Rating: 
Summary: At Last
Review: Fritz Lang's METROPOLIS was very successful with both critics and audiences when it debuted in 1927 Berlin--but it was thereafter edited for distribution by Channing Pollock, who disliked it and removed great chunks of the film and substantially altered the storyline. The resulting film was admired for its visual style, but it proved a critical and box office disappointment. Neglected in the wake of sound, surviving prints of the film were left to corrode and decay--and when it began to reach the home market via VHS and DVD the results were very hit or miss; Blackhawk released a fairly credible version of the truncated film to home video, but for the most part the quality of these releases varied from barely mediocre to downright unwatchable.Until now. A great chunk of METROPOLIS--perhaps as much a quarter of more--has been forever lost, but this Kino Video DVD release offers the single best version of the film available. The previously cut footage that still exists has been restored; gaps in the film have been bridged by the occasional use of stills and explanatory title cards; the film itself has been painstakingly and digitally restored; and the soundtrack is the Gottfried Huppertz original created for the film's 1927 Berlin debut. In seeing this version of METROPOLIS, I was struck by how very differently it reads from the previously available truncated version. The visual style and the story itself are much more exciting and cohesive, and in the wake of this restoration it becomes impossible to deny the film status as landmark of international cinema. Freder Fredersen (Gustav Frohlich) is the son of Joh Fredersen (Alfred Able), who reigns over the great city of Metropolis. Freder is surprised to discover his lifestyle has been built on the unseen but backbreaking labor of an entire class of unseen workers who tend the machines that make the city run--and he descends to the subterranean levels of Metropolis in an effort to understand their lives... and, not incidentally, to find the mysterious but beautiful woman Maria (Brigitta Helm) who has inspired his interest in the workers' plight. But his father is concerned by both Freder's interest and Maria's activities among the workers, and he turns to scientist C.A. Rotwang (Rudolf Klein-Rogge) for aid. Rotwang has created a robot, and he agrees to give it the likeness of Maria in order to undermine both Freder's love for the girl and her own activities. But Rotwang has a hidden agenda of his own: once the robot has been unleashed, he will use her to destroy Metropolis and thereby exact revenge on Joh Fredersen for past transgressions against him. In many respects the story is simplistic, but the film's visual style and connotations are anything but. Deeply influenced by such art movements as Expressionism, Objectivism, Art Deco, and Bauhaus, the film is visually fascinating--not only in its scenic designs, but in director Lang's famous skill at creating the powerful crowd scenes that dominate the film and building the pace and tension of the film as it moves toward an intense climax. But while one can--and many do--admire the film purely at this level, there is quite a lot going on in terms of philosophical content as well: while it offers few viable solutions, the film raises such issues as the relationship between capital and labor, the place of religion in modern society, human reaction to overwhelming technology, and (perhaps most interestingly) the drift of government into a class-conscious corporate entity. And religious motifs abound in the film: a largely deserted cathedral; Moloch; the Tower of Babel; and crosses--intriguingly juxtaposed with a repeating motif of the pentagram-like designs associated with the robot. It is fascinating stuff. There has been complaint that this restoration runs at incorrect speed and the performances are therefore unnecessarily jerky. I did not find this to be the case. In certain instances the movement is deliberately jerky and mechanical--the workers are a case in point--but beyond this there is nothing for which the difference between silent acting and modern acting techniques cannot account. There has also been some complaint that the title cards should have been left in their original German and translated via subtitle. There is a certain validity to this, but it seems a minor quibble; title cards were typically translated in the silent era itself. The DVD includes a number of extras, including still photographs, biographies of the major figures involved in the film, and two interesting documentaries-one on the restoration process and one on the creation of the film itself. Both are interesting; the audio commentary track by film historian Enno Patalas, however, is mildly disappointing. But when all is said and done, it is the film that counts. And this restoration is a remarkable achievement, to say the least, a project which brings a great landmark of world cinema back from the edge of the abyss. Indispensible; a must-own. --GFT (Amazon Reviewer)--
Rating:
Summary: The must-buy version!
