History Film / Metropolis

* TheBigGuy: Grot aka the Thin Man, and the main enforcer of Fredersen's schemes.

* ''BladeRunner'' in particular is considered a SpiritualSuccessor to this film.

* SpiritualSequel: This film was to the 20's what ''BladeRunner'' was to the 80's.

This {{Troperiffic}} film is either the TropeCodifier or possible UrExample for [[LudicrousPrecision approximately 65.4%]] of [[OlderThanTheyThink science fiction tropes]]. Not to be confused with the [[Anime/{{Metropolis}} anime film of the same name]], which is SuggestedBy but not adapted from it.

* AmbiguouslyGay: Freder. It may have to do with the make-up for the b/w movie, but still.
** Or it could be the fact that he seems to have the strangest affinity for hugging and caressing every human being he comes across, gender be damned.

** *[[GettingCrapPastTheRadar cough]]*

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: Every version was different for ''decades''.
** And the only full version surviving was apparently acquired by a collector before the first cuts were made, then wound up in an archive.

* MissingEpisode: Missing ''a third of the entire movie'' for many years.
** Even with the rediscovered version, there are still two missing scenes; one of which is heavily plot-relevant.
** To make matters even '''worse''', there have been rumors that there are even ''more'' missing scenes that were cut from the film before it's German premiere to help shorten the time of the film. It may be very likely that Lang didn't destroy these scenes and there may be even more unseen footage for this film.

Silent [[GermanExpressionism German]] Sci-Fi film from 1927, directed by FritzLang. Considered one of the [[UrExample forerunners]] of the genre and one of the most expensive films ever made.

* TheMorlocks: HGWells got one up on ''Metropolis'' with this plotline, but FritzLang is more sympathetic.

* SpringtimeForHitler: Director FritzLang intended this film to be anti-Nazi propaganda (the party was still rising to power during the time this film was released). Ironically, the Nazi Party '''''loved''''' the film, [[CreatorBacklash causing Lang to despise his own work.]]

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

Aside from its progressive storytelling, it is also known for being heavily [[LostEpisode fragmented]], the results of both heavy Bowdlerization in its trip to foreign markets, and of poor preservation techniques back in the '30s (plus a little thing called World War II).

Up to 25% of the original footage was considered lost before turning up in a museum in Argentina in 2007, albeit in inferior picture quality. The rediscovered footage was cleaned up as well as possible and integrated into the existing restored footage. The rediscovered version also confirmed the exact running order of shots, which in previous versions could only be guessed at. This new version runs only about five minutes short of the original 1927 German cut, as opposed to nearly an entire hour shorter in some versions. Unfortunately, two scenes still remained too badly damaged to restore, and were replaced by title cards. It made its big US debut at the Turner Classic Movies festival in 2009 and on television on Turner Classic Movies in November 2010. This nearly complete version was released on DVD and BluRay in late 2010.

This {{Troperiffic}} film is either the TropeCodifier or possible UrExample for [[LudicrousPrecision approximately 65.4%]] of [[OlderThanTheyThink science fiction tropes]]. Not to be confused with the [[{{Anime/Metropolis}} anime film of the same name]], which is SuggestedBy but not adapted from it.

In the UK, a 2-hour cut of ''Metropolis'' is available for streaming on LoveFilm.com .

* {{Music/Kraftwerk}}'s ''Man Machine'' album, which includes a track titled "Metropolis", a nod to the film.

* ExplosiveOverclocking: The Heart Machine after it is left unattended.

Consequently, many find that [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny Metropolis Is Unoriginal]]: This movie's tropes, characters, visual style, and special effects have been mimicked to the point of exhaustion. Ironically, on its release people criticized the plot for borrowing heavily from Victorian melodramas and other sci-fi stories; HGWells in particular [[http://erkelzaar.tsudao.com/reviews/H.G.Wells_on_Metropolis%201927.htm felt he'd been plagiarized]]. So some of it may be ''even older'' than people think.

* ArtificialLimbs: Rotwang's right hand, because for some reason creating a robotic body requires a human hand as an ingredient.

* BackgroundHalo: Maria gets this quite a bit, especially as she is preaching to the workers in the catacombs.

