faulty version...

I bought a copy of this film, but was disappointed to find that I couldn't watch past chapter 22-23; the image wouldn't play, no matter what I did. So I bought another. Same problem. There's a line across the top of the DVD, so there's likely something wrong with it. I'm not sure if this is a problem with every disc, but I bought 2 faulty ones. I hope yours isn't messed up too. The movie is 5 stars, but I give it 1 star since I couldn't finish the film due to technical problems - there is no excuse for this.

The only version you should consider viewing or buying

I have probably seen Metropolis in every version available starting 25 years ago. I've seen it with no music, rock music, disco music and now with the original score. The Kino Metropolis is by far the most complete, most viewable version of the film. The film itself is by no means perfect, to modern viewers the ending may seem simplistic and unprobable. It has to be put in the context of the era it was filmed. Communist ideology had currency and philosophers like Spengler where debating the effects of machinery and science on humanity. Metropolis is a science fiction film but it's also a political statement favoring a christian and humanistic resolution to the raging conflicts between the capitalist magnates and the industrial workers in 1920's Germany.

So why I like this film so much? Same as most people, I find it groundbreaking, visually and esthetically beautiful, with great mob scenes ect... but let me just make a couple of points. First of all ... Brigitte Helm... has there ever been any bigger, bluer, crystalline, hypnotic eyes in film than the eyes of Brigitte Helm? I don't think so, even when she is doing that silly dance scene you cannot take your eyes off her. In short she is HOT. Second, the robot of Metropolis has become iconic. From the Ultraman series to C3P0 in Star Wars the design and beauty of the Metropolis robot is yet to be surpassed.

One final point about this version. The restored original score is surprisingly good. I particularly liked the machine room music leading to the Moloch scene. It truly enhances the film. This DVD is a must for movie aficionados and it cannot be recommended highly enough.

Die Mensch-Maschine

Fritz Lang's "Metropolis" is a revolutionary work in the cinematic medium and is considered by many to be the first film of the science fiction genre. When released in 1927, it stood in stark contrast with American standards of filmmaking, which were mostly shot in open outdoor areas. Rather than imitate nature, "Metropolis" consciously rejected it, with some of the most elaborate and complicated structures ever designed for a motion picture. In doing so, Lang embraced the modernism of his era, in which mass industry continued to widen the gap between classes. The films construction of the `man-machine' was an appropriate reflection on the times as well. As technology was becoming something which people were growing increasingly dependant upon, the worker was transforming into an extension of the machines in which he or she used. This mechanization and overall feeling of loss in ones own humanity is exemplified by the film's opening shots where the workers switch shifts and operate machinery in a robotic and calculated manner.

"Metropolis" is often criticized for being overly exaggerated. People need to take into account when the film was made and the specific context it holds within that particular time period. Obviously, certain aspects of a work made so long ago may seem awkward to many, when it is being judged according to recent expectations. Perhaps one of Lang's most amazing achievements lies in how well so much of the material has withstood the test of time and how incredible of an achievement it was back in 1927. I would further argue that the films expressionism is actually the glue that holds it together. Whether from the larger-than-life sets constructed in the Babelsburg films studios, to the fictional technology used to construct the `man-machine', the films expressionistic techniques have ultimately heightened the work and helped in making it the artistic achievement and critical success which it has come to be regarded as.