Metropolis

Metropolis stands as the oldest extant major sci-fi film and the most expensive silent movie made at 5 million Reichsmarks. Restored to near-completeness in 2010 after a 2008 Buenos Aires print discovery, it earned UNESCO Memory of the World status in 2001 — a recognition no other film here has achieved. Yet its 153-minute runtime feels slower than the average modern sci-fi, and its expressionist sets lack the visceral realism of Interstellar’s black hole visuals.