Added: 6 months ago
From: Zaranyzerak
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  • You know, I kinda love when I grew up and where we are with films now.

    That I didn't grow up watching all these modern CGI-fests, but more things from the 80s and 90s, and now that I'm in my 20s, we're here with Blu-ray and all this possibility to proper restoring of films, I can pretty much skip all those crappy VHS and DVD versions and catch even older movies the way they're supposed to be at the first watch.

    We're not completely there yet, but sure on the right way, on how we treat the films.

  • I got both Metropolis blu-rays.The Moroder version was the first one I saw, a few weeks ago on Netflix in Dec. 2011. I remember wanting to watch it back in high school but never got around to it. I was blown away, so I got it and the Complete Metropolis on Blu Ray. It's now one of my favorite movies. Now only if Kino would go back to the Nosferatu film and re-scan it & remaster it in HD for a blu ray release!

  • Does the kino DVD have the same length as the blu ray. Cause I've seen the DVD in stores, but can never find it on blu ray

  • In what way do you store your films?

  • Metropolis, Blade Runner, 2001, Star Wars, Planet of the Apes, these are just some of the most iconic, influential sci fi films ever. I hope to own Metropolis on blu ray down the line. I have 2001 on dvd, but I don't feel like tracking down the blu ray.

  • I HAVE THE ORIGINAL 1926 NOVEL BY THEA VON HARBOU IN GERMAN!

    I'M A LUCKY OWNER!

    Thank god!

  • @KriegDerSterne77 Oh you lucky bastard heh.

  • @MilitarySpartan bastard? :D

  • Nice upload.

    Just saw this for the 1st time on TCM this morning.

    This film must have been mind blowing back in 1927....Heh, it's pretty mind blowing today actually.

    Now I have to track down the novel.

  • Speaking of metropolis... have you picked up the superman anthology on blu ray?

  • I have to pick this up. Excellent review.

  • I'm actually thinking about using this film as a resource for my thesis on political themes in film.

  • @IcolossusPSN The image area of the frame in those shots is where it should be, in line with the position of the image in the 35mm footage. It will not be "corrected" as it is as accurate to the original 35mm image as possible. To center the image and blow up the frame would completely throw off the visual flow between the 35mm and 16mm footage as the image would be jumping back and forth in position constantly and look terrible. They obviously didn't choose to do that for no reason.

  • @IcolossusPSN No, that's correct.  The framing is intentionally like that. Read the title screen that appears right at the beginning of the movie, it's all explained right there.

  • I was able to get the lenticular at a subclass a few months ago. It was availible for a limited time. Metropolis along with the Harold Lloyd collection were the only silent movies I ever bought from a store.

  • I hope that Fritz Langs other works will also be released on blu-ray - like "M" or "Woman in the Moon" for example.

    Trivia: "Metropolis" was Hitlers favorite film.

  • @antikoerper256 "M" has been on blu-ray for a while through Criterion.

  • @antikoerper256 no, his favorite film was king kong

  • Comment removed

  • do you support criterion

  • @710blodgett74 Meaning do I support what they do? Absolutely, yes! They've had a consistent track record of delivering the best quality transfers and loaded deluxe editions of movies since the days of Laserdisc.

  • @Zaranyzerak

    Too bad they're so exclusive with their BDs.

    Sometimes there's a movie that only got a Criterion-release, but they're always locked Region A.

    Doesn't help me in Region B. lol

  • Metropolis is a great movie, but Zanranyzerak, are you a fan of another big hit classic I'm of course talking about the original King Kong.

  • @TheThingKing But of course! Fantastic film.

  • This movie has been on my watch list for a while. I had no idea there was so much history behind the different cuts. I'm glad I watched your video before watching the movie. Thanks!

  • Here is a good tie in to everything. You said Freddy Mercury did something with the audio of this film, like doing a song. Well the movie Queen Rock Montrial is another great pinical film (best live rock show of all time etc.) and it is missing complete songs that will be lost forever. They will never be seen again. One of them being Flash. They were cut out, tossed ont he floor, and throun away.

  • Metropolis is a film I must get although I have not seen it yet, which is a sin on my part as I did study film/ animation at university and work as an Art Director as well.

  • I keep meaning to order the UK steelbook, but for some reason I've put it off. Hopefully I will get the order in before it gets discontinued.

  • @DaveSimonH Yeah, you really don't want to dilly-dally with SteelBooks. Some of them tend to vanish quickly...

  • LOVE THIS MOVIE!!! bought this when it came out, and its fantastic. great review man

  • Pretty good overview BUT I'm surprised you didn't get into the big stink between Kino and Masters of Cinema over the region coding of their new editions!

  • @HRE29 Ooooh, I actually didn't know about that! I shall have to poke around for info now...

  • I saw this in an independent theater about a year ago. So awesome it felt like i was in a history lesson.

