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News & Current Events Mar 25, 2026 at 5:21 PM

What’s the oldest movie you’ve ever seen?

Posted by Substantial_Slip4667

The oldest one I’ve seen is from 1874. It was called: “Passage de Vénus. It was filmed by Pierre Janssen. It’s exactly 6 seconds long. With no audio or dialogue. But is still pretty interesting to see. A film from so long ago to still be surviving. I’m sure there’s older ones that they’ve haven’t seen. But still is amazing as it is.
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GenericMacAndCheese Mar 25, 2026 +10
I saw that footage of the train arriving at the station… when it premiered! Scared the f*** out of all of us!
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prodigalAvian Mar 25, 2026 +6
Someone warn Guillermo that Laszlo created a Reddit account
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Substantial_Slip4667 Mar 25, 2026 +1
Loud?
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GenericMacAndCheese Mar 25, 2026 +2
Eerily silent
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Substantial_Slip4667 Mar 25, 2026 +1
Ah cool.
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StillStanding_96 Mar 25, 2026 +2
When was that?
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GenericMacAndCheese Mar 25, 2026 +2
Paris, 1895. One wonderful winter. L’Arrivée d’un train en gare La Ciotat.
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StillStanding_96 Mar 25, 2026 +2
So you are more than 130 years old?
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StillStanding_96 Mar 25, 2026 +9
Le Voyage dans la Lune (1902)
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Substantial_Slip4667 Mar 25, 2026 +1
Haven’t seen it. Any good?
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StillStanding_96 Mar 25, 2026 +7
It’s beautiful. It’s a magnificent achievement for the time and I’m so grateful that it still exists. And it’s available on HBO Max Edit: for context, you can watch the 2011 film Hugo. It’s about the man who made A Trip to the Moon and shows how precious a film it really is, as most of his vast filmography no longer exists.
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Substantial_Slip4667 Mar 25, 2026 +1
I’ll be sure to give it a watch sometime! Thx :)
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Strange_Specialist4 Mar 25, 2026 +6
Probably the 1927 Metropolis 
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Substantial_Slip4667 Mar 25, 2026 +2
Iconic. Still is being recovered though right?
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chrishouse83 Mar 25, 2026 +3
It's not 100% complete, but in 2008 they discovered a huge chunk of missing material. I saw a screening of "The Complete Metropolis" in the theater in 2009.
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pmish Mar 25, 2026 +2
Side note, it’s now in the public domain so you could remix or use the footage as you see fit.
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Substantial_Slip4667 Mar 25, 2026 +1
Ooh that’s good to know thx!
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Strange_Specialist4 Mar 25, 2026 +2
Not sure
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AncientProof Mar 25, 2026 +4
Louis Le Princes 1888 Roundhay Garden Scene. It's so simple yet impacted so much in the film world.
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Substantial_Slip4667 Mar 25, 2026 +1
Indeed.
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coldliketherockies Mar 25, 2026 +3
Museum of moving images in Astoria queens shows the great train robbery on loop in one of their rooms. Having sat through an entire great train robbery I would say that’s the oldest movie I’ve ever seen
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Substantial_Slip4667 Mar 25, 2026
I’ve seen that movie. It’s amazing how influential it is!
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Beyond_Silence Mar 25, 2026 +3
Whilst doing an A-level in film studies we ended up watching a lot of older films (passage de Venus, a lot of the Louis le prince shorts as well as the Lumiere brothers). However, one of the best and most memorable films I watched was ‘The Public Enemy (1931)’. Albeit a much more recent film by comparison, storyline was brilliant.
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Substantial_Slip4667 Mar 25, 2026 +3
I’ll look into it
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Physical-Goat-3015 Mar 25, 2026 +2
wait hold up, 1874? 💀 that's wild considering most people think movies started way later... janssen was doing astronomy stuff right? pretty crazy how those 6 seconds are still around when most films from the early 1900s are straight up gone 🔥
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Substantial_Slip4667 Mar 25, 2026
I know it’s amazing! It’s in bad shape as it is though. But still visual at least
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[deleted] Mar 25, 2026 +2
[deleted]
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Substantial_Slip4667 Mar 25, 2026 +1
Haven’t seen that one. Any good?
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crapusername47 Mar 25, 2026 +2
Dracula from 1934.
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Pal__Pacino Mar 25, 2026 +2
Feature-length: Birth of a Nation Short: A Nightmare (1896)
