History Film / Metropolis

* ShoutOut: Creator/OscarWilde's quote "The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it" on a Yoshiwara flyer.

* A color-tinted 1984 restoration by composer Music/GiorgioMoroder, who also wrote a new [[TheEighties pop-influenced]] soundtrack that proved to be [[BrokenBase highly controversial]]. It was [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes available on VHS and laserdisc]] at first, but was later taken out of production due to issues with music licensing. [[http://www.themortonreport.com/entertainment/video/kino-to-bring-giorgio-moroders-metropolis-to-blu-ray-and-dvd/ In 2011]] Kino International, current holder of the rights to the film, released this cut on home video after successfully sorting out these problems.
* A restoration commissioned by the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung in 1998, incorporating footage discovered in film archives around the world and a new recording of the original score. This version had its premiere at the Berlin Film Festival in 2001 and was released on home video in 2003.
* A restoration based on a full copy of the original film that was discovered at a museum in Argentina in 2008. Although heavily damaged, it confirmed the exact running order of scenes, which could only be guessed at in earlier projects. Footage from both this copy and a second one archived in New Zealand was cleaned up as much as possible and integrated into the 2001 version, but two scenes (of a monk preaching and a fight between Rotwang and Fredersen) were too damaged to be of use. This version runs about five minutes short of Lang's original cut, as opposed to nearly an hour short in some earlier versions, with title cards inserted to describe the missing scenes. It made its big US debut at the Turner Classic Movies Festival in early 2010 and on television on Turner Classic Movies in November 2010. This nearly complete version was released on DVD and UsefulNotes/BluRay in late 2010.

* A restoration commissioned by the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung in 2001, incorporating footage discovered in film archives around the world and a new recording of the original score. This version was released on home video in 2003.

* YouAreNumberSix: Georgy 11811.

** Gyorgy is the Slavic version of George.

* BrainFever: Freder appears to fall victim to this after seeing Robot Maria embrace his father.

* ExplosiveInstrumentation: Apparently, if the machines(especially the heart machine) are left unwatched for just a few minutes, they blow themselves up with lots of sparks and arc lightning thrown out. The workers don't really have to do anything to successfully turn out all the power in the city.

* {{Gonk}}: In a film where everyone looks uniform, Rotwang -- the MadScientist with fuzzy hair, bulging eyes, and a hunchback figure -- really stands out.

* TheGrimReaper: He has a statue along with the 7 deadly sins in the cathedral. When Freder falls sick, he has a dream of it coming alive, and advancing on him with its scythe.

Also notable is the 1984 color-tinted restoration by composer Music/GiorgioMoroder, which was for many years [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes only available on VHS and LaserDisc]] due to its [[BrokenBase controversial]] [[TheEighties 80s]] pop soundtrack. [[http://www.themortonreport.com/entertainment/video/kino-to-bring-giorgio-moroders-metropolis-to-blu-ray-and-dvd/ In 2011]] Kino International, who own the rights to the movie, were able to clear up the music clearance issues and release the Moroder cut on DVD and Blu-ray.

* A color-tinted 1984 restoration by composer Music/GiorgioMoroder, who also wrote a new [[TheEighties pop-influenced]] soundtrack that proved to be [[BrokenBase highly controversial]]. It was [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes available on VHS and laserdisc]] at first, but was later taken out of production due to issues with music licensing [[http://www.themortonreport.com/entertainment/video/kino-to-bring-giorgio-moroders-metropolis-to-blu-ray-and-dvd/ In 2011]] Kino International, current holder of the rights to the film, released this cut on home video after successfully sorting out these problems.

Aside from its progressive storytelling, it is also known for being heavily [[LostEpisode fragmented]], the results of both heavy {{Bowdlerization}} in its trip to foreign markets, and of poor preservation techniques back in the '30s (plus a little thing called UsefulNotes/WorldWarII).

Up to 25% of the original footage was considered lost before turning up in a museum in Argentina in 2008, 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, the scenes of a monk preaching and a fight between Rotwang and Fredersen 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 early 2010 and on television on Turner Classic Movies in November 2010. This nearly complete version was released on DVD and UsefulNotes/BluRay in late 2010.

Silent {{German|Expressionism}} 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.

It tells the story of a society divided in two, the workers underground and the wealthy on the exterior, how Freder, the son of the supreme ruler of the city, falls in love with a worker named Maria and the class confrontation between them fueled by Rotwang, a MadScientist rival of Freder's father, Fredersen.

