History Film / Metropolis

Up to 25% of the original footage was considered lost before turning up in a museum in Argentina in 2007, albeit in inferior picture quality. The rediscovered footage was cleaned up as well as possible and integrated into the existing restored footage. The rediscovered version also confirmed the exact running order of shots, which in previous versions could only be guessed at. This new version runs only about five minutes short of the original 1927 German cut, as opposed to nearly an entire hour shorter in some versions. Unfortunately, two scenes still remained too badly damaged to restore, and were replaced by title cards. It made its big US debut at the Turner Classic Movies festival in 2009 and on television on Turner Classic Movies in November 2010. This nearly complete version was released on DVD and BluRay in late 2010.

* The robot, before the transformation into Maria, looks quite a bit like [[Franchise/StarWars C-3PO]]. Also, the transformation sequence itself was elaborated and refined in Film/{{Frankenstein (1931)}}.

* The robot, before the transformation into Maria, looks quite a bit like [[Franchise/StarWars C-3PO]]. Also, the transformation sequence itself was elaborated and refined in Film/Frankenstein1931.

* The robot, before the transformation into Maria, looks quite a bit like [[Franchise/StarWars C-3PO]]. Also, the transformation sequence itself was elaborated and refined in {{Frankenstein}}.

* BoxOfficeBomb: This movie cost 5.1 million Reichsmarks and made just 75,000 Reichsmarks at the box office; in modern terms this is the equivalent of a $293 million movie earning back $10 million.

* Music/{{Kraftwerk}}'s ''Man Machine'' album, which includes a track titled "Metropolis", a nod to the film.

Silent [[GermanExpressionism German]] Sci-Fi film from 1927, directed by Creator/FritzLang. Considered one of the [[UrExample forerunners]] of the genre and one of the most expensive films ever made.

* The robot, before the transformation into Maria, looks quite a bit like [[StarWars C-3PO]]. Also, the transformation sequence itself was elaborated and refined in {{Frankenstein}}.
* The city of ''Metropolis'' in the ''[[RatchetAndClank Ratchet & Clank]]'' series is heavily inspired by this film.

* Music/{{The M Machine}}'s ''Metropolis'' is a ConceptAlbum (split into two EP's) largely inspired by the film.

* [[RidiculouslyHumanRobot Ridiculously Human]] RobotGirl

* BeneathTheEarth: The workers' city. [[IncrediblyLamePun And deeply so]].

* BoxofficeBomb: This movie cost 5.1 million Reichsmarks and made just 75,000 Reichsmarks at the box office; in modern terms this is the equivalent of a $293 million movie earning back $10 million.

* [[CollapsingLair Collapsing ]][[strike:[[CollapsingLair Lair ]]]][[CollapsingLair Underground City]]

* CoolCar: The Rumpler Tropfen-Auto. Probably a greater percentage of the total production run of them were destroyed for ''Metropolis'' than Dodge Chargers were for ''TheDukesOfHazzard''.

* DistressedDamsel: Maria, captured and imprisoned by Rotwang.

* SchizoTech owing mainly to {{Zeerust}}. Notable in the use of ticker-tape machines and 1920's era automobiles everywhere. Specifically, consultation of the ticker tape causes Fredersen to immediately contact the Foreman on a flatscreen video phone/surveillance monitor.

* SoundtrackDissonance / CrowningMusicOfAwesome: Giorgio Moroder's version is a [[LoveItOrHateIt love it]] [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks or hate it]], [[CultClassic cult adaptation]]. Featuring [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epuUqdkO47w Jon Anderson]] (of {{Yes}}), PatBenatar, Adam Ant, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNEjSi9SVAU#t=2m45s "Destruction"]] by Loverboy, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLUo2UQxSts Bonnie Tyler]], [[{{Queen}} Freddie Mercury]], [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7CLLBZpT_Q Cycle V and Moroder himself]]. Yes. [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes Hard to find]].[[note]]Even on Youtube -- apparently the FW Murnau Foundation is against it, [[SarcasmMode though they aren't against any other version appearing on Youtube]]...[[/note]]

* Boxofficebomb: This movie cost 5.1 million Reichsmarks and made just 75,000 Reichsmarks at the box office; in modern terms this is the equivalent of a $293 million movie earning back $10 million.

* {{Leitmotif}}: Pretty much each character and event.

* {{Leitmotif}}: Gottfried Huppertz's original score, as reconstructed and recorded in 2003 (and again in 2009), features these significantly. Freder, his father, Rotwang, Maria, Robot Maria, the machines of Metropolis, the nightclub-goers in Yoshiwara, and the uprising workers all have their own recurring themes.

