This my first ever download.  All seemed to go well and I ended up with a 690mb movie in .avi format.  When I open the movie file, it shows it is 0.20secs long.  I then get a message the file was made in Microsoft Movie Maker and something about downloading.  That's it, for what is supposed to be a movie.  I am using VLC to play

Congrats your first download was a fake. Don't follow the link just delete the file it is no good. Might suggest you find a better place to get your downloads from, one that has verified uploaders.