You’ll find Metropolis on the short list of silent era films that have survived in truncated form and that we all want most to see in its original full-length version. For years, fans of Metropolis had to be satisfied with contrasty 16mm reduction prints (and videocassettes transferred from those prints) when they wanted to add the film to their collections. Then came along what is known as the Moroder version.

Techno-disco maven Giorgio Moroder acquired a duplicate negative made from a wonderful 35mm positive print of the American release version held by the Museum of Modern Art to create his modernized and slightly altered theatrical version that was released in 1985. The positive angle was that Metropolis was available to be seen in the clearest picture quality in many years and added some film stills and new intertitles to clarify the plot. The negative angle was that some shots were altered to add animation of clouds, eyes, etc., intertitles were optically printed as subtitles over the bottom of the picture image (like a foreign language film), portions of some scenes that have survived elsewhere were not to be found in Moroder’s version and that he utilized a modern rock music score that was barely serviceable (and is, ultimately, an embarrassment). Out-of-print home video copies of the Moroder version on videotape and laserdisc have been commanding top prices on Internet auction sites, when collectors can find them.

The ultimate aim of a collector of Metropolis is to find a version that has all the surviving footage in the clearest photographic quality possible.

The 2002 restoration of Metropolis comes the closest to this seemingly unattainable ideal. Building on the restoration work of Enno Patalas and the Munich Filmmuseum, the Bundesarchiv Filmarchiv and the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung set about rebuilding the wrecked remains of Metropolis. The incomplete original German camera negative of Metropolis was recovered and became the basis of a new reconstruction effort. The restoration team claims to have gathered together from the world’s film archives and collectors all of the known surviving footage from Metropolis, made wet-gate duplicate prints when neccessary, digitally transferred and cleaned rough footage — sometimes frame by frame — and digitally imaged new preservation negatives from which new restoration prints may be struck. In addition to the original scenario and the Von Harbow novelization of the script, the restoration team utilized the original censors’ report on Metropolis and the recently-recovered original music score written by Gottfried Huppertz to aid their continuity reconstruction efforts. The score contained many references to the intertitles and on-screen action in the premiere version print. The reconstruction results are impressive, and on occasion are a revelation to viewers familiar with the film.

Honestly, very little needs to be said about the influence this well-known film has had on filmmakers throughout the years. Despite its shortened form, the film is full of striking visuals and special optical effects. It remains among the top ten best-known and respected films from the silent era.

In its truncated form, Metropolis is at times a little confusing — not a big surprise since an estimated one-quarter of the original Berlin release of the film is still missing from surviving prints and some intertitles are badly translated into English and most times intentionally changing the storyline to disguise its choppy, shortened form. However, the story that remains is intriguing and filled with action. — Carl Bennett

This is the one we’ve been waiting for. This DVD edition of Metropolis features the restoration version that toured cinemas worldwide in 2002. Digital technology has been utilized to clean and restore all of the footage in this reconstruction, licensed by Transit Films of Germany, comprised of (nearly?) all of the surviving film from this crippled masterpiece — touted as the most complete version of the film since its Berlin premiere in January 1927.

In the restoration print, brief sections of missing footage are indicated by approximately a third-of-a-second of black leader stock, which pass by so quickly for the viewer that they are not distracting. Bridging intertitles describe the action of missing scenes. We were surprised that surviving stills from the missing sections were not used in conjunction with the bridging titles to give the viewer some indication of the missing visuals. Perhaps it was decided that the stills were too static, and thus are not used. Of value, also, is the restoration of the original intertitles (here translated into English) that tell Lang’s and Thea von Harbou’s original story, that makes greater sense of the action for the viewer.

This new Kino International edition features a 65-piece orchestral performance of Gottfried Huppertz’s original score for the film that is presented in both stereo and surround sound. The music seems a bit inappropriately lively in some scenes, but overall is pleasing to listen to and gives the viewer some sense of the emotional intent of Lang and Huppertz.

