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.
Metropolis (1927)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:17
Fresh:17
Rotten:0
Average Rating:8.6/10
Consensus: A visually awe-inspiring science fiction classic from the silent era.
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
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Reviews for Metropolis
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.
The restoration eliminates nearly all the distracting cracks and splices and stabilizes images that were previously jittery, allowing us to admire them in all their complex glory.
After 75 years, Fritz Lang's Metropolis still stands as an icon of the silent era.
The eye-popping design and sense of scale remains as fresh and vital as it was in 1927.
A masterpiece of art direction, the movie has influenced our vision of the future ever since.
None of the film's many imitators has achieved something this immediately magnificent.
Trashy and glorious, the restored Metropolis is a pop epic for the ages.
The great thing is that despite the over-the-top acting, the makeup that doesn't know when to stop, the preciousness of so many of the compositions (Lang was nothing if not inventive), this is a great old movie-movie.
Far from a historical curio, Metropolis arrives, three-quarters of a century late, like an artifact from the future.
Catch it wherever and whenever it plays. It incarnates the idea of the Big City as a manifestation of modernism.
A movie whose graphic intelligence is exceeded only by its conceptual audacity.
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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