Metropolis (1927) - Blu-ray Forum

kylor · 12-03-2017, 05:14 PM

I could not find any thread on this, so here it is.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolis_(1927_film)

I never thought I could enjoy an old movie - particularly one without spoken words and also black & white! But Metropolis has converted me.

I went into watching this movie with low expectations, but I was blown away from start to finish. The effects for the movie for its time is amazing, and even the accompanying music is a wonderful masterpiece, filled with joy, despair and sadness. The characters were great, I loved the recurring gimmicks with some of the characters, notably Josaphat.

The Father/Son/Dead mother/Rival relationships are handled rather subtle at first, but each one seems to pay off, at least in my view. However, the character that stole the entire show was Maria and the Metrobot (Brigitte Helm). Not only for her perfomance as the robot, but as the biblical character she is portrayed as, having the legends become real, and looking visually accurate! The tones given off by Brigitte Helm's creepy robotic performance combined with the seriousness of the destruction she has caused, along with the soundtrack is simply mesmerizing. The rest of the cast helps a ton to elevate the others.

I also love how the movie carries along important messages. For example - sometimes your heart must make choices, not only your mind and hands. I also liked how the movie is a moral re-representation of the Tower of Babel. The movie also accurately showed how easily a society can crumble with only words - and indulging in sins brings only death.

This movie has to be one of the best I have seen in a long time in terms of storytelling, soundtrack and cast! Despite it not aging so well (missing scenes, restored scenes etc) it gets a straight 10/10 for me.

What are your thoughts on the movie?

Haven't seen it? WATCH IT!

CyberpunkCentral · 12-03-2017, 05:18 PM

Radio Ga Ga!

dallywhitty · 12-03-2017, 05:20 PM

I love Metropolis. Pretty generic opinion, but it's my favourite silent film. Beautiful and operatic.

steel_breeze · 12-03-2017, 06:21 PM

Absolutely a timeless classic; an essential part of my "film history" collection -- and a fantastic blu-ray from KINO, minus a few "frozen grain" issues. METROPOLIS is so influential on later sci-fi flicks like STAR WARS and BLADE RUNNER, and the eccentric Giorgio Moroder re-release in 1984 (scored with pop music and heavily tinted) helped to spearhead the whole "film restoration" movement.

Interestingly, Karl Freund (the cinematographer of METROPOLIS) would to on to shoot the 1931 DRACULA and then become a pioneer of multi-camera television production as the director of photography on I LOVE LUCY!

Worship.my.wreck · 12-03-2017, 07:03 PM

I seriously have to give this another watch at some point. I saw this in a film class I took my senior year in high school, and I found it incredibly boring and fell asleep through most of it. But since my taste in films have changed and I've grown to appreciate all kinds of films sure I'll enjoy this one.

Ray Jackson · 12-03-2017, 07:24 PM

Not a big fan of silent pictures in general.

A lot of times they almost look like recorded plays.

But Metropolis has some very cool production design--some neat images.

I have a framed Metropolis poster hanging in my bedroom.

Where the magic happens.

Mikezilla3k · 06-13-2019, 03:31 AM

Which Blu-Ray release is the best? Also, are they're multiple scores and if so, which one's the best?

drush9999 · 06-13-2019, 06:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mikezilla3k

Which Blu-Ray release is the best? Also, are they're multiple scores and if so, which one's the best?

Think the Masters of Cinema Blu-ray is the best for the most complete version as it has accurate German intertitles (with English subs), where as the Kino has them in English. Both have the score originally composed for the movie back in 1927.
If you want the short Moroder rock version, I believe Kino released it.

Spirit Zero · 06-13-2019, 06:35 AM

A bit long but awesome effects for the time that still look great today.

Dragon78 · 06-13-2019, 11:17 AM

One of these days I need to get around to seeing this one.

Martoto · 06-13-2019, 11:28 AM

drush9999 · 06-13-2019, 11:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dragon78

One of these days I need to get around to seeing this one.

I envy people that have an almost complete version of Metropolis at their fingertips to watch for the first time

Zivouhr · 12-07-2023, 12:40 AM

Metropolis is an epic scale film with all of the cityscapes and workers in the film. At the 1 hour 40 minute mark, it really kicks into gear with the revolt against the machines. I can imagine it's symbolic of the worker being tired of working in a machine factory, where a lot of workers lost their lives, were injured, or suffered from the repetition of factory movements.

The remastered version looks way better than the VHS version I saw as a kid in school. Not sure if it's the same on every version, but the piano tunes playing with this silent Film with text subtitles, were interesting but did not match the onscreen events at all IMO, and hopefully was just something nostalgic to represent what they may have played to keep the audiences entertained with audible sounds. Having a dramatic musical score back then likely wasn't possible, considering movies were silent and had no audio understandably.

The film is definitely a tremendous effort in film historically. 1927 it was released in silent theaters. In only 3 years, it will be 100 years old from 2024 to 2027's 100th year.

And in 2024, humans are only at the very beginning of cinematic film history, yet there are literally millions of movies to watch in one's lifetime. What will films be like in 100 years, the year 2124? And 1000 years? In 3024?
What about films in 10,000 years? 12024?