Review: I've read over the reviews given here, after having viewed my own copy of this DVD, and must agree with all of you. This version is really stunningly fine, and a must-buy for anyone at all interested in the history of film, and in quality cinema in general. My first experience of Metropolis was seeing the usual truncated version in a little community cinema in San Francisco some 23 years ago. The musical accompaniment was improvised brilliantly on the piano by an old friend of mine who had seen the original film in Germany as a teenager! It was an unforgettable experience. I especially remember as I greeted him at half-time him saying (probably about the actor who played Freder), "oh, that one actor is a real Westphalian ham! It's really hard to keep up with him!" Anyway... this restored version is a great revelation for me. As a composer myself, and one who has been studying silent film music lately, seeing this film restored with the music originally written for it is hugely rewarding. The music is well-written, and perfectly carries across the film-maker's intentions, in a style in keeping with that of the film. It is a model of good silent-film music, worthy of study. It points up all the more how problematic it is when silents are released without proper music (e.g. the DVD of Eisenstein's "Battleship Potemkin", with a bunch of spliced-together extracts of Shostokovitch symphonies: fine music, but often incongruous with the film; a CD now exists of the original music by Edmund Meisel -- when will someone finally match this with the movie for a true restoration?). Besides the music, the visual restoration is truly magnificent, often breathtaking in its beauty. Would that all great silent films could get this treatment (but the cost would be astronomical)! As to speed: actually, there's reference in the DVD (or its booklet, I forget) to the original speed being 25 frames-per-second, which is pretty close to the modern 24 fps. But the action does sometimes look a little frantic, so I wonder about the 20 fps theory... If so, that's about the only flaw in this production. Again, a must-buy!
Rating:
Summary: The Most Influential and Enduring of the Silent Classics
Review: Fritz Lang's 1927 cinematic masterpiece METROPOLIS is arguably one of the best and most influential films EVER made...or at least the best and most influential SILENT film ever made. As a work of cinematic art or literature, it actually functions on two levels. First, it is an expressionistic cautionary comment on the dehumanizing effects of a mechanized high-tech society, as well as a not-so-subtle jab at the imbalanced social stratification that results from unfettered capitalism. And secondly, it is one of the first speculative science-fiction movies, offering interesting--and in some cases, prophetic--glimpses into a potential future that offers technological advances such as common commercial flight, video-telephones, mechanical prosthetics, electronic computers, robotics, and much more. The groundbreaking special FX and film techniques created for and used in METROPOLIS have left an indelible imprint on the SF and horror genres, influencing filmmakers from James Whale to George Lucas and beyond. Indeed, the special FX seen in the robot-creation scene in METROPOLIS are obviously updated and reinterpreted in the creation scene in Whale's 1931 classic FRANKENSTEIN, and George Lucas has publicly admitted that he was inspired to create his STAR WARS character C3P0 after being awed by the robot character in Lang's film. As for the plot of METROPOLIS, it is set in the year 2026 and revolves around a slice from the life of young and handsome Freder Fredersen. Freder is the only offspring of the wealthy politician and businessman who governs the city-state of Metropolis, and as such, he lives a fairly privileged and carefree existence. But after a happenstance encounter with the beautiful peasant Maria--she a messiah of sorts who preaches a message of peace and hope to the lower classes--Freder follows her into the bowels of Metropolis and quickly learns firsthand the true plight of his city's enslaved working class. With this newfound social awareness, he is ashamed of the selfish excesses his class obtains on the backs of others, and he resolves to help Maria free her people from a life of perpetual toil and make Metropolis a place where all can share in both the labor AND the fruits therefrom. Some contemporary audiences eschew METROPOLIS with claims that it is dated and too naive in its worldview. While the decades since the film's creation have certainly revealed its simple socialist philosophy be both naive AND impractical, it actually isn't all that different from the feel-good subtext of many of today's films. And there is no cogent grounds for regarding METROPOLIS to be dated or passé, as the narrative is strong, the acting is good (relative to the silent cinema), and most--if not all--of the special FX remain aesthetically powerful and stand strong against even some of Hollywood's modern and lavish CGI FX. The definitive version of METROPOLIS--at least for the English-speaking audience--is the Restored Authorized Edition from Kino International. Not only is the image clear, sharp, and relatively clean, but at the points in the film where long-lost segments belong, intertitles are inserted that summarize those missing pieces. So even though the full visual beauty of the work isn't restored, the logicality of the narrative is. This is as close to the original as audiences are likely to get, and it is breathtakingly wonderful. There are some bonus extras on the disc, too, but just having the "complete" masterpiece is worth the cost. A must-see, nay, a MUST-OWN for both science-fiction fans and serious students of the cinema.
Rating:
Summary: As good as it gets
Review: All previous releases of "Metropolis" are going to seem remarkably grungy compared to this one. Kino Video, Transit Film, the Murnau Foundation, and a small army of dedicated people have put a great deal of work and care into producing the most complete version of "Metropolis" that anyone has seen since its premiere. Although about a quarter of the footage is still missing, the new restoration restores not only the surviving footage but a great deal of the story line as well. We learn (among many other things) why the Robot is female, why 'she' tries to destroy the city, and why Rotwang appears to go mad toward the end of the film; secondary characters like Josephat, 11811, and 'Slim' are fleshed out, and Alfred Abel's character Joh Fredersen is given much more depth. The picture quality is now comparable to that of a well-preserved '40s or '50s sound film; some of the effects scenes were entirely reconstructed from the original optical elements, and unobtrusive intertitles have been added to fill us in on parts of the film for which the footage has been lost. The soundtrack is the original orchestral score-- something for which I am extremely grateful. There have been several releases of "Metropolis" with soundtracks that had nothing to do with the film (random selections of old foxtrots or classical music)-- the original score holds the film together in a way that I've never experienced before. This is now a movie! The DVD contains some nice extras; production and advertising art, two featurettes ("The Metropolis Case" and "The Restoration"), and various bits of background info. There is also an audio commentary by Enno Patalas, which is both informative and insightful and makes many relevant references to Thea von Harbou's original novel. In short: if you want a copy of "Metropolis", this is the one to get.
