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Aug 1, 2009 12:06 AM
#1
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Grammar Queen

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THIS IS AN ANIME ONLY DISCUSSION POST. DO NOT DISCUSS THE MANGA BEYOND THIS EPISODE.
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a very good movie. quite the ride! beautiful animation. not too sure about the character designs but the backgrounds were absolutely beautiful!

i love the theme of this movie. i hope we don't end up this way!
p r o f i l e 👀
Oct 27, 2009 12:35 PM
#2

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Unique movie, based on contrasts and balance. Recommend to watch for everyone, though somebody can dislike its someway strange way of presenting the story to 5/10 and some of others can like it even up to 10/10. This is really a case when all depends on your own taste.

1) From time to time you can see dark, but relatively high-colored beautiful urban high-tech or punky backgrounds, though others are bright and calm. Very good backgrounds, if you compare with such in other movies.
2) Different characters act very different. It's like fat good-natured detective Ban is taken from some childish tale, and self-possessed Rock is from serious cyberpunk story. Though almost all of them are animated like in a fairy tale.
3) Some of dramatic moments contrast with the soundtrack playing at that time. Music is... hard to say correctly... circus-like (something like that you could hear in "Paprika"). Moments that are close to the final happen with old American restaurant' music playing (nah, I can't explain better what I hear). Sound is mastered and mixed perfectly, positioning is also great -- one of the best audiotracks in anime. Both video and music give you interesting feelings.
4) There's no absolutely good or bad guys.
5) Pace is well-aligned: dynamic, average or slow when it's needed.
6) Plot is well and it's sufficient.
7) And the last: Metropolis has half-happy ending :) .

Upd: I gave it 8/10.
MaxCrankOct 27, 2009 12:39 PM
Jan 8, 2010 3:01 PM
#3
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At least better than futuristic Miyazaki shit.
Mar 20, 2010 7:14 AM
#4

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Aug 2009
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I loved it.The style of the characters looked a little old fashioned,which was nice.
Jul 25, 2010 3:08 PM
#5

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Loved it. I'm just going to pretend/assume she gets put all back together like FiFi.
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Jul 28, 2010 3:40 PM
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Feb 2008
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the one thing that really stands out is the soundtrack. i mean i really loved the music. it was a very good movie. the ending is kind of bitter sweet too.
Aug 31, 2010 1:07 PM
#7

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The ending is what made this movie so good for me. Gave me an Akira and Fritz Lang Metropolis vibe which is Awesome! Great movie for Sci-Fi and Cyberpunk fans.
Nov 12, 2010 8:20 AM
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Nice little anime :)
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Dec 5, 2010 4:53 PM
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If you want a happy ending (Tima in one piece), then look at it: http://img366.imageshack.us/img366/9533/metropolispictureqp5.jpg its picture after the credits depicting a shop named "Kenichi & Tima Robot Company," with Tima visible in the window.
Feb 17, 2011 5:22 AM

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Even if it's not that popular, that anime is b----o----r----i----n----g.
Boo: "Boo!"
May 28, 2011 10:34 PM

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Veethorn said:
The ending is what made this movie so good for me. Gave me an Akira and Fritz Lang Metropolis vibe which is Awesome! Great movie for Sci-Fi and Cyberpunk fans.


Totally. I was getting a huge Akira vibe at the ending too! I still need to see the Fritz Lang Metropolis though. I heard Tezuka say he hadn't seen Metropolis, just a single still in a magazine. Regardless, I still need to watch it...
“Money can't buy dere”
Jun 10, 2011 2:21 PM

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Seabury said:
Veethorn said:
The ending is what made this movie so good for me. Gave me an Akira and Fritz Lang Metropolis vibe which is Awesome! Great movie for Sci-Fi and Cyberpunk fans.


Totally. I was getting a huge Akira vibe at the ending too! I still need to see the Fritz Lang Metropolis though. I heard Tezuka say he hadn't seen Metropolis, just a single still in a magazine. Regardless, I still need to watch it...
 Just laying it there, the feeling of Akira is probably cuz Otomo Katsuhiro wrote the script for metropolis =P
May 30, 2013 7:18 PM

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Dec 2009
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Loved the music, art designs, and story. This definitely feels like Osamu Tezuka's work.
May 31, 2014 1:47 AM
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It took me forever to get that far, but I have to admit, the last thirty minutes of this movie aren't ordinary. The soundtrack and animation is magnificent.
moving on.
Jun 22, 2014 2:50 PM
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I
voyteq said:
If you want a happy ending (Tima in one piece), then look at it: http://img366.imageshack.us/img366/9533/metropolispictureqp5.jpg its picture after the credits depicting a shop named "Kenichi & Tima Robot Company," with Tima visible in the window.
I know I'm late for this, but I'm getting a 404 error. Hoping this is really the case
Jul 16, 2014 5:00 AM
The Shrike

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Magnificent art and animation. Madhouse when at it's best, is hard to top. And a very nice adaption of one of Tezuma's early works. The story is a bit simple, but then again, why overcomplicate things?