* TheBigGuy: Grot aka the Thin Man, and the main enforcer of Fredersen's schemes.

* CharacterTics: Robot-Maria's jerking her shoulders, whiplashing her neck and squinting her left eye a bit.

* DitzyGenius: Maria again. She is an amazing orator with the political will and ambition to push for equality among the upper and lower classes... and when sufficiently frightened she has a tendency to run with arms flailing away from safety, bouncing into walls along the way.
* DrivenToSuicide: After he is fired, Josaphat puts a gun to his head, since he is likely to be sent down below with the workers and have all his money taken. Luckily, Freder stops him and offers him a job.

** In the novel, it's strongly implied that [[spoiler: Fredersen]] was in control the whole time, including over [[spoiler: Rotwang]]'s plan, and was just waiting for [[spoiler: Rotwang]] to [[{{Monologuing}} monologue about it]] so he'd have an excuse [[spoiler:to finally kill him, which is why he was waiting outside the window]]. ''This [[FridgeBrilliance mirrors his plan]] for the workers.''
* ExplosiveInstrumentation: Apparently, if the machines(especially the heart machine) are left unwatched for just a few minutes, they blow themselves up with lots of sparks and arc lightning thrown out. The workers don't really have to do anything to successfully turn out all the power in the city.

* FanService: Sure, the scene of robotic Maria dancing provocatively while topless except for large pasties shows just how different she is from the real girl; but it is also definitely FanService, and there is even a flashback to it later it the film for no real reason.
* FemmeFatale: The Machine Man.
* TheFilmOfTheBook

* TheGrimReaper: He has a statue along with the 7 deadly sins in the cathedral. When Freder falls sick, he has a dream of it coming alive, and advancing on him with it's scythe.

* LoveMakesYouEvil: [[spoiler:Rotwang wants to destroy the city because Freder's mother chose the city's ruler over him. And then died giving birth to said ruler's son.]]

* MadScientist: Rotwang. Again, one of the first, and the best.

* {{Monologuing}}: Rotwang.
* MobileMaze: Rotwang's house. The doors can be completely sealed at a whim, which his uses against Freder and Maria at different points.

* {{Necromantic}}

* RealitySubtext: Maybe. Fritz Lang's wife, Thea von Harbou, was originally married to actor Rudolf Klein-Rogge, but she had an affair with Lang and ultimately divorced Rogge. In the movie and in the original book, the woman Hel was married to Rotwang (played by Rogge) but eventually had an affair and married Joh Fredersen. As Harbou wrote the original screenplay and story, it's possible she wrote it as a parallel to her own life situation, so [[RealLifeWritesThePlot a lot gets made of this coincidence]]. But on the other hand, Lang and Rogge remained good friends and worked together until Lang left Germany, while Rogge also continued to work with Harbou on several other movies.

* ReluctantMadScientist: In some versions of the edit, Rotwang really just wants his lover back.

* TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized: Well, the workers don't really want to kill their masters, just blow up the machines. But they don't think it through very well...

* TwoGuysAndAGirl: The backstory of [[spoiler: Rotwang, Hel, and Joh.]] It didn't end well.

* UrbanSegregation: Again, almost a TropeCodifier, with the rich living in gardens and clubs high above the city, and the workers living in a poorly built underground city.

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

* RealitySubtext: Maybe. Fritz Lang's wife, Thea von Harbou, was originally married to actor Rudolf Klein-Rogge, but she had an affair with Lang and ultimately divorced Rogge. In the movie and in the original book, the woman Hel was married to Rotwang (played by Rogge) but eventually had an affair and married Joh Fredersen. As Harbou wrote the original screenplay and story, it's possible she wrote it as a parallel to her own life situation, so [[RealLifeWritesThePlot a lot gets made of this coincidence]]. But on the other hand, Lang and Rogge remained good friends and worked together until Lang left Germany, while Rogge also continued to work with Harbou on several other movies. Needless to say, [[YourMileageMayVary there's been debate]].

* ExplosiveOverclocking (the Heart Machine)

* ArtificialLimbs: Rotwang's right hand.