Rating:
Summary: Best movie by a Jewish director ever!
Review: Fritz Lang was indeed Jewish by his mother. I had seen many previous videotape and DVD versions of Metropolis but this longer version beats them all hands down. It's like I'd never seen this film before as so much new (to me) was in this version. Including more fleshing out scenes of the privelaged, rich class of which Freder is a member of. To the poster named Jeff, M was made by Lang while he was still in Germany. I sure look forward to seeing other silent Lang films anbd even longer versions of Metropolis in the future. Buy it today!
Rating:
Summary: THE science fiction experience
Review: It's tough to argue that Fritz Lang's 1926 classic "Metropolis" is anything but a cinematic masterpiece. Lang, a master of what critics have since labeled German Expressionism, had an illustrious career in the movie making business in Germany as well as the United States. He came over here to escape the rise of the National Socialists in 1933. Once in Hollywood, he continued to make memorable films such as "M," a movie about a killer based loosely on the monstrous German murderer Peter Kurten. Lang made films well into the 1960s, although none had quite the impact of this silent movie classic. For years, you couldn't see a decent version of "Metropolis." The film is so old that it has fallen into the realm of public domain property, which virtually assured that every fast buck artist on the fringes of the movie business would release a smudgy, hacked up version of the movie. Thanks to the Murnau Foundation, a film restoration project devoted to restoring early twentieth century films, we can now see "Metropolis" in a form closer to the original. It's not perfect, not by a long shot, since a significant portion of the movie has disappeared, but what we do get looks fantastic. I watched a restored version of "Nosferatu" recently and it couldn't compare to how "Metropolis" looked. "Metropolis" takes place in a bleak futuristic city of rigidly defined social classes. The haves, presided over by powerful industrialist Freder Fredersen and his son Joh, live in the highest buildings from which they run the bustling city. Unfortunate souls, which include just about everyone else, live underground in huge apartment type dwellings. This keeps the workers close to the huge machinery that runs the city's various industries and buildings. It also keeps the proletariats confined in easily controlled and policed areas. Life basically stinks for the workers in Metropolis, where their existence consists of endless and dreary work shifts with little time left over for amusement. Moreover, the work is extremely dangerous and demanding. It isn't unusual at all to see the machines chewing up laborers whose attention strays from their tasks for a few seconds. If this description makes you think of Marx, communism, socialism, or class struggle, you're on the right track. The movie was made during a time when these issues dominated the thoughts of millions of people around the world. "Metropolis" is the sort of movie Upton Sinclair or Jack London might have made had they been filmmakers instead of writers. The social situation in Metropolis is about to change. As Joh Frederson basks in the luxurious surroundings of a massive club built for the city's affluent youngsters, he catches sight of a beautiful prole named Maria who accidentally leads a group of workers' children up to the top of the building. She quickly apologizes for straying from her assigned areas, and in the process calls Joh "brother." Intrigued, the rich youth begins to search for this lovely vision despite the strict oversight of his demanding father. Joh wanders into the byzantine depths of the city, switching his identity with a worker and even toiling away at a wearisome task. Meanwhile, up in the Fredersen control center, Joh's father meets with a scientist named Rotwang to discuss the turmoil going on down in the worker areas. This technician is responsible for most of the mechanical innovations of the city, and he's planning a special treat for the clueless workers. The leader of a movement to destroy the plutocracy just happens to be the beautiful young girl Joh is seeking out; so the crazed scientist builds a robot that looks just like her. He programs this machine to mislead the dissident workers, thus insuring the plutocrats will continue to rule. Things don't quite work out the way the oligarchy plans, however, when Joh uncovers the plot and attempts to bring the two groups of humans together. There's more to the story than this description. A subplot about Joh's deceased mother factors into the activities of the scientist and his father, for example, but the theme of class warfare dominates every frame of the movie. You'll probably spend more time staring in wonder at the world Lang and his compatriots constructed than you will analyzing a plot that has the subtlety of a sledgehammer to the stomach. The city is an amazing triumph of model mock-ups and painted backgrounds. Planes soar between skyscrapers, cars and trains whiz along suspended tracks, and lights and giant neon screens twinkle and flash. Forget CGI effects; while this movie was made eighty plus years ago, the special effects work is so spectacular that you'll hardly believe they could convincingly pull this off. The great effects extend to the machines and underground scenes, especially in a scene where a huge piece of equipment turns into "Moloch," a living, breathing beast capable of swallowing up whole ranks of hapless workers. "Metropolis" served as an early example, if not the only earliest example, of what cinema could really do. I see it as a precursor to the effects laden films of today. That it took sixty to seventy years to match the intensity of this work speaks well of Lang's visionary prowess as a filmmaker. The DVD contains a plethora of exciting extras. You get a detailed biography of Lang's career, the obligatory commentary track by a film historian, stills, a facts and date feature, a short documentary outlining Lang's career, the film's history, and German Expressionism called "The Metropolis Case," and a restoration featurette. The documentary is quite intriguing, showing how Lang and his crew constructed the special effects for the film. I usually avoid most DVD extras, but I made an exception in the case of "Metropolis." All fans of science fiction and effects heavy films owe a huge debt of gratitude to Fritz Lang. Watch "Metropolis" as soon as you can.