"There’s a whiff of karmic retribution to the way the German cinema milestone Metropolis was treated upon its release. Many viewers were nonplussed by this city-of-the-future parable, where an apocalyptic battle brews between the haves and the have-nots. Science-fiction writer H.G. Wells was infamously quoted in a Frankfurt newspaper: “I have recently seen the silliest film.” And the original two-and-half-hour cut was barely screened beyond the gala premiere. This certainly wasn’t what demanding director Fritz Lang had in mind during the tortuous months of production. But there was no glory at the end of this gauntlet: Distributors both in and out of the country hacked the movie to more audience-friendly lengths, and the intended Metropolis was lost to time."
Finally, the complete Metropolis--or complete as we're going to get, anyway. Forget Avatar; we have yet to improve on this film. And, the way things are going, I daresay we never will.
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