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Movies / On DVD / Metropolis
Metropolis

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Metropolis (1927)

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Reviews Counted:74

Fresh:73

Rotten:1

Average Rating:8.8/10

Consensus: A visually awe-inspiring science fiction classic from the silent era.

Rated: Not Rated

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... 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

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Jun 30, 1998

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for Metropolis

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1 - 20 (sorted by comments)
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A film way ahead of its time.

Full Review Source: Laramie Movie Scope | comment 6 Comments
09/16/02
Robert Roten
Robert Roten
Laramie Movie Scope

Far from a historical curio, Metropolis arrives, three-quarters of a century late, like an artifact from the future.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment 1 Comment
07/12/02
A.O. Scott
A.O. Scott
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

In its best moments, the film's mix of naivete and audacious imagination projects a primitive dream state -- a quality that more-knowing cinema of later decades could never achieve.

Full Review Source: Citysearch | comment Comment
07/12/02
Citysearch
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
08/24/02
Boston Phoenix

A flawed but fascinating masterpiece.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
05/30/07
Channel 4 Film

Changed the face of film. This movie was far, far ahead of its time.

comment Comment
06/13/03
Alex Sandell
Alex Sandell
Juicy Cerebellum

Catch it wherever and whenever it plays. It incarnates the idea of the Big City as a manifestation of modernism.

Full Review Source: New York Observer | comment Comment
07/11/02
Andrew Sarris
Andrew Sarris
New York Observer
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

a truly remarkable film... an odd amalgam of naivete and sophistication

Full Review Source: culturevulture.net | comment Comment
08/18/02
Arthur Lazere
Arthur Lazere
culturevulture.net

One of filmdom's major must-sees.

Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | comment Comment
11/14/02
Bob Longino
Bob Longino
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The story has lost none of its metaphorical punch.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Daily News | comment Comment
10/04/02
Bob Strauss
Bob Strauss
Los Angeles Daily News

Compelling prima facie evidence that the phrase 'black-and-white movie' needn’t at all be synonymous with 'boring night at my grandparents.'

Full Review Source: Entertainment Today | comment Comment
10/08/02
Brent Simon
Brent Simon
Entertainment Today

All in all, it's a very complex story for a silent film - and it still can hold an audience's attention for 2 hours, even after 75 years.

Full Review Source: TheMovieChicks.com | comment Comment
10/18/02
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone
TheMovieChicks.com

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.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
06/20/04
Christopher Null
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com

No review available.

comment Comment
10/11/02
Christopher Smith
Christopher Smith
Bangor Daily News (Maine)

High on the list of cinema's most eye-opening entertainments.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
07/11/02
Dale Thomajan
Dale Thomajan
TV Guide's Movie Guide

A great artist contains multitudes, and Lang packed a host of contradictory longings into a single allegory.

Full Review Source: Slate | comment Comment
09/19/02
David Edelstein
David Edelstein
Slate

The acting is campy, the airplanes quaint, but Metropolis defines fearful futurism.

Full Review Source: San Diego Union-Tribune | comment Comment
11/08/02
David Elliott
David Elliott
San Diego Union-Tribune

A haunting vision, with images that seem more like disturbing hallucinations.

Full Review Source: Cinemaphile.org | comment Comment
01/01/00
David Keyes
David Keyes
Cinemaphile.org

No review available.

comment Comment
07/26/02
David Poland
David Poland
Hot Button

Few movies of any era offer so much varied food for thought, cinematically and politically. Its new restoration is a major motion-picture event.

Full Review Source: Christian Science Monitor | comment Comment
04/19/07
David Sterritt
David Sterritt
Christian Science Monitor
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by comments)
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Latest News for Metropolis

July 03, 2008: First Glimpses of Lost Metropolis Footage Surface Opens in new window
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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