Metropolis on Blu Ray in 2010 (1 Viewer)

http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=3877

In an announcement for the merger between Lorber HT Digital and Kino International, it was revealed that Kino is planning to release the recently restored version of Fritz Lang's legendary silent film 'Metropolis' in theaters next year, followed by a Blu-ray release.

No word on a release date, but the film is currently scheduled to be revealed at the Classic Film Festival in April.

The previous restoration lacked a number of scenes which had been lost or irreparably damaged since its original 1927 release.

Recently, a complete version of the film was found, though in poor condition, and work was conducted to fully restore the film to its original cut.

Due to the dedication of many film professionals, only a single scene remains "lost" today.

'Metropolis' is often considered one of the most important films to the science fiction genre, becoming an influence to more recent sci-fi hits such as 'Blade Runner', 'The Matrix', 'Dark City', and even 'Star Wars'.

For its time, it was one of the most elaborate and expensive films ever made, with a production budget equivalent to approximately $200M today.

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Great news! I was wondering about the status of this just the other day.

This'll be a must have for me. Just hope they retain the original Huppertz score on the new release.

ok here is an update, i know this is long , but its verbatum fromhttp://www.arte.tv/de/arte-magazin/3032192.html translated as to what to possibly expect whne Kino brings this to blu-ray METROPOLISTHE WHOLE STORY var uri_amigo_revoir_id3032192_more = "/de/arte-magazin/Aktuelles-Heft/FEBRUAR-2010/3032192,templateId=renderServicesAmigo,CmPart=com.arte-tv.www.html";

