Metropolis is, without doubt, one of the great masterpieces of not only science fiction but also of cinema in general. From the scope of its vision to the immensity of its production, although it is probably as famous for the iconic robot image than for anything else.

Back in 1984, when the world was wondering if Orwell's dystopia would become a reality - which it well and truly had under Thatcher, but no one saw it because they were too busy enjoying the spoils of bank deregulation and easy credit, and Steve Jobs was promising us it wouldn't, with a Ridley Scott advertisement that was clearly influenced by Lang's masterpiece - Metropolis was being saved from obscurity by Italian-born composer and music producer Giorgio Moroder, who was at the forefront on synth music in the 70s.

Essentially, Moroder did what is known today as a remix on the film, by removing the intertitles of the original and turning them into subtitles, finding stills and extracts from the original story to replace the missing footage that was removed for the American release, and adding colour with varying overall tints to scenes (like the colorise option in Photoshop), and, most importantly for him, gave it a contemporary soundtrack that also included songs from the likes of Pat Benatar, Jon Anderson from Yes, Adam Ant, Bonnie Tyler and Freddie Mercury.

For a whole new generation, this became the de facto version of the film that helped establish it as a cult classic. However, with the recent release of the magnificently restored director's cut of the film with a new orchestral score, Moroder's version seems very dated. The images are scratchy vignettes that aren't enhanced by the tinting process and the soundtrack's synth-pop sounds incongruous to the images.

To his credit, Moroder did keep the Metropolis' fires burning, for which we are all grateful, but the new restoration is far superior in every aspect, even if you are not a fan of orchestral music. Given that the 80s wasn't one of the great eras of popular music it would be interesting to see Metropolis with a 21st century music score of the restored version. I would certainly like to see Trent Reznor, with his industrial rock background and newfound film scoring cred, do a new soundtrack for it. The Nine Inch Nail's 2008 album Ghosts I-IV certainly contains plenty of soundscapes that would fit the film.

Or maybe in needs to become one of those open source projects where musicians from around the world can create their own scores that can be downloaded and played with film.

If 80s' music is your thing, then this restored curio is definitely one to add to your collection, and the included contemporary doc about the project is a fascinating insight into the creation of the project.

Giorgio Moroder Presents Metropolis is available from Eureka Entertainment on DVD (in a steelbook case) and also on VOD from www.metropolismovie.co.uk