I'm not too sure about the use of music for the climatic scene. I'm all for soundtrack dissonance but I feel that Ray Charles' "I can't stop loving you" felt... utterly out of place. Just my personal opinion because I know others loved it.
"Perhaps there is a universal, absolute truth. Perhaps it justifies every question. But that's beyond the reach of these small hands." Mamoru Oshii

There is a cult of ignorance (...) nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that “my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.” Isaac Asimov

Nov 3, 2014 3:53 PM
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Marzan said:
I'm not too sure about the use of music for the climatic scene. I'm all for soundtrack dissonance but I feel that Ray Charles' "I can't stop loving you" felt... utterly out of place. Just my personal opinion because I know others loved it.

thought of the same thing when I first heard it, but like a minute or so later thought it's actually working really well.

yeah, the last 30 minutes or so of the movie were fantastic.
Dec 19, 2014 6:24 PM

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So the Ziggurat had a self-destruct button? Wouldn't have put one in myself.

This was a visual feast for sure.

TheCbass said:
Seabury said:
Totally. I was getting a huge Akira vibe at the ending too! I still need to see the Fritz Lang Metropolis though. I heard Tezuka say he hadn't seen Metropolis, just a single still in a magazine. Regardless, I still need to watch it...
 Just laying it there, the feeling of Akira is probably cuz Otomo Katsuhiro wrote the script for metropolis =P


Got an Akira vibe the whole way through, from the simmering revolution to various set-pieces. Along with other films like Blade Runner (obv) etc. Parts of The Animatrix patently borrowed from this.

Weirdly, Rock really reminded me of Clu Gulager in The Killers (cool Lee Marvin film), in look, attitude and cos he's so unlikable.
Mar 21, 2015 5:01 PM
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Jul 2014
602
Masterpiece! Superb animation, characters, music, story... In each frame you can see the amount of work invested... 10/10, nothing to add! Again, vastly under-rated by spoiled kids here on MAL. I think I'm gonna slowly end my participation on MAL and find more adult and serious site...
Oct 26, 2015 11:09 AM

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Jan 2015
190
Pretty good movie. I really liked the art and background design, as well as the soundtrack.
Nov 30, 2015 9:03 PM

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Aug 2013
2073
Felt very Akria-esque, not nearly as epic thought but it still this movie was pretty good. The characters felt very hollow they're probably a lot better in the manga but alas what we got was still very interesting.
Aug 8, 2016 3:49 PM

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5226
Unsatiafying end but overall decent
7/10
Aug 19, 2016 12:45 AM
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Mar 2016
55
Beautiful little movie. So nicely assembled as far as aesthetics go. If CG and such high production values existed in the 50s, I wouldn't be able to tell the difference. I know for many that is a drawback, but it was an enjoyable watch. The character designs, characterizations, the editing and pacing were all very evocative of a simpler time, but with incredible animation and art direction. A few bits of dialogue had a weird resonance, maybe moreso because of their delivery, but Altas' answer when asked why, by Pero, and Tima's last words, were moving in ways that I didn't expect. These kind of anime movies, you just have to let the story and the spectacle unfold. My only complaint is that the villains aren't nefarious enough, but whatever.
rolltierAug 19, 2016 12:56 AM
Apr 17, 2017 9:21 PM

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I agree that the music and especially the visual are great but story and character wise the movie fails hard. Those old school zoom and fade transitions were also awkward and awful idea.

It shows that this movie had a troubled development because there's lot of good ideas here but the movie does nothing with them. There's really no reason to even care about the two main characters because they barely say or do anything in the film.

I though give the film credit for making at least interesting city marvel at. The reason why the movie does not raise big negatitive feelings eventhough it falls flat hard is because the movie always interesting to look at and never becomes boring because of it.

