Rating: 
Summary: As Close to the Original as Possible
Review: I saw a preview of this restored version at a screening in Santa Fe, when the titles were still in German and the last reel was still being worked on. This really is a labor of love. Placeholders describe the scenes that are probably forever lost (nearly a quarter of the original). Everything is finally in the correct sequence, and the film's never looked better. I'm looking forward to the DVD so I can re-experience this taste of what is almost a lost film.
Rating:
Summary: This is the version we were always SUPPOSED to see...
Review: This is the KINO VIDEO version of the movie METROPOLIS. Currently there are a number of prints of this DVD out, but most of them utilize 16mm prints that are often grainy and blurry... which is NOT a good tribute to what is considered one of the greatest sci fi movies ever. The Kino video offers a beautiful soundtrack as well as a clear, near pristine 35mm print in its version.The Kino version also contains a very thorough movie, which, once again, is absent in most prints. Weeks after METROPOLIS was shown, it was cut drastically. Kino has released the most- complete version to date, using footage that was from some of the cut to enhance and explain the story. Parts of the movie that have been lost, presumably forever, are explained through intertitles. The story makes much more sense and offers a great deal more depth now. I cannot recommend this movie enough to anyone who loves silent film or science fiction.
Rating:
Summary: This is the Metropolis DVD version to get!
Review: Forget about all of the other Metropolis DVDs out there, this is the Kino restoration that ran in the theaters in 2002. While it is still not in the original 1927 edit, this is the most complete version known to exist. Title cards are used to describe the still-missing scenes, but many scenes have been added by Kino for this edition.
This is also much longer than the much sought after Laserdisc.
A highly recomended Silent Classic Science Fiction story of a two class world. The underground workers who keep the city running, and the above groung businessmen who live off of the undergrounders work. Trouble errupts when litigation between the two breaks down and a mediator is suspected of being a spy.
This 1927 movie seems like todays current headlines.
Rating:
Summary: Silent Masterpiece
Review: In today's cinematic world, silent movies are often a difficult category to approach. Silent movies are usually referred to almost like a separate genre, as if black and white movies were a single genre. Even silent flick enthusiasts sometimes don't have the right attitude, because the modern appreciation of pre-talkie movies is sometims nothing more shallow than appreciation of a movie because it is a silent movie. This attitude streams from the modern audience that views the silent era as embryonic of the talkies, as technologically handicapped, when in fact, the contemporary audiences of the 20's did not view their motion pictures the same way. Metropolis is a great move that overcomes most of the barriers between moderns audiences and silent movies. The genre is unmistakably sci-fi--the forerunner to nearly all modern sci-fi movies. It was a fantastic movie that just happens to be a silent movie, and anybody who sees it will understand that silence is not a handicap. The biggest barrier for silent movies is that there are usually variant DVD editions in circulation, and unlike pictures made in the last few decades, it really does matter which edition you see. Kino's restored edition is (and shall be for a while if not forever) the definitive edition of Metropolis. I had been viewing an incomplete, incoherent version of the film for years before i treated myself to Kino's delightfully exhaustive work, and it was then that i realized what i had been missing. Watching this version was like watching a different movie. In fact, the restoration is so immaculate, it was like watching a movie that was just filmed yesterday, or rather, like i was watching it in 1926. Kino should be praised for the edition (which they have been), that vindicates fans of Metropolis, sci-fi, and silent movies. Even the flaws are reasonable: some scenes are missing, but they are filled in with explanations and still photos, when available; there could have been enough extras to fill 2 more discs, although the extras included are sufficient and repeatable, as compared to the loads of extras fans normally demand but rarely ever watch. All in all, this is an excellent restoration of an epic movie that deserves this treatment and attention. Include the Kino version in your collection over all of the inferior versions circulating.
Rating:
Summary: Magnificent job
Review: Of all silent films, maybe the only one still watched by a wide public today is Metropolis. Everyone who knows about science fiction knows about Metropolis.
Unfortunately the film was birth-strangled - like Once Upon a Time in America and The Magnificent Ambersons - and it falls into the strange pantheon of movies that are as fragmentary as any ancient scroll.