Up to 25% of the original footage was considered lost before turning up in a museum in Argentina in 2008, 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, the scenes of a monk preaching and a fight between Rotwang and Fredersen 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 early 2010 and on television on Turner Classic Movies in November 2010. This nearly complete version was released on DVD and UsefulNotes/BluRay in late 2010.

Not to be confused with the [[Anime/{{Metropolis}} anime film of the same name]], which does take elements from this movie as well as a manga by Creator/OsamuTezuka, which was itself SuggestedBy, but not adapted from, this movie.

Also notable is the 1984 color-tinted restoration by composer Music/GiorgioMoroder, which was for many years [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes only available on VHS and LaserDisc]] due to its [[BrokenBase controversial]] [[TheEighties 80's]] pop soundtrack. [[http://www.themortonreport.com/entertainment/video/kino-to-bring-giorgio-moroders-metropolis-to-blu-ray-and-dvd/ In 2011]] Kino International, who own the rights to the movie, were able to clear up the music clearance issues and release the Moroder cut on DVD and Blu-Ray.

* A [[Theatre/{{Metropolis}} musical theater adaptation]] of the film.

* Mechanique, a DC comics robots villainess, IS supposed to be the (time traveling) creation of Rotwang (and is obviously based on Robot!Maria.)

* The music video for Music/{{Queen}}'s "Radio Ga Ga" is inspired by and uses actual footage from ''Metropolis'', with Freddie Mercury's face superimposed over the robotic Maria's at one point. Only fitting really, Mercury was involved in composing the 1984 release.

* {{Music/Madonna}}'s video for "Express Yourself", uses imagery from Metropolis, casting her as both the {{Moll}} of a wealthy man 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".
* Swedish Post-Metal band Music/CultOfLuna was inspired by the film (as well as German Expressionism) to create their sixth album ''Vertikal'',which has several of the film's themes all over it.
* ''Before Tomorrowland'', a prequel novel to Disney's ''Film/{{Tomorrowland}}'' film features a robot-making villain named after Rotwang, though in-universe, Fritz Lang named the character after him, having once been colleagues within the Plus Ultra organization.
* ''Metopolis'', An Italian ComicBook/DisneyComics adaptation featuring Minnie Mouse as Maria and Mickey as Freder.

* Except for the heads and chests, the recent redesign of [[Characters/DoctorWhoCyberman Dr. Who's Cybermen]] borrows heavily from the film's Robot.
* The original Ralph McQuarrie concept art of C-3PO looked nearly identical to a male version of robot-Maria.

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; Creator/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.

* GratuitousJapanese: The apparently European city contains a nightclub called the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoshiwara Yoshiwara]].

'''Rotwang''': She isn't dead for me, Joh Fredersen! For me, she lives! [''gesticulates wildly'']

* SpringtimeForHitler: Director Creator/FritzLang later claimed he intended this film to be anti-Nazi propaganda (the party was still rising to power during the time this film was released). Ironically, the Nazi Party ''loved'' the film, [[CreatorBacklash causing Lang to despise his own work.]] Lang's wife Thea von Harbou, who co-wrote the ''Metropolis'' script and had written the original novel, joined the Nazi Party in the early 1930s. The couple divorced not long after that. While Lang emigrated to America soon after the Nazi takeover, von Harbou remained in Germany and made movies for the Nazis until the end of World War II also brought an end to her career.

* CyberPunk: A technologically advanced civilization, manned by proles that slave away in the depths of the earth.

* IHaveYouNowMyPretty:
** Every scene between Rotwang and Maria. ''Especially'' the one before the transformation sequence. It doesn't help that the next time we see them, Maria is naked, unconscious and strapped to a table.
** The scene where he chases Maria up to the top of the cathedral is arguably even worse. It may have looked bad before, but you could easily argue that it was [[NotWhatItLooksLike not what it looked like.]] Here, he actually seems to be trying to rape her.

* UrbanRuins

* UndergroundCity: The Workers' city is underground below the actual city of Metropolis.
* UrbanRuins: The Workers' city gets destroyed by a flood after the workers destroy the Heart Machine.

* CollapsingLair

* [[CollapsingLair Collapsing Underground City]]

** The ''under''class are living underground, literary below the ''upper''class, who live in skyskrapers.

* TowerOfBabel: Referenced, with significant alterations. Maria's retelling alters the facts and changes the moral. The hubris is inverted ("And on the pedestal these words appear: 'Great is the world and its Maker, and great is Man!'") and retribution comes from paying too much attention to the idea and ignoring the workers. There is no confusion of tongues, but another clever inversion ("The praises of one became the curses of another. Although they spoke the same language, they could not understand one another's words"). The New Tower of Babel at the heart of the city is absolutely untouched by the destruction and the divided classes are reunited.