12-03-2017, 05:14 PM	#1
kylor Blu-ray Prince Member since:Jul 2015 Location:The past.. or the future. 4K collection:696 Blu-ray collection:7101 DVD collection:620 MA collection:1030 Digital collection:2058 Trading Score:3	Metropolis (1927) I could not find any thread on this, so here it is. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolis_(1927_film) I never thought I could enjoy an old movie - particularly one without spoken words and also black & white! But Metropolis has converted me. I went into watching this movie with low expectations, but I was blown away from start to finish. The effects for the movie for its time is amazing, and even the accompanying music is a wonderful masterpiece, filled with joy, despair and sadness. The characters were great, I loved the recurring gimmicks with some of the characters, notably Josaphat. The Father/Son/Dead mother/Rival relationships are handled rather subtle at first, but each one seems to pay off, at least in my view. However, the character that stole the entire show was Maria and the Metrobot (Brigitte Helm). Not only for her perfomance as the robot, but as the biblical character she is portrayed as, having the legends become real, and looking visually accurate! The tones given off by Brigitte Helm's creepy robotic performance combined with the seriousness of the destruction she has caused, along with the soundtrack is simply mesmerizing. The rest of the cast helps a ton to elevate the others. I also love how the movie carries along important messages. For example - sometimes your heart must make choices, not only your mind and hands. I also liked how the movie is a moral re-representation of the Tower of Babel. The movie also accurately showed how easily a society can crumble with only words - and indulging in sins brings only death. This movie has to be one of the best I have seen in a long time in terms of storytelling, soundtrack and cast! Despite it not aging so well (missing scenes, restored scenes etc) it gets a straight 10/10 for me. What are your thoughts on the movie? Haven't seen it? WATCH IT! Last edited by kylor; 12-03-2017 at 05:23 PM.

12-03-2017, 05:18 PM	#2
CyberpunkCentral Banned Member since:Apr 2009 Blu-ray reviews:6	Radio Ga Ga!

12-03-2017, 05:20 PM	#3
dallywhitty Blu-ray Grand Duke Top contributor Member since:Aug 2009 Location:Temple of Isis 4K collection:319 Blu-ray collection:1679 DVD collection:178	I love Metropolis. Pretty generic opinion, but it's my favourite silent film. Beautiful and operatic.

12-03-2017, 06:21 PM	#4
steel_breeze Blu-ray Samurai Member since:Feb 2012 Location:Los Angeles 4K collection:72 Blu-ray collection:256	Absolutely a timeless classic; an essential part of my "film history" collection -- and a fantastic blu-ray from KINO, minus a few "frozen grain" issues. METROPOLIS is so influential on later sci-fi flicks like STAR WARS and BLADE RUNNER, and the eccentric Giorgio Moroder re-release in 1984 (scored with pop music and heavily tinted) helped to spearhead the whole "film restoration" movement. Interestingly, Karl Freund (the cinematographer of METROPOLIS) would to on to shoot the 1931 DRACULA and then become a pioneer of multi-camera television production as the director of photography on I LOVE LUCY!

12-03-2017, 07:03 PM	#5
Worship.my.wreck Blu-ray Champion Member since:Apr 2016 4K collection:362 Blu-ray collection:2016 DVD collection:121	I seriously have to give this another watch at some point. I saw this in a film class I took my senior year in high school, and I found it incredibly boring and fell asleep through most of it. But since my taste in films have changed and I've grown to appreciate all kinds of films sure I'll enjoy this one.

12-03-2017, 07:24 PM	#6
Ray Jackson Blu-ray Duke Member since:Apr 2013 Location:The dark underbelly of Anytown, USA 4K collection:102 Blu-ray collection:455 DVD collection:9 Digital collection:74 Trading Score:183	Not a big fan of silent pictures in general. A lot of times they almost look like recorded plays. But Metropolis has some very cool production design--some neat images. I have a framed Metropolis poster hanging in my bedroom. Where the magic happens.

06-13-2019, 03:31 AM	#7
Mikezilla3k Blu-ray Prince Top contributor Member since:Feb 2019 Location:Richmond, CA 4K collection:19 Blu-ray collection:268 DVD collection:304 MA collection:56 Digital collection:19 Trading Score:2	Which Blu-Ray release is the best? Also, are they're multiple scores and if so, which one's the best?

06-13-2019, 06:35 AM	#9
Spirit Zero Banned Member since:Oct 2013 Location:UK Blu-ray collection:58 DVD collection:54	A bit long but awesome effects for the time that still look great today.

06-13-2019, 11:17 AM	#10
Dragon78 Blu-ray Ninja Member since:Jan 2019	One of these days I need to get around to seeing this one.

12-07-2023, 12:40 AM	#13
Zivouhr Blu-ray Grand Duke Member since:Dec 2011 Location:USA 4K collection:3 Blu-ray collection:127	Metropolis is an epic scale film with all of the cityscapes and workers in the film. At the 1 hour 40 minute mark, it really kicks into gear with the revolt against the machines. I can imagine it's symbolic of the worker being tired of working in a machine factory, where a lot of workers lost their lives, were injured, or suffered from the repetition of factory movements. The remastered version looks way better than the VHS version I saw as a kid in school. Not sure if it's the same on every version, but the piano tunes playing with this silent Film with text subtitles, were interesting but did not match the onscreen events at all IMO, and hopefully was just something nostalgic to represent what they may have played to keep the audiences entertained with audible sounds. Having a dramatic musical score back then likely wasn't possible, considering movies were silent and had no audio understandably. The film is definitely a tremendous effort in film historically. 1927 it was released in silent theaters. In only 3 years, it will be 100 years old from 2024 to 2027's 100th year. And in 2024, humans are only at the very beginning of cinematic film history, yet there are literally millions of movies to watch in one's lifetime. What will films be like in 100 years, the year 2124? And 1000 years? In 3024? What about films in 10,000 years? 12024?

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