The Magic of Méliès (2008)

3 1/2 Stars (out of 4)

Trickery Treats

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Kino has released this excellent collection of 15 short films by Georges Méliès, plus a 20-minute documentary, Georges Méliès: Cinema Magician (1978), and under normal circumstances, this disc would come highly recommended. But in a case of colossal bad timing, Kino's disc has come out right around the same time as Flicker Alley's five-disc, 173-film box set Georges Méliès: First Wizard of Cinema - 1896-1913. Still, if you can't afford the box set, Kino's disc is a perfect substitute, although it should be noted that Méliès' most famous short, A Trip to the Moon (1902), is not here (even though a picture is used for the box cover). This disc covers only films from 1904 to 1908. See also: Méliès the Magician (2001).