I already owned the Moroder version when I purchased the Kino restoration on DVD. Like many others, I was amazed at the incredible visual clarity of the Kino restoration when compared to the Moroder version, as others have said it looks like it was shot yesterday, not 70+ years ago. Also, seeing it with a performance of the original score provided a different experience.

Some of the other differences are:

1.The Kino version contains some footage missing from the Moroder version, but not a lot more. The scene that stands out most for me is the first scene in Frederson's office - we gain a better understanding of how hard he works and how much he expects from those below him, so the firing of Josephat and Josaphat's reaction makes more sense than it does in the Moroder version. Another scene that is significantly different is the first meeting between Frederson and Rotwang - their rivalry is portrayed in greater depth in the Kino restoration, although it is also perfectly clear in the Moroder version.
2.Many `purists' have complained about the music in the Moroder version. I disagree, I think that the music and the lyrics greatly enhance the emotional impact of the Moroder version. Don't misunderstand, I think the original orchestral score as presented in the Kino version is great, but words and music together are far more powerful than either alone.
3.The story is a bit different. Personally, I think that the story as presented in the Moroder version makes more sense, why would Frederson want his workers to revolt? But this is his motivation for having Rotwang create the machine-man in the Kino restoration.
4.Many `purists' complain about the colorization in the Moroder version. I admit, there were places where I found it a bit jarring, but overall I think it adds to the emotional tone of the film. Still, I think the Kino restoration is valuable for what it is, a restoration.

The point I am trying to make is this. The Kino restoration is an incredible piece of work that will be of great value to all who wish to experience as much of the original film as is possible today. But, in my opinion the Moroder version, with its modern lyrical score is also of great value, maybe not as much in a historical context but as a separate film experience. Think of the Moroder version as a new work based on an old work, not as a restoration.

My recommendation? See them both, but see the Moroder version first, the Kino version second. Otherwise, you'll be distracted by the degraded video quality in the Moroder version and you'll miss the incredible soundtrack. Someday when home computers become more powerful and video production software is cheaper and easier to use I'll probably dub the Moroder soundtrack to the Kino video and have the best of both worlds. Until then, the Moroder video isn't that bad, it is about what you would expect from a 70+ year old silent film, but the Kino video, in comparison, is incredible.

And, by the way, the Japanese animated film produced a couple of years ago bears only the most superficial resemblance to the original, I was seriously disappointed.


Review of the Kino DVD   February 25, 2003
 37 out of 39 found this review helpful

Released in 1927, amid the golden age of the silent film era, Fritz Lang's METROPOLIS is a stylistic tour-de-force that has remained influential for the rest of the century, inspiring films like 1931's FRANKENSTEIN as well as 1997's DARK CITY. With its imaginative set design, elaborate photography, bold editing, and its then groundbreaking special effects, this German silent classic exemplifies the highly inventive period of German Expressionism, which also include such film masterworks as THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI, NOSFERATU, THE LAST LAUGH, and DIE NIBELUNGEN (which Lang made prior to METROPOLIS).

This Kino Region 1-only DVD offers an almost pristine-looking video transfer of the film. The untinted, black-and-white image is clean and sharp throughout, the result of a mostly manual frame-by-frame restoration started in 1998 by Germany's F.W. Murnau Foundation. The included jacket essay gives a brief account of its efforts, as well as the work of other restorationists in the past, notably Munich Filmmuseum and film historian Enno Patalas. The DVD supplements also include an excellent mini-documentary that explains some of the technical details in the restoration.

The film's running time on this DVD is 118 minutes (not 124 as printed on the case). It is shown at the speed of 24 frames per second, an unusual frame rate for a silent film. But according to F.W. Murnau Foundation, this was the projection speed used at the film's premiere in 1927. Some viewers may find the motion a bit too fast at times due to the high frame rate. But some believe this was director Fritz Lang's way to intensify some of the action. (For those who want to watch METROPOLIS at a slower speed, there is a PC DVD player called WinDVD 4.0, which lets you extend or shorten a DVD's running time without affecting the pitch of the audio.)

This DVD only has English intertitles (supported by French and Spanish subtitles). The style, typeface, and the occasional animation in the intertitles were all re-created according to the original film. The original score by Gottfried Huppertz was also "adapted" from its 153-minute original length to the current, shorter length. This is the first time I have a chance to listen to Huppertz's elaborately orchestrated score, and it sounds terrific.

This latest restoration, unfortunately, did not recover a lot of film footage that had been missing over the years. Major sequences that were lost, such as Maria's escape from Rotwang, are still lost. To make up for this, and to make the film's plot more coherent, new intertitles were inserted to summarize the story lines of the missing footage. These intertitles are frequently seen in this restored version, a constant reminder of the large amount (a quarter of the film) of lost footage.