We noticed that some footage included in this DVD has never appeared in USA home video editions before. The quality of the picture image is very-good to excellent, depending on the condition of the source material. Very few shots have been utilized from rough prints. Much of the footage has been digitally copied from the incomplete original camera negative and features striking clarity and detail. Many of the defects of the surviving footage have been removed. The digital restoration is very well done — however, educated eyes will occasionally see evidence of digital work. (We did notice that one shot of the workers’ city being flooded at 1:35:35 has been included in the restoration print flopped — that is, in mirror reverse.) Also, collectors should note that the actual running time of the film is 116 minutes (disregarding new introductory notes and closing credits — even including them, the running time is still under two hours), despite the claim of 124 minutes on the DVD packaging.

In reevaluating the disc on high-definition equipment capable of upscaling a standard NTSC signal to full 1080p HD, the sections of the film restored from the original negative are gorgeous, and reinforces our original rating of the DVD.

The audio commentary by Enno Patalas, read by David Cooke, points out the reoccurring motifs of running and closing doors and machines and mothers, the film’s metaphorical and allegorical elements, but is disappointingly without information about the film’s reconstruction considering Patalas’ role in the restoration of the film. There is only a notation of an incomplete Yoshiwara scene from a print surviving in Australia. The information about the reconstruction efforts is to be found exclusively in the two documentaries in the supplemental section.

Patalas, in the commentary, introduces us to the musical themes from Gottfried Huppertz’s score, points out the significance of camera movements, the revenge motive of Rotwang (that was muddled in reedited and rewritten versions of Metropolis), and notes the boyishness of Freder’s character, who does so much running in the film. Patalas does comment briefly on a contemporary German critic’s praising of the now-missing Yoshiwara sequence, and of the excised references to Hel. Also noted are illuminating details from the von Harbou novel that either were ignored in the scenario or were cut from the film.

In the supplemental section of the disc, “The Metropolis Case” by Enno Patalas (with Stefan Bitterhoff) examines the artistic and social environment in Germany and its film industry in the 1920s, which germinated and brought forth Metropolis. Patalas interestingly states that Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari (1920) was the first expressionist German film and that Metropolis was the last. Briefly chronicled is Fritz Lang’s rise in the industry and his artistic Metropolis intentions. The majority of the documentary covers the production, reception, and remaking of the film, and features a large number of production drawings, production photos, paintings, and film footage. Here is where much of the information about the special effects employed in the film is to be found. Of note is the quickly-passing statement that the animation in Metropolis was shot at 25 frames per second. This might indicate that this was the target cranking speed for the production. If so, a sound-speed transfer of 24 FPS would be appropriate, and that the undercranking of Freder’s manic running was deliberate. A portion of the documentary introduces us to the music score themes written for the film. Finally covered is the reconstruction of the film, and then the aftermath of Metropolis for Fritz Lang. 43 minutes.

“The Restoration,” hosted by Martin Koerber, covers the details of the Metropolis restoration efforts in greater detail than the Patalas documentary. Koerber briefly details the challenges of rebuilding a film from a variety of print sources, and shows us examples of both the advantages and disadvantages of digitally-processed reconstruction efforts. Of great interest is the restoration of the heart machine sequence. Koerber shows us that the original negative for this section had decomposed to the point that it was useless to the reconstruction team. Rather than utilize footage of the sequence from surviving prints (which might be one to two generations from the original negative), the team discovered that all of the original photographic elements for the sequence had survived in excellent condition in their precomposited form. By recombining the film elements, the sequence has been reconstructed in (what can be assumed) greater photographic quality than could be achieved in 1927. 9 minutes.

The supplemental section also includes a photo galleries section which includes production stills, stills from missing scenes, archetectural production sketches, costume design sketches, and promotional posters from around the world (with design credits); biographies from the major production team and cast; and a “Facts & Dates” section of original production credits.

