Last night Matt Zoller Seitz asked his Facebook pallies which movies, foreign or domestic, past or present, do they think were most strongly influenced by Fritz Lang‘s Metropolis? Blade Runner, Brazil and Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, of course…but what else?”

Certainly the most glaring in today’s realm is Steven Spielberg‘s Minority Report. And the image of those guys trudging along in grim formation inside the big factory was also appropriated by Spielberg for the finale of Close Encounters when he showed those red-jumpsuit drones preparing to board the mother ship. It made no sense at all (many things in Spielberg’s films fail to make sense or add up) except as a Langian thing.

Metropolis was also a major influence upon Klaus Nomi.

The most completely and fully restored version of Metropolis so far is now playing at the Film Forum.