* BackgroundHalo

* TheBigGuy: Grot

* TheGrimReaper

* MadScientist: Rotwang

* {{Monologuing}}: Rotwang
* MobileMaze: Rotwang's house

* TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized

* UrbanSegregation

* YesMan: Josaphat.

* ExplosiveInstrumentation

* Fanservice: Sure, the scene of robotic Maria dancing provocatively while topless except for large pasties shows just how different she is from the real girl; but it is also definitely Fanservice, and there is even a flashback to it later it the film for no real reason.

* CharacterTics: Robot-Maria's jerking her shoulders and whiplashing her neck.

* HoYay: Freder is a [[http://cboye.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/freder.png very physical person]]. Especially with Josaphat and 11811. [[spoiler:On the other hand, it's very firmly established that he loves Maria...]]

* EvilPlan: [[spoiler:Initially shown to be Joh Fredersen]], though it turns out that [[spoiler:Rotwang was the real {{Chessmaster}} behind the near-destruction of Metropolis]].
** In the novel, it's strongly implied that [[spoiler: Fredersen]] was in control the whole time, including over [[spoiler: Rotwang]]'s plan, and was just waiting for [[spoiler: Rotwang]] to [[{{Monologuing}} monologue about it]] so he'd have an excuse [[spoiler:to finally kill him, which is why he was waiting outside the window]]. ''This [[FridgeBrilliance mirrors his plan]] for the workers.''

* XanatosGambit: [[spoiler:Initially shown to be Joh Fredersen]], though it turns out that [[spoiler:Rotwang was the real {{Chessmaster}} behind the near-destruction of Metropolis]].
** In the novel, it's strongly implied that [[spoiler: Fredersen]] was in control the whole time, including over [[spoiler: Rotwang]]'s plan, and was just waiting for [[spoiler: Rotwang]] to [[{{Monologuing}} monologue about it]] so he'd have an excuse [[spoiler:to finally kill him, which is why he was waiting outside the window]]. ''This [[FridgeBrilliance mirrors his plan]] for the workers.''

This {{Troperiffic}} film is either the TropeCodifier or possible UrExample for [[LudicrousPrecision approximately 65.4%]] of [[OlderThanTheyThink science fiction tropes]]. Not to be confused with the [[{{Anime/Metropolis}} anime film of the same name]], which is InspiredBy but not adapted from it.

This {{Troperiffic}} film is either the TropeCodifier or possible UrExample for [[LudicrousPrecision approximately 65.4%]] of [[OlderThanTheyThink science fiction tropes]].

* ScienceFictionVersusFantasy: This is Rotwang's whole theme. Inside a giant future MegaCity is a little [[TheConstant thatched cottage]] inside of which is a pentagrammed MadScientistLaboratory inside of which is a man dressed in robes with a robot hand. Robot Maria's transformation makes him practically a necromancer. In fact the whole film is both a pioneer of sci fi despite being very heavy on biblical imagery.

* LostForever: The rest of the film until, like [[ThoseWackyNazis other things German]], it turned up in Argentina.

** LoveMakesYouCrazy: The Hundreds club start killing themselves and each other over the Maria Machine.

--> '''Joh''': Let the dead lie. She's as dead for me as she is for you.\\

'''Rotwang''': ''([[MilkingTheGiantCow shaking a fist in Fredersen's face]])''I only ever forgot one thing: that Hel was a woman and you a man!

* LostForever: The rest of the film until, like other things German, it turned up in Argentina.

Also notable is the 1984 color-tinted restoration by composer Georgio Moroder, which is [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes only available on VHS and LaserDisc]] due to its [[BrokenBase controversial]] [[TheEighties 80's]] [[NotableOriginalMusic pop soundtrack]]. [[http://www.themortonreport.com/entertainment/video/kino-to-bring-giorgio-moroders-metropolis-to-blu-ray-and-dvd/ Until now, anyway.]] Moroder's version is now available on Netflix instant streaming (alongside the full restored cut), and a DVD/BD release is soon to follow.

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/MetropolisPoster.jpg

--> \\
''Having conceived Babel, yet unable to build it themselves, they had thousands to build it for them. But those who toiled knew nothing of the dreams of those who planned. And the minds that planned the Tower of Babel cared nothing for the workers who built it. The hymns of praise of the few became the curses of the many...''