* BrainFever

* ClockTower ending (CathedralClimax)

* DisneyVillainDeath: Rotwang
* DistressedDamsel: Maria

* DrivenToSuicide: After he is fired, Josaphat puts a gun to his head, since he is likely to be sent down below with the workers and have all his money taken. Luckily, Freder stops him and offers him a job.

* FanService: Sure, the scene of robotic Maria dancing provocatively while topless except for large pasties shows just how different she is from the real girl; but it is also definitely FanService, and there is even a flashback to it later it the film for no real reason.

* TheFilmOfTheBook

* GermanExpressionism

* IndustrializedEvil

* MacGuffinGirl: Maria

* MagicVersusScience: This is Rotwang's whole theme. Inside a giant future MegaCity is a little [[TheConstant thatched cottage]] inside of which is a pentagrammed MadScientistLaboratory inside of which is a man dressed in robes with a robot hand. Robot Maria's transformation makes him practically a necromancer. In fact the whole film is both a pioneer of sci fi and very heavy on biblical imagery.

* {{Monologuing}}: Rotwang.

* MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate: Rotwang

* NightmarishFactory

* NoodleImplements: A real-life example. The cameraman Gunther Rittau had this to say about the special effects used to create the big, dramatic arcs of lightning during the robot's awakening:
-->"An in-depth discussion of the process would be too time-consuming here, as well as counter-productive. It should only be kept in mind that concealing, iridescence, soft soap, vignettes, and complicated technical constructions of one's own design played a decisive role."

* RidiculouslyHumanRobot: Futura/Robotrix/Fake Hel/Fake Maria/Machine Man/etc.
* RobotGirl / RobotMe: Futura/Robotrix/Fake Hel/Fake Maria/Machine Man/etc.

* SpiritualSequel: This film was to the 20's what ''Film/BladeRunner'' was to the 80's.

* UnfortunateName:
** Oh, poor [[InMyLanguageThatSoundsLike Rotwang]]. A child with a name like that was doomed to become evil. While it doesn't sound too awkward for a German surname the [[ItIsPronouncedTroPAY pronounciation]] of it is very important. For the record its "Rot-vang" as in "Red Cheek" (make of that what you will) not "Rot-wang" as in "[[{{Squick}} Decomposing]] [[UnusualEuphemism male]] [[GroinAttack genitialia]]".
** Also, having a character named after the Norse goddess of the underworld, [[NorseMythology Hel]] [[YouMakeMeSic was too close to]] [[Literature/TheBible Hell]] for the liking of [[ViewersAreMorons American censors]], who removed all reference to her - [[CompletelyMissingThePoint along with several important plot-points]].

** Georgy ([[YouAreNumberSix 11811]]), the worker Freder takes the place of at the dial machine, after he goes into Yoshiwara. His story was expanded on in the footage that was later cut and, until recently, LostForever. [[spoiler:When the workers start rioting, they rush at Freder, but Georgy protects him and is stabbed to death.]]

* YouCanLeaveYourHatOn: That's right. In 1927.

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: Every version was different for ''decades''. And the only full version surviving was apparently acquired by a collector before the first cuts were made, then wound up in an archive.

* MissingEpisode: Missing ''a third of the entire movie'' for many years. Even with the rediscovered version, there are still two missing scenes; one of which is heavily plot-relevant. To make matters even worse, there have been rumors that there are even ''more'' missing scenes that were cut from the film before its German premiere to help shorten the time of the film. It's possible that Lang didn't destroy these scenes and there may be even more unseen footage for this film.

* OldShame: Brigitte Helm denied she ever played Maria in the film.

* RealitySubtext: Maybe. Fritz Lang's wife, Thea von Harbou, was originally married to actor Rudolf Klein-Rogge, but she had an affair with Lang and ultimately divorced Rogge. In the movie and in the original book, the woman Hel was married to Rotwang (played by Rogge) but eventually had an affair and married Joh Fredersen. As Harbou wrote the original screenplay and story, it's possible she wrote it as a parallel to her own life situation, so [[RealLifeWritesThePlot a lot gets made of this coincidence]]. But on the other hand, Lang and Rogge remained good friends and worked together until Lang left Germany, while Rogge also continued to work with Harbou on several other movies.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Moroder made the rock opera version after outbidding DavidBowie, among others, for the rights. God knows what he... scratch that, probably even ''God'' doesn't know what Bowie would have done with ''Metropolis''.