  • As good of a job Kino did with the Blu-Ray, Eureka did an even more phenomenal job with their Steelbook Blu-Ray from the lovely Artwork to the added Commentary.

  • I'm very fascinated by the early years of the film history. And actually how much of it is actually preserved, sure the majority is probably lost.

    But the fact that we have films like Nosferatu, and a Frankenstein film from as early as 1910 is freakin' amazing.

    Also them discovering lost footage like this at least gives hope for them to maybe some day find London After Midnight, it's a faint hope, but a hope none the less.

  • As long as we're talking about footage being cut, do you think they'll ever find the cut scenes from "Frankenstein meets the Wolfman"?

  • Love that wall behind you. Where'd you find the black shelves?

  • @Powerslave214 That would be Ikea. Actually had those shelves since 1996 or so! I've seen similar shelving at Wal-Mart, I keep meaning to pick up a few more to accomodate the ever growing collection...

  • Nosferatu actually has a new Kino Video release. Its a 2-disc set with the complete cut of the film along with the original score. I did a review about it, its a MUCH better film with all the footage restored and the original score is MUCH better than the other scores over the years for the film.

  • Thank you, I actually did not know about this release so I am off to ebay to get myself a copy of it, this is a must have.

  • SOLD!!! Just ordered this version while watching this video. Loved your review! Thanks.

  • Kino is to silent films as Shout Factory is tho 80's cartoons

  • So...are you sure that it really IS "complete" concidering what you said about lost footage of this movie?

    I'm just asking...

    :?

  • @MrWarners14 It is as complete as it will ever be unless yet another print surfaces, which is highly unlikely by this point. It's nothing short of a miracle that the footage that WAS recovered even still exists, in any form. The original running time was 153 minutes, this version is 148 minutes with title card to explain what is missing. The print that was recovered was the full, complete cut minus one short scene. The remaining footage that was on that print was too damaged to be usable.

  • @Zaranyzerak Maybe eventually, someone might find a print of the movie with an undamaged version of the scene so they could re-release it...one day perhaps...

  • @MrWarners14 Very unlikely, the original cut only existed for a VERY short time, and was only in limited circulation in Germany. The other cuts existed in greater abundance and they were the international cuts distributed everywhere. As I said, it's a miracle it was found in ANY form. Just be thankful for what we've got! This kind of thing doesn't happen very often with older films...

  • @Zaranyzerak I know...I AM thankful, I was only curious...

    I'm lucky I'd heard of this movie through history books before this review came out...

    :D

  • The thumbnail looks like it's giving me the finger!

  • This movie and 2001: A Space Odyssey are the most influential films done period, there are scenes and things from both that...like everybody knows.

  • @NSAdonis Absolutely, 100% YES!  Both fantastic, pioneering films.

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  • @Zeranyzerak do you think the georgio moroder will ever surface again?

  • @NSAdonis What about Blade Runner?

  • I loved the Freddy Mercury song from that soundtrack... but I never heard the rest of the songs.

  • @PlanetBierwagen Oh, I'm sure the songs are fine as SONGS, but to have songs with lyrics as the score of a silent film was terribly distracting to me...

  • What are some other movies that you say are better as "uncut" or "director's version" as opposed to the theatrical release? I hear people say Dare Devil is better this way, but I can't tell. It's kind of like comparing two bad smells.

    There are a lot of times when I watch deleted scenes or directors versions of movies that I completely agree with the reasoning behind getting rid of the scene. I always watch theatrical versions before any other cut of the film.

  • @JokerColors Terminator 2, Aliens, Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Fantastic Four, The Punisher (2004), Natural Born Killers. I won't even watch the theatrical versions of those anymore, as they just feel "incomplete" to me now. However, when it comes to the first Alien movie I prefer the theatrical version. Die Hard 4 was a mixed bag. I like the rougher language of the uncut version, but they changed the best line for no reason! I know what you mean about scenes that were cut for good reason.

  • Great video Shaun. I forgot all about that 16mm print they discovered in Argentina. I read about that back in 2008 or 09'. That Moroder version is great. I first saw that back in the mid 90's.

  • I always thought the reason there wasnt a 35mm print was the same reason so many Chaplin, Keaton, and Lloyd silents aren't around anymore, due to the film being make from silver, or silver halides. So they burned them to get the metal powder to sell on, well thats what they did to loads of those films. Just like old BBC tapes that were just taped over to cut costs, WHY DO THESE PEOPLE NOT THINK!!!??? Historical importance? nope clearly not.

    i have this release and think its good...

  • whens the matrix transformers boxset bein reviewed?

  • @DJBusinessCake1 The Matrix Transformers Set will be reviewed when I review the Matrix Transformers Set.