This only added to the appeal, of course. Like the wine buff who sighs to drink one of THE French vintages from before 1860, cineastes have spculated and respeculated about this fragmentary masterpiece. Why doesn't the story make sense? What was the movie originally like - and can it be fixed? It is a pity that this film will almost certainly NEVER be completely restored. Like The Magnificent Ambersons, this is a masterpiece that seems permanently damaged. But in 2002, the next best thing was done; and the most complete possible restoration was carried out. The results are truly remarkable. You can see that silent films were NOT originally shown in a spotty, scratchy condition with hyperactive actors. When they first came out, silent movies looked just as good as any modern movie (well, maybe less screen-resolution). The original soundtrack was discovered and recorded - and it, too, is a revelation. Silent movies were NOT actually silent - they had live soundtracks (though only rich premieres had full orchestras). The soundtrack is as well-composed as any modern soundtrack. I initially thought I would not be able to get used to another soundtrack after hearing the Moroder version - but now I think I can't see the film any other way. Most importantly, the film now actually makes sense! Every scrap of film possible was extracted from archives all over the world, to make the film as complete as is humanly possible. The scenes still missing (alas, comprising a quarter of the film even now) are signified by intertitles telling the audience what they ought to be seeing. This is not a perfect compromise, but it's probably the best solution. Silent movies often look strangely modern, since they concentrate almost entirely on visuals at the expense of the actors (a feature that, incidentally, made movies easier to show overseas than any modern movie). Compare that to our movies, which are very heavy on visuals and contain the simplest and least amount of dialogue possible in order to cater to foreign markets. Also, the complete manipulation of the image, so favoured in Metropolis, is very much like modern computer graphics.
Rating: 
Summary: A "Silent" Success
Review:
Fritz Lang's Metropolis turned out to be overall very entertaining and successful. I started watching the movie without very high expectations because of the fact that there were no speaking roles. Despite this, Alfred Abel did an incredible job acting as Johhan Fredersen and Gustav Fröhlich as Freder Fredersen. I learned that you don't need words in a movie to make it a good movie.
Metropolis starts off with a bunch of men working in an organized, "mechanical" form. We are soon introduced to Freder who's hanging around beautiful women. Soon he meets Maria, who is bringing children to the garden to work. Freder is attracted to Maria and soon descends to where the workers are. He witnesses an explosion when a worker collapses and takes his place. He then realizes that Maria is a lead worker. She tells him that there will be someone who will come and save them from the machines. Freder's father has other plans. With the help of the scientist Rotwang (Rudolf Klein-Rogge) they plan to replace the workers with robots and decide to start with Maria.
Like every movie this one had its ups and downs. Overall in this film, I feel the "ups" outweighed the "downs". I thought the acting was superb even though there were no words. The quote "actions speak louder than words" could definitely describe Metropolis. The actors did a great job in their dramatic gestures and making their movements big so people could clearly grasp the concept and emotions they were trying to convey.
A weaker side of the movie was the scenes that seemed to drag on forever. I lost interest in some scenes and found it hard to focus/follow at times. That is basically the only down point I found in the film.
I absolutely recommend this film. I would recommend it more for the learning purposes rather than the entertaining purposes. Watching this film today will show how much technology has grown and increased over the years and help us appreciate film for what it is today.
Rating:
Summary: Most complete/coherent version, but I miss the 'YES' music
Review: As other reviewers have noted, this KINO release is the most complete and restored version of the movie that exists. The storylines make a lot more sense, and the video quality is excellent. I have to confess that I miss the wailing rock soundtrack from the earlier, less complete version of the film. Overall though, the musical score fit the film quite well, and like everything else in this film, it was reconstructed to be as close as possible to the original.
