I first saw Metropolis 5 years ago on TV. It was the Moroder version and it blew me away. I believed that it was one of the best science fiction films of all time.
Last year a copy of the new restored 140-minute version was given away free with a British film magazine. I bought it and watched it eagerly. It was DIRE. The music (by a British composer I hadn't heard) was terrible, totally removing all interest that remained after the utter tedium of watching the film was overcome. It was at least 3/4 hours too long, and such a painful slog that it took two attempts to watch all of it.
I can only conclude that the 1984 version was simply a lucky fluke and credit must go to Georgio Moroder for having Van-Sant-like guts for defying establishment and turning this utter disaster into something just about passable.
Last year a copy of the new restored 140-minute version was given away free with a British film magazine. I bought it and watched it eagerly. It was DIRE. The music (by a British composer I hadn't heard) was terrible, totally removing all interest that remained after the utter tedium of watching the film was overcome. It was at least 3/4 hours too long, and such a painful slog that it took two attempts to watch all of it.
I can only conclude that the 1984 version was simply a lucky fluke and credit must go to Georgio Moroder for having Van-Sant-like guts for defying establishment and turning this utter disaster into something just about passable.