For the era when this was filmed, this is a reasonably ambitious effort from Edison, but then it was directed by Edwin S. Porter who, a few months earlier, had single-handedly changed the course of cinematic history when he filmed The Great Train Robbery.
The film is a fairly simple recreation of a sea battle between Japanese and Russian ships during the Russo-Japanese war. The action is seen from the deck of the Japanese ship, with a half dozen or so Japanese sailors firing a massive cannon at Russian ships in the distance. They sink a couple, and take some damage in the process, and each time a Russian ship goes down the sailors wave their caps in admirably restrained celebration. It's nothing special by today's standards but is rather good for its day.
The film is a fairly simple recreation of a sea battle between Japanese and Russian ships during the Russo-Japanese war. The action is seen from the deck of the Japanese ship, with a half dozen or so Japanese sailors firing a massive cannon at Russian ships in the distance. They sink a couple, and take some damage in the process, and each time a Russian ship goes down the sailors wave their caps in admirably restrained celebration. It's nothing special by today's standards but is rather good for its day.