History YMMV / Metropolis

* JerkassWoobie: Joh Fredersen. On one hand, he is the creator and ruler of an oppressive dystopia and the initiator of a kidnapping and a FalseFlagOperation. However, it is also shown that he truly cares about his son and still mourns his dead wife, and Alfred Abel's performance makes his come off as sympathic rather tragic as well as cold and ruthless.

** The title of this page used to refer to ''OsamuTezukasMetropolis''.

** Rotwang's robot [[OneSceneWonder who only gets a couple minutes of screentime]] ''has become the film's unofficial symbol'' in pop culture. It's the only character shown on the film's most famous poster. OsamuTezuka's version was inspired by nothing other than that famous image. Of course, technically, the Maria Machine actually has a ton of screentime, just not in that form.

* FauxSymbolism: (For ''Osamu Tezuka's Metropolis''.) There's a nice bit where Tima is standing on the roof in a beam of sunlight, presumably recharging. A bird lands on her shoulder. They cut to another viewpoint, and she looks ''exactly'' like an angel.
** The whole 1920s film.
*** RuleOfSymbolism, for the most part. You have crucifixion imagery, giant clock face, personified Whore of Babylon, retelling of the Tower of Babel story, animated gargoyles personifying Death and the Seven Deadly Sins, a hidden church in catacombs, an inverted pentagram, talk about "brothers and sisters", the machine as Moloch...
*** The Moroder lyrics add a bunch more, with [[Creator/GeorgeOrwell Orwellian]] {{shout out}}s (the edition was timed to release in [[Literature/NineteenEightyFour 1984]]), references to "[[{{Ouroboros}} infinite circles of snakes eating their own tails]]" and the like.

* MisaimedFandom: Partly. UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler said ''Metropolis'' was one of his favorite films. The writer, Thea von Harbou, was a dedicated Nazi. The director, her husband Fritz Lang, divorced her and moved to Hollywood soon after the Nazi rise to power. The movie certainly doesn't have anything supporting the Nazi ideology, unless you take extreme liberties at interpreting the {{A|nAesop}}esop. It's directed against all forms of tyranny, from ruthless capitalism to mob rule.

** At the time of the film's release however, many leftists hated the film, the likes of Creator/HGWells and Creator/SergeiEisenstein included, who picked up on the UnfortunateImplications that Lang himself later apologized for.

* UnfortunateImplications: According to Siegfried Kracauer, author of ''From Caligari to Hitler'', the ending of the film, with the reconciliation of the Hand (Labour) and the Head (Capital) by the Heart (the Hero and the Heroine) infused real-world problems with sentimental concepts and metaphors of the sort that appealed to the Nazis, since it stated that class tension can be solved not by unionization or revolution but sentimental appeals of benevolence via quasi-Messianiac and religious "mediators". Josef Goebells in an article on the release cited those same metaphors for his liking of the film. So as such, the Nazis FromACertainPointOfView, did find much in the film to serve their ideas, a fact which made Fritz Lang feel resentful of the film, he always stated that the ending of the film was a mistake and that it was only in place because he couldn't think of a way to resolve the film.

** The Moroder lyrics add a bunch more, with [[Creator/GeorgeOrwell Orwellian]] {{shout out}}s (the edition was timed to release in [[Literature/NineteenEightyFour 1984]]), references to "[[{{Ouroboros}} infinite circles of snakes eating their own tails]]" and the like.

** Yep, there is a book. It was written by the director's wife at the time.

* CrowningMusicOfAwesome: The original reconstructed soundtrack by Gottfried Huppertz; [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epuUqdkO47w "Cage of Freedom"]] from the Moroder version.

** Rotwang's robot [[OneSceneWonder who only gets a couple minutes of screentime]] ''has become the film's unofficial symbol'' in pop culture. It's the only character shown on the film's most famous poster. {{Osamu Tezuka}}'s version was inspired by nothing other than that famous image. Of course, technically, the Maria Machine actually has a ton of screentime, just not in that form.

* MisaimedFandom: Partly. UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler said ''Metropolis'' was one of his favorite films. The writer, Thea von Harbou, was a dedicated Nazi. The director, her husband Fritz Lang, divorced her and moved to Hollywood soon after the Nazi rise to power. The movie certainly doesn't have anything supporting the Nazi ideology, unless you take extreme liberties at interpreting the {{Aesop}}. It's directed against all forms of tyranny, from ruthless capitalism to mob rule.

* {{Narm}}/{{Anvilicious}}: The ending. Even Fritz Lang admitted he didn't like it in an interview he gave several decades later. In an essay that is available in the booklet of the Masters of Cinema DVD, Jonathan Rosenbaum has this to say: "one of the lamest endings of any great film I can think of".

* UnfortunateImplications: According to Siegfried Kracauer, author of ''From Caligari to Hitler'', the ending of the film, with the reconciliation of the Hand(Labour) and the Head(Capital) by the Heart(the Hero and the Heroine) infused real-world problems with sentimental concepts and metaphors of the sort that appealed to the Nazis, since it stated that class tension can be solved not by unionization or revolution but sentimental appeals of benevolence via quasi-Messianiac and religious "mediators". Josef Goebells in an article on the release cited those same metaphors for his liking of the film. So as such, the Nazis FromACertainPointOfView, did find much in the film to serve their ideas, a fact which made Fritz Lang feel resentful of the film, he always stated that the ending of the film was a mistake and that it was only in place because he couldn't think of a way to resolve the film.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic: The whole film.
** RuleOfSymbolism, for the most part. You have crucifixion imagery, giant clock face, personified Whore of Babylon, retelling of the Tower of Babel story, animated gargoyles personifying Death and the Seven Deadly Sins, a hidden church in catacombs, an inverted pentagram, talk about "brothers and sisters", the machine as Moloch...
** The Moroder lyrics add a bunch more, with [[Creator/GeorgeOrwell Orwellian]] {{shout out}}s (the edition was timed to release in [[Literature/NineteenEightyFour 1984]]), references to "[[{{Ouroboros}} infinite circles of snakes eating their own tails]]" and the like.