  • @Zaranyzerak Thats a nice and patronising message to a loyal fan thank you :@

  • Sweet I read about the lost footage being found like a year ago, I'll have to pick this up.

  • M is my favorite Fritz Lang film, but Metropolis is incredibly ambitious and was decades ahead of its time.

  • Battleship Potemkin is also a highly influential silent film released by Kino on blu ray.

  • Love that film - I have the 2 disc DVD version - Forrest Ackerman actually mentions there was an 182 minute original in his book "Forrest J Ackerman's World Of Science Fiction" - I have no idea if this was a pre-release version he was citing but it makes me wonder.

  • If you like Metropolis, be sure to check out Fritz Lang's other films such as M, and Scarlet Street. Scarlet street is a totally underrated classic, that also happens to have a Kino release.

  • Have you seen the anime adaptation of Metropolis?

  • @Stoudman I think of that scenes also... So influential and brilliant!

  • Every time I think of Metropolis now, the one scene that comes to mind is that overview of the city...which of course is replicated in just about every science fiction movie/game ever frickin MADE....Star Wars, Blade Runner, hell, even Bioshock!

  • I have the action fig for it,,,,,,,,and will get the blu-ray soon,,,,,,,and you should check out the anime version.......

  • I had no idea they made a movie about Superman's city. The movie must be a prequel before superman arrived in Metropolis.

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  • yeah I want Nosferatu on blu ray

  • Freckin epic review man! This is a film that I truly need to own!

  • I remember watching Metropolis for the first time several years ago and being really surprised by the fact how well it holds up despite the age - if you overlook the lack of colour and proper sound, it really feels like watching something way more modern. I have yet to see the latest cut, but remembering what I've seen thus far, I know I'm in for a treat!

    As for the 16mm segments, maybe they'll clean them up for a future release? They cleaned up the 35mm print, so why not this one.

  • @M3n747 Actually, they DID clean the 16mm segments up for this release. I highly doubt they can be cleaned up much more than they already have been without compromising the image, the print was in pretty rough shape.

  • @Zaranyzerak Really? I rest my case then.

    As a side note: I have the 2001 restored DVD version. There are extras about the history and restoration of the film - interestingly, those extras contain some scenes that are not present in the film. And they looked pretty good, too.

  • I keep meaning to pick up the UK steelbook, didnt Queen own the rights at some point?

  • Easily part of my top 5 Sci-Fi movies ever made list.

  • i have this on dvd but will get some silent blu rays

  • Awesome review! This is one of my most cherished Blu-rays!

  • (cont)

    Similar situation to the 1910 Frankenstein, eh? It sure is a helluva miracle. I thank the Lord, whoever his name is, for giving us film fans some of the most important pieces of film history, ESPECIALLY to their respective genre, and just fucking awesome movies in general.

    Dude, I am so watching a ton of silent movies with no sound on them.

  • @IDaCashman I was so overjoyed when they discovered that 1910 Frankenstein! It's such a trippy version of the story...and fantastic that we finally have the actual, proper, very first version EVER MADE.

  • As odd as it sounds, I do credit Metropolis as the first Science Fiction Full Length Motion Picture. Or, if I'm talking to someone who has an American vocabulary, "the first Sci-Fi movie."

    Must...stop...living...under rock...

    Now that Metropolis, a 1927 movie, is on Blu-Ray, I would like to see another side-by-side comparison SD vs. HD, like the one with The General and Braveheart. I think that there's so many good examples now, a third one wouldn't kill anybody....would it?

    (cont)

  • You lucky son of a bitch!!! I really want this Blu-ray but it seems to only go on sale when I'm short on cash. Well, I guess we're even, cause I got to see this in theaters last summer.

  • I actually sat through the entire pre-roll for "In Time" the entire two and a half minute trailer. I usually skip them with in 5 seconds

  • I own this blu-ray, Yet to sit down and watch it.

  • I watched the film in my Science Fiction class at St. Thomas University and heard of this completed version in the midst of it being taught. Also watched The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Thanks for the review. Do you think for the remaster, they would've blown up the newly discovered 16mm footage to 35 before making a digital intermediate?

  • @universalkid1000 They actually talk about this at the start of the film. They did a direct scan of the 16mm film and edited it all digitally. As the 16mm frame does not contain the entire 35mm image, it was re-framed in the transfers with black used to fill the missing edges of the frame (usually the top and left edges) so it maintains the correct proportion when cutting back and forth with the 35mm elements. I think they made the right choice to do it that way, it actually works quite well.

  • Don't know if you've seen the steelbook version? If you search on amazon uk you'll see it, released by Eureka I think. I have the dual format. It seems to have more special features too, with a good commentary track

  • Lovely. I got the Masters Of Cinema Blu Ray steelbook of Metropolis last month and it is a beautiful, extensive and amazing edition. Looking to pick up the 2001 animated take on it now.

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