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One could argue Metropolis is the most visually remarkable movies of all time, even a century after it was made. Its futurism obviously influenced the creators of Brazil and Blade Runner. On my third viewing, I even picked up on scenes that frankly looked like they informed Busby Berkely's work.

On that level, it is a must-see movie.

It's even a darn-good disastere movie in the third act.

But here's the problem. It takes nearly TWO hours to get to the action-packed, harrowing climax. There are too many drawn-out shots of people emoting that could have been edited into an hour for Acts 1 and 2 (combined).

And all that emoting is in service of what, exactly? Some kind of eco-political message? If you dare to dive into online discussions of Metropolis, people see it (variously) as an allegory of: Christianity, atheism, class warfare, marxism, communism, fascism, capitalism, I probably missed a bunch. In reality, the narrative is mostly a bunch of mumbo-jumbo that weakens the effect of the stunning visuals.

Many critics have a particular problem with the ending. By the end I barely cared about the story.

But man, the visuals will stick with you, probably for the rest of your life.

Despite being in love with Sean Young since seeing Blade Runner and Stripes (multiple times) as a teenager, I somehow never got around to seeing No Way Out just a few years later.

Why did nobody tell 1987 me that this movie contains so much Sean Young, um, in the flesh. I might have bought the VHS tape.

In any event, put Young with superstar Kevin Costner in a political thriller also starring Gene Hackman and you've got one smokin' hot movie that even Will Patton can't sink.

If I have one quibble, it's that the plausibility and tension of the first act doesn't quite hold up. Dragging witnesses through a room-by-room search of the Pentagon after leading them down all the hallways and stairwells? It's 6.7 million square feet, for gawd's sake. And that car/foot chase? Come on, now.

So what starts as a clever conspiracy thriller that wouldn't have been out of place in the early 70s devolves into a more conventional and predictable cat-and-mouse affair.

Oh well, the many glimpses of Sean Young's prodigious gifts were worth the price of admission on a random Wednesday night in 2025.

The best thing about this movie is that it proves you can put out a film on a budget that is worth less than a used Toyota Corolla. And film it in a church basement. On weekends. After bingo lets out.

In just about every scene I can see three walls. Despite every shot being a medium or closeup. The cheering crowd consists of about 14 randos. The prison costumes look home-made. The acting is on the level of summer stock. The fight choreography is amateur hour. The music is AI-generated. I could go on.

The script is directly lifted from some bad war movie. Eg. "Stay with me." "I'm glad we were a team." "Are you good?" "Yah, I'm good." "We gotta go on, man." "Let's finish thiis." Need I say more.

Poor Michael Madsen. This was among the final movies he made. He frankly looks half-dead already. I'm going to pretend he wasn't actually in this movie.

I'll be honest. I only kept watching it because it had so many terrible reviews on this site. I just had to see it for myself. I can confirm it's as bad as the terrible reviews suggest. Worse, even.