* UndergroundCity: The Worker's city under Metropolis.

* AbsurdlyCoolCity: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0AlrH_K7Ko And don't you forget it.]]

Also notable is the 1984 color-tinted restoration by composer Music/GiorgioMoroder, which was for many years [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes only available on VHS and LaserDisc]] due to its [[BrokenBase controversial]] [[TheEighties 80's]] [[NotableOriginalMusic pop soundtrack]]. [[http://www.themortonreport.com/entertainment/video/kino-to-bring-giorgio-moroders-metropolis-to-blu-ray-and-dvd/ In 2011]] Kino International, who own the rights to the movie, were able to clear up the music clearance issues and release the Moroder cut on DVD and Blu-Ray.

* NotableOriginalMusic: The original soundtrack, plus the entirely different [[TheEighties Moroder]] version (see below).

It tells the story of a society divided in two, the workers on the underground and the wealthy on the exterior, how Freder, the son of the supreme ruler of the city, falls in love with a worker named Maria and the class confrontation between them fueled by Rotwang, a MadScientist rival of Freder's father Fredersen.

* IdiotBall: Most participants get a chance to do really stupid things to further the plot, however, Joh Fredersen is worst. He is supposedly some sort of genius who created and runs Metropolis but he consistently makes idiotic decisions. Fredersen fires his right-hand man sending him into the workers' hellish abode. Needless to say, if a man knows a lot about you, it is a very bad idea to make him your enemy, let him live and send him to a place where you suspect a revolution is brewing. Then he trusts in Rotwang's loyalty and sanity despite the fact that evidence for doing the opposite is staring him in the face. Fredersen came alone to Rotwang. If Rotwang wanted revenge he could have just killed him then and there. Fortunately for Fredersen WhyDontYouJustShootHim doesn't seem to occur to Rotwang. Fredersen deliberately provokes a rebellion and lets the workers run amok among absolutely vital machinery for the purpose of having an excuse to strike them down, but doesn't seem to have a clue how to do the latter.
** The workers also do many stupid things in the third act. They completely fail to realise that their leader is clearly NotHerself, (made worse by the fact that Freder - who, at this point, has met her a total number of twice - realises it almost immediately,) they forget about their children and leave them behind in their city, (even though they were specifically instructed to bring their sons along,) and they destroy huge machines without thinking about the consequences, (which even Grot calls them out on). This can, however, be somewhat justified by Robot-Maria being TheCorruptor, and intending to cause havoc through the workers ("Let's watch the world go to the Devil!").
* IHaveYouNowMyPretty: Every scene between Rotwang and Maria. ''Especially'' the one before the transformation sequence. It doesn't help that the next time we see them, Maria is naked, unconscious and strapped to a table.

* WorldOfHam: The actors, the extras, the soundtrack, the set design, the special effects and even ''the title cards'' all ham it up. Counts as TropesAreNotBad for many viewers, as this is precisely what makes the movie epic.

This {{Troperiffic}} film is either the TropeCodifier or possible UrExample for [[LudicrousPrecision approximately 76.5%]] of [[OlderThanTheyThink science fiction tropes]]. Among many, many other things, it's the first movie to have a robot in it.

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, the scenes of a monk preaching and a fight between Rotwang and Fredersen 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 UsefulNotes/BluRay in late 2010.

** Most of this footage was found in Argentina in 2008 and restored then spliced into the then current version. There are still parts missing but the new version with the extra found footage is considered to be nearly as complete now as it was in the 1927 premier.

* YouCanLeaveYourHatOn: That's right. In 1927. The realism of Robot Maria's appearance is field-tested by taking her to Yoshiwara and having her do a striptease for the patrons. She's a big hit.

** Georgy ([[YouAreNumberSix 11811]]), the worker Freder takes the place of at the dial machine. His story was expanded on in the footage that was later cut. He is supposed to have Freder's chauffeur drive him to Josaphat's apartment, but after finding a lot of money in the pockets of his borrowed clothes, he spends the night at Yoshiwara instead. The next morning, the Thin Man catches Georgy and sends him back to his station; later, when the workers start rioting, Georgy protects him and is stabbed to death.