Original subtitles

THE GIANT OF METROPOLIS

In 20,000 B.C...

on the continent of Atlantis

now lost beneath the waters

there lived a people who had developed an amazingly advanced

civilization and who ruled all other people on Earth...

Obro, a man born in the east

dared to probe the mystery of the city of death

His gigantic strength and courage

were pitted against Yotar, the evil King

in a struggle to the finish...

...When the scientists of Metropolis attempted to penetrate the secret of death,

nature rebelled, causing universal destruction...

...love alone triumphed...

...and remained the sole source of life...

Hear me my sons

my strength is waning now.

My journey has ended here.

Listen carefully.

I leave to you all, but especially you Obro

the duty of carrying out that mission our people have trusted to me.

On the other side of that mountain lies Metropolis,

the city which has attained

a terrifying civilization.

You are to go

and say to its ruler

and to its people

that they are wrong,

that they should never

use their knowledge of science

to defeat the ends of nature to sow destruction and death

They shouldn't try to change the natural order.

Otherwise nature will have her revenge on them.

They are challenging forces they cannot control.

If they continue

we'll have a tremendous disaster.

Come my friends, let's go on!

Don't move!

You'll have to go on with only your brothers now! We're turning back!

You promised my father that you would follow him and now you'll follow me!

Your father's death has released us from every obligation.

My men are all exhausted.

I'm not going to make them run further risk!

I have no intention of challenging the power of Metropolis! Farewell!

Turn back men!

Yotar, the results of our research

in cosmic action have revealed that

important astral movements are taking place right now.

Consequently, it is advisable to postpone

all of your experiments on your son Elmos for awhile.

Within two months,

the conjunction of the stars

will create favorable physiological conditions.

for the transplanting of a human brain.

None of the other experiments need be postponed in the meantime.

We are expecting the results of these to be positive.

But do your expectations also extend to the case of Egon?

The attempt to restore the body of Egon,

the chief of our people, to life

could not be postponed in any case

even if cosmological conditions should

prove to be unfavorable.

Very well. Above all, I am worried about the experiments on Elmos.

He will be the first youth to have the wide

experience and the accumulated wisdom that heretofore

could be found only in the brain of an elderly man.

There are some men on foot who are entering the valley of Metropolis.

As soon as they are within the radius of action, maneuver them into the magnetic traps.

They are near enough now.

You can set the controls.

Stop!

We have finally managed to arrest and reverse

the disintegration of cell structure.

For two days now Egon

has been in a state of regeneration.

And if our prognostications are scientifically correct, before long

the great miracle will have been performed.

He will be restored to life.

Like all successes of science that have been achieved before

this also is due to the pitiful sacrifice of one of the

humans we've kept under observation. He was one hundred years old.

What does the sacrifice of a man matter

when it serves to further the progress of science?

Nothing.

The people will be grateful to you for restoring to life

one of their valorous leaders.

Yotar, there is a stranger on the frontier of Metropolis who has survived

the whirlwinds of death.

How can that be possible?

It's mysterious.

I have given the order in your name to capture him alive.

Can there be a blood stronger than our own?

Perhaps we are confronting an entirely new force in the world surrounding us.

I want to see him.

As soon as he's captured, have this prodigy brought into the throne room.

Oh father!

You frightened me!

Have you come to take me outside like you've promised me so many times?

No Elmos, you will still have to wait a little while longer. Then you can go outside.

But I don't see why I have to stay here all alone.

Why can't I go visit my mother and my sister?

If you love me father,

tell me why do you keep me

shut up in here always?

Elmos,

you are the sole heir to the throne of Metropolis,

the continent more powerful than any in the world!

Look there! That magnificent city you see is yours!

The whole world is yours!

Now listen to me. I have planned a glorious future for you.

I shall give you eternal youth.

And you will reign over the whole world forever and forever.

A world that I know nothing of and of cities that I have never seen.

What does it matter?

Father, every night when I go to sleep, I dream of someone who is trying to kill me!

I can feel his hands around my throat choking me!

Father, please take me out of here! Please take me away!

