Last year, I had the opportunity to watch Metropolis accompanied by a live orchestra. I have to say, it was quite the experience, somewhere between movie and concert, with the audience applauding after each act. It made me truly appreciate silent films as a lost form of art, I can't recommend it highly enough.

Having said that, yes, the film is not what we would today call "hard sci-fi". But a lot of the things that Wells criticizes as unrealistic are clearly intentional and meant to be symbolic, like the machines not serving any visible purpose. H. G. Wells obviously recognized this, which makes the review read a bit unfair and bitter. I wonder if there's a story behind this.