Sep 25, 2017 11:13 AM

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the movie has some good ideas but in general was kinda pretentious and boring. the ending where a certain scene happens and the love song start to play was one of the best things i ever watched in anime. btw that was my first tezuka movie. it was good but in general i didnt liked the characters. i will watch the 20s movie, cause every critic says its better than the anime.
Nov 17, 2017 7:06 AM
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very enjoyable from start to finish. it had a nice nostalgic feeling. but we never got to see what happened to Rock.

feel like i should have saved it for christmas. i love it when movies have the same atmosphere while im watching it :D

@Kuruwin i just rewatched the scene, yeah he died .-. my mistake
removed-userNov 17, 2017 2:14 PM
Nov 17, 2017 11:08 AM

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FruitlessJuice said:
very enjoyable from start to finish. it had a nice nostalgic feeling but we never got to see what happened to Rock.

feel like i should have saved it for christmas. i love it when movies have the same atmosphere while im watching it :D


Do you mean some other character because didn't Rock die with the Duke.
Dec 5, 2017 6:11 AM

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Holy motherfucking fuck, what a depressing turn of events.

I have to say the film as a whole was very wholesome and refined from the animation to the soundtrack. Everything was very convincing with the character designs reminiscent of astro boy.

Is only that irritating fuckwit Rock didn't fire his gun at everything he made eye contact with. I honestly would have flipped it had Fifi not survived the whole ordeal.

I'm just going to assume they repaired Tima in the end
Prim3Dec 5, 2017 6:14 AM
~
May 17, 2018 2:59 PM

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It was very stylish.
If you are going to disagree with me, don't bother talking to me. I will seriously hurt you!
Mar 3, 2019 4:20 AM
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I love you Metropolis!
😢😭😟😢😭😧😢😭
Oct 21, 2019 8:36 PM

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Throughly enjoyed this one! I was hoping that they end up rebuilding Tima since all of robots had pieces of her. So I'm glad the after credit photo answers that for me. Oh can't forget about Fifi, happy that Fifi ended up surviving too.
Mar 24, 2020 1:54 PM

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Metropolis premiered in 2001 and it is easy to recognize that this is an old work. The characters are quite cartoonish, and this is absolutely not my aesthetics. I'm glad to have discovered it, but at the same time to finish it. Without intention to ever re-watch it.
Feb 11, 2021 3:47 AM

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This was an amazing spectacle. It's pretty surprising to see how underrated this is.

The presentation was solid overall, it had great original character designs, an interesting multi-layered setting, which helped to create a really unique atmosphere.

The story was simplistic and I was quite satisfied by it.

:3
Mar 13, 2021 1:34 AM

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Finally completed, this awful abomination. Rintaro strikes again (first neo tokyo, then final fantasy and now this shit.) He has no idea that movie should be presentable to audience. It looks awful shit and painful to watch. I actually had to watch it 3 times just so that I could wouldn't get distracted by his presentation and focus my eyes and brain of the story.
This movie biggest problem is the "viewpoint". whenever there is character interaction or speech, normally anime are supposed to show character's face at close up view. but this this movie does the opposite. There are 3 ways this movie sets the viewpoint during speeches or interaction-
- Far view point (almost 40%)
basically shows a large area like airport or party hall from the farthest view. Multiple characters are present in a single frame and each character has there own motion. Plus due to the far view all character are so small. I (as in my eyes) has to identify which character is speaking the lines which can be heard in the movie and its really strainfull work for my eyes. Excessive animation for unnecessary parts, absence of focus, jarring atmosphere created due to combination of all this is really distracting.

- Detailed scenery without showing the character (30- 20%)
Rintaro likes to flaunt his background designs a lot. It would not be a problem normally, but he is purposefully doing it when a character starts speaking. That makes me fume in anger. Most of the time after the dialogue has ended or is about to end is when the microscopic sized character enters the scenery frame which is shown. This just shows how much he doesn't care about the story which is going on and he wanted to do is show off he movie's artistic detailed skills.
But is those details even good? No, in terms of looks those details are horrible. Just because he can make a detailed artwork doesn't mean its supposed to look good.
(Have ur teacher even scolded u in school to leave lines while writing and improve ur handwriting because u make a mess in the notebook with details which teacher is unable to read? Its basically the same.)
His films heavy detailing doesn't look neat. U can compare steamboy and metropolis side by side, to identify when heavy details look good and when heavy details look bad.

