Metropolis

Original Title: メトロポリス
Romanized: Metoroporisu
Literal: Metropolis

Plot Synopsis

In a retro-future world the center of technology and power is the city of Metropolis. But within this utopia is unrest between the rich who run the city and the poor who live below its surface and whose jobs have been taken by countless robots. The powerful Duke Red, however, looks outward--to control not just Metropolis, but the world. To do this, he needs a secretly constructed robot, Tima. But when his adopted son Rock, distrustful of robots, tries to destroy her, she ends up lost in the slums beneath the city, with only the young Kenichi as her guide. Meanwhile, Kenichi's uncle Shunsaku Ban, a private investigator, is busy trying to figure out just what kind of plots are afoot in this mechanized city.

Quick Review

Rating: 3.5 / 5
Reviewer: Marc
Review Date: 2006-06-23

Like Blade Runner with a '30s facade, Metropolis is a production like no other, a technological fable with a huge budget, grandiose vision, classic foundation, and distinctive style. But for all the visual spectacle and Cold-War flavor, I was never as engrossed by the story as I expected or wanted to be. It is an undeniable visual tour de force--a technically masterful, captivating vision of a modern world that never was. It is also hampered by loose directing, a weak plot, and characters who aren't given enough time to develop. Perhaps most interesting and simultaneously frustrating, it is a rare film designed to take full advantage of an expansive theater screen, but the effect is utterly lost on all but the largest home theater screens.

The combination of classic visual style and archetypal story should make Metropolis familiar enough for older viewers not accustomed to anime, and a must-see treat for fans of classic anime--everything Tezuka could have imagined. For everyone else, I would recommend seeing Metropolis at least once just for the visual spectacle, preferably in a theater or the biggest screen you can find.

US DVD Review

The DVD is a hybrid set featuring both a full screen and anamorphic widescreen video transfer, Japanese soundtracks in your choice of Dolby 5.1 or DTS, an English Dolby 5.1 soundtrack, plus a French audio track. Subtitles are available in English, French, and Spanish. There area a heap of extras, some of which are on the second "pocket DVD" (a CD-single-sized DVD) of bonus materials; goodies include a range of interviews, notes, biographies, and historical information on the production and its creators, plus a making-of special and trailers.

Content Guide

Rated PG-13 for violence.

Violence: 3 - Though far from graphic, there are several violent scenes.

Nudity: 1 - Tima spends a chunk of the movie in an oversized shirt.

Sex/Mature Themes: 0 - Nothing.

Language: 1 - Fairly mild language.

Notes and Trivia

Based on a manga story of the same name, written and drawn by Osamu Tezuka in 1949. It is available in English from Dark Horse.

Among the interesting visual nods in the background, the revolutionaries have pictures of Che and a Zapatista reference.

Bandai Visual has the official Japanese site with some information and the same famed hyperbolic quote from James Cameron that is used on the US DVD boxes. Sony Pictures provides the much Flash-ier official English site which, while dated, provides interesting background info and a couple of downloads.

Metropolis was released theatrically in both the US and Japan; it first opened in mid-2001, while the US theater run began a little later on 2002-01-25. In the US it was critically well-received but saw a rather limited release, although it did fairly well financially in the few theaters it was shown in.

The rest of this qualifies as spoilers, best skipped if you haven't seen the film.

There is an unusual visual touch in the scene where the minister, Lamp, is dying: A candle briefly appears over his head as he falls to the ground. This is a reference to Tezuka's various manga; the same character appears in different roles in several of Tezuka's other stories. It is a running joke (based on his name) that extreme emotion sometimes causes him to sprout a candle from the back of his head. (Thanks to Carl Muckenhoupt for pointing this out.)

If you're interested there are major scientific problems with the doomsday weapon that the Ziggeraut is supposed to be. Though solar flares do cause electromagnetic disturbances on Earth (and create the aurora), the amount of energy that would go into producing a solar flare big enough to cause major electromagnetic disturbances on earth would probably be far more than that required to cause the effect directly. It also wouldn't be so easy to turn a flare off once it was started. Most importantly, it takes a full 8 minutes for light to reach the sun, and 30 minutes to several days for the fallout from a solar flare to get to Earth--certainly not within their 3 minute demonstration.

Availability

Available in the US from Columbia Home Video on hybrid DVD. Was also available on dubbed VHS, now out of print.

RightStuf carries the DVD, as well as the soundtrack and the original manga.

If you prefer digital downloads, you can get the soundtrack for your iPod from the iTunes Music store (Metropolis) or in unprotected MP3 format from eMusic ( Metropolis Original Soundtrack ).

Looking to buy? Try these stores: RightStuf (search) | AnimeNation | Akemi's a(nime)Store