Yotar, the stranger has been captured and brought to you.

On your knees when you face the great Yotar, King of Metropolis!

On your knees, he said!

The King of Metropolis!

You use science to murder people!

I've seen an example with what you did to my brothers!

On your knees!

You can force me to bow down, but you're not able

to prevent me from saying

what I have come here to say to you!

My mission is to warn you that you are doomed

by the terrible power you possess.

Now destroy me if you like, Yotar!

Before you die, you will have bodily evidence of my power.

No matter how much you torture me, you will suffer worse!

Someday you will rule a city of the dead!

You will reign over a wasteland!

You're power is based on a criminal use of science!

It will destroy you! You will die miserably!

I will be destroyed?

What can destroy me? Answer me that!

No one is more powerful than I am.

I have enslaved all the people on Earth! I have made them tremble just as you will!

You'll feel your body and your mind disintegrate slowly, day by day,

inexorably.

Take him down into the quartz grotto!

You're a mad man, Yotar!

Now I have achieved my purpose in life!

I have seen with my own eyes, the marvels of your civilization.

And I am sure that you yourself will be the one who destroys

what you have accomplished

with your horrible crimes! Mark my words!

It's necessary that we order the stranger to be put to death at once.

His very presence here in Metropolis possibly could lead the scientists

to entertain doubts as to the noble aims of our -

No.

We have to let him live.

I want to subject him to all our experiments.

Of a physical and scientific nature.

If he is able to undergo these as well,

then at last we will be able

to create the perfect being.

Now leave me, all of you.

Why did you choose to remain behind?

The stranger has told us the terrifying truth.

His entry into Metropolis

has shown that your science can fail sometimes.

And what if it should fail in the case of Elmos...

But I won't permit you to go on with what you're doing!

Elmos,

Our son should be returned to me.

How can you be so cruel?

I know those scientists

will destroy him or else they'll turn him into a monster!

Texen...

you are the queen only because I have

made you the queen.

Mesede,

child of my first wife.

Your mother sacrificed herself because she had faith in me

and in my scientific knowledge.

I forbid you as I did her to oppose my will.

Elmos will be immortal.

He will be the first human being to enjoy youth forever

and will triumph over death.

Now go.

Father, for what reason did you send for me?

Yotar, you are committing a great many errors.

I beg you to stop before it is too late.

These experiments of yours

are only causing death and human suffering.

I continue the work that you first undertook father,

which has given Metropolis its advanced civilization.

No, Yotar.

I created this civilization and you are destroying it.

You took the people's will, but not mine.

My existence is prolonged artificially

because you want to inject my brain cells into Elmos.

It's monstrous of you. You will never succeed my son.

Why not let me die in peace?

You shall stay alive as long as I wish.

Elmos will have perfection.

He will never know childhood,

but he will have a mind superior to any other.

More than to the populace who have always shown me affection,

I am grateful to the King who restored me to life.

All my joy is overclouded with apprehension for Elmos,

but may Heaven give me assistance in my endeavor to serve him.

Stranger.

at last you shall learn there is strength mightier than yours.

A living creature who will crush you and make you see that you are nothing.

The people are subdued.

We can mold them into a superior race according to my plan.

This night, the full moon is our queen.

After the ceremony,

you will be joined together

in a physical union.

Your will and your intellect

will remain unaware.

Mesede !

Get away from me!

Your mind is still as far as ever from reality.

You are in my power.

And I love you!

No.

You desire only to possess my body.

And you want to destroy every vestige of my will.

But I refuse to let you, Yotar.

I loathe you.

I want you.

These are pygmies who rip off their victims' flesh with their teeth!

Defend yourself!

Spare him.

Yotar, the molten core underneath the Earth's crust is rising to the surface.

Many new volcanoes will erupt through the outer layer

and emit vast quantities of heavy vapor into the atmosphere.

This much we can safely predict.

I want to have a look.

If we were to harness this energy,

we could make Metropolis even more powerful.

I'll question the old cave dweller.

He may give an explanation for such a phenomena.

How do you explain this strange phenomenon in the Earth?

