...isn't simply an industrial spectacle, however. Much of it is just plain weird.
Metropolis (1926)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted: 73
Fresh: 72
Rotten:1
Average Rating: 8.8/10
Consensus: A visually awe-inspiring science fiction classic from the silent era.
Runtime: 2 hrs 6 mins
Genre: Science-Fiction/Fantasy
Theatrical Release: Jul 12, 2002 Limited
Synopsis: METROPOLIS, a visionary and elaborate spectacle by director Fritz Lang is an epic projection of a futuristic city divided into a working and an elite class. Its exhilarating climax brings the city to its knees, as the classes clash against... METROPOLIS, a visionary and elaborate spectacle by director Fritz Lang is an epic projection of a futuristic city divided into a working and an elite class. Its exhilarating climax brings the city to its knees, as the classes clash against each other. In the 21st century, a de-humanized proletariat labors non-stop in a miserable subterranean city beneath a luxurious city of mile-high skyscrapers, flying automobiles, palatial architectural idylls, tubes and tunnels. With stunningly inventive special effects, Lang's allegorical narrative and architectural vision creates a highly stylized vision of a not-so-unlikely future (especially for 1926 when the film was made). As the elite frolic above the clouds, thousands of miserable workers toil night and day inside the belly of the gigantic machine that runs the entire city. Metropolis is controlled by a sinister authoritarian whose son, Freder, rejects his father's callous philosophy and attitude towards laborers. Meek though they are, the workers are encouraged by Maria, a wistful young woman who wills her comrades to embrace patience and silent strength. Upon discovering her influence upon the workers, a mad scientist kidnaps Maria and creates a robot in her image that will incite the workers to revolt. As Freder races against time to save Maria and curtail the damage done by her doppelganger robot, Metropolis is enveloped in chaos and the classes are brought together in a breathtaking and highly moralistic climax. [More]
Starring: Brigitte Helm, Alfred Abel, Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Gustav Frihlich
Starring: Brigitte Helm, Alfred Abel, Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Gustav Frihlich
Director: Fritz Lang
Director: Fritz Lang
Studio: Kino International
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Reviews for Metropolis
It's a masterpiece, but it's not a sane movie. It's gloriously bonkers.
Lang's impossibly vast skyscraper-ziggurats (inspired, it's said, by his first view of the Manhattan skyline) are the blueprint for nearly every science-fiction movie city of the past 30 years.
Stanley Kubrick, Ridley Scott, George Lucas and other socially concerned artists imagining the future are indebted to Lang.
A fantastical monument to Fritz Lang's megalomania, this sci-fi silent remains one of the gems of the genre.
The great Fritz Lang created this chilling 1926 evocation of a mechanized utopia run by underground slave labor.
The film looks fabulous, and Gottfried Huppertz's original score is another worthy addition.
Few movies of any era offer so much varied food for thought, cinematically and politically. Its new restoration is a major motion-picture event.
No director before (and not that many since) had worked so closely with cameramen and designers to achieve such dynamic visual and spatial effects.
An amalgam of strident political tract, religious hokum, futurist daydream, and fairy tale.
Hey, I think the Giorgio Moroder version of 'Metropolis' is great. Got a problem with that?
Though at times Teutonically tough-going, Fritz Lang’s German expressionist masterwork exerted a profound influence on art design and the science-fiction genre...
Surreal, sprawling, operatic, drawing on biblical and medieval imagery as well as H. G. Wells Lang's influential pulp allegory colonized a new realm of the imagination.
Cinema history doesn't get much more relevant than the original Metropolis, Fritz Lang's masterwork, a grandiose and jaw-dropping epic that would look impressive for 2004.
Latest News for Metropolis
July 03, 2008:
First Glimpses of Lost Metropolis Footage Surface ![]()
Hot on the heels of news that the original edit of Fritz Lang's Metropolis has been recovered, stills from lost portions of the film have started to hit the Web -- as well as... More...
December 11, 2007:
Thomas Schuhly and Mario Kassar Building New Metropolis
Two words: Metropolis remake. The duo is said to be "in negotiations with a number of top directors" for the project. More...
February 01, 2006:
SUNDANCE: A Filmmaker Makes His Pitch
Not everyone who comes to Sundance is a movie star, cinephile or studio head. Some, like filmmaker David Lindblom, are simply trying to get a project off the ground. More...
June 23, 2005:
Critical Consensus: Zombies and Witches and Cars, Oh My!
This week’s three wide releases have some things in common: they’re all updates of stuff we’ve seen before, and they all deal with the supernatural. Which will cast a spell over... More...
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