Metropolis (Restored Authorized Edition)

Rating:
Summary: AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!
Review: Wow, what can I say. This movie is part Rock Video, Part Art, Part Social Commentary. This is my first induction to silent films and I think I'm hooked. Silent cinnema forces you to concentrate on images. And what images. Unforgettable scenes that you will come back to your mind again and again. The music for this release was made from the original musical score, but performed by a modern orchestra. POWERFUL!! Music is such an important part of silent cinnema and this music delivers. The story is billed as being difficult to understand, but to me it screamed pre WWII fascination with Communisim. It basically a story about the oppresion of the worker by the rich and lazy. Well done.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful transfer of Lang's classic
Review: Kino's transfer of "Metropolis" is absolutely gorgeous. Aside from a few scenes here and there (together with the caveat that entire sections of the film have been lost forever), the images are pristine. Sure, choosing to include the original German intertitles would have made for a nice feature, but their absence is more than compensated by the success of the restoration.

As for the film itself, "Metropolis" absolutely deserves to be watched. "Metropolis" is my least favorite of the Lang films I've seen -- and yet its brilliance makes it an important addition to the collection of any serious film buff. Its photography is beautiful, its actors are convincing, its sets are ornate, and its story is interesting -- particularly viewed within the proper historical context. The message behind "Metropolis" is decidedly social democratic / democratic socialist: the slave-workers are forced to toil beneath a nightmarish urban landscape to preserve the luxiorous existence of the opulent few who live in a utopic garden-community in the sky, utterly shielded from the misery their existence inflicts on others. Obviously, an indictment of capitalism, at least as it existed in the industrialized world (e.g., Germany) in the early part of the twentieth century. Along comes Maria, a beautiful peasant woman who inspires the workers with hope by arguing for nonviolent resistance and reconciliation with the capitalist class, and that a mediator is needed to bridge the divide. That mediator turns out to be young Freder, son of capitalist Fredersen, who sympathizes with the plight of the slave-workers and quickly falls in love with Maria. To subvert the nascent labor movement, Freder's father, who learns of the plan, convinces a talented inventor to create a Maria-like android, who incites the workers to violence -- providing the capitalists with a pretext for crushing the workers through force. Clearly, Lang is suggesting that advocates of anti-capitalist violence (e.g., the Communists) serve the interests of the capitalists.

Why is this expressionistic masterpiece my least favorite Lang film? The reasons are hard to pinpoint, but "Metropolis" has a vague "Hollywood"-feel, which I regard as unfortunate. More importantly, the ending is overly sentimental. If a person could own only one Lang film, "M" or "Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler" would certainly be the better choice. But who would want to live in a world that prohibited people from owning more than one of Lang's films?

Rating:
Summary: Masterpiece
Review: This version of "Metropolis" is one of those rare films that justifies the DVD format. Beyond the basic slick movies churned out by Hollywood today that are designed with DVD release in mind, the format has had the potential to take movies like this and make them great again. Unfortunately, that is rarely taken advantage of; this is one of the exceptions to that rule.

I bought this DVD a few years back when it was $40. It was worth it then, and it's definitely worth it now that the price has almost dropped to half. This is the closest anyone has come to restoring the film- large portions being lost shortly after the intial showings- and the effort comes off very well. The missing scenes are described by title cards which are designed to be as identical as possible to the original title cards over the original soundtrack, and the extant parts of the film are generally crisp and clear, particularly given the extraordinary age of the film.

This film is certainly not for everyone- it's extremely long and it's a silent film. Moreover, the innovative and sweeping plot can come across as trite or canned now, since viewers can forget that cinematic cliches were at one point novel. However, if you are interested in a hugely influential film, then for your money you will not do much better than this version of "Metropolis."

Rating:
Summary: without words
Review: This is a silent film, with music and blurbs of dialoge interspersed throughout the movie. It is the most perfect movie I have ever seen. I just bought the remastered authorized dvd and watched it, I was mesmerizeded. The acting, done by actors who are probably long dead by now are perfection incarnate. So much to say with their faces and gestures who needs words. It is so sad that today's movies with all the computer generated explosions, designer clothes, over-rated, overpaid "actors" who are only famous because their parents were big stars and have little to no "talent" (and aren't even good looking), even with all the technology available in Hollywood they could not produce a film as perfect as Metropolis. I'm so glad I bought this dvd.

Rating:
Summary: Fritz Lang's Metropolis
Review: An absolute must for anyone with even a passing interest in film or film history. The restoration of the main feature is brilliant and while some of the original footage has been lost and therefore not able to be included in the programme, the manner in which the remastering has been handled to cover the 'missing' footage is superb - leaving the viewer with a complete picture of the whole movie. Enough to say the subject matter of Metropolis is as relevant today as when Lang made it. The 'extras' on the DVD with the history of this movie and the details of how the special effects were made are staggering. The brief history of German cinematography between 1925 and when Hitler came to power is well worth the value of the whole package. I would rate this as a 10 out of 10 purchase.
Phenella