Yotar, listen well to me.

In the 200 years of my life

I have never seen the crater as active as it is now.

Days of terror are ahead of us.

All the energy

extracted up to now from the Earth's interior

has put a strain on the shell which contains the force within it.

Don't ask the Earth

to withstand more than it was meant to.

Or the day will not be far away,

when the Earth will exact a horrifying revenge.

No.

The same way science has been able to keep you alive for two centuries.

It will be able to control any force unleashed by the powers of nature.

Stranger.

When you came to Metropolis you spoke of destruction only.

Why?

You predicted my downfall and the loss of my continent as well.

You think you can make me afraid by acting like a messenger of doom?

No, Yotar.

A messenger of hope.

There is still time enough to save Metropolis.

But you are blinded by ambition and cruelty.

You will pay with your life for those words! I will destroy you without mercy!

It is only a ray of light

that presses on you.

You are powerful, stranger.

Stand up under it.

Make a try.

Make another try.

Push harder! Push harder I said!

Now free of the light.

Come here and strike me.

Scalding rays!

Rays that freeze you!

He is still alive.

How can you explain his endurance?

He has been endowed with vitality above the ordinary.

His blood is a rarity and it should not be wasted.

You're right. It is what I need

for Elmos.

He will have a better reaction when the brain is transplanted.

The stranger's blood will be transfused into the body of Elmos.

When is this inhuman deed to be perpetrated?

Yotar has decided.

It will be sometime tomorrow. We must act at once.

There is someone in the corridor.

Go look for a strong and trustworthy man.

I shall provide one of my slaves.

Why did you have me sent for

at this time of night?

Your father is about to commit a terrible crime, Mesede.

I know about it, but there is nothing I can do.

You owe no more obedience to your father, Mesede.

We must both rebel against him.

Even if you are not my daughter, our common sorrow draws us together.

Yotar is obsessed by his insane plan.

Why, your own mother died as a result of the experiments the scientists

performed on her.

Yet she was willing to die for Yotar.

My father's the greatest of kings. And is superior to all in strength of character.

He's more intelligent than we.

Neither you, nor I should question the slightest word he says.

His plans will lead to destruction only and the extermination of the people.

Destiny has brought Metropolis a stranger of a race superior to ours.

Yotar for the first time in his life is afraid of a human being.

He is the man who can save Metropolis

And my son Elmos.

We must set this man free.

And you will have to help me, Mesede.

No, it's impossible.

Yotar is my own father.

Even if he wanted to sacrifice me, I can't imagine opposing my father.

I am all alone.

I've never had anyone else to love.

I'm setting you free and Yotar will begin to panic when he learns you're at large.

And this will inevitably cause

him to make some false move.

Have him taken to the secret cave of the Giants instantly.

Go back to your post now.

And no matter what happens don't you breathe a word of this to anyone.

King Yotar, your orders have been carried out precisely.

Metropolis is now covered by magnetic search rays.

That stranger must not be allowed to escape.

And he must be captured alive, too!

Where can he be hiding?

He couldn't have escaped without help.

Someone here is betraying us.

This is the sentinel responsible for the escape.

He knows what the punishment is.

There's no need of you.

Take him away.

Don't be afraid.

You are safe here.

Who are you?

I am one of the few men surviving in Metropolis

who are still in possession of their own free will.

Why don't you rebel?

Because my physical existence is artificial.

No stranger, you are the one and only man able

to restore the rights and liberty to our people

because Yotar is afraid of your great strength.

Is this the reason you wanted to free me?

What can I do anymore than the rest of you?

With the scientific power Yotar has

he can prevent me from taking any action.

I will arrange it so his powers can not harm you.

You will have to do away with all the men who guard Yotar.

The only ones in Metropolis

capable of any fighting.

No, that's impossible, there are too many of them.

Without the protection of his personal bodyguard,

I am certain that Yotar will see that he must surrender.

You can take them by surprise one by one on the open streets.

No one but they are permitted to walk about the streets at night.

I will point out all the secret passages, too.

No, I did not come here to kill anyone.