-Character back is shown (around 20%)
many of the times during the rare close up scene, we are supposed to see character's back while they are talking instead of there faces. Why??? Why would u want me to hit u so badly?

Only around 5-10% time of character speech, character faces are shown. like during each speech or interaction, 1 or 2 sec cameo of their faces just to rub salt in our faces.

Other problems with this movie ( ofcourse the problem won't stop at that)
- tezuka character designs looks out of place from the movie setting and detailed background (its like mickey mouse walking in live action avatar)
- also what with scene transition which looks cartoonish ( reminds me of looney tones hole or MS PowerPoint transitions). I know its rintaro's signature style, but he should realize by now he artwork and those transitions are like water and oil which don't mix.
-his storytelling is also pretty shit if u ask me. the sunspot came out of nowhere in the film, never really explained properly. By the first half, all the side characters either died or are out of picture. It look not so good to me. I have not read tezuka original work, i don't know how it went in it. But based on just wiki knowledge, their are many thing which appears to be missing or are poorly done in this movie

Overall If it was made by someone else then maybe its could have got a 6/10. But because how excruciatingly painful rintaro direction was I will give it 3/10 ( which is the lowest I have given yet for a movie). Only thing I really liked about this movie was the tezuko character design or music. Story was decent but nothing special. everything else was goddamn dreadful.

My advice to anyone is don't be fooled by masochist who consider it good.
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Apr 11, 2021 6:43 PM

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i personally love this type of art style, it's always been so endearing and cute to me. soft and gentle~ i wish it was used more in modern and new anime, but unfortunately i know that it's not the taste of most nowadays. anyways... i don't really watch new stuff to begin with usually, so. tezuka!!!!

i also couldn't stop marveling at the animation, the backgrounds, the detail... i honestly kept doubting that it was even made in 2001 tbh. it seems so... like, maybe i'm reaching, but if i showed this to people and said it was a new movie would anyone believe me? i would believe it.

but... what i disliked was that... well. my worst criticism is the character "development." i'm supposed to believe in tima and kenichi's bond, but it's so hollow. it's almost like... there was no time? and in actuality, it doesn't seem like there was in the whole scheme of things. they fell, they escaped, were chased, got caught, etc., in like what i assume was the span of days/weeks/months- how are you able to tell? sure, it's explainable why they were so attached to each other. kenichi is the first person tima saw the moment she got blasted from the test tube. it's easy then, that this almost new-born humanoid with no memories of even her name would immediately have a childlike clinginess to him. but what about kenichi? a classic story of a dude finding a girl out of nowhere who has amnesia and then goes to the ends of the earth to protect her, when he literally just met her? tima's personality also was a wet sock. needed a lil more oomph, she was too blank, and having a existential crisis for 90% of her dialogue.

next, too much exposition! show, not tell. i never was able to get immersed, even with the brilliant graphics and scenery. i should have been able to with those. ah... what a shame. the problem is that there was a lot of ideas they wanted to throw in, yet there was no tact to presenting it in a smooth and linear manner. if it were up to me, a factory scene with tima, the scientist, and duke red would start off first in a hazy way as a foreshadowing. then cut to kenichi and uncle detective. i felt ultimately disconnected. the only things that really shook me was fifi's "death", mfing rock having a pistol as a solution for everything (you don't like me? PAN!), and tima dying at the end smh. not because i was sad for her death, but i was like come on... kinda hoped maybe there'd be a greater conclusion than just "i am"/"who are"/"who am i", bro i forgot her last words. whatever xD

the music... the music, while it's a stylistic choice what was used over the scenes, was sudden and quirky for me. off-putting? i would have preferred instrumental tracks.

basically, metropolis was planned to be more grandiose than it could be, substance wise, in only (almost) 2 hours length. it didn't make me think, but it tried with all the robot killing and questions, along with tima suddenly wanting to eradicate the whole human race after finding out she was a robot. for production and animation values alone, beautiful.
Nov 5, 2021 12:24 AM
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4
That was one of the best animated movies I've ever seen.

Makes the 1920s film seem even worse than it already was.
Mar 6, 2022 1:04 AM

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2347
they weren't kidding when they said this was different from the 1927 movie holy shit
Apr 8, 2022 10:37 AM
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Jul 2019
432
Good film, though it had the potential to be an actual 10/10 one. The lack of substance is a flaw that i have to levy against it

May 16, 2022 9:35 PM
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The animation was amazing, but I couldn't really understand the plot very well. I also really loved the Tezuka character designs and I wish Rock got more of a chance to do things other than *show up* *try to shoot Tima* repeated 5 times. I'd honestly watch an entire series about him.

