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Year One
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Metropolis (re-release)
Universal acclaim
Based on 14 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 30 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Sci-fi
Written by:
Fritz Lang
Thea von Harbou (also novel)
Directed by: Fritz Lang
Release Date:
Theatrical: July 12, 2002
DVD: June 30, 1998
Running Time: 120 minutes, B/W
Origin: Germany
Summary
RATING: Not Rated
Starring Alfred Abel, Gustav Fröhlich, Brigitte Helm, Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Fritz Rasp, Theodor Loos, and Heinrich George
Possibly the crowning achievement of silent cinema, Fritz Lang's 1927 blockbuster fuses the frenetic storytelling of twenties pulp fiction with Lang's personal fascination with the darker side of human nature. (Kino International)
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site Film Forum Profile
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle
Seeing it is a time-bending experience, a way of visiting the past and glimpsing the past's idea of the future. A masterpiece of art direction, the movie has influenced our vision of the future ever since, with its imposing white monoliths and starched facades.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
Does what many great films do, creating a time, place and characters so striking that they become part of our arsenal of images for imagining the world.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington
Trashy and glorious, the restored Metropolis is a pop epic for the ages.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
Metropolis has a place in world history as well as in the annals of fantasy. Adolf Hitler was said to have loved it, and Lang eventually fled Germany for Hollywood when the Third Reich wanted him to run its movie industry. Few movies of any era offer so much varied food for thought, cinematically and politically. Its new restoration is a major motion-picture event.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Marta Barber
What you come to see are the strokes of a visual master. You will not be disappointed.
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow
It leaves you dazed and sated. Compared to the fast food "eye candy" surrounding it these days, Metropolis is a gourmet 20-course meal.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Jami Bernard
It took the German restorers four years to ready this print using dupe negatives and old prints found in archives around the world. Their work speaks for itself. Each frame of this classic is drop-dead stunning, the more so now that the movie no longer hiccups its way across the screen.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Dave Kehr
Departing from a masterful manipulation of space, Lang transforms the futuristic city of the title into a field of dreams centered on death and sexuality.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Dana Stevens
Metropolis retains its power to overwhelm, trouble and move because it is connected to the deep anxieties of modern life as if by a high-voltage cable.
Read Full Review >Film Threat Ron Wells
After half a century, does the story hold up? Eh, pretty much. In the end, the story doesn't really matter that much as this is really a vehicle for the amazing visuals.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Dale Thomajan
What ultimately saves the film from both silliness and ponderousness is not its simplistic social message, not its now-stale theme, nor its disappointing characterizations, but rather the dazzling cinematic (and theatrical) bag of tricks which Lang and company employed to keep things moving.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 7.7 (out of 10) based on 30 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Savith I gave it a9:
This film is almost like a novel, the viewer has to put a great deal of effort into understanding the text. What's necessary is the ability to transport oneself to the era in which this picture was created, and understand both the historical and technical bacground to science-fiction filmaking as well as contemporary political, economic, and social issues.
Janice.L gave it a6:
Theres a really deep and meaningful meaning if you look deep enough into the movie...but somehow,the movie is a bit silly a certain parts though.
Carey F. gave it a10:
Anyone who has any sense of movie history has to view this for what it is--probably the most influential movie ever. Dr. Strangelove, Star Wars (3CPO), any movie with a mad scientist in it. They all copied (with reverence) from this one. I had been looking forward to this restoration, and I was not disappointed. It looked as if it was filmed recently, not 75 years ago.
Yoon C. gave it an 8:
This movie has 3 genuinely great scenes. When the factory takes on the semblance of Moloch, the awakening of the robot woman, and the greatest of all(and still ahead of its time)the tale of the Tower of Babel. Much of the rest is silly, ridiculous, or worse though there are some impressive expressionistic flourishes throughout. A landmark movie, one of the most influential and revolutionary sci-fi films ever, but far far from perfect. Indeed, quite often laughable or just plain boring.
Al the movie watcher gave it a 10:
So great. This is what movies are about. The effects are amazing and the story is timeless if a little bit romanticized. The more I watch classic movies, the more I see modern ones as cheap ripoffs. Modern audiences have been ruined by big studios feeding them trash. Unfortunate but true. Make sure you see the new restored version!
Matt gave it a 9:
I think you guys are just prejudice because it is old. I used to be like that. But I've since passed that stage of my childhood. I agree, this movie isnt perfect, but think that this was made a long time ago. Compare it to other movies from the same time. It blows them out of the water. Much better than Cowboys Vs. the Aliens.
Matt B. gave it a 9:
I dearly love this movie, it is a shame large chunks of it are lost; unfortunaltely the studio hired a hack to re-cut the movie, there are no known prints of the original. Archivists have done their best to reassemble it as best they could but unfortunately the movie as Fritz Lang created it is lost forever. My ONLY reason for not giving it a 100 is it is an imperfect recreation of the original. Great that the remaining original material has been cleaned up at last. A case in point for the necessity of preserving film as a cultural legacy.