It was a world sensation, showed up than last year, 25 were thought lost minutes of film from Fritz Lang's "Metropolis". After extensive restoration work is now at the Berlinale, the first time since 1927 "Metropolis" shown in the original form. ARTE broadcasts the event live! A bulky office building on the outskirts of Munich. Outside, the picturesque desolation seems to be the camera of a Wim Wenders and David Lynch to wait. Inside, sunlight and the outside world have no business being. Here, at the Alpha & Omega, will be restored films. More precisely meet here film studies, art programming, the use of chemicals, which are not suitable for chemical kits and a huge portion of enthusiasm for the work of digital film restoration. For each film directors, there are places and situations where it runs down a more or less holy thrill back. We caught it here: The first appearance of a digitally restored part of Fritz Lang's enormous silent film "Metropolis". One part we have never seen before. An adventurous Fund Before we dive into the "lost" scenes from "Metropolis", let us tell two stories. One of adventurous discovery of the material for the most complete version of the film since its premiere. The others of an entirely new method of film images which, because of countless scrapes and tread are only dimly visible through the use of newly developed computer programs to restore such a way that correspond to light and again contrasts with what has turned director 1925/26. The history of the discovery, said Helmut Poßman, Chairman of the Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Foundation, which manages the restoration work, and it occurs to him to begin a discreet word "kurios a" Fernando Pena, a passionate film lover, had in the late 1980s years, a conversation with the head of a small film clubs in Buenos Aires. The complained about the troubles in the projection of a copy of "Metropolis". More than two hours because he had to stand next to the projector and press the old film, so he does not jump out of the leadership. The "more than two hours" were either the small exaggeration of a stressed Projektionisten - or the hint of a sensational discovery. For "Metropolis", which is also the unfortunate story of a film mutilation of the people believed until recently that it is irrevocable. Today we see in Fritz Lang's film like the zeitgeist of the 20s, a volatile mix of fear and Future Vision, a Christian, Marxist and, unfortunately, proto-fascist ideas. At the time of its premiere, but this seemed so far most expensive German film to miss the taste of the audience thoroughly. And remained the criticism, for all his enthusiasm for the technical services, highly skeptical. "A factual issue cruel kitsch. Effects, not because worldviews urge to explosions, but because the film wants his tricks. The conclusion that the tearful reconciliation between employers and workers - terrible. "For example, destroying the Berliner Börsen-Courier, 11 January 1927 "Metropolis" after its premiere. At that time the film was 4189 meters long, which corresponds to a duration of approximately 154 minutes. After critics and viewers were denied their followers, got cut up on behalf of Parufamet-rental company, a drastically shortened version that conformed to one version, for which the American author responsible Channing Pollock drew. Frankly, he had known that they have made to the act its own rhyme. When the film in the new version came to German cinemas, its length was only 3241 meters. Too good to be true Cut into what is now Buenos Aires. Here, the reference had left the long version of "Metropolis" our film enthusiasts Fernando Pena no peace. However, the search initially went back into space, presumably the "Museo del Cine was" afraid of foreign views on more or less properly stored treasures of film history. Only when Paula Félix-Didier, formerly the wife of Fernando Pena, the Film Museum took over the leadership, has intensified the search and had success very quickly. Until of course, the prospects Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Foundation, the copy and finally give the go-ahead for the restoration could have been quite a few phone calls, emails, and trips across the ocean is necessary. The story of the almost-original copy of "Metropolis" was simply too beautiful to be able to believe she would have immediately. Rehabilitation of a masterpiece. The plot of "Metropolis" is reasonably well known: In the future, a certain John Fredersen rules over an industrial metropolis where the workers toil to exhaustion on huge machines. When Fred Ersen's son Freder misery in this "underworld" is aware he is on the side of the rebellion, while he has fallen in love with the beautiful Mary, who then embodied in the catacombs, an early Christian ideal of charity. But there is still a villain, the inventor Rotwang, with Fredersen has a personal score to settle. Using a robot that receives the traits of Mary, he uses the rebellion of the workers themselves. This leads to disaster. And in the end, when Metropolis is just barely escaped the destruction mediated, at that infamous reconciliation between mind and hand, through the heart. With the new scenes in the film receives many new meaning. The original is more emotional and human than what we previously knew as architecturally daring film fairy tale. Particularly impressive is the scene about to take refuge in the children from the lower city, the straight - which is recognizable only in the full version - is being flooded by water from the upper town. This scene contains both, a much sharper critique of the class structure of the city, and an emotional impact, which may, according to the lender at the time the audience overwhelmed. Even today, the scene of a trained disaster pictures view is very close. Almost as important in the new version, we see that Metropolis is inhabited by people. The old versions show an archetypal conflict, and hence has been watching ever broken up a bit: the admiration for the visual power of film and head-shaking about the strange ideology (by the way, Fritz Lang's later vehemently distanced). In the restored version, we now discover the inner relationship with the metropolis of Berlin in the 20s. And in that people who are similar to and are torn between loyalty and lust for life, responsibility, and conformism. The Metropolis is not only an outward form, but also an inner life. And Fritz Lang's film has once again what had been taken from him: a soul. Soul, computer work Are added up, the film conveys this life lost, had rediscovered the scenes as in a puzzle in the current version of "Metropolis". The timetable for reconstruction was built in the Murnau Foundation in Wiesbaden, was based on the traditional music of Gottfried Huppertz original with their 1028 data for synchronous interaction of film and orchestra. Following a separate program for digital processing of damaged film images was developed. "It's about," said Thomas Bakels repair of Alpha & Omega, "the image without violating its integrity. There should be no foreign content by editing, not a single pixel is changed by us. " How this works in detail, will not reveal, of course. But we suspect that even a computer can begin to recognize not only pictures, but they also think about ". After digital processing, the result is copied back to film, so that the images received the original grain. Thus, the film does not seem like a cold digital reconstruction, but as if you were sitting just in the movies. 1927 maybe. This ultimately contributes also what gives the reconstructed "Metropolis" the last decisive hint of a soul music. The guideline is now the restoration of the original music score by Gottfried Huppertz, which the conductor Frank Strobel meticulously reconstructed frame accurate rehearsed with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra. On 12 February, we "Metropolis" see not only hear but also very close to that, as was done by the visitors to the Berlin premiere. Perhaps with a little difference: we know what we have in this cinematic masterpiece that we had almost lost. THE ARTE GASTAUTOREN Georg Seeßlen, FILM CRITIC AND AUTHOR, AND MARK METZ, JOURNALIST, THE SHOW TOGETHER MULTIMEDIA PROJECT "THE FUTURE OF CINEMA" ARTE PLUS PUBLIC VIEWING: The world premiere of the reconstructed "Metropolis" version in Friedrichstadtpalast and publicly broadcast will be live at the Brandenburg Gate. On 12 February from 20:15 EXHIBITION: "The complete Metropolis," special exhibition at the Museum for Film and Television in Berlin. By 25 April 2010 BOOK TIP: "Fritz Lang's Metropolis, ed German Cinematheque, Belleville-Verlag 2010 ARTE LIVE EVENT Metropolis Silent Film • FR • 12.2. • Opening Gala 20:15 • Film Screening 20:40 The trip to Metropolis Documentation FR • 12.2. • 23:10

