Fritz Lang Metropolis on DVD or Blu-Ray

Great thread. Wouldn't want it to die a lonely death, so . . .

One of the few movies I'd like to get in Blu-ray . . . I think. I have the Kino Lorber DVD and a 37" standard HDTV. Given the age of the film, do I really need the upgrade?

 

Which Kino DVD do you have, the one with the 2002 restoration or The Complete Metropolis?

 

The Complete Metropolis.

 

I don't see why you shoudn't. You know the bits from Argentina have a rain of baked-in grain, so...

 

My thinking was that, given the age of the movie and the fact that it is B&W, a Blu-ray upgrade would not be that noticeable (on my smallish TV).

 

that's the one i have!

 

the MOC as wonderful as it is .... is .... region locked. but if you've got a hack / region free player .... go for it !

Metropolis Blu-ray - Fritz Lang

 

Fritz Lang was my Oma's granduncle, I kid you not!
Sadly I got the genes from the other side of the family

 

I have the blu-ray, and can't opine on the difference in picture quality nor on your TV. I can only say that the uncompressed soundtrack sounds wonderful! Again, I don't know how it differs from the lossy version on DVD nor on your sound system.

 

I don't see the point of having the Moroder version unless: (1) one is a film student interested in learning about the evolution of the film over the years; (2) one is interested in the soundtrack and is OK with watching a lesser quality film version to hear it; or (3) it has some sort of sentimental value (like an old worn out teddy bear one had as a child). I'm not sure I'm seeing much of an argument for any of these, though I suppose I'd like a copy if I was a film buff with a keen interest in Metropolis and/or Fritz Lang.

 

You have no need of the Moroder version, as it is quite ridiculous. I think what you have is sufficient, although personally I prefer the blu ray, you don’t seem that bothered by it. The only other up grade I look forward to is the actual, complete film. There are still a few scenes missing, but they might turn up eventually, like the Argentinian discovery.

 

If I thought the Blu-ray version would knock my socks off, I’d buy it. I think it would have to have some extra features or soundtracks or really low price or something else to tip the scales. It’s still on the back-burner.

 

For me, this raises a larger issue of how worth it it is to buy a blu-ray version of a movie, especially if you have a smallish TV like I do (42”), where both the DVD and blu-ray have the same “remastering” (for lack of a better word). At DVDBeaver, they show stills of Forbidden Planet for the upgraded DVD and the blu-ray reissue. They admittedly look the same, though the site indicates differences show somewhat more when the blu-ray is in motion. If the film was specifically upgraded (sound and/or audio) for blu-ray, then one should get the blu-ray. But if the two have the same source?

 

I mean, there's no downside to buying the Blu-ray, is there? Depending on the release, maybe you save a couple bucks. But for a film as important as Metropolis, what's the harm in buying the best possible release of the film?

If you already have the DVD, then that's a different story. YMMV on whether the upgrade is worth it.

 

I already have the DVD, so that's the issue. You're right about purchasing from scratch. The extra money wouldn't bother me.

My mileage probably varies in that I have a hard time telling same-sourced DVDs and blu-rays apart. When I first got my blu-ray player, I compared my DVD and blu-ray versions of Vertigo. Most of the time I couldn't tell the difference, though maybe (just maybe) in some instances the blu-ray looked better to me. And in making this A-B comparison, I used an old DVD player for the DVD, so that version didn't even get the benefit of my new blu-ray player - a "Sony Ubp-X800M2 4K UHD". (I've heard a blu-ray player will somewhat enhance a standard DVD.)

Now The Great Escape was a different story. I think the upgrade for that film was for blu-ray release. But, in any event, I did not already own a DVD copy.

So, the films I have that might be in the Forbidden Planet-Vertigo category ( as opposed to The Great Escape category) are:

Metropolis
Barry Lyndon
2001: A Space Odyssey
Citizen Kane
Double Indemnity
The Wizard of Oz

There probably are others I cannot think of at this time.

 

There should be no question that the Kino blu-ray is the way to go. It’s not that expensive!!

 

DVDBeaver convinces me (if only slightly) that the Masters of Cinema version might be the way to go.

Metropolis Blu-ray - Fritz Lang

Anyone have a view on MOS vs Kino?

 

I have both, misterjones...and prefer the MOC but I will certainly not be disposing of the Kino!

 

I have both. The MOS has German intertitles and the Kino has them translated to English.

This is the only reason to prefer one over the other, everything else is pretty much identical.

 

Any significant differences regarding "extras"? I could compare the two, but I was wondering if anything stuck out in that regard.

 

If you want the fullest version possible to view as a "serious film", Kino BR.

I would also give the Moroder version a chance. Keep in mind that for 60+ years, much of the original film was considered lost and/or not in great shape. Moroder took the best available elements and tried to reconstruct the storyline with title cards where footage was missing. Moroder being Moroder and 1984 being 1984, the approach was that of an MTV music video. Purists would call that sacrilege, I call it comfort food. For the longest time, this version was arguably the best you could get so I have soft spot for it.

 

In the mid-Eighties, I was the Film Committee Chair at the community college I attended before transferring to a local university. The sources for most of the movies I programmed were the numerous 16mm distributors that were once so popular: Films Incorporated, Kit Parker Films, Corinth, etc. However, I was also able to obtain free prints of various older films from our State Library. One of their movies I programmed was an untinted Metropolis print (in two reels) that was only 85 minutes or so in length. The film arrived a week early, and was not due at the library for another two weeks. The print, alas, had no musical score, so—taking my cue from Giorgio Moroder—over several days I assembled, from my record collection, an instrumental one on cassette for it.

I began with Ultravox’s “Overlook” b-side and ended the film with Kraftwerk’s “Metropolis.” Over the course of the picture I used instrumentals from Roxy Music (“India”), Mitchell Froom “(Thrill Factor," "We Don't Dream"), the Human League (“Gordon’s Gin”), Brian Eno (“Quartz,” “Events in Dense Fog”), Phil Manzanera (the First Edition edit of “Bogata”), Gary Numan/Tubeway Army (“Airlane,” “I Nearly Married a Human”), and several tracks from Tangerine Dream’s Exit, among others. It was amazing to me how well the music fit the images on screen: in particular, the Dream’s “Network 23” seemed to have been written for the memorable sequence in which the Maschinenmensch is transformed into a replica of Maria. I also used Devo’s “Girl U Want” for the gynoid’s dancing scene. The cassette was plugged into a guitar amplifier in lieu of the regular speakers which were connected to the projectors, and cranked up to 11.

I own and love the Complete Metropolis on Kino DVD, but I’ll always fondly remember the abbreviated version I programmed way back when.

 

The Moroder version is my favorite. Plus he brought a lot of attention to a mostly forgotten film at the time to the public. The film is shorter because of the subtitles. As stated before, it was the most complete version at the time. I like the color tones and the “new” score.