Mining Operations, Pennsylvania Coal Fields (1904) User Reviews

Didn't Dig It.

[JoeytheBrit · 3/10 · 11 July 2009]

Films like this must have been starting to feel a bit stale even as early as 1904. The quality of the print I saw was pretty poor, and much of what was taking place early on was difficult to take place. The highlight comes about half-way through when Edison's camera captures an explosion. It's pretty tame stuff by todays standards, but probably looked quite spectacular back then. After this we see a gigantic digger moving earth from a quarry. That was about all that I could make out, and for the most part it was fairly undramatic stuff. With the advent of films with a narrative following the release of Porter's Great Train Robbery the year before it wouldn't be long before short actualities like this became a thing of the past.

Mildly Entertaining

[Michael_Elliott · 20 August 2015]

Mining Operations, Pennsylvania Coal Fields (1904)

** (out of 4)

This Edison film, as the title suggests, takes us to a coal field in Pennsylvania where we see a few things that are mildly interesting today. We basically see a small explosion and then get a few more shots of some of the jokes that are being done including rock removal. That's pretty much what happens throughout the three minute running time and while the film isn't boring there's no question that there's just not too much here. The biggest problem is the fact that the camera is so far back that more times than not you can't get a good look at anything happening. Obviously this is understandable during the explosion but during the others things a better look certainly would have helped.