Kino Press Release: The Complete Metropolis (Blu-ray)

Looks to be a brilliant disc however i'll be buying the UK Steelbook version. But extra's are thge same I think (I hope).

First off, I am looking forward to this as much as everyone else and will purchase the BD.

That being said, I don't understand how they can call it the "Complete Metropolis" when it is not. I know there is "only one" scene missing, but it is still a missing scene so it is not complete. Just because all interested parties really really want it to be complete does not make it complete. It seems to me like they are making false claims. Isn't that illegal?

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Originally Posted by Damian Howard 

Looks to be a brilliant disc however i'll be buying the UK Steelbook version. But extra's are thge same I think (I hope).

http://www.metropolis1927.com/#dvd

Special Features

• 150-minute reconstructed and restored 2010 version (including 25 minutes of footage previously thought lost to the world)
• Lavishly packaged editions with wraparound embossed sleeve, and a limited edition SteelBook
• Pristine new HD transfer (1080p on Blu-ray)
• New 2010 symphony orchestra studio recording of the original Gottfried Huppertz score in 5.1
• Newly translated optional English subtitles as well as the original German intertitles
• Full-length audio commentary by David Kalat and Jonathan Rosenbaum
• Die Reise nach Metropolis (2010, 53 minutes), documentary about the film
• 2010 re-release trailer
• 56-page booklet featuring archival interviews with Fritz Lang, a 1927 review by Luis Buñuel, articles by Jonathan Rosenbaum and Karen Naundorf, and restoration notes by Martin Koerber
• And more!

Have to say the advertising is a bit misleading. I too think calling it the complete version is just plain inaccurate.

Regarding the pretty awful quality of the extra 16mm material, I'd also question the statement, "PRISTINE new HD transfer". From what I have read elsewhere the 16mm segments haven't been enlarged to fit the rest of the frame as the 35mm either, and - bizarrely - have been said to be positioned to the bottom right of the 'full frame'? Please check out the comments by A.S. Potts in the amazon link below:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Metropolis-Reconstructed-Restored-Masters-Steelbook/dp/B0041SMF5A/ref=sr_tr_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1285517883&sr=8-1

Whilst I have pre-ordered this and absolutely cannot wait to see it projected in HiDef, I am slightly disappointed that a full digital restoration hasn't been attempted. Always a shame that 'popcorn' flicks (which I DO love by the way incase anybody reads that the wrong way) like the Bond series or Star Wars etc can easily get the funding necessary for a Lowry cleanup, and yet a film as important as Metropolis has to put up with scratchy 16mm inserts. I'm sure this material could be cleaned up nicely, subtly sharpened, graded AND blown up so it's the same size as the existing 35mm print by using Lowry or some similar company? Or were the 16mm elements too far gone to do much with?

All this doesn't detract from the fact I really am looking forward to this one - gorgeous packaging too on the steelbook version!

- John

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Originally Posted by Tony Int 
That being said, I don't understand how they can call it the "Complete Metropolis" when it is not. I know there is "only one" scene missing, but it is still a missing scene so it is not complete. Just because all interested parties really really want it to be complete does not make it complete. It seems to me like they are making false claims. Isn't that illegal?

This is the most blatant case of fraudulent advertising since "The Never-Ending Story!"

At most, the title is semantically incorrect.  They inform the viewer in the text crawl that opens the film (and in all of the press material surrounding the film's restoration) that a scene, too damaged to restore, has been replaced with a title card, so it's not like they are trying to hide it.

The 16 mm print unearthed for the restoration had been stored in less than optimal conditions for about 80 years so it's a wonder that it looks as good as it does.  The newly found footage is scratchy but completely watchable.  Also, when projected theatrically at least, the change in aspect ratios was not nearly as distracting as I thought it would be.  Overall, this restoration looked AMAZING and I doubt that Lowry could have done it any better.

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Just been wading my way through all the press material for this release and - yes - it does appear as if the image on the 16mm sections was in extremely bad shape, and this represents the best that could be done with it. Perhaps in a another decade or so digital restoration will have advanced to the point where these images can be bought back to their original lustre.

At any rate looking forward to watching this, and am going to watch the DVD of the 2003 restoration tonight to refresh my memory of this film. Will be great to then see the 2010 version in November.

Does anybody know if this bluray will be at 20fps? I'm really not a fan of speeded up film as it just looks comical - looking at the trailers for this new release it all appears to look natural so fingers crossed.

What scene is still missing?

I've seen the new restoration, and there are two scenes still missing from all versions.  The first is Freders encounter with the Apocalyptic Monk in the cathedral.  Apparently the scene came at the end of the reel, and subsequently lost.

The second scene is of Joh Frederson's fight with Rotwang.  I have heard this scene was too damaged to be saved, whether that was due to nitrate decomp of the 35mm or what else I do not know.  All the remains is the tail end, in which Rotwang regains consciousness. 

There are a few instances of jump cuts, where a few frames to perhaps a second of material are gone, but essentially, the film is now complete apart from those two scenes.

BR