Metropolis

Metropolis is based off of Osamu Tezuka's manga of the same name, and the film is directed by long-time Mushi Productions staff member Rintaro. The script was written by Katsuhiro Otomo, who was the creator of Akira.

Metropolis blends traditional cel animation with 3D animation, and the filmmakers did a fantastic job at melding the two animation styles. This is a case where the combination of the two animation styles really helped to define the futuristic world that is portrayed in the film. Also, when I watched the film, I could tell that Fritz Lang's classic science fiction film Metropolis had an influence on this film.

The DVD pressing I watched of Metropolis came with a second 3" DVD that contained all the special features. The first special feature on the 3" DVD is a photo gallery, which includes model sheets, a 33-minute special about the making of Metropolis, filmographies for Rintaro and Osamu Tezuka, a text-only history of Metropolis, animation comparisons, and an eight-minute interview with Rintaro and Katsuhiro Otomo.

Metropolis is a very well-done film, and you can tell that the animators went to great lengths to preserve Osamu Tezuka's original character designs. The soundtrack for the film (which sounds a lot like New Orleans jazz) really helps evoke a certain ambience to the film. While the city itself may look futuristic, the score and the character design evoke the "Roaring Twenties." And I think this melding of the past with the future really adds a layer to this film.

The audience who would have the greatest appreciation for the film would be older teenagers and adults. This film should really be in the DVD library of almost any anime fan.

I recently did a review for this film that I had to delete. I hadn't seen the movie in years when I wrote it. After praising "Metropolis" as "one of the most visually beautiful movies ever made in the entire history of cinema. Period. Much more impressive than Fritz Lang's "Metropolis" which is the mother of all sci-fi eyeball dazzling visual extravaganzas" - I went back and watched it.

I guess the CGI and traditional animation combo really impressed me a few years ago. Lol. First off so many films have come along since that are much more impressive and secondly, while comparing this "Metropolis" to Fritz Lang's is unavoidable and not entirely without merit, it's still wrongheaded to imply the cartoon is simply superior. Wrong because it isn't superior and because the animation style of a 21st century cartoon and the visual effects of a sci-fi classic made in the 1920s are apples and oranges.

I originally said this and still agree: All sci-fi film portraits of future civilizations are compared, especially those set in all encompassing, vast, cityscapes. So, of coarse, upon seeing this film most will recall Lang's vision, which is obviously an influence here -an inspiration for central plot elements maybe more than visual style, but also "Blade Runner" and "Akira".

But there is a serious problem with the animation that has been pointed out by many reviews, just as it was when I watched the movie with friends. That of coarse is the character design. I attempted to appreciate them as perhaps throwbacks to an old 1920s style, perhaps in fitting with some of the Art Deco architectural elements as well as the terribly annoying Dixieland jazz playing throughout the movie. But they are too goofy with their round noses (well one is a giant beak), huge eyes, bulbous feet, and one dimentional appearance.

And guess what? Unfortunately the story is muddled and characters underdeveloped. Heh, how often is that the case? I'm tellin' ya brother. When it all comes together you have GOLD --You have cinematic magic-- a new classic on your hands. But when it doesn't, it just doesn't, and you can't pretend otherwise. I do dig the political intrigue and drama involved in the portrait of a corrupt plutocracy and the chaos and disaster that ensues. It's a wild, cheesy, bumpy ride.

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So, after seeing this "Metropolis" again, I liked it less. It's even more cheesy and annoying than I first recalled and the CGI infused picture less impressive. Oh, and I couldn't stand Duke Red's adopted son, Rock, at all. One of the least sympathetic little pricks I have ever seen in a movie.