Thanks very much for the update & translation. I can't wait for it to be released!

from http://www.aintitcool.com/node/44528?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:%20AintItCoolNews%20(Ain't%20It%20Cool%20News)&utm_content=Google%20Reader

Kino International Releases
the new restoration of
Fritz Lang's Masterpiece
THE COMPLETE METROPOLIS
New York, April 5, 2010 - Kino International is proud to announce the North American release of the new restoration of Fritz Lang's 1927 science fiction masterpiece METROPOLIS, now with 25 minutes of lost footage and the original Gottfried Huppertz score.

This new 147-minute version, being released as THE COMPLETE METROPOLIS, premiered on February 12 at the Berlin Film Festival and will have its first US showing on April 25 at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood, as part of the TCM Classic Film Festival.

The film's national theatrical release will commence on May 7, with a NY premiere at Film Forum, and on April 14, at Laemle's Royal Theater in Los Angeles - followed by runs in all major markets throughout the US and Canada. The DVD and Blu-ray release is set for November of this year.

Seldom has the rediscovery of a cache of lost footage ignited such widespread curiosity as did the announcement, in July 2008, that an essentially complete copy of Fritz Lang's METROPOLIS had been found.

CUTS AND MAJOR RESTORATIONS:

When it was first screened in Berlin on January 10, 1927, the sci-fi epic ran an estimated 153 minutes. After its premiere engagement, in an effort to maximize the film's commercial potential, the film's distributors (Ufa in Germany, Paramount in the U.S.) drastically shortened METROPOLIS, which had been a major disappointment at the German box office.

By the time it debuted in the states latter that year, the film ran approximately 90 minutes (exact running times are difficult to determine because silent films were not always projected at a standardized speed).

METROPOLIS went on to become one of the cornerstones of science fiction cinema foreshadowing BLADE RUNNER and THE MATRIX to name just a few recent examples. Testament to its enduring popularity, the film has undergone numerous restorations in the intervening decades.

In 1984, the film was reissued with additional footage, color tints, and a pop rock score (but with many of its intertitles removed) by music producer Giorgio Moroder. A more archival restoration was completed in 1987, under the direction of Enno Patalas of the Munich Film Archive, in which missing scenes were represented with title cards and still photographs. More recently, the 2001 restoration combined footage from four archives and ran at a triumphant 124 minutes. It was widely believed that this would be the most complete version of Lang's film that contemporary audiences could ever hope to see.

But, in the summer of 2008, the curator of the Buenos Aires Museo del Cine discovered a 16mm dupe negative that was considerably longer than any existing print. It included not merely a few additional snippets, but 25 minutes of "lost" footage, about a fifth of the film, that had not been seen since its Berlin debut. The discovery of such a significant amount of material called for yet another restoration.

This was executed by Anke Wilkening of the Murnau Stiftung (Foundation), the German institution that is the caretaker of virtually all pre 1945 German films, Martin Koerber Film Department Curator of the Deutche Kinemateque and on the music side, by Frank Stoebel.

The result of their work was first seen by the public on February 12 at the 1600 seat Friederichstrasse Palaste, accompanied by a 60-piece orchestra playing the original 1927 score by Huppertz. The public and critical response was ecstatic.

Regarding the quality of the added footage Ms. Wilkening has said:

"The work on the restoration teaches us once more that no restoration is ever definitive," says Wilkening, "Even if we are allowed for the first time to come as close to the first release as ever before, the new version will still remain an approach. The rediscovered sections which change the film's composition, will at the same time always be recognizable through their damages as those parts that had been lost for 80 years."

Further information on THE COMPLETE METROPOLIS and annotations of all recovered scenes - as well as images, clips and theatrical playdates - will be uploaded to the new Metropolis website, which goes live on April 15. The site will be hosted at www.kino.com/metropolis.

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A definite purchase for me come November.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/movies/la-ca-metropolis-20100425,0,7866784.story

It's often been said that silent films are a lost art twice over. Not only are movies without sound not being made anymore, but many of the classics of the period also no longer physically exist. That, however, is not the end of the story.

