To put it simply: You have not seen Metropolis if you haven't seen this edition.
Fritz Lang's Metropolis is one of my favorite films, so this DVD was a no-brainer. The Kino Video release of Metropolis is beautifully restored, including a large amount of previously cut footage and a new translation. There's also stills from some of the scenes where no footage could be found.
The restoration job is amazing. The video looks better than a lot of recently made films. It is simply amazing how good the film looks, compared to other releases of it.
The plot of the movie has changed drastically from the previous English releases. A while back I got a hold of the English release of Thea Von Harbou's novel, on which the movie was based. Actually, the two were pretty much written concurrently. Anyway, the novel had a plot that barely resembled that of the version of the movie I had seen. It turns out the movie had the same story as the novel, more or less. It just lost that plot as the film journeyed across the Atlantic.
As for the audio, the DVD has the original score, which hasn't been used since the film's premiere, and a commentary track. The commentary track ranges from useful trivia and production notes to Coleman Francis-esque narration: "Von Harbou and Lang. Siamese twins of different gender."
There's also a documentary on the making of the film, as well as one on the restoration. Nothing amazing there, but still worth watching.
The Kino Video release does cost a lot more than the other DVDs of Metropolis, such as the Madacy Entertainment version. However, it is worth every penny. I cannot state enough how wonderful the restoration of the film is. The video is superb, and the true plot has returned. But for all that has been done, there's a bittersweet feeling to this DVD. The film starts with a disclaimer, explaining that there is still much missing, and that it is believed to be lost forever. That casts a large shadow over this release: the knowledge that despite the restorationists' best efforts, nearly a third of Metropolis is gone. Between that, and the insertion of extensive descriptions of the lost scenes into the film, this release of Metropolis feels less like a movie and more like a historical artifact. But perhaps that's the way it should be.