You have no choice. Your own life is at stake as well.

I shall return tomorrow night.

Have you unearthed any clue yet as to the whereabouts of the stranger?

No Yotar. In spite of all our searching we have found nothing yet.

He must have had very powerful accomplices.

I can't explain it any other way.

From here you can get away safely.

The passage I've led you through is known to no one but myself.

Why have you never shown it to the people of Metropolis?

because the artificial existence imposed on them by Yotar

have deprived the whole of our people of any free will of their own.

They are in no condition to resist or even to react to their situation.

Before we can save them, we must destroy the ruthless creatures that keep them in slavery.

I think the time is propitious for you to begin your mission as a terrorist.

What have you called me here for?

The signs of the heavens

are adverse to you.

Don't try the experiment on your innocent son, Elmos.

I have been told the stranger has succeeded in making

his escape.

He will cause a great upheaval in Metropolis, Yotar.

He has the force that comes from nature.

The stranger will be killed, I tell you.

And so will all the traitors around us.

No one can oppose my will.

What are they doing?

They are having a state burial for two laboratory specimens they sacrificed.

Let's go.

One of the queen's slaves.

He was caught while he was with the stranger.

He let himself be killed so he could get away.

Even if she's in anguish over Elmos, the queen would never dream of turning traitor.

Texen...

Texen.

Texen!

Texen!

Shouting, losing your head with fear.

Trembling

For the first time in my life, I see you trembling Yotar.

Where have you hidden the stranger?

Speak!

Look for him.

Where is the stranger? Answer me, you traitor!

He is everywhere around you and to you he is invisible.

But when you see him face to face, it will be your final day!

You thought your treachery would mean my death, but I'll kill you!

You won't have the satisfaction of killing me!

For all the evil you've done to me and to my poor little son Elmos,

for all the suffering you brought on the people

I put a dying curse on you, Yotar!

I put my dying curse on you!

The poison

was swift. She's dead.

Bring her back!

Don't be afraid.

No one will find you here.

Why were you running away?

Because...

Because Texen...

What has happened to Texen?

Yotar has driven her to suicide.

I will avenge her death.

I'm afraid!

I'm so afraid!

He wants me to die! He'll kill me!

Please help me!

This situation has never been recorded before

And is of such importance we must tell the king at once

And it will not be easy to tell him.

Speak up!

Why are you afraid to talk?

Why doesn't one of you speak up?

Yotar, unforeseen developments in the orbiting of the planets

have upset in a most serious manner

the normal equilibrium of the forces interplanetary scale.

As a consequence, the entire solar system will be drastically changed.

Among the effects

of these terrifying changes

The axis of the Earth will shift 90 degrees in another direction.

The Earth will be shaken by a series of violent earthquakes.

The oceans will overflow their shores submerging whole continents.

Metropolis, basing its existence and its great power

on the energy extracted from the very center of the Earth itself

is condemned to disappear

The blazing furnace over which we have built our city will be fatal

Metropolis can not possibly be destroyed!

You must discover some way of preventing this catastrophe from affecting the continent we live on.

Yotar, it would be better to emigrate from here to higher ground.

No!

But we could always construct a new and better Metropolis.

You must be out of your mind!

The stranger is responsible for all of you doubting yourselves.

You haven't any more faith in the power we can wield with our science.

We must know enough to save Metropolis.

And I order you to save her!

Now listen carefully.

The stranger is sure to make an attempt to commit another of his repeated acts of terrorism.

This door is the only way into the palace.

Yotar wants him taken alive.

Follow me.

The guard has been heavily reinforced.

Now, I will show you the way into the hall of arts and sciences.

Kill the guards without mercy

They're all monsters.

Afterwards, you can make your way back to the hiding place through the secret passage.

These continual acts of terrorism which the stranger is committing must be brought to an end.

The fact that my daughter Mesede is with him should have no influence on the action you take.

And it is the capture of the pair of them that I am now ordering!

Tarakai!

Every night you risk your life and it's all for no purpose.

Your struggle is in vain.

There's no force in the world able to overthrow

the law of Yotar.