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant Movie that Inspired Many
Review: Metropolis was directed by Fritz Lang and, as a black and white silent film from 1927, had HUGE impacts on filmmakers for decades to come. The tale was of a large city with two classes. There was the elite class that lived above ground, enjoying the fresh air and gardens. Then there was the working class that lived in tightly-packed apartment buildings below ground. You can find this same theme in hundreds of movies afterwards that were influenced by Metropolis. What's amazing is that the movie was lost for pretty much the entire time between its release and 2003. Viewers in those years had to make do with bits and pieces of the movie, often with giant gaps in the storyline. This re-release is the result of years of work, where film historians painstakingly went through all sources they could find and cobbled together a version complete with storyboards where gaps were large. For the first time in almost 80 years, viewers can get a sense of what the original story was all about. The musical score is great, and the storyline is classic. The young man of the elite class falls in love with the young worker woman. There is great strife as the boy's family tries to keep them apart and keep the workers down. The workers believe in prophecies that say they will find a way out of their desolation. The elite believe that their 'golden rule' will last forever. In the middle, a mad scientist believes he has created a robotic woman to keep him happy without any need of human interaction. There are some minor gripes even with this restored version - the motion is often speeded up, when all notes of the original story indicate that the director deliberately made scenes go slowly to give them importance. This is a German movie, but everything has been done in English so you can't really appreciate its true roots. But even so, this is a stellar achievement and one that can be built on going forward. Kudos so the restoration team!
Rating:
Summary: Helps you understand the story better
Review: Like most people, I've seen poorly edited versions of this film with poor visibility. This one, while not complete, gives you a better understanding of the story than most versions. However, indications from this film are that the original version contained too many confusing subplots and bogged down the tale. In either case, this is clearly the best version of Metropolis I've seen. Both firstime viewers and fans of the film are in for a revelation.
Rating:
Summary: So, You Think Your Job Stinks...
Review: Have you ever just wanted to quit your job, due to it's monotony, misery, or drudgery? Well, come to METROPOLIS and see what it's all about! See the fun-loving upper class, frolicking their days away, running through eternal gardens, complete with peacocks and babes in funny clothes! Then, travel deep below ground to where the workers toil their days away, slaving over titanic machines that suck the life right out of their bodies and putrify their souls! Sound like your job? Thankfully, Maria is there to comfort the workers and give them hope of future deliverance at the hands of a great "mediator". Freder, the son of METROPOLIS' top dog and despotic ruler, is mesmerized by Maria and falls in love with her. This leads to problems since she's such a trouble-maker! Frader's dad goes to his mad scientist, Rotwang to check on his latest creation, a robot with very feminine curves. The two evil minds decide to turn the robot into a Maria-double, a wicked doppelgangar, which will destroy her image in the minds of the workers. Unfortunately for dad, Rotwang has ideas of his own and sends his mecha-Maria on a mission to incite the working class to bring down the machines upon which their very lives depend. This will bring METROPOLIS to the ground and ruin Freder sr. (dad) in the process. METROPOLIS is amazing for 1927. The robot scenes are almost supernatural in their effect. The portrayal of the workers as plodding, hopeless drones is unforgettable. Brigitte Helm pulls off her dual role as good Maria / evil Maria with ease and believability. She is modest and virginal one minute, then wanton and sly the next! The city scape and lower levels of the workers' world are surreal. Fritz Lang made a true masterpiece. This is one of a handful of movies that everyone should see at least once before they die...
Rating: 
Summary: DVD non-functional.
Review: Currently (review the date of this post), I ordered this DVD, and it was defective. It would not play past Chapter 24 (audio would sometimes work, but the video was black or completely distorted). Amazon shipped a replacement, but, the second DVD had the same defect. I tried it on several different players, including dvd players and computer players, with similiar issues.
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