[Obi Wan Kenobi] I’ve got a bad feeling about this. [/OBK]
I really don’t know about this. I’d like to see a new version of the film, I just don’t know if there’s anyone out there who could do the film right. One of the things that makes the film so stunning are the special effects (most of them still hold up today), and very few directors out there (and no Peter Jackson is not one of them, IMHO) understand how to use CGI effectively.
As I’ve said many times before, I’m against the idea of remaking movies in general, but the idea of remaking a classic like Metropolis makes me sick to my stomach. No, there is no director who is going to do it right. I don’t even think it could ever be done right in the first place - the original is one of a kind, and trying to re-do it is totally insulting to the genius and power of it.
When it was released, the film captured the Zeitgeist perfectly. It was the right movie in its time. One might take great care with design and c.g. efx but I fear one would wind up with a movie no more relevant than if some brilliant artiste were to decide to re-shoot Gone With The Wind today.
Is it enough to emulate? I happen to be a serious fan of Art Deco. Always have been. I’m drawn to the lines, the style. In art and architecture and many other areas, the Art Deco movement produced things that please my eye.
I went to see Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow on the basis of a trailer that left me tingling. That film was utter shit but the style was executed so perfectly for for the first time in years, I sat through a film and looked much harder than I listened. And enjoyed it !
Similarly, someone could spend buckets of money attempting to emulate Metropolis. They may well come close to nailing the look. They can never duplicate the film as it was seen at that time by moviegoers.
Cartooniverse
This can only end well.
I’ve read that Forrest J. Ackerman has either written or possesses rights to a sequel, and has tried to promote that whenever stories of a remake surface.
It’s been done, it was strange: Metropolis the anime movie based on both Metropolis the Fritz Lang movie and Metropolis the Osamu Tezuka manga.
Metropolis is a classic, but its sheer age and the changes in filmmaking have placed barriers to appreciating it on the level of story and theme that the original creators almost certainly intended. Hell, isn’t it one of those movies that we don’t even have a complete cut of?
As such, it’s a perfect candidate for being remade. The story’s good, but I’d be interested in seeing it without being constantly reminded that it’s a silent German Expressionist film. The original will still be there. In fact, they’ll probably rerelease it with new commentary and bonus features to hype the remake.
Whyever would anyone want to do this, except to cash in on the fame of the original film? What effects will they do that will match the impact of the original ones at the time? Plus, the story doesn’t work in today’s world. Revolt of the masses? Robot duplicate of the heroine?
Like Borges’ Don Quixote, even an exact duplicate will be much different. Perhaps someone should start looking for original ideas?
I just wanted to add that Rotwang is a really funny name.
Ted McKeever made a great comic (book, not funny ha-ha) of Metropolis with Superman as the hero.
I haven’t seen Alexander, do they have a chance?
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I haven’t seen Alexander, do they have a chance?
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NO.
I wanted my answer to look like a silent movie title card.
NO.
I wanted my answer to look like a silent movie title card.
[/QUOTE]
Good. They’ll probably cast Lindsay Lohan and Ben Aflleck and Geoffrey Rush and it will win many awards.
Agreed, that was a great book.
I think the movie is a product of it’s time, as well as being a classic, so it wouldn’t translate well into a direct remake. I’d love to see it reimagined though.
I think a one-off Dr. Who episode with an homage to Metropolis using cybermen might be interesting…
Not exactly; the anime was based on a glimpse of the *poster *for Lang’s Metropolis; he’d never seen the actual movie.
To do Metropolis today, looking at the future as we imagine it some 25 or 50 years ahead, might’ve been interesting, had not Philip K. Dick done just that with numerous dystopian stories.
Re-making Metropolis today, and making it a period piece about then (much as the first and best part of King-Kong was done) might work, but just re-doing it will make as much senese as… well… I, Robot
I think they’d have better chances destroying M. But only because that had less ground breaking special effects/animation.
Hope they keep it.
Have you taken the dinosaur test? You may well be an allosaurus. Some jacket required.
Joseph Losey tried in 1951 by transferring the story to innercity L.A., replacing whistling Peter Lorre with David Wayne and an ocarina(!), and shooting it all in glaring daylight. Still didn’t turn out half bad. However, it was suppressed shortly afterwards and unseeable for 50 years.
According to a cite I’m too lazy to chase, my dear friends, this was the most expensive movie ever. Will we get another Waterworld?