* AerithAndBob: The names of the characters are not exactly typical, everyday names. While names such as Georgy (the slavic version of George), Fredersen (a Scandinavian or Low German name) and Rotwang (a German or Yiddish surname) might be still justifiable, names like 'Joh', 'Hel' and maybe even Josaphat (an outdated Hebraic name) are much less so.

* EvilHand (quite possibly [[ArtificialLimbs robotic hand]])

* ExplosiveOverclocking: The Heart Machine after the robot Maria and the workers overload it.
* FlyingCar: Possibly, as far as its usual sci-fi portrayal goes; the planes dashing between buildings may not look like cars, but seem to fill the same role, and similar shots remain popular today.

* GratuitousJapanese / [[GratuitousEnglish English]] signs advertising {{Mega Corp}}s
* LuddWasRight: A human rebellion stopped when [[{{Morlocks}} the workers]] realize they are [[{{Aesoptinum}} dependent on the machines]] for their lives.
* MadScientist: With EinsteinHair (strangely enough, this was prior to most of Einstein's fame, but then again, who wants to have a trope called "Rotwang Hair?"

* RaygunGothic: The future will be [[{{Zeerust}} Art Deco]].
* [[RidiculouslyHumanRobot Ridiculously Human]] RobotGirl: Robots in general...

* ArtificialLimbs: Rotwang's right hand, because for some reason creating a robotic body requires a human hand as an ingredient.

* BadExportForYou: Up until 2003, nearly every version of this movie released in America was based on the [[{{Macekre}} heavily edited]] Channing Pollock version. And then there was the version made in TheEighties... an... [[LoveItOrHateIt interesting]] experiment.

* EvilPlan: Initially shown to be Joh Fredersen, though it turns out that Rotwang was the real {{Chessmaster}} behind the near-destruction of Metropolis. In the novel, it's strongly implied that Fredersen was in control the whole time, including over Rotwang's plan, and was just waiting for Rotwang to [[{{Monologuing}} monologue about it]] so he'd have an excuse to finally kill him, which is why he was waiting outside the window. ''This [[FridgeBrilliance mirrors his plan]] for the workers.''

* EyeTropes: In Yoshiwara, during Maria's dance, there's a montage of eyes watching her.

* RobotGirl: Futura/Robotrix/Fake Hel/Fake Maria/Machine Man/etc.

Consequently, many find that [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny Metropolis Is Unoriginal]]: This movie's tropes, characters, visual style, and special effects have been mimicked to the point of exhaustion. Ironically, on its release people criticized the plot for borrowing heavily from Victorian melodramas and other sci-fi stories; HGWells in particular [[http://erkelzaar.tsudao.com/reviews/H.G.Wells_on_Metropolis%201927.htm felt he'd been plagiarized]]. So some of it may be ''even older'' than people think.

* TheMorlocks: HGWells got one up on ''Metropolis'' with this plotline, but Creator/FritzLang is more sympathetic.

* ThrowItIn: In the scene where Joh Frederson admits that he needs Rotwang's help after his experts were stumped, Rotwang simply smirks, as though to say "Well, there's no denying I ''am'' a genius." The truth is, Rudolph Klein-Rogge (Rotwang) simply forgot his next line, but stayed in character enough to make his smirk look intentional, and Alfred Abel (Frederson) just proceeded to his next line.

* [[RidiculouslyHumanRobot Ridiculously Human]] RobotGirl (robots in general...)

* FlyingCar (possibly, as far as its usual sci-fi portrayal goes; the planes dashing between buildings may not look like cars, but seem to fill the same role, and similar shots remain popular today)

* MadScientist with EinsteinHair (strangely enough, this was prior to most of Einstein's fame, but then again, who wants to have a trope called "Rotwang Hair?"

* RaygunGothic (the future will be [[{{Zeerust}} Art Deco]])

** Also, having a character named after the Norse goddess of the underworld, [[NorseMythology Hel]] [[YouMakeMeSic was too close to]] [[TheBible Hell]] for the liking of [[ViewersAreMorons American censors]], who removed all reference to her - [[CompletelyMissingThePoint along with several important plot-points]].

* Music/Madonna's video for "Express Yourself", casting her as both the {{Moll}} of a topsider in love with a handsome worker, and as a suit-clad business-woman herself. It quotes Metropolis in a title card at the end "Without the heart, there can be no understanding between the hand and the mind".

* MobileMaze: Rotwang's house. The doors can be completely sealed at a whim, which his uses against Freder and Maria at different points.