Metropolis (RECONSTRUCTED & RESTORED) (BLU-RAY) [1927]

I had previously only ever seen short extracts of the film on television over the years (from the severely cut Paramount version made for the US) and accordingly had a completely distorted view of its content, assuming it to be an uncritical semi-documentary homage to modernism whereas it provides rather a warning of the dangers of a society in which the head (capitalism) and the hand (labour) lack a mediator (the human heart). This mediation is, at the end of the film, rather naively provided by Freder, the formerly idle son of the arch capitalist Joh Frederson, who has encountered the workers in their subterranean city and falls for their spokeswoman, Maria. Nor is there any shade of irony when the true representative of labour in this denouement is seen to be one Grot, Joh Frederson's erstwhile informer in the workers' city. However, the set designs for the city of the future are wonderfully imaginative and the special effects seem quite marvellous for the time, most of all in the scene where the feminine robot created by the evil inventor, Rotwang, is animated with the spirit of the captured Maria. Best of all is the expressionistic acting, which conveys the drama of the silent film extremely well, with only a minimum use of intertitles. although it can look rather comical at times to a present day viewer. The film itself is often of remarkably good restored quality with only a relatively few grainy, damaged parts derived from the full print discovered in Buenos Aires which was itself a print of the original and thus bore the indelible, unrestorable, scars of the damaged original but which enabled the restorers to reintroduce the Paramount cuts. (This is explained fully in the very good documentary footage that also comes with this package.) I would recommend this film to anyone who enjoys watching 1920s cinema and especially to anyone who has my originally mistaken view of what Metropolis was all about.

I really recommend this as it is a great deal, and brilliant version of the film. The casing is nice, and the 50 page booklet has some nice information in it for those who are interested in the film. The new audio, and restoration looks and sounds fantastic. Thoughts on film: When watching Lang's Masterpiece, you are witnessing an audacious, ambitious and incredible feat of filmmaking, with incredible collaboration and passion for the art. Full of impressive sets, German expressionism and a story crying for utopia, Lang's efforts alongside the production cast & crew have not went unappreciated. For cinephiles and moviegoers of today it is an exciting film that is personally one of my favourite Sci-Fi movies, and movies in general.

The one star reviews for this are priceless. One person that couldn’t grasp the fact that, back in the day, movies were silent🤣. This film is so far ahead of its time. It’s a timeless tale of love, corruption, war and peace. Yes the found footage looks bad. The reason it looks so bad is because it was found in a ruined condition. So glad it’s in there, as this makes it the complete film as it was intended to be. So thankful I have lived to see this version.

A Rare and precious find, at least for old film fans like me. Ever since I saw Metropolis when I was a young lad, many years ago I knew it was an important film and wanted to know all about it. Principally because the released version seemed to jump around between key scenes I knew something was missing, I had no idea it was about half of the finished film. When I saw the Morodor version I realised some of the missing bits had been restored and the new sound track was interesting, then I learnt about the Argentina find and knew I had to see the finished masterwork, It has taken me over 60 years from first seeing it to owning the complete film, playing it on my BlueRay and seeing it on a 56 inch UHD screen was awesome even if my grandson thought I was nuts, he liked the robot though.

I cannot believe what I did...went out and bought a region free blu-ray player to watch Eureka's METROPOLIS on blu-ray Metropolis [Reconstructed & Restored] (Masters of Cinema) Limited Edition Dual Format...

Although when released this was not a major hit, it has become one of the most influential movies of all time. Visually stunning and innovative it is still relavant almost 100 years after it was made.

I've just seen one of the London special event screenings and what I saw is what you will get in the can or box. It's good to have the narrative restored to full comprehension; it's been a long time in the dark. I speak as someone who has followed the films fortunes for nearly forty years, initially seeing it in the most truncated, incomprehensible and appalling quality Super8 home movie version. Throughout the years there have been many and varied other versions. It was thrilling, it was amazing and it was a little disappointing. In an interview Lang once said 'Why do you ask me about a film the doesn't exist anymore?' Well sadly, it still doesn't quite exist. Unless you are happy with images of the quality of that Super8 film. We have already seen the 2001 Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Stiftung restoration, brought to us by the excellent Masters of Cinema Series #8, which boasted great picture quality and the most complete and authentic version ever. The missing material being represented by explanatory captions and if memory serves, some still images. I thought it was wonderful, not only did it restore the sense of narrative at last, it looked stunning as well. It is in the nature of silent film that the visual experience involves the inter-titles, so the reconstruction of the missing scenes with explanatory captions is entirely in sympathy with the original aesthetic. As such I believe it is a very successful version, maintaining a visual and narrative cohesion that enhances the viewing experience. Now I come to this latest and one supposes final restoration which makes use of the 16mm material found in Buenos Aires. What we have is the 2001 restoration with the re-found footage cut in to replace the afore mentioned explanatory captions and more. This re-found footage is in a very poor condition and whatever restoration work has taken place it has only achieved images that are hugely inferior to the existing material. The Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Stiftung have chosen to present the new material, which has a smaller frame size, by dropping it into the bottom right corner of the larger frame, as it were . This leaves a black border to the top and left of frame while the material is on screen. This asymmetry was not to my liking, I would have preferred the re-found material to be centred. In my opinion, this asymmetry combined with the inferior quality of the image has a substantial effect on the visual cohesion of the film. I felt this more in the latter stages than at the beginning, although it's strikingly obvious that it can never be assimilated into the whole. Incidentally, there are still one or two very brief moments where the image is still missing and the captions or black leader are retained to fill the gap. For me, the re-found footage is most successful where it restores whole sequences and missing story-lines, such as that of the Thin Man. Unfortunately, shots were missing from throughout the films length and wherever the re-found material is inserted the result is a jarring juxtaposition between it and the full frame full quality original. So, although Lang's masterful editing scheme is restored along with the correct duration, the visual aesthetic is greatly compromised and not particularly attractive. The result is rather an academic exercise. I enjoyed the screening very much and I will also enjoy having this new version on disc. But while it's important to have this incredible reconstruction I can't help thinking that I may turn to the previous restoration just as often when choosing to watch the film at home. Perhaps the new version will work well on TV. Update 07 01 2011: The Dual Edition Steel Box is a very fine package. The case is the same size as a normal Blu-ray and is printed with the Metropolis poster image. It contains two discs and a small format booklet which looks very attractive but the text is coloured which isn't ideal when ones eyesight is not what it once was! Both discs have a new documentary about the re-found footage, but the various extra features of the MoC #8 package have not been included on this release.

I have been a fan of This iconic slice of silent cinema for many years and own multiple version of it, so when I heard about this latest edition I knew I had to own it. This edition of Metropolis contains the (almost) fully restored version from 2010 and the often derided 1984 version presented by Giorgio Moroder. This was the first version I ever saw and as such holds a special place in my heart and I am very happy to see it released alongside the more authentic version of Metropolis Also on this collection are a number of documentaries. "Die Reise nach Metropolis" (Journey to Metropolis) which, in it's own words, charts the lineage of the film, "Metropolis Refound", which is about the discovery of the uncut print in Argentina and "The Fading Image", a short documentary by Moroder about the need to preserve film history. all of these documentaries I found fascinating and informative, especially for those with an interest in film history. the collection also includes an audio commentary on the 2010 version and a trailer for the same. My only negative comment has to be I would have liked the full Argentine print to be included as it has many scenes shot from a different angle, or re shot entirely. This has to be an essential purchase to any fan of science fiction, silent film or film history in general