Leave me alone.

Even after running away. You're under the influence of your father.

No, I don't feel it when you're here.

When you're away...

Whenever you go out and leave me all alone

you can't imagine how I have to struggle against the desire to leave.

Because your heart is empty.

Elmos and the people are suffering.

But that has no affect on your selfishness!

You're worthy of your father, your soul is dead!

Oh no, don't say such a thing! It isn't true!

That's what I wanted to hear.

Your despair proves that you're still alive.

That you can still look forward to tomorrow.

Tomorrow...

How do you think I could have any idea, the meaning of this word.

For in my position, I was unaware of the future

I only wanted to conform.

But now I want to live.

I love you, Mesede.

You're made like I am.

Show me what it is to live, Obro.

Will you tell something else of the land where you live?

There's nothing else to tell you.

You know all about it.

That doesn't matter.

It gives me a wonderful feeling to hear you describe it.

You can't imagine how wonderful life is in my land.

The men are proud and free.

The respect each other and help each other.

And women and children?

When a woman and man are in love with each other

no one forbids them to share their lives.

When a child is born of their love, it grows up happy

and carefree.

Is this true? Even if your king doesn't want it?

Our king has no power over these things.

We obey the law of another.

A superior being. His is the only law that governs two people in love.

Please take me away, Obro.

Please take me to live with your people.

Help me learn all there is to know in that marvelous world.

I will, Mesede. I promise you.

You have asked the scientists of Metropolis

to provide the ultimate proof of your power.

We are prepared.

We will begin as soon as you give us the order.

This is the moment I have waited for.

Now I must decide.

Life or death for my son.

The perfect physical condition

which Elmos enjoys will permit us to perform this great experiment.

Are you sure we'll succeed?

Only the force of inscrutable fate

is powerful enough to overthrow the inflexible laws of science

Then leave me alone with Elmos.

It's best that I have a talk with him first.

Oh father!

Come along with me, Elmos.

Where are you taking me?

Outside of here.

Once and for all.

At last father, I can go see my mother and my sister

And I can go see grandfather and have him tell me some of his fables.

We are witnessing a memorable day for Metropolis.

Go in peace to the world of shades, venerable father of Yotar

You death will mean the joy of eternal youth

for Elmos, our future king.

Go with them, Elmos.

Aren't you coming, too father?

I will come later. I want you to go first.

Don't be long, I'll be waiting for you.

No! No!

Father! Father!

I don't want to!

Don't let them do it!

I don't want to!

Don't let them hurt me!

Father, what are the men going to do?

Mother...

Mother!

How much time will the operation take?

That depends on many circumstances.

We begin the operation with a treatment of energy from radiation

which highly accelerates the reproductive rhythm of living cell structure.

Inform the people of this great event.

It's miraculous.

If Egon had never taken you through the secret passage that leads here,

I would never have been able to see such as sky as this

and all these flowers.

It's beautiful.

There's no one in Metropolis who has ever seen the sky when it was blue.

It's the fault of our scientists. Whatever they do, the atmosphere is strangely discolored.

None of the achievements of the scientists of Metropolis is of use

There isn't a single thing they do that is for the good of humanity.

Let's not think about it. Look around!

It's magnificent.

I love you, Obro. Stay with me forever.

Why, that's the signal.

They sound it when something terribly important has happened.

Look at the lights.

The phenomena foreseen by the astronomers is taking place.

This is probably due to an increase in subterranean temperature inside the volcano.

The earth is exuding heavy vapors.

Soon we'll have the first of the earthquakes.

We must hurry.

What do you want, Egon ?

I'm worried about Elmos' safety.

Why do you want to risk the life of your own son?

Elmos is not going to die!

Yotar, you are suffering.

I see that even you are human.

And your heart pounds with fear for your son. You are no longer so sure of the power of science

How dare you speak in this manner to your king!

Remember that it was I that brought you back to life, but as I made you live I'll destroy you.

You are unable to frighten me anymore.

It is you who fears the stranger

You searched in vain for the one who helped him get away.

Well, I was the one who did it!

And you shall die again, Egon.

