What's the oldest movie you've watched/seen?

[Naruzeldamaster]

To be clear, I don't mean seeing clips out of context made for funnies on the interwebs.
I mean, fully sat down and watched it.
I could be wrong but for me I think the oldest movies I've seen is either Old Yeller or the OG Wizard of Oz

 

[Insolent Lad]

I think that might be the original 1918 silent version of Tarzan of the Apes with Elmo Lincoln in the title role.

 

[Ned Marcus]

I've seen extracts of earlier films, but King Kong (1933) is the earliest one I've watched from beginning to end.

 

[Orc Knight]

Prehistoric Peeps, 1905.

 

[pmmg]

i dont know. I have seen the horse galloping movie, which I think is as early as one can get.

Somewhat recently, I saw Nosferatu, which was the silent film. Surprising to me, I liked it, cause when I have movies with subtitles on, I find I am either reading the subtitles or watching the movie, but its hard to do both. With the action stopping and then the dialog card coming up, I found it was great, I the action would stop until I caught back up. It worked for me.

 

[Naruzeldamaster]

i dont know. I have seen the horse galloping movie, which I think is as early as one can get.

Somewhat recently, I saw Nosferatu, which was the silent film. Surprising to me, I liked it, cause when I have movies with subtitles on, I find I am either reading the subtitles or watching the movie, but its hard to do both. With the action stopping and then the dialog card coming up, I found it was great, I the action would stop until I caught back up. It worked for me.

I learned how to read dialogue (traditional) by watching the whole screen.
Doesn't always work but in 90% of cases it does help, particularly if subtitles are slow paced.

 

[Karlin]

Fritz Lang, Metropolis

 

[CupofJoe]

I did a film studies course so I got to watch L'arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat [The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat Station] 1896 by Auguste and Louis Lumière. Not very interesting except for it being 130 years old.
The oldest film I chose to watch was Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari [The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari] 1920 by Robert Wiene.
German cinema in the 1920s made some great films, Nosferatu, Metropolis, Die Nibelungen and the Cabinet, to name a few.

 

[Naruzeldamaster]

I did a film studies course so I got to watch L'arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat [The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat Station] 1896 by Auguste and Louis Lumière. Not very interesting except for it being 130 years old.
The oldest film I chose to watch was Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari [The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari] 1920 by Robert Wiene.
German cinema in the 1920s made some great films, Nosferatu, Metropolis, Die Nibelungen and the Cabinet, to name a few.

hmmm...would some of the old mickey mouse cartoons count as 'films' considering they used to be defined/used that way?
I am talking like, the very early ones, where they still used rubber hose animation for the arms/legs of the characters.

 

[Demesnedenoir]

Something Charlie Chaplin, but which one? I'm not sure. I've seen two or three. If anything I watched was older, I don't know it.

 

[skip.knox]

I think the oldest full movie would be Nosferatu. I've also seen Metropolis and M. That would be 1922, 1927, and 1931.

It's really striking how radically movies changed over the course of those two decades, 1920s and 1930s. It's a huge leap from the silent vampire in 1922 and Dorothy in Oz (1939). And people today go on about how fast things are changing.

 

[CupofJoe]

hmmm...would some of the old mickey mouse cartoons count as 'films' considering they used to be defined/used that way?
I am talking like, the very early ones, where they still used rubber hose animation for the arms/legs of the characters.

I'd say yes.
As for how good SFX could be back in the day. Have a look at Fafnir the Dragon from 1924
60 foot long and fully mechanical!