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Substantial_Slip4667 Mar 25, 2026 +1
I’ve seen the short. Good one. I refuse to see Birth of a Nation for well obvious reasons
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Pal__Pacino Mar 25, 2026 +2
It's a fascinating historical document, but yeah I certainly can't blame ya.
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Substantial_Slip4667 Mar 25, 2026 +1
Thx.
1
[deleted] Mar 25, 2026 +2
[deleted]
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Substantial_Slip4667 Mar 25, 2026 +1
Fair enough
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viewsofanintrovert Mar 25, 2026 +2
probably Nosferatu from the 1920s.
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Substantial_Slip4667 Mar 25, 2026 +1
Loved that movie
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viewsofanintrovert Mar 25, 2026 +2
Yeah it's such a good movie
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MovieMike007 Mar 25, 2026 +2
Fritz Lang's double feature, 1919's *The Spiders: The Golden Lake* and it's sequel *The Diamond Ship*. This film feels like the pulp stories that featured the likes of Doc Savage and The Phantom, even the hero here blazes away with twin .45 automatic like The Shadow.
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Substantial_Slip4667 Mar 25, 2026 +2
Ah Fritz Lang. a legend not many have heard of
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MovieMike007 Mar 25, 2026 +2
I picked up the box set *Fritz Lang: The Silent Films*, and fell in love with these [titles.](https://manapop.com/musing/the-silent-masterpieces-of-fritz-lang-1919-1929/)
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Substantial_Slip4667 Mar 25, 2026 +2
Oh well. I know what I’m doing this weekend!
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MuNansen Mar 25, 2026 +2
Battleship Potemkin. Revolutionized the cinematic language.
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Substantial_Slip4667 Mar 25, 2026 +2
Ooh. I’ll be sure to watch that
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chrishouse83 Mar 25, 2026 +2
Passage of Venus (1874) is the absolute earliest I've seen. But I've seen tons of movies from the 1890s and early 1900s.
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Substantial_Slip4667 Mar 25, 2026 +1
I love these old films. They really are important sadly not many people know of their existence
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chrishouse83 Mar 25, 2026 +2
The Méliès shorts are especially fun.
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Substantial_Slip4667 Mar 25, 2026 +1
I think I only know one part from it. You can probably guess
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chrishouse83 Mar 25, 2026 +2
Oh yeah, if you've only seen one Georges Méliès film it was undoubtedly A Trip to the Moon. He made a similar one a couple years later called The Impossible Voyage that I actually like more than TttM. He also made some the earliest horror movies.
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Substantial_Slip4667 Mar 25, 2026 +1
Ah history. Movies are amazing.
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Stanimator Mar 25, 2026 +2
Steamboat Willie
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Substantial_Slip4667 Mar 25, 2026 +1
Funny one
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RadSkeleton808 Mar 25, 2026 +2
Oldest: Georges Méliès' 1986 The Haunted Castle/The Devil's Castle/The House of the Devil (various names). Oldest I Enjoyed Narratively and Not Just for Aesthetic or as a Film Curio: Charlie Chaplin's 1917 The Immigrant.
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Substantial_Slip4667 Mar 25, 2026 +1
Ah Chaplin. Poor guy got screwed over royally
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OptionIntelligent403 Mar 25, 2026 +2
Probably the Godfather.
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muduke Mar 25, 2026 +2
Homeward Bound (1993)
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Timmah73 Mar 25, 2026 +2
Start to finish probably Nosferatu 1922
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Substantial_Slip4667 Mar 25, 2026 +1
Nice one
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haileyhillcutie Mar 25, 2026 +2
6 seconds from 1874 and its still out here getting discussed on reddit, that thing has better longevity than most franchises with 10 sequels
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Substantial_Slip4667 Mar 25, 2026 +1
And I wouldn’t have it any other way
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TheOrqwithVagrant Mar 25, 2026 +2
The Great Train Robbery, 1903 would be the oldest actual 'movie' I've seen, but I've seen random clips that are even older.
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Substantial_Slip4667 Mar 25, 2026 +2
Fun fact they use clips from that movie in the prologue for Tombstone
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phantombrick22 Mar 25, 2026 +2
Topper (1937)
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abandoned_rain Mar 25, 2026 +2
Louis Feuillade’s Les Vampires (1915) is the earliest feature length film I’ve seen. Oldest anything would be the same as you OP
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Rusty__Buntafolio Mar 25, 2026 +1
Birth of a Nation
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