Why do you go on talking about death?

You can kill, Yotar, and destroy

but you are about to see the day when you will realize the enormous power of creation

and vanquishing death is impossible

Order them to increase the energy of radiation.

I wonder where Egon is. He should have returned by now.

Don't worry about him, he'll come.

I can't wait here doing nothing.

He must be in grave danger.

I'm going to help him.

Obro!

Obro, I'm afraid for you.

I'm coming with you.

No, you stay here.

And don't worry.

Yotar...

Father, is that you?

Your reign is coming to an end.

Your star is setting in disgrace and under ruin.

Only the sun will rise again after catastrophe overwhelms the world.

The wrath of nature will punish you for your crimes

Father...

Don't torment your son in this way.

Science has taken your life from you.

But your mind will live on in Elmos.

And you too, shall know immortality.

Yotar.

Yotar!

A mysterious force dominates the universe.

It lies far beyond the scope of any human mind,

it remains impenetrable.

The power of death shall never be vanquished.

Father...

Father!

Don't abandon me!

Yotar.

Yotar !

You are mad!

Mad!

You are speaking to a shadow!

You wanted to make all time come to a halt.

But you are nothing! Nothing!

And yet you want to condemn your whole people to destruction!

No!

Metropolis will never be destroyed, I tell you!

You know that it's the truth.

And your own madness is what prevents you from accepting it!

So I have to kill you.

Only with your death

can your people recover their liberty

and safety!. - Guards!

Your guards can't help you now! You're alone now!

Obro !

Don't kill him.

Don't kill him.

Father, save our people.

Arrest them!

Put them in the cell for condemned criminals.

Yotar, listen

hear the voice of experience and the wisdom given to great age

allow your beloved son to live out his childhood like any other boy.

Nothing can replace

the joy of our carefree years.

Suspend the operation. Send for the king.

Yotar.

The experiment had entered the last phase

when the energy of the radiation from nuclear particles lessened in intensity.

As a result, Elmos' heartbeat has become weak.

His life may be in danger.

Elmos...

Father, father...

Father

Father, please take me away from here.

Let me see the sky again.

You can see the sky now, Elmos. Are you happy?

Yes father. It's beautiful.

But why is there so much fire in it? I remember it used to be different.

Why does the sky have to be so red?

Father, let me see it on the side looking toward the sea.

From here you can see more stars.

But I wonder why there's all this fire there.

It was my fault that you were captured. But I couldn't help doing what I did.

I couldn't stand by and let you kill my own father.

Don't say that, Mesede. It's not the fault of anyone.

Just try to be courageous.

Be courageous, because of you, yes.

And it doesn't matter if Yotar puts us both to death.

He won't have enough time.

We'll all be killed in the catastrophe.

It'll happen any minute now.

The course of every life is written in the skies

and we are in the hands of the superior being

who guides the footsteps of man.

Obro, no one has ever spoken to me of the superior being

You were the first to tell me.

But it was he who made me love you and you love me and I am thankful.

Perhaps before we are destroyed Yotar will realize that he was mistaken.

He is not evil. He was just blinded by science.

We must forgive him

Mesede.

I've already forgiven him.

I have only one regret.

That I will never have a child. I wanted so to have a son in your land.

Mesede...

We could have watched him grow up

free and strong, like you

That was my dream...

my only dream.

That's Mesede's voice I hear.

I would have called him Yotar.

Where is she?

Father, please let me see her again.

Yotar, the people are becoming unruly.

The magnetic rays no longer function.

The sea is overflowing every barrier

and will soon reach this level. Save yourself. You still may have enough time.

No.

For me, it no longer matters.

But I want you to save Elmos.

No, no!

Father, don't take me away

Wait.

Save the lives of Mesede and the stranger.

Father, father!

I tried to overthrow the forces of nature!

And nature has humbled me in the dust!

Now nature has defeated me!

- Elmos ! - Mesede.

Yotar has given us orders to lead you to safety in the mountains.

- Elmos ! - Mesede.

Let's go Mesede.

We can make it to the secret passage that Egon showed me.