Ultimately, this will be the finest edition of Metropolis available on home video for many years to come. The digital restoration work has produced the most gorgeous-looking version of the film that has been seen since the 1920s. We highly recommended this Kino International edition for your collection.

USA: Click the logomark at right to purchase a Region 1 NTSC DVD of this edition from Amazon.com.
Canada: Click the logomark at right to purchase a Region 1 NTSC DVD of this edition from Amazon.ca.
This Region 1 NTSC DVD is also available directly from Kino International.

This quality PAL edition of the 2001 restoration version is presented in the original German intertitles, with optional subtitles in five languages on the main feature and supplements, the original 1927 orchestral score by Gottfried Huppertz, newly arranged by Berndt Heller, full-length audio commentary by film historian Enno Patalas, plus The Metropolis Case (2002) a 44-minute documentary by Enno Patalas on the making of Metropolis, a 9-minute restoration documentary (2002) with Martin Koerber, a supplementary section of production stills, posters, costume designs, stills of missing scenes, and architectural sketches, and a 28-page booklet containing extensive restoration notes by Martin Koerber, writings by Otto Hunte, Günther Rittau, Aenne Willkomm, Brigitte Helm, Rudolf Arnheim, and a newly-revised and updated essay by Jonathan Rosenbaum.

This would easily be the recommended PAL edition of Metropolis.

United Kingdom: Click the logomark at right to purchase a Region 0 PAL DVD of this edition from Amazon.co.uk.

Comparing the Classic Media Holdings “special collector’s edition” DVD to the Moroder version of Metropolis quickly reveals to the observant viewer that the CMH version does have shots and extended scenes that are not found in the Moroder version (but it also does not have other shots and extended scenes that are present in the Moroder version). The additional footage is a definite plus, but the abysmal photographic quality of the 16mm reduction print utilized for the video transfer makes for very rough going (particularly throughout the first reels of the film, which are highly speckled). The print utilized is the 16mm edition from Thunderbird Films, and it is rather contrasty with excessive frame cropping, probably the fault of the original 16mm print manufacturers. The edition features a passable canned piano music score. This CMH edition is now out-of-print, which is no big loss.

We find it insulting that this budget edition touts its disc as “Digitally Remastered For Superior Picture Quality.” That statement is tantamount to deceptive marketing, for this is no quality product. In fact, this disc takes its shameful and rightful place among the other horrid-looking low-budget editions of Metropolis that have been foisted onto the marketplace.

The video transfer from a 16mm reduction print identical to the poor to good, contrasty and tightly-cropped Thunderbird Films print used for several low-budget editions of Metropolis. Facial details are often blasted-out to nothing in medium and long shots, and the picture is devoid of any true image details due to the low-quality source print. All of the intertitles are presented as still frames, which keeps them from bouncing about in the frame like the rest of the film.

The producers at Front Row reveal their deceptive nature again in the packaging statement “Remastered to AC-3 Dolby Digital for surround sound.” The accompanying canned orchestral music score is, in fact, mono.

We take Front Row Entertainment to task for their out-and-out lying to consumers, which appears to be a deliberate and ongoing pattern of theirs. We are aware of a Front Row edition of a widescreen film listed on the DVD packaging as being a letterboxed edition that is, in fact, a pan-and-scan edition. Their pattern of misleading statements is either massive stupidity or criminal deceit. We believe it is the latter. We do not recommend this edition of Metropolis.

It should be no surprise that this low-budget edition of Metropolis is another in a series of horrible discs unleashed upon a largely unsuspecting consumer public. The chief attraction of the box set is acquiring nine films for less than eight dollars (among them a surprisingly good edition of The Lost World).

Full-frame transferred from the same old contrasty low-quality 16mm reduction print as many other budget editions, this disc is tough going. Highlight details are often obliterated in a smear of light gray, while shadows are completely closed up. The source print has the same amount of speckling, dust, exposure fluctuations and jitteriness as as other cheap discs. Why expect anything else?

The film is accompanied by a canned, coarsely-edited orchestral music score of classical music likely lifted from somewhere else.

