Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Return of Lifeboat (1897) This film clocks in at around twenty seconds and basically delivers exactly what the title says. We see a very choppy sea where a lifeboat tries to reach the shore. There's obviously nothing too ground- breaking here but we do get to see the action from a couple different shots. At such a short running time there's obviously not too much here but it's still mildly entertaining seeing the people in the boat struggle to try and get it on to the shore. There's quite a bit of action in the small running time and it's entertaining for what it is. There's certainly much worse out there.

The waves are ruthless that day and we see a lifeboat making its way through them fighting a heavy fight in order to avoid being drifted away by the flood and pure force of the waves. Poseidon clearly won't let go easily. There seem to be people in there (God bless their souls), but i guess they're properly trained as they should be for that profession, so the savior won't end up being in need of rescue himself. The short film runs for 25 seconds roughly and honestly,if the title didn't tell me I'd have no idea the boat was actually supposed to be returning to the coast. It just seems to be aimlessly moving in the savage waters and isn't even remotely close to the shore the moment the film ends. Not recommended.

The reviews for these movies from the 1800s seem written primarily by technocrats intent on gunning for recognition for declaring that this piece or that is the first whatzit or use of thingamabob in the history of the Universe. When one stops to think about it, very few of these "experts" were there, or even talked to someone who was there. Sometimes it's hard to see the forest for the trees. I like to watch these and report to you'll what actually happens in the flick, just like I would MOVIE 43 or any other current release. With that in mind, I can tell you that RETURN OF LIFEBOAT shows about four men making landfall in an 8-12 person boat. What happened to the majority of this ill-fated boat's crew? Were they eaten by the surviving quartet? Were they pushed or forced to jump overboard? Did sharks get them? Why not take 26.71 seconds of your time, watch it NOW for free on the Library of Congress website, and tell us here what YOU think?

For its time, this is decent footage of a lifeboat making its way through a rough sea. The print now shows many signs of wear, as it is at times unclear, and there are some extraneous marks on the footage as it now stands - or otherwise it might look even better.A fair number of pioneering film-makers attempted to capture the feeling of the surging sea, and there are several good such features from the 1890s. This one also incorporates the action of the lifeboat, which could well have been returning from an entirely different drama.This movie also attempts something then still new, as it tries to follow the lifeboat's irregular progress by switching the camera frame to keep the boat in view. The editing of this footage is very choppy indeed by the standards of later eras, but it deserves some credit as a pioneering attempt. Taking into account that, plus the fact that the footage undoubtedly looked better in its original condition, makes this a good effort for its day.