. The dialog has it moments to be sure, but subtitles just can't convey the idiosyncrasies of the human voice. The direction is pedestrian, at times I wondered if anyone was at the helm at all. It is a lengthy tome to be sure, but not overlong given the subject matter. The cinematography is rather good, and the decision to go monochromatic was a masterstroke. No sequels were planned or made, though many iterations have followed. This is not on the par with Rocky, and doesn't even come close to the sparkling, violent energy of Raging Bull, with which is shares a common theme (and common color - B&W). There is some very deep subliminal ideology, on several levels at work here. However, I think it will be many years before many of them are recognized and appreciated by the savvy filmgoer. All in all this is a masterpiece, even if the technical aspects, and certain performances lack the power of the subject matter and denouement.