Metropolis

Rating:
Summary: Metropolis Audiobook: Needs Metropolitan Touch
Review: I had high hopes for this audio version of "Metropolis." It was billed as having gone "back to the original novel" which intrigued me. I was so excited that I popped the first tape into my cassette player only moments after it had been delivered! Sadly, the acting was very poor and quickly became a major distraction.

It was as though the actors hadn't seen the script until the moment they sat to record it. They sounded unrehearsed and unnatural from start to finish, and their use of inflection and emotion was so inexcusably off-the-mark that it was difficult to follow Von Harbou's story! The lead actor read as though each line were the climax of the entire story, for example, which made things very confusing.

One more strike against this version is that the story doesn't even begin until the first side of the tape is nearly over...it is preceded by a long and confusing spoken introduction, and a long, grating, synthesized musical prelude.

I highly recommend the book or film over this audio version.

Rating:
Summary: Metropolis Audiobook: Needs Metropolitan Touch
Review: I had high hopes for this audio version of "Metropolis." It was billed as having gone "back to the original novel" which intrigued me. I was so excited that I popped the first tape into my cassette player only moments after it had been delivered! Sadly, the acting was very poor and quickly became a major distraction.

It was as though the actors hadn't seen the script until the moment they sat to record it. They sounded unrehearsed and unnatural from start to finish, and their use of inflection and emotion was so inexcusably off-the-mark that it was difficult to follow Von Harbou's story! The lead actor read as though each line were the climax of the entire story, for example, which made things very confusing.

One more strike against this version is that the story doesn't even begin until the first side of the tape is nearly over...it is preceded by a long and confusing spoken introduction, and a long, grating, synthesized musical prelude.

I highly recommend the book or film over this audio version.

Rating:
Summary: A True Science Fiction Classic
Review: Metroplis is truly a great clasic of science fiction. I found the repetive style of the writing, annoying at first. Once I got used to it though, the descriptive reptition played a large role in bringing the whole story to life. It is a story that is definetly larger than life and stands up to the test of time well.

Imagine a time when machines rule the world (even more than now that is). Life is split into two castes, those who work the machines and those who benefit from them. The workers have to live under ground and work in horrifying conditions for little pay. The sons of those that own and command the machines, live a life of luxury and leisure. Their every whim and desire are met and they need not work at all. Freder is the son of the man who runs it all, his father commands those who actually have to work with the machines. You would think Freder would be happy, living the lap of luxury. He finds something missing, his father has brought him up to listen only to his brain and to ignore his heart. Freder finds he can not live hta way and must find a way to bring the influence of the heart back into his life.

Rating:
Summary: Amazing fiction -- basis for the classic silent film.
Review: Metropolis. It is a city like no other. It is the center of the world, host to princes and paupers. Below the city toil hundreds of men - slaves, fodder to the great god-like machines that eat them alive. High above the city is Joh Frederson. Each morning he starts machines that run the society of Metropolis, and each evening he stops them again. His son is Freder, who wears white silk each day and has a life of complete luxury.

Freder's life is changed irrevocably when a girl with the face of the Madonna brings a group of dirty, shrunken children into his pristine world. Awakened to the plight of the thousands that toil their lives away, he goes underground in search of the girl who has captured his heart and his mind. His pursuit is one that will bring the great city to its knees - for love of a son.

In Metropolis, we enter a futuristic city and meet the inhabitants that dwell there. We are horrified by the virtual slavery of the underground workers, and awed by the luxury that the sons of the wealthy live in. Written more than seventy years ago, the language that Von Harbou uses is intricate and poetic. Each phrase is a work of art. This is one of those books that should be read aloud with loving care. Unexpectedly, it is the sheer humanity that raises the book to greatness - the love of Frederson for his son, the mothers who weep for their children, and the father who gathers his small children to his breast. While controversial in its time, the topics that Von Harbou tackles, to an extent, still plague us today.

This is a novel that fans of thoughtful science fiction simply cannot miss.

Rating:
Summary: WOW!!!
Review: This is a very interesting item. I'm a great fan of the movie, and have tried to get through the book, without success. This was a great way to hear the missing 10 reels of the movie. Don't expect award winning acting , but still VERY well done.

Rating:
Summary: It does the story justice...
Review: Very nice production with good stereo separation. Real wierd. Glad I could be the first person to review it.