Anthony J. Merced

It’s been a little over a week since I sat down in a movie theater to end my personal Harry Potter journey and I’m finally getting around to putting my thoughts onto digital paper (otherwise known as the internet). Fans have been leaving theaters since then with a mix of emotions. Some are absolutely in love with the cinematic changes of J.K. Rowling’s epic story and others feel that somehow they were missing some of the more dramatic moments. Before we get too much into what those changes are, lets talk a bit about the movie itself.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 is the last film (that we know of) in the Harry Potter Saga that started well over ten years ago. With this film, Warner Brothers was able to do something that very few film series have ever done before. That is locking in the same cast members for eight movies. Audiences have seen Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint literally grow from children to adults. Looking back at the films, its amazing to see just how small these people were back when Christopher Columbus was at the helm of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. The longevity of the casting helped to automatically create an immediate connection each time the viewing experience began. For that, Warner Brothers should be heralded for not only keeping the course, but also allowing very creative artists to expand on a series of books that are beloved around the world.

If you’ve never seen a Harry Potter film the plot goes something like this: Harry Potter is a student in wizard school who holds the key to defeating the most dangerous evil wizard in the world. Over the course of the last seven films, we’ve seen a slow build to this finale, which is an epic climax between the powers of good and evil. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 starts exactly where the first part ended. Voldemort has the Elder Wand and Harry has no idea where the last few Horcruxes could be. From there the journey through Harry’s past begins. The audience returns to some very memorable place in the story’s lore. Each one holds a perilous sense of danger where before it had been a place of security. The vaults of Gringotts, once a place of safety for mystical items, turns into the scene of a magical theft and escape. Hogwarts School, once considered the safest place and only true home of Harry Potter, becomes a war zone for the final battle. Even characters that the audience thought they knew reveal themselves in a different light, specifically Serverus Snape.

Unlike many fantasy films, the Harry Potter franchise has never suffered from a lack of acting talent. Alan Rickman, Ralph Fiennes, and Michael Gambon spent much of the earlier films carrying the dramatic weight. However, Radcliffe, Grint and Watson have come into their own, easily lifting the film to new heights for the genre. The much teased love between Hermione and Ron finally comes to a head just as Harry’s involvement with Ginny does as well. The roller coaster ride doesn’t stop with love and action. There is also a strong sense of realism in the consequences of character actions. Several key characters that fans have come to love over the years find themselves in mortal danger. Some of them make it and some of them perish. However it is this balance of fantasy and realism that lifts this climactic film above others that fell terribly flat, like Lord of the Rings: Return of the King.

When the film closed it felt strangely similar to exiting the theater after Star Wars Episode III. It is the end of a long cinematic journey that many fans have grown with. Whether you’re a fan who simply viewed the movies or read each book, this film adds a level of visual closure to one of the most successful movie franchises of all time.

Toy Story, Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo, Wall-E, Up, and Cars are just a few of the hits that help to make up the current viewing favorites of children across America. While Disney’s fantastic logo appears before the opening credits of every one of these movies, it is the less spectacular logo of the animation studio Pixar that is celebrated within the industry, and with great reason. The documentary The Pixar Story pulls back the curtain on the mysterious studio that has produced some of the most memorable animated characters since the early days of animation.

Thankfully, The Pixar Story is more than just a celebration of Pixar’s seemingly endless list of accomplishments. It is a chronicle of the long journey to success that almost didn’t happen. The story is told primarily by those who lived through it. People like Steve Jobs and John Lasseter provide the most input into what ends up being a very interesting story. Many times these types of documentaries fall flat simply because the story isn’t very interesting. Pixar’s story is one of risk, innovation and true entrepreneurship. All of these ingredients make for a story that is captivating, especially when its kept to under two hours.

The story of Pixar is one that starts, like many others, with a problem. The artistic visions of filmmakers like George Lucas and Steven Spielberg were limited by the technological means of their generation. This is why a subdivision of LucasFilm, The Graphics Group, was created to address these problems. However, after hard times hit LucasFilm, Steve Jobs came along to save the day. Even after pumping nearly 10 million dollars into the company, Pixar found itself as nothing more than a high end hardware company trying to pimp out its technology to anyone who would take it. It wasn’t until a huge deal to make the first computer generated feature film, with the help of Disney, that Pixar truly began to spread its wings.

The Pixar Story isn’t very specific. It doesn’t dive into any problem long enough to confuse or sometimes engage the audience. Instead, the documentary relies solely on the idea that dreams can come true, a very Disney mindset. We listen to Steve Jobs and John Lasseter explain how close they came to losing everything and how hard it is to maintain the empire. However, these problems are never drastic enough to bring real concern to the audience. Instead we are left with a dream-like image of what hard work and determination can accomplish. It may seem like mostly a fluff piece, but The Pixar Story is the type of documentary that would make anyone rethink whether or not their ideal job is possible.

On January 10, 1927, a 153 minute version of Fritz Lang’s epic film Metropolis screened in Berlin, Germany to a less than enthusiastic reception. What followed was a series of re-cuts and rearrangements for each market that the film was to be released. In the United States, theater managers saw a film more than 90 minutes in length to be a crowd killer. The 1920’s had seen record highs in attendance with an average movie length that has persisted into modernity. Couple this with re-edits for particular audience markets and incorrect screening processes (namely displaying the film at 24fps when it was meant to be seen in 16) and what was left was not even a shell of what Fritz Lang had intended to show the world. Now in 2010, thanks to a lot of effort and an equal amount of luck, we now have the closest version of to what was shown on that fateful night in 1927.

For those unaware of Metropolis, the film centers around a fictional mega city that is divided by two separate classes: the thinkers who live in the bustling city and the workers that live and work underground. When the son of the city’s creator realizes the hardships that people endure down below, he takes it upon himself to be their voice and champion. What makes Metropolis different from the typical socialist film of the era is its inclusion of a heavy science fiction undertone. The crafty creator enlists the help of a mad scientist to create a Machine Man to twist and distort the message of the workers. What ensues is a struggle between classes and a modern day telling of the Tower of Babel. While many reviews in the 20’s pounded the heavy socialist message of the film, its underlying topics have helped to preserve the film long past others that operated in the same vein. With a healthy mix of camera tricks and magical special effects, the film still portrays a futuristic world that can capture the imagination of an audience more than 80 years after its initial release.

What makes this restored version of Metropolis so special? The main reason goes back two years prior to this new release. In June of 2008 a rather mistreated copy of the 1927 film appeared at the Museum of Cinema in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was only after hearing an anecdote about the length of this particular copy that was screened years prior that an investigation began. Nearly 25 minutes of missing scenes were added back into the film, creating the closest restoration of the film ever seen. Due to the poor quality of the print, these scenes are rather noticeable. Not only is the film quite damaged, but the picture size also varies due it being a copy. Neglecting the physical appearance, this inclusion helps to flesh out the story and also provides a better pacing to the film. The print already in preservation was then cleaned up to look immaculate and joined with the lost scenes for the Blu-Ray release last Tuesday.

If you’ve never seen Metropolis, this is a great time to experience one of the crown jewels of early cinematic history. The restoration was handled with tremendous care and this new version ensures that future generations of film lovers will see the Fritz Lang classic as close to it was intended like never before.