The animation honestly made it all worth watching though, it's absolutely beautiful.
Jun 12, 2022 11:53 PM

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13684
Very visually pleasing, especially the snow animation!! I am so glad fifi lived in the end <3 A bad guy is of course someone with daddy issues haha. Fun film!
Jan 1, 2023 6:17 PM
Towel Attendant

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Dec 2014
1366
Very well done!
1. The art style is a vintage style that reminds the viewer that this started as a 1920's film. Detail is thrown in large bits to really drive home images and themes.
2. The music is wonderful to me. I found myself replaying the St. James Infirmary song part just to sing along. When Ray Charles comes swelling up, you know it's Judgement time....lol.
3. The characters were simple enough to immediately have traction in the film. I didn't need "throwback scenes" to feel empathy or resentment.

This is the first anime in several years that I have given a 10 rating. I would recommend it to any of my anime friends.
Apr 5, 2023 12:34 AM

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L movie evangelion ahh ending
Feb 26, 5:18 PM

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206
Osamu Tezuka is the absolute GOAT
Mar 8, 4:30 AM

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1108
I disliked the ending. It felt very rushed ?

Everything after Tima glitches and want to kill the humans feels pretty unsatisfying.
There is already little time left and yet you have those long scenes with all the wires moving, which while quite cool don't advance anything.
You have the random self destruct button , you don't even know if the Duke or Rook died from it (I assume so but that's not specified) , you have Tima randomly walking on the roof while still in weird mode but we have no idea what she wants to do, ect...

I don't know, but the last 20 minutes really soured the movie for me.
Mar 10, 2:28 PM
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Nov 2019
1
brilliant movie great story and great animation. im not gonna lie this movie doesnt feel real its from an era where animation was more detail oriented, and i live for it. but such a wonderful scenery and story definitely recommend. as a side note i am a little disappointed at the end it felt really rushed and not well thought out and tima's end felt a bit unnecessary.
tris0103Mar 10, 2:33 PM
Apr 6, 10:16 PM
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watashi wa...dare?
May 19, 4:44 PM

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Apr 2008
148
Breathtaking visuals. The world of that city really came alive.

The best part about being robotic is you can always self-repair! Tina will be reconstructed the way Fifi was.
Jul 21, 1:07 PM
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204
visually was very pretty, the CGI was really well integrated, it didnt stand out a like it usually happens when used in combination with regular animation, and the level of detail was really impressive, like the characters casting shadows when moving in front of a light source, buildings falling apart while engulfed in flames, even steam coming from pouring hot beverage. The plot was fine, not great but not terrible, some things i dont quite get, why was rock so obsessed with duke red sitting on the throne? what was the purpose of creating tima in the first place? why was she needed in order to control the tower? what was the zigurat tower? a superweapon? but what exactly was its function? at some point you could see it firing some green lights tower the sun and robots going mad over it, but how did any of that serve the desires of duke red? so duke red wanted to take over the world?, in all in all, it was fine, i liked it a give it a 6 out of 10.
Nov 6, 11:36 PM

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talk about a movie's movie! absolutely spectacular! the characters, the camera, even the fire from the explosions, everything moved with such grace! i never stopped being amazed at what i was seeing. then there were the vibrant colors, the dull colors, and the gorgeous lighting that just maximized every virtue of animation to the limit. i am completely astounded that this movie was made in 2001; every part of it is so high quality that it looks like it could had been released today.

and the way the movie was edited!!! watching all the different ways the camera would cut to the next shot was just as interesting to watch as what was happening on the screen! i do try to make note of how movies are edited, but then i usually get engrossed in the story and end up forgetting about all that stuff hahaha. but not here! here, the camera work and editing was just as enthralling as the story itself!

the music was fucking great. the story punched me in the gut. everything about this movie was great. i was spellbound from beginning to end.

i feel so fortunate that i got to see this movie in theaters. when people talk about movies being an experience, Metropolis was an experience. i would really love to see it on film. the DCP was great, don't get me wrong. but if it looked this good digitally, the film version must be quite the sight. the year 2026 will be Metropolis' 25th anniversary, so maybe we'll get lucky and something cool will happen. whatever the case, digital or film or whatever, i hope this movie keeps coming around in theaters so we can enjoy it the way it was meant to be seen :D

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It’s time to ditch the text file.
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