Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Metropolis

This is topic Metropolis in forum Film Handlers' Movie Reviews at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Mike Schindler (Member # 1309) on 09-08-2002, 12:44 AM:

I had never seen this thing before, and I have to say, I was not very impressed. The visuals were truly amazing, even by today's standards. But it could have easily lost an hour, and nothing would have been missed. I'm wondering if I would have liked it more if I had seen one of the shorter versions first. I'm not saying that it shouldn't have been restored to its current length, or even that those other versions should still exist. I'm just wondering if I would have been more open to all of the seemingly needless footage which has been put back into the film.

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 09-10-2002, 07:27 PM:

You should definitely check out the early-80s version that most people don't like very much, if only as a basis for comparison. The new version ties up many "loose ends" and the whole film simply "works" much better in the longer version. I thought that the new restoration was great--and a huge improvement over the other versions which I have seen. Great quality lab work, too.

Posted by Brad Haven (Member # 954) on 10-06-2002, 10:28 AM:

I saw this on the 26th sep but kept forgetting to post about it.
Attendance was over 500 (700 seats), i've been told that this was only promoted through the german community in perth as part of festival of german cinema, so alot of other true film fans would have missed out on this performance

The music was performed live by Aljoscha Zimmerman Ensemble.
I was bloody tired during the screening (a long day!) and i was unfortunatly dozing during the first half and lost track of the story , but by about half way i got my second wind as was soon wide eyed and loving it! I dont feel that it stands up as great film in these modern days, but thinking of when it was made it sure is a masterpiece that deserves the restoration and to be screened more often!
I found the music in the very early scenes to be a little too modern sounding (drums), but i soon found myself falling into the film and not noticing the performance on it's own!
a MARVELOUS TIME WAS HAD!