Over the years I have been watching increasingly longer versions of Metropolis as new footage has been found and put together in different releases. Finally, in 2010 almost the entire movie was released on DVD or Blu-Ray by KINO. And now that I've seen the complete film, I feel I'm able to do an accurate review.
* The complete Metropolis is one of the greatest movies ever made, silent or sound. Metropolis has a spectacular use of miniatures, impressive sets and special effects for its time. The original music score (in a new recording by KINO) is one of the best I've heard, fitting every mood. The complete story is interesting with its focus on class, the danger of oppression and anarchy. This complete version now has a back story which explains many of the motivations of the characters. There is also plenty of interesting symbolism in Metropolis including from the Bible and about the structure of society.
* But while the restoration of the movie has taken a tremendous leap forward, the new footage has only been partially restored. So, some sections have lots of lines from scratches. It is still watchable though. Hopefully more money will eventually be found to digitally improve the new images. (This kind of digital restoration costs over a million dollars per film so, it's going to take time.)
* But my review is about the movie itself. Now that Metropolis is almost complete, we clearly have a brilliant landmark in the history of film.
* The complete Metropolis is one of the greatest movies ever made, silent or sound. Metropolis has a spectacular use of miniatures, impressive sets and special effects for its time. The original music score (in a new recording by KINO) is one of the best I've heard, fitting every mood. The complete story is interesting with its focus on class, the danger of oppression and anarchy. This complete version now has a back story which explains many of the motivations of the characters. There is also plenty of interesting symbolism in Metropolis including from the Bible and about the structure of society.
* But while the restoration of the movie has taken a tremendous leap forward, the new footage has only been partially restored. So, some sections have lots of lines from scratches. It is still watchable though. Hopefully more money will eventually be found to digitally improve the new images. (This kind of digital restoration costs over a million dollars per film so, it's going to take time.)
* But my review is about the movie itself. Now that Metropolis is almost complete, we clearly have a brilliant landmark in the history of film.