While anyone can harp about the character designs not matching up with the background, its more important to apreciate what this anime did deliver, and that would be overall aesthetic quality. I my self actualy wanted a more expanded version of Metropolis even after I finished watching it, which is more than I could say for most movies. Im aware that the manga does exist and is problaly better, but in many cases the graphic novel or novel in general is always prefered by audiences who have actualy read them. For example there are many discreptincy's between Jurassic Park and Micheal Crichton's Novel, including The Lost world. were the books as good as the movies? at least in this case not quite. The only redeming factor of the movie was the sheer aesthetic value and suspense, I have never seen anything so realistic, especialy considering how increadibly limited CG technology was back in the early 90's. Anyways if you like quality work metropolis is for you. Finaly I would like to point out that the character designs are made to look like Osamu Tezuka's characters, while he himself never wanted this particular work to become an anime for reasons unknown I still think it was a good idea to get it out there.

Apparently everyone else loved it... but I hated it... (Well hate is strong... I didn't HATE it per se...)

Most of the reviews seem to rely heavily on the historical significance of this anime. No doubting that the original artist, and the fact that this was one of the earliest anime films to make significant use of 3D makes for a powerful history but the history doesn't make this piece timeless... the story should make this work timeless... and to be honest this story and story telling is far from timeless IMHO.

I had really high expectations for this one based on the reviews here... apparently I'm not with the crowd on this one...

The 3D looks really dated in Metropolis. Compare that to the still fresh 3D look in Blue Submarine No.6 (which was done 3 years before Metropolis, now 10 years old) and you can't help but be disappointed in the look of the film.

That and I guess I really don't like the stylization of the characters... the cover demonstrates a more contemporary style for characters... but characters in the entire film have a very VERY retro look... it is a bit misleading.

The pacing of this film really disappointed me, it was very predictable... I actually fell asleep for a few minutes at one point while watching this... and you could tell some sequences served very little purpose other than trying to increase the pace of the film without using much substance... (Honestly who couldn't see them crashing on that pedi-cab as soon as you realized what they were on??? really weak... )

The love story flounders too... I didn't feel the least bit emotional when tragedy struck at the end. Good love stories rip your heart out when one part of the pair is torn away from the other... In this case... it was like, "OK... what is next?"

The concept is cliche'.
The story telling lacks anything that grips you.
The protagonist and antagonist don't play against each other well. Or at least don't demonstrate suitable contrast to be meaningful or impact-full.

Over all this was a really disappointing purchase.

The packaging is questionable too:
The cardboard case the DVDs come in has a clear plastic frame on the inside that the disks sit on. Under the disk is the funky thing they stick in cds and dvds that triggers an alarm if someone walks out of the store without paying... I normally have no issue with this alarm device because I remove them from items I purchase... however... it is UNDER the plastic so their is no way to remove them withouth destroying the package, AND, they completely ruin, what would otherwise be a fine looking case interior. :(

And what is with the little bitty second disk?

This might sound a bit harsh amidst all these positive reviews... but...

I had hoped to be moved by this, but I didn't feel a thing.

It's in my collection but not a favorite.

I wouldn't buy it again if I lost my copy.

In the winter of 1921 poet Hirato Renkicki, the first Japanese Futurist, distributed the first Japanese Futurist Manifesto to the people in Hibiya Park. To him the city had become a motor and the core of the city was dynamo-electric. The city was a system and the people were part of the system. This had become a very common idea, not only in Asia but also in Europe. This was not the first time Japan had been exposed to futurism but it was the first to take on a Japanese feel. It almost became anti-human, seeing flesh as weak and full of decay. This was before Fritz Lang's Metropolis and the ideas produced by it would fuel Japan's development and culture, from the war with the US to the Postwar era.
The manga Metropolis, and the movie based on it, is a protest against such thinking. The city is for the people, the people are not there for the city. The heart of the city should be the human heart, with all the flaws and merits that goes with it. This is NOT just a copy of another film, with the message of labor or the tragic romance, depending on which version you happened to have seen, but it does share some of the same ideas. But these ideas traveled a different pathway and should be judged and enjoyed without comparing them to others. In the Lang version the female robot is hated. In this version the female robot is not hated, not by everyone, and there is a chance that mankind and the robots and the machines may yet learn how to live in a society made for everybody and everything.
A must for any anime or sci-fi library.