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From Amazon.co.uk
Fritz Lang's Expressionistic masterwork continues to exert its influence today, from Chaplin's Modern Times (1936) to Dr Strangelove (1963), and into the late 1990s with Dark City (1998). In the stratified society of the future (Y2K no less), the son of a capitalist discovers the atrocious conditions of the factory slaves, falling in love with the charismatic Maria in the bargain, who preaches nonviolence to the workers. But even the benevolent leadership of Maria is a challenge to the privileged class, so they have the mad-scientist Rotwang concoct a robot double to take her place and incite the workers to riot. The story is melodrama, but it's the powerful imagery that is so memorable. One of the most arresting images has legions of cowed workers filing listlessly into the great maw of the all-consuming machine-god Moloch. Unfortunately, the print used for this DVD is unfocused, scratchy, and five minutes short, altogether unworthy of a visionary masterpiece. It may be too much to hope for the complete film to be restored (only two hours of the original three-hour film are extant), but a clean transfer from a fine-grain negative ought to be possible. And why, when there are other possible future Metropolises to be had, should we downtrodden masses accept this junk? --Jim Gay
Amazon.com Essential Video
Fritz Lang's Expressionistic masterwork continues to exert its influence today, from Chaplin's Modern Times to Dr. Strangelove, and into the late 1990s with Dark City. In the stratified society of the future (Y2K no less), the son of a capitalist discovers the atrocious conditions of the factory slaves, falling in love with the charismatic Maria in the bargain, who preaches nonviolence to the workers. But even the benevolent leadership of Maria is a challenge to the privileged class, so they have the mad-scientist Rotwang concoct a robot double to take her place and incite the workers to riot. The story is melodrama, but it's the powerful imagery that is so memorable. One of the most arresting images has legions of cowed workers filing listlessly into the great maw of the all-consuming machine-god Moloch. Unfortunately, the print used for this DVD is unfocused, scratchy, and five minutes short, altogether unworthy of a visionary masterpiece. It may be too much to hope for the complete film to be restored (only two hours of the original three-hour film are extant), but a clean transfer from a fine-grain negative ought to be possible. And why, when there are other possible future Metropolises to be had, should we downtrodden masses accept this junk? If anyone wonders what became of Moloch, now they can stop guessing; he's alive and well and making debased DVD versions such as this one. --Jim Gay
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent,
By
This review is from: The Complete Metropolis [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)
I am glad I bought this. I have seen numerous references to the work, but had never viewed it. It is worth the price.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
How about adding Descriptive Video Service for the blind?,
By
This review is from: The Complete Metropolis [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)
Even I think this movie is a great one to have even on blu ray. I think Descriptive Video Service for the visually impared sounds like a great idea. Even voice narration sounds terrific, even for Mel Brooks's Silent Movie.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.4 out of 5 stars (42 customer reviews) 41 of 46 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
The complete Metropolis,
By J. Rae - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Complete Metropolis [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)
This new 147-minute version includes an extra 25 minutes of footage, previously thought lost.The film benefits from being remastered in 1080p and has a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack. Extras include a 50-minute documentary on the making and restoration of the film and an interview with Paula Felix-Didier who is the curator of Museo del Cine, Buenos Aires, where the missing footage was discovered in 2008. The restoration took a year and returns the film to the original release version seen by German cinema-goers in 1927. This release comes in a Limited Edition Collectible 3-D Lenticuar Box Packaging. 16 of 16 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Finally, METROPOLIS makes sense and is now a true masterpiece,
By J. D. Heise "Printed matter enthusiast" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Complete Metropolis [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)
For years I have admired but not really liked this film. I think it is because there was no real "complete" version available. I thought Georgio Moroder deserved an "A" for effort (and a D- for his score) in putting together a longer version in the 80's, and Kino certainly deserves that grade for the most complete version that they put on video earlier in this decade. However, because about 30-40 minutes was still missing, it still was not a true masterpiece to me; a classic, yes, but not a masterpiece.When I heard about an almost complete version discovered in South America, I was very intrigued. but when I saw this version at the TCM Festival last spring, I was blown away by the power of the film and it finally made sense with so many little bits restored to the film. We are still missing a few minutes, but with the exception of Joh Fredersen and Rotwang having a good, old-fashioned fight, whatever is still missing can be lived with. This is an astounding film, and Kino's HD transfer is remarkable, to say the least. Image clarity ranks with their gorgeous copy of THE GENERAL, and even the battered found footage has been cleaned up enough to not take you out of the film when it appears. I wish the Alloy Orchestra score that I heard live was on this disc, but the Huppertz score is still quite good. If you are a classic film fan but still have a reluctant feeling towards silent films, this will make you a convert. Bravo to Kino! 15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
finally...,
By William Sommerwerck "grizzled geezer" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Complete Metropolis [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)
A few years back, Kino released a DVD of a restored version of "Metropolis", taken mostly from camera negatives. The image quality was outstanding -- sometimes even superlative, as if the film had been shot yesterday. Unfortunately, large chunks remained in limbo, and the plot -- such as it was -- still didn't make much sense. Nevertheless, that version was warmly welcomed, as most public domain editions looked as if they'd been buried in a manure pile before being run over by a dozen Panzer divisions.Since then, a 16mm reduction of the complete film was found in Argentina. Though horribly scratched (the transfer from 35mm was botched), we now have the complete film (except for two brief and unimportant scenes that had deteriorated beyond recovery). Even more important, a "censor's copy" of the complete intertitles was found. The latter (along with the manuscript of the film score) allowed the scenes to be correctly ordered, /and/ with the proper titles. The characters' motivations are now clear, and the story finally makes sense. Up to a point, of course. If one can accept sentient androids, one might accept Rotwang putting synthetic skin on the False Maria. And then there's the problem of the Heart Machine stopping and the subsequent inundation of the underground city. True, such a city would need continual pumping to keep out the water. But it doesn't just /leak/ back in -- it positively explodes. Regardless, "Metropolis" is now a genuinely entertaining film that holds one's attention from beginning to end. It has a number of iconic scenes -- most notably the "machine as Moloch" devouring its human "children", and Rotwang bringing the robot Maria "to life". Whether "Metropolis" is a "good" movie (in the absolute artistic sense) is beside the point. It's an influential classic, and anyone who loves movies should see "Metropolis" at least once. |
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