Watch: Fritz Lang’s 1927 Classic ‘Metropolis’ Colorized in 4K Quality

Watch: Fritz Lang’s 1927 Classic ‘Metropolis’ Colorized in 4K Quality

by Alex Billington
December 23, 2022
Source: YouTube

There’s a huge debate about A.I. in the art world right now. Most often it is exploiting existing art made by talented people, but sometimes it can produce some interesting results. This colorized 4K video is created by A.I. and gives this classic B&W silent film an entirely new look and feel. Metropolis is beloved as one of the most iconic science fiction films in cinema history. Originally from 1927, made by German master Fritz Lang, it has been updated numerous times and is still showing on the big screen in repertory cinemas. This version is by a YouTube channel called “XIXbacktolife” – “new editions, restored, colorized and enhanced using traditional editing techniques complemented by the most recent advances in A.I. applied to video and sound processing.” Don’t forget that even George Méliès used colorizing tricks similar to what’s seen in this Metropolis video, so this isn’t changing it entirely as much as enhancing the filmmaking. Check it out below.

Thanks to GeekTyrant for the tip on this video. Original synopsis for Metropolis: In a futuristic city sharply divided between the working class and the city planners, the son of the city’s mastermind falls in love with a working-class prophet who predicts the coming of a savior to help mediate their differences. Fritz Lang’s silent film classic Metropolis originally premiered in Berlin in January of 1927, later showing in New York in March of 1927. In 1984, a new restoration and edit of the film, running 83 minutes, was made by Italian music producer Giorgio Moroder, who paid $200K for the rights. Although Moroder initially intended only to create a new soundtrack, he was surprised by the lack of a definitive print, and expanded his project to a major reconstruction. The film is most commonly available now as “Giorgio Moroder Presents Metropolis“. There’s also regular screenings of this sci-fi film with a live orchestra score at the Babylon Cinema in Berlin.

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