Don’t buy this set simply to acquire Metropolis, go for the Kino edition instead.

USA: Click the logomark at right to purchase a Region 0 NTSC DVD of this edition from Amazon.com.
Canada: Click the logomark at right to purchase a Region 0 NTSC DVD of this edition from Amazon.ca.

Metropolis is yet another silent era film that has been poorly represented in several budget DVD editions over recent years. This edition from Navarre does nothing to rectify that disservice.

This disc features a different video transfer of the same poor to good quality 16mm reduction print that was utilized for the 1998 CMH DVD edition. The natural-speed transfer of this quite contrasty and blurry print is very tightly cropped, with many of the chopped off intertitles being difficult to read. However, some of the intertitles and all of the main titles have been represented in still frames to ensure some readability. If you get nostalgic to revisit how you used to have to watch Metropolis on home video, you could watch this disc.

USA: Click the logomark at right to purchase a Region 1 NTSC DVD of this edition from Amazon.com.
Canada: Click the logomark at right to purchase a Region 1 NTSC DVD of this edition from Amazon.ca.

This is yet another budget edition that has cropped up for sale on eBay and in discount retailers. The disc has been transferred from the same lousy 16mm reduction print as the other lousy discs noted above. So, expect a grayed and fuzzy picture — an arduous viewing experience.

And, the DVD we previewed would not play in the latter part of the disc containing the second feature.

This edition from Madacy Entertainment has previously been the most common, being a main staple on eBay and at mall video stores for years. We have not viewed this edition. (We couldn’t bringing ourselves to buy this one.) We are, however, aware of its low reputation, even for a budget-line release. General consensus had it that the Madacy edition was the worst of the terrible-looking early editions of the film on DVD. We can say that the only reason to own one of these early DVDs is that they contained extended scenes and additional footage that was not in the 1985 ‘Moroder version’ of Metropolis (available on VHS videotape and laserdisc — both long out-of-print). The Madacy has very likely been transferred from a substandard 16mm reduction print and thus will be very rough viewing. Many purchasers of this DVD have been very disappointed with its low picture quality and inappropriate music score.

This Madacy edition is now out-of-print, thank heavens.

Madacy Entertainment continues to rerelease several of its DVD titles, with different packaging artwork, in an attempt to sucker uninformed consumers. This edition is identified by brownish packaging with a muddy black & white photo, an overline that reads “Excelsior Collectors Edition” and a bottom logo that reads “Hollywood Classics” (we kid you not). We can only assume that the transfer on this disc is exactly the same as the 1998 edition mentioned above. We recommend that both of these discs be avoided.

While both Madacy releases are now out-of-print, you can expect that the low-budget company will again repackage this title.

Another in Delta’s 2004 series of budget silent film editions is this DVD of Metropolis. Expect that the film has been mastered from a 16mm reduction print. We’d be very surprised if this disc is any better than the other budget editions. Not recommended until we have viewed the disc.

USA: Click the logomark at right to purchase a Region 1 NTSC DVD of this edition from Amazon.com.
Canada: Click the logomark at right to purchase a Region 1 NTSC DVD of this edition from Amazon.ca.

Mysteriously, unlike other Alpha Video silent film product, this edition quickly went out-of-print or was withdrawn. However, as with the majority of Alpha’s product, this edition was likely mastered from a subpar-quality 16mm reduction print. With better editions available, don’t bother chasing this one.

USA: Click the logomark at right to purchase a Region 1 NTSC DVD of this edition from Amazon.com.

Yet another budget edition that we have not viewed. Based on other discs that we have seen from Platinum, this is likely to be one of the most horrid yet produced. Don’t expect anything even approaching quality out of this DVD.

USA: Click the logomark at right to purchase a Region 1 NTSC DVD of this edition from Amazon.com.
Canada: Click the logomark at right to purchase a Region 1 NTSC DVD of this edition from Amazon.ca.

Other GERMAN silent era films available on home video.