I did a brief side-by-side comparison between the Kino DVD and a few old video versions, and discovered the DVD actually has "alternate scenes" that were utilized for this restoration. In other words, Lang apparently shot some of the scenes *twice* (probably for domestic theaters and abroad), resulting in two versions of a scene looking slightly different. For instance, in the running competition early in the film, the winner wins by a big margin in all older video versions that I had seen. But on the Kino DVD, the winner only wins by a hair.

The DVD's audio commentary by Enno Patalas is mild disappointment. As in the Kino DVD of THE BLUE ANGEL, the comments are too sparse and not too in-depth. And long stretches of silence are frequent. The commentary is largely analytical, and it points out some of the key themes and visual motifs of the film.

The other DVD supplements include an involving 45-minute documentary that covers the making of the film, the German Expressionist period, the "unmaking" of METROPOLIS by censors and Hollywood, and a few interview segments of Lang. The still gallery contains about 90 production photos and design sketches, including about 27 photos taken from missing scenes.


An Exceptional Masterpiece   January 3, 2003
 34 out of 41 found this review helpful

Arguably one of the most influential science-fiction movies of all time, the 2002 re-release of Fritz Lang's 1927 epic "Metropolis" was truly one of the miracles of modern times. Not only had a generous amount of footage been re-integrated to the cut, but the entire film had been gloriously restored and the exisiting title cards re-translated from the original German.

"Metropolis" tells the story of a massive city split in two: under the earth is the city of the workers, slaves to the 10-hour clock. Their endless toil provides for the rulers of the upper world, a class of rich and indolent nobles. In-between these worlds steps Maria, a beautiful worker that tells the workers that a mediator will come to join the city and that "Without the heart, there can be no understanding between the hand and the mind." But her goal is not so easily reached, and a mad scientist, his villainous robot decoy, and a resistant upper class work against her.

Lang's vision is astounding, and the special effects are fantastically rendered for the time. The film's production costs were so great, it almost bankrupt the studio. The result is a fantastic blend of drama, allegory, romance, myth, and classic science-fiction. The score is evocative like few others, and the newly restored film has a new recording of the original soundtrack. While some of the footage is lost forever, title cards fill in the gaps, and this is the only thing the movie can be faulted for.

This is the ONLY version of the movie to own. All others use an inferior print and some even tell an entirely different story. Also, avoid the 1984 Georgio Moroder-scored version at all costs.

This DVD is a must for anyone who even has the slightest interest in cinema. It truly is one of the most wonderful films ever made.


As good as it gets   March 15, 2003
 33 out of 36 found this review helpful

All previous releases of "Metropolis" are going to seem remarkably grungy compared to this one. Kino Video, Transit Film, the Murnau Foundation, and a small army of dedicated people have put a great deal of work and care into producing the most complete version of "Metropolis" that anyone has seen since its premiere. Although about a quarter of the footage is still missing, the new restoration restores not only the surviving footage but a great deal of the story line as well. We learn (among many other things) why the Robot is female, why 'she' tries to destroy the city, and why Rotwang appears to go mad toward the end of the film; secondary characters like Josephat, 11811, and 'Slim' are fleshed out, and Alfred Abel's character Joh Fredersen is given much more depth.

The picture quality is now comparable to that of a well-preserved '40s or '50s sound film; some of the effects scenes were entirely reconstructed from the original optical elements, and unobtrusive intertitles have been added to fill us in on parts of the film for which the footage has been lost. The soundtrack is the original orchestral score-- something for which I am extremely grateful. There have been several releases of "Metropolis" with soundtracks that had nothing to do with the film (random selections of old foxtrots or classical music)-- the original score holds the film together in a way that I've never experienced before. This is now a movie!

The DVD contains some nice extras; production and advertising art, two featurettes ("The Metropolis Case" and "The Restoration"), and various bits of background info. There is also an audio commentary by Enno Patalas, which is both informative and insightful and makes many relevant references to Thea von Harbou's original novel.

In short: if you want a copy of "Metropolis", this is the one to get.


This is the Metropolis DVD version to get!   December 9, 2002
 30 out of 34 found this review helpful

Forget about all of the other Metropolis DVDs out there, this is the Kino restoration that ran in the theaters in 2002. While it is still not in the original 1927 edit, this is the most complete version known to exist. Title cards are used to describe the still-missing scenes, but many scenes have been added by Kino for this edition.
This is also much longer than the much sought after Laserdisc.
A highly recomended Silent Classic Science Fiction story of a two class world. The underground workers who keep the city running, and the above groung businessmen who live off of the undergrounders work. Trouble errupts when litigation between the two breaks down and a mediator is suspected of being a spy.
This 1927 movie seems like todays current headlines.