* MisaimedFandom: Partly. AdolfHitler said ''Metropolis'' was one of his favorite films. The writer, Thea von Harbou, was a dedicated Nazi. The director, her husband Fritz Lang, divorced her and moved to Hollywood soon after the Nazi rise to power. The movie certainly doesn't have anything supporting the Nazi ideology, unless you take extreme liberties at interpreting the {{Aesop}}. It's directed against all forms of tyranny, from ruthless capitalism to mob rule.

* FauxSymbolism: (for ''Osamu Tezuka's Metropolis'') There's a nice bit where Tima is standing on the roof in a beam of sunlight, presumably recharging. A bird lands on her shoulder. They cut to another viewpoint, and she looks ''exactly'' like an angel.

* FauxSymbolism: (for ''Osamu Tezuka's Metropolis'') There's a nice bit where Tima is standing on the roof in a beam of sunlight, presumably recharging. A bird lands on her shoulder. They cut to another viewpoint, and she looks ''exactly'' like an angel.

* FauxSymbolism: There's a nice bit where Tima is standing on the roof in a beam of sunlight, presumably recharging. A bird lands on her shoulder. They cut to another viewpoint, and she looks ''exactly'' like an angel.

* AdaptationDisplacement: The title of this page used to refer to ''OsamuTezukasMetropolis''.
** Also, just about every sci-fi film made in the past 80 years references this movie.

** Although Georgio Moroder's CultClassic musical soundtrack version has not been released on DVD at all, prompting fans to KeepCirculatingTheTapes.
*** [[http://www.aintitcool.com/node/50792 Kino is going to be releasing the Giorgio Moroder version]] on DVD and Blu-Ray in November 2011. No more need to circulate.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Rotwang's robot [[OneSceneWonder who only gets a couple minutes of screentime]] ''has become the film's unofficial symbol'' in pop culture. It's the only character shown on the film's most famous poster. {{Osamu Tezuka}}'s version was inspired by nothing other than that famous image. Of course, technically, the Maria Machine actually has a ton of screentime, just not in that form.

* FridgeBrilliance: The tipping point [[spoiler: for the revolution]] seems to be the construction of the Ziggurat. Why? You notice the wide, spacious area full of modern, low-rise buildings surrounding it-[[UnfortunateImplications and the lack of all surface slums...]]

* {{Macekre}}: if you compare the 1928 American release to the original film -- editing by chainsaw, and Channing Pollock boasting about having rewritten the whole thing.

* VindicatedByHistory: When it was first released it was a huge flop that nearly bankrupted Ufa, the studio that produced it. Now, it's considered the forerunner to ''all'' science fiction films ever. Including (and especially) ''Franchise/StarWars''.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic: the whole film.

** The Moroder lyrics add a bunch more, with [[Creator/GeorgeOrwell Orwellian]] {{shout out}}s (the edition was timed to release in [[Literature/NineteenEightyFour 1984]]), references to "[[{{Ouroboros}} infinite circles of snakes eating their own tails]]" and the like.

* UncannyValley: An invoked example will the robot Maria, who despite looking human moves in a twitchy, insect like way and has odd facial expressions, to convey how different she is from a person.

* VindicatedByHistory: When it was first released it was a huge flop that nearly bankrupted Ufa, the studio that produced it. Now, it's considered the forerunner to ''all'' science fiction films ever. Including (and especially) ''Franchise/StarWars''.

* VindicatedByHistory: When it was first released it was a huge flop that nearly bankrupted Ufa, the studio that produced it. Now, it's considered the forerunner to ''all'' science fiction films ever. Including (and especially) StarWars.

* HighOctaneNightmareFuel: Evil!Maria is a sterling example of this. Her movements, her expressions, [[UncannyValley everything about her]] scream so horribly that this is something that looks human but ''isn't''.

* AndTheFandomRejoiced: At the restoration.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Rotwang's robot [[OneSceneWonder who only gets a couple minutes of screentime]] ''has become the film's unofficial symbol'' in pop culture. It's the only character shown on the film's most famous poster. {{Osamu Tezuka}}'s version was inspired by nothing other than that famous image. Of course, technically, the Maria Machine actually has a tonne of screentime, just not in that form.

The following are SubjectiveTropes relating to {{Metropolis}}
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*** Though recent news that [[http://www.aintitcool.com/node/50792 Kino is going to be releasing the Giorgio Moroder version]] on DVD and Blu-Ray in November 2011 does spring up hope...

* TearJerker: Maria's first appearance in the pleasure gardens, surrounded by ragged worker children; "''Look! These are your brothers!''" And, for some people, the ending.
** In the novel, Rotwang's death: while hanging off the edge of the cathedral, he hallucinates that Hel is reaching down to embrace him, and he lets go so he can touch her face. Also, Joh Fredersen's redemption epilogue where he's given a letter Hel wrote before she died saying that she'll always love him and that she knows he'll rediscover the goodness in his heart.

* AdaptationDecay: It's fairly understandable why the 1989 musical based on the film was not very successful. Whether [[BrianBlessed BRIAN BLESSED's]] role in it makes it better or worse is questionable.