I'm a fan both of the superb 2010 restored version of the original film and of the mid-1980s Giorgio Moroder re-edited and rock-soundtracked version of Metropolis.

Anyone who hasn't seen the 2010 restoration (145 minutes duration of actual movie [plus about 3 mins. of restoration-specific additional attached credits and explanatory intro notes]) of the original 1927 film, it's a must-see. It returns 25 minutes of long-lost footage to the film, which enables the story to flow substantially better, and significantly makes more sense of character motivations, story development, etc. That restoration finally reassembles the film to near-complete form.

I had earlier seen the 2002 restoration, and liked it, but felt unenthusiastic about it. It wasn't until the 2010 restoration came out that I finally felt truly wowed by this movie.

Genplant, do you think Moroder chose the correct version to color tint and add the rock score to? I know he did for sure. Everything about the Met. print that went to the Museum of Modern Art proved it was the way better of the two versions of the film.

I agree.

By the way, I have the soundtrack CD of the music from the Moroder version. Some terrific songs on it!

There have been at least five different versions or edits of Metropolis since it's premiere in Berlin in 1927. As to wether which if any can be considered definative or if a definative version can ever exist is another question. The German studio UFA showed an initial cut at the premiere. As is common with initial versions this premiere version was edited down for wider release. When picked up by Paramount Pictures it was again cut and edited. A different edit was made for international release. Over the years as bits and pieces were found and assembled for an eventual dream of full restoration. As mentioned in the initial post there is the Georgio Moroder version and the 2010 "restoration". Since much of it has been lost it can never be what it once might have been. It cannot even be said what Fritz Lang would call finished. Metropolis remains if anything a continual work in progress. It exists in all the various assemblages it has had over the years. It is also important to know that it is one thing to insert footage that was uncovered. It is another to know that the story was originally told in a visual narrative style quite different from what we have been used to over the succeeding years from the Hollywood model. As for a new television adaptation the film is a product of the German art and film world of the 1920s. A contemporary take would be absurd.

I wonder if any good-condition print(s) will ever be found, anywhere, that includes all, most, or much of the footage that, in the 2010 restoration, was returned, first time in decades, as culled from a low-quality old safety print (made during the 1960s or early '70s, I believe) that, as far as is currently known, is the only surviving example of the formerly "lost" portions.

Devoted film detectives have been searching for years in film libraries and wherever. Metropolis is lucky in a way since a large number of silent films are completely lost due to the fragile nitrate film stock that was used. All sorts of other elements such as the script, notes, the score, are available for researchers.