[net.movies] Metropolis

fishkin@ucbvax.UUCP (Ken Fishkin) (08/28/84)

[]
	The new version of "Metropolis" is a must-see, even if you've
seen the original.
	When you go, remember that this movies was made in the middle 1920's,
and watch sets, special effects, cinematography, and camera angles decades
ahead of their time. (There is a little of the 1920's hysterical over-reaction
to events, though).
	If you've seen some version of the original, this is still worth
seeing; the U.S. version was heavily chopped, and this remake is quite
complete.
	The additions of Giorgio Moroder are mediocre:
    1) The limited coloring seems an awkward waste
    2) the background music is fine,
    3) the songs-with-lyrics are forgettable and inadequate.

One last note: if you are thinking of seeing the movie, *DO NOT*
see the video for the Bonnie Tyler song, "here she comes".
The video is a *massive* spoiler, giving away virtually the entire plot of the movie.

    Simply a magnificent film. Still ****, despite a generally inadequate
job of modernization.
-- 
		Ken Fishkin		Berkeley Computer Graphics Lab
		ucbvax!fishkin		fishkin@berkeley

gtaylor@lasspvax.UUCP (Greg Taylor) (08/31/84)

It's true that Moroder has done the film-going public a pretty great
favour by working so hard to restore a semi-full version of the 
original (it will be interesting to see what I *haven't* seen in the film),
but the attempt to make an "upbeat" score (you call Bonnie Tyler upbeat?
Jon Anderson? Pat Benatarrh?) is a pretty ridiculous move. The original
score-the first electronic score for a film, incidentally-since the director's
notion was to make as revolutionary (literally, I guess....) *sounding*
film as the one you see-is interesting in its own right. I would have
gone so far as to say that the original soundtrack was a "part" of the
film.

I can only hope that the hopped-up MTV version brings a few people into
the theatre to see it than might otherwise come. It is (given the filmic
conventions of the modern day) a bit heavy-handed to the modern eye, but
a pretty brilliant bit of work. 

See it.
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garret@oddjob.UChicago.UUCP (Trisha O Tuama) (09/03/84)

*****

I really liked the use of color in the new version as well as the music
although I agree that the lyrics were terrible.  Something else I really
liked was Moroder's use of still photography in a couple of places;
I assume this is part of the new "footage" he has restored.    

Thanks for the tip about Bonnie Tyler -- I like her singing, but she
does make terrible videos.

Trisha O Tuama

strock@fortune.UUCP (Gregory Strockbine) (09/10/84)

I saw Metropolis several years ago without the sound track. Last
night on "Sneak Previews" they showed a clip from the version
with the sound track, yuck, it looks like MTV. Why does everything
have to turn in to a rock video? Even Disney has their own MTV which
they call DTV.