- A group of bandits stage a brazen train hold-up, only to find a determined posse hot on their heels.
- Among the earliest existing films in American cinema - notable as an early film to present a narrative story to tell - it depicts a group of outlaws who hold up a train and rob the passengers. They are then pursued by a Sheriff's posse. Several scenes have color included - all hand tinted.—garykmcd
- Four gunmen plan to rob a train, not only of its cargo, such as money, but the valuables on the possession of the passengers. They are not averse to shooting to kill anyone who is out of line, which includes anyone not listening to their instructions. To pull off their plan, they have to subdue the manager of the station where they plan to board the train, board without anyone noticing that they are doing so, subdue anyone guarding the cargo, and take over the engine so that they stop the train to corral the passengers in one area while they are being robbed, and then make their getaway. Even if they are able to get to this stage, they may have to deal with those who now know what they've done, a posse which very well may be on its way.—Huggo
- Two bandits break into a train station. They threaten a man with a gun, then hide to deliver a letter without being discovered and then beat the man. They get on board the train that stop by letting the passengers get off. A man tries to escape and is killed. After the bandits escape and one of these shoots towards the camera.—luigicavaliere
- Composed of fourteen separate shots of non-continuous, non-overlapping action, Edwin S. Porter's spectacle-and-drama-laden short is widely acknowledged as the first narrative film to have achieved temporal continuity of action. Establishing a realistic narrative, the partially hand-tinted, eleven-minute-long escapade depicts the audacious attempt of a ruthless gang of bandits to rob a passenger train in broad daylight. The action-packed film includes suspenseful sequences of the robbers' infiltration, exciting bright-orange-yellow dynamite explosions, and climactic scenes of pursuit by a band of brave heroes. Lastly, a startling final shot awaited the then-unaccustomed-to-violence audiences, putting the unsuspecting spectators in the hapless passengers' shoes.—Nick Riganas
- First, in the opening scene, two masked robbers force the telegraph operator to send a false message so the train will make an unscheduled stop. In the very next scene, the bandits board the train and the robbers enter the mail car, and after a fight, they open the safe. In the next scene, two of the robbers throw the driver and fireman off the train and take it over. Next, the robbers stop the train and hold up the passengers. One runs away and is shot. The robbers escape aboard the engine, and in the subsequent scene we see them mount horses and ride off. Meanwhile, the telegraph operator on the train sends a message calling for assistance. In a saloon, a newcomer is being forced to dance at gunpoint, but when the message arrives, everyone grabs their rifles and exit. Cut to the robbers pursued by a posse. There is a shoot-out, and the robbers are killed. There's one extra shot, showing one of the robbers firing point blank out of the screen. (This was, it seems, sometimes shown at the start of the film, sometimes at the end. It gave the spectator a sense of being directly in the line of fire.)
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By what name was The Great Train Robbery (1903) officially released in India in English?
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