Reviews

If your looking for an awesome black and white science fiction film with great acting and an excellent story...well keep searching because you will not find it here in Fritz Lang's "Metropolis". Most people would shun my harsh opinion against this "classic" movie but if you are seriously looking for a good film that was made before your time then there are way better choices than this pitiful excuse for a movie.

I will began by talking about the techniques in shooting the movie first. Since the sets were so elaborate and they went so overboard with props they expected that to carry the weight of entertaining the audience because it was something nobody had really seen before in a movie this long. Well yeah so what. Star Wars had ground breaking effects but they didn't just say, "well guys, good job. I think that will do the trick. You can forget about the whole epic story and all that." No. They combined mind bending science fiction with an awesome story and made a movie series that changed the American culture. Metropolis just films all the shots at these really flat and boring angles with makes the already boring movie a complete snoozer. Its almost like your watching a play thats not live action. And i wouldn't want to see this if it were a play either.

The acting is horrible. Once again your watching a play with bad actors. You can't really grow attached to any of the characters because they are so goofy and annoying.

The music is tasteless. There really is no main theme even for a movie this long. You would think they would have multiple themes like Lord of the Rings or something. But they don't. The music does't add to the experience.

The story? It seemed to be pulled out of the wastebasket and pieced together. It was not interesting at all.

In conclusion, don't watch this movie because if you do you will be saying, "dang I wish this movie would have ended 2 hours ago." That is, If your not already asleep.

It's pretty hard to pull off any story no matter what the medium it is being told in. But Battleship Potemkin completely fails at this attempt. So I would suggest you go spend your time watching some other more interesting black and white movie that is more interesting and more historically accurate than this poor excuse of a movie.

The camera angles are not so bad. But If you have great aesthetics but no creative content to keep the audience lost in your story then all of it goes to waist. Obviously the makers of this movie were not worried about this. They just wanted to make a statement against something something they didn't approve of but they didn't do a very good job of it.

You could tell they put forth a good amount of effort into this movie with all the extras and the props. This all of course didn't pay off in the long run. They ended up just making an expensive movie that had no lasting effect. I think the only reason I saw it in my film history class is because it is a Russian movie and he wanted us to see an example of something that wasn't completely controlled by the government when it was produced. Which is good because i wouldn't want to watch over an hour of that brainwashing communist crap. The thing is that they were trying to hard to make this elaborate movie that they put no depth into it. I literally sat there at the end of the movie saying, "Oooooookaaaaaay? Why did I just watch that?"

The music was okay but nothing I would oggle over. I found this movie so bad that it was slightly humorous. But I don't think it was the director's purpose to be funny. This film was a fail so just pass it up and look for something more informative or entertaining which would be just about anything.

Hey, looking for a good black and white movie? Check this one out. This is a nice suspenseful love story that you will not regret sitting down to watch. There are a lot of old black and white movies that have lost their luster over the years and would probably not be able to entertain today's audience. But take my word for it. I am a college teen that loves having fun goofing off and playing video games and yet I managed to actually enjoy this aged film.

The characters are very well played. You can easily fall in love with the 2 main protagonist which is very vital in this type of film. I cared about their relationship. I wanted them to live happily ever after. I wanted them just to live! I won't give away the story I promise because you should really watch this yourself. The story is not only engaging but has you anticipating each scene as it plays. The filming techniques are superb and seem to be the most appropriate position for each shot.

No thriller is complete without music. And this movie has just the touch needed to add that extra filler in the background to keep you on your toes. The sound quality is actually not that bad considering how old of a movie it is.

The ongoing lesson or moral of the story is well represented and portrayed. There really is nothing bad about this movie. It has Peter Lorre in it for heaven's sake. If you don't know who that is then watch this movie just to find out. You'll love him. He is classic in this movie.

Overall this is just a great movie that you should sit down with your family one night and watch together. I would watch it again right now if I wasn't in college.

The thing that really shocked me about this movie was how much I loved it even though it had nothing going for it. And by that I mean this. I am not a fan of love stories. I am a 19 year old college guy. This is an OLD movie! Yet, it managed to appeal to me in every way possible.

It began by making me like the main characters. That is probably the most important thing to do in a love story is make sure your audience likes the characters. Because if they don't, then heck, why would I watch the movie? I don't give a crud what happens to this couple. But the fact is that I was already captured by both of the characters within the first few scenes and I wanted them to live happily ever after no matter what.

The story is excellent and has you wanting so hard for things to go your way. The text cards are well placed and even add extra humor to parts intended. The comedy is very innocent and tasteful. Makes me wish more movies today could make things funny without being totally gross. Lillian Gish is so good. Her facial expressions make some actresses of today look like amateurs. She knows just what parts of her lips and where to turn eyes to portray all of the character's emotions without being too dramatic like most of the actors/actresses of her day.

I am being quite vague with all my details because I don't want to give away the story. And what a great story it is. By the time I was done watching the movie I was so happy and full of emotion that I probably had the mindset of a 15 year old girl. I had to get rid of all of that mushiness by working out so I could re-enter my man-beast persona. Yeah it was that good of a movie. You should definitely check it out.

This movie started boring and slow. What better way to start a movie than in a dry church service with a watered down sermon. I understand the that the director is suppose to be conveying the fact that none of the audience is interested in what the priest has to say but that doesn't mean that I, as the viewer, should be bored out my mind along with the cast. The subtle attempts to create some kind of humor by the fact that no one is enjoying the service fail also.

The main character does nothing to attach me to him and make want to see his outcome. He is not a great actor. His facial expressions actually make me dislike him. He has this tendency to look off in a random direction with puppy dog eyes and I don't understand what it is for. Perhaps he is looking up to God but these moments seem to just chunk in awkward moments into what is already a very queer movie.

Throughout the movie their are all of these things that are symbolized and represented like the narrow path, wide path and the "naked truth". Their is a lot of focus on these elements with not much reward at all. You just sort of sit there and within the first 5 seconds say "ok I get it" and your waiting for it to be over and get on to something that is intriguing (sorry but that never happens).

All in all if your wanting to watch a good silent film then I strongly suggest that you look way further. I'm a big fan of black and white movies and even silent ones but I still couldn't bring myself to like this film at all. I even have a pretty long attention span for my generation and I constantly found myself wanting to just fall to sleep even though I had gotten a full nights rest. Just spend your well earned money on something else.