Rating:
Summary: My New Favorite Movie
Review: This is an amazing movie for the time it was made, with extremely important things to tell us, far ahead of its time I believe. I think the content is extremely relevant to our world today and I believe everyone should watch this. This is one of the greatest sci-fi movies of all time relating to the way they combined humanism with the sci-fi elements - good like Forbidden Planet and Blade Runner in this way. I am especially impressed that they gave us the helpful descriptions of what was lost when they didn't bother to preserve this film. It's funny to think what the priorities were back then, though they are understandable. This film has such an important message, but was not worth saving for the future - very much a parallel message proving that what was portrayed as morally wrong in the film really was right on the spot. Best sci-fi film of all time, in my opinion.
Rating:
Summary: A viewer
Review: What more could you ask for from a German Expressionist, Weimar Republic era film. Over the top cheesy acting, powerful full orchestral soundtrack, stylised forced perspective photography with some of the earliest ground breaking special effects. The only shame is that the restoration still falls short after that American producer twit had it butchered to shorten the film and thus altering the story. Not only did this film represent the golden era of the silent cinema, but also sci-fi/fantasy films for generations to come. I love it!!!!!
p.s and the robot!
Rating: 
Summary: What was this?
Review: Unconventional opinion.
Long ago I've read "Metropolis" is in the
class with Animal Farm, 1984, Brave New World.
I had great expectation. Now I've seen it.
What was this? let see, what happens, and
what the message is.
1. Big city, skyscrapers, cars, trains, airplanes.
Air bridges. Futuristic.
2. Rich live in the suny paradise, workers
- down underground. Promissing. Suppressed
workers, black uniforms, heads down, marching
slow to work, exhausted at the end of the
shift. Communist propaganda? Not surprising,
movie was made before 1927.
3. The Son of The Rich suddenly falls in love
with an unkown girl. Is this turning into a
love story? I thought, it is about totalitarizm,
big brother etc.
4. Son and Father: The Son had no clue, he had
poor children and workers, who live UNDERGROUND
"where they belong", and work in Hell. Feeding
Moloch with their blood and flesh. (Did I mention
communism?)
5. Lonely Mad Evil Handicap Scientist.
I can swallow Mad Evil and Lonely, it was very
modern at the this time. Message: Handicap
is EVIL! Who said, Hitler loved this movie?
Still wonder why?
6. Maria is a devouted catholic preaching
bible to poor workers. How touching! Head
Heart, Hand: Let us all love each other!
You can forget about Suny paradise at the
beginning and the Hot Hell, workers spend
10 hours in, every day, 7 days a week!
7. Evil handicap hijacks Maria. EVIL HANDICAP!
8. Evil machine is created and let free.
Programmed to destroy the beautiful world of
the Rich, and the Beautiful Underground World
of the poor. The Eveil Communist machine
is preaching Revolution and destruction
of the machines. (Did I mention the Evil
handicap who programmed it?) In addition,
to make sure that everyone understands Evil
Machine is really Evil, the Machine is
dancing naked in the RedLantern District.
She showed her breast! Sex is Very Very bad.
And whose guilt? Don't forget Evil Handicap?
Yes, the mad, mad Evil Handicap scientist!
Science is just as bad as sex!
*So far, let see:
Bible, Maria and Son of the Rich = Good.
Machines, sex, science = bad.
(what happened to bigbrother and poor
workers and their children?)
But to make things even more illogical,
the Rich Fredersen Senior, does not
mind that workers use violence: Then,
he can use violence against them.
Communist propaganda again?
9. Flood. Destruction. Children i danger.
The Son of the Rich makes a heroic efforts
and saves the children. Is this an action?
And I thought, it was a love story? Or
communist propaganda? Or catholic
propaganda?
10. Finally, evil robot is burned to the
stake, like a witch, Evil Handicap is dead,
and true Maria makes the connection
Head, Heart, Hand and is united with her
true love, the Son of the Rich.
And all lived Happily Ever After!
(all except Evil Handicap Scientist
and his communist machine)
(Who cares about big brother!)
Do not recomend this movie.
Not a love story.
Not an action, not a scifi either.
Does not stand a chance to the movies of
Chaplin from the same period
Do you want to see how workers really worked and
lived, check out "Germinal" by Emile Zola.
Are you concerned about Big Brother?
"1984" is for you.
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