Overrated and overhyped

hyped garbage

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

(Flash Review)This was an epic and entertaining adventure story with impressively creative and massive sets, especially for the era. The protagonist is in fact a brash and clever thief stealing from people in Bagdad. He uses many athletic methods for his thievery, many of which use unique filming effects. The thief later ups the ante and his goals as he changes his quest for material goods to winning over a real princess. However, she has many suiters and the princess's father has a quest for them all. The challenge is for each of them to bring back the rarest 'treasure' they can find over "seven moons"; I guess that means seven days. Will his thieving skills aid him in locating the rarest treasure and the hand of the princess? This was a really fun and amusing quest to watch play out. Fun sets and creative beasts will cross his path. Accompanied by appropriate music and striking cinematography create nice overall effect. This film is still impressive today and fun to see what they could do back then and also to see how Sci-fi adventure romps from the 50's feel a lot like this!

I'm not sure if anyone else has noticed but I was struck by the similarities between the Thief's fight with a dragon, and that of Siegfried's in Fritz Land Ring of the Nibelungs. In both the hero makes a frontal assault on the dragon, then stabs it on its underside. Blood then rushes out, though wisely the Thief makes sure he doesn't touch it. There is then a sequence in both films where the dragon dies. Of course in the German film the dragon is asleep and not bothering anyone, so Siegfried has to wake it up and gratuitously kill it. In the American film, the dragon is barring the Thief's way so he has (slightly) more justification in killing it.Both films were released early in 1924, so are these scenes pure co-incidence or was one influenced by the other? One commentator mentions that Kevin Brownlow says Fairbanks went to Germany and was influenced by their techniques, so did he get the idea from Lang? I personally think that both dragons deserved to be nominated for a Best Supporting Monster Oscar.

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.

When it comes to works of fantasy and myth, it takes effort to relay the sense of wonder or whimsey that accompanies such things as magic or otherworldly creatures. It's always been easy to relay such things through books, poetry, or even reciting it verbally to others. On film, it's a far bigger challenge, and 1924's The Thief of Bagdad stands as one of the earliest and most ambitious attempts to conceptualize and execute a work of fantasy for the big screen. It's a big production, with huge sets, a huge crowd of extras, lavish costumes, and convincing special effects. It all works together to bring to life a fantastic world of flying carpets, magic ropes, mermaids, giant apes, and invading foreign armies, all contained within an exotic Arabian backdrop.The film is pretty long, and it drags at certain parts (mostly the middle). However, it does have a lighthearted whimsey to the tone, and in the characters, which keeps it entertaining and fun, even after all these years.This story is a big and sprawling adventure, but thanks to the way it's told, with simple dialogue and exaggerated acting, it's never convoluted. It's successful at telling a complicated series of events without losing the audience, and with a cast of decent and lovable characters. I have no idea how this film compares to its original novel, but it appears to maintain the appropriate tone and all the right elements of a proper Arabian fantasy.This film uses solid photography and editing. Acting is very exaggerated and over-the-top, which can be laughable at times, but for a silent film it's quite forgivable. Writing is simple but effective enough. This production has huge sets, props, and costumes; a lot of it seems to reflect a more stereotypical view of Arabian and Asian culture, rather than trying to be anything realistic. Special effects are great though; even after all these years, there are many shots that you can look at and wonder, how did they do that? In spite of that, the imagery is often great. The music score is great too.The Thief of Bagdad is not only a seminal classic for fantasy films, it's also one of the biggest and most imaginative silent-era films I've seen.Recommended! 4.5/5 (Entertainment: Good | Story: Very Good | Film: Very Good)