For what's less well known is that pictures long thought to be lost forever, key works unseen for decades, have a remarkable tendency to regularly turn up in ways as exciting and dramatic as the films themselves. And so it is with Fritz Lang's masterwork, "Metropolis."

Sunday night at Grauman's Chinese Theatre as part of the TCM Classic Film Festival (with a full run scheduled at Laemmle's Royal starting May 14), a 2-hour, 27-minute version of Lang's film will get its North American debut after a rapturous world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival.

Considered the most expensive German film of its day, "Metropolis" is celebrated as much for its spectacle as its story. Set in a mechanized city of the future where captains of industry live in towers and the slaves who do all the work dwell underground, "Metropolis" is simultaneously an examination of the future, a parable about capital and labor and the complicated story of an enigmatic young woman named Maria, played by Brigitte Helm.

This "Metropolis," which will be accompanied by a live performance by the always compelling Alloy Orchestra, is 25 minutes longer than any version seen in more than 80 years.

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There's also a movie trailer on the Apple trailers page: http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/metropolis/ so we can get a glimpse of what it looks like in HD.

Some thoughts about the screening at the TCM Classic Film Festival:
new.blog.imdb.net/2010/04/26/tcm-classic-film-festival-day-4-a-thriving-metropolis/

What Martin said. I was at that TCM fest screening of Metropolis and it blew everyone's minds out the doors of Grauman's Chinese and all over Hollywood Boulevard. (The Alloy's score was fantastic -- perfect eerie aural atmospherics for what was on the theater's giant screen.) Movie going doesn't get better than that. Seeing it on Blu-ray won't be quite the same thing, I'm sure, but one thing is for certain -- with the restored footage, this movie FINALLY makes sense. You can now enjoy it for the story (several barely there subplots are now important parallel storylines) as well as the monumental visuals.

The restored King Kong and A Star is Born also looked fantastic at the Chinese. (Alas, I missed North By Northwest.) The upcoming Blu-rays of these should be awesome too. (Though I don't think that Kong one has been announced yet.)

By the way, all the films shown at Grauman's Chinese during the festival were digitally projected.

By the way, all the films shown at Grauman's Chinese during the festival were digitally projected.

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Not all. The Good, The Bad & The Ugly was a 35mm print from the 2003 extended recut, complete with several light lines and a short section with ugly green lines .

I don't imagine so, but was any of the lost footage of A Star is Born found?

Originally Posted by benbess

I don't imagine so, but was any of the lost footage of A Star is Born found?

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It may have been found but is still inaccessible to movie buffs: http://www.thejudyroom.com/asib/asib-article.html

Double post

First Details for Metropolis UK Blu-ray http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=4545

Eureka Entertainment has revealed initial details for the UK release of the new restoration of Fritz Lang's masterpiece Metropolis, which will come out in its new 150-minute restorated version as part of the Masters of Cinema series in late 2010. It will come in special-edition packaging with a "lavish wraparound sleeve and embossed printing."

Preliminary special features include:

• Full-length audio commentary by David Kalat and Jonathan Rosenbaum
• Die Reise nach Metropolis: 2010 documentary about the film
• 56-page booklet featuring new essays, archival interviews, vintage production stills, and more

Further extras will be announced nearer the release date.

Note that the US edition by Kino may feature different packaging and special features.

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Full details of the upcoming MoC release at the dedicated website.

Hi John

Thanks for the link, a fantastic website

We've gotten early details and artwork on the upcoming, highly-anticipated DVD and Blu-Ray releases of the reconstructed and restored version of Metropolis!:

http://homecinema.thedigitalfix.co.uk/content.php?contentid=72540

"Following the theatrical release in September The Masters of Cinema Series have Special Edition DVD and Blu-ray Disc editions of Fritz Lang's Metropolis in its newly reconstructed and restored version planned for release in 'Late 2010'. Through the official website they have revealed early artwork and specs...

Features include:
-150-minute feature film (including 25 minutes of footage previously thought lost to the world)
-Special-edition packaging with lavish wraparound sleeve and embossed printing
-Pristine film transfers presented on Blu-ray (1080p) and DVD (2-disc)
-Newly translated optional English subtitles
-Full-length audio commentary by David Kalat and Jonathan Rosenbaum
-Die Reise nach Metropolis (2010) documentary about the film
-56-page booklet featuring new essays, archival interviews, vintage production stills, and more
-Further extras to be announced nearer the release date"

curious to see the Kino Art as well