People are voting emotionally.

just watch it!

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

I think this is an important film to see even for historical reasons, since after "Die Nibelungen" (1924) Lang would make "Metropolis" (1927), something for which he is best remembered. But more importantly, this is in my mind astonishingly gripping and the far more satisfying film (or two). It's fascinating how different the two parts are. As they are, their respective brilliance shines brightly, individually, and in itself the film as one grand epic reinvents itself come the revenge story of the latter half. The first film is the fantastical one, precursor to what we have now as high fantasy adaptations, mainly "The Lord of the Rings". In this sense "Siegfried" is shockingly modern, and here Lang succeeds far better than in "Metropolis", where he didn't have a national epic upon which to project the visual aesthetics, instead his own sense of national identity projected into a perceived future or alternate present. This is surprisingly lucid, which itself is a testimony of its filmic brilliance.The court at Worms is as rigidly symmetrical and foreboding as one can be, and the film is full of such visual information, rigid symmetry that I bet greatly inspired Eisentein's "Ivan Groznyi" films (1944, 1958). In fact, I would love to see these masterworks by the two directors together someday, since their similarities go beyond style and visual language, also converging in their handling of national folklore in highly theatrical terms.The new restoration of the project, made by the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung, is available on Blu-ray in both Region A and B, courtesy of Kino and Masters of Cinema respectively. What a treasure! In fact, the more I think of it, I can't wait to revisit it again.

Die Nibelungen: Siegfried (1924) *** 1/2 (out of 4) The first part of Fritz Lang's five hour epic has Siegfriend slay a dragon, bath in its blood and then head off to win the hand of Kriemhild. Story wise there really isn't anything overly excellent about the film but the real key naturally is all the special effects and set design. This here is another film that makes me believe that CGI has caused filmmakers to become lazy because what happens in this film is a lot more realistic and amazing to the eye than anything a computer could make. The slaying of the dragon works very well after all these years and the sets are downright eyedropping, although I still think those in Intolerance look better. I wasn't too drawn into the story and I think some editing could have helped but this is still a must see for film buffs.

I usually do not rent silent films. I have to be in the mood for them. And I definitely was in the mood for this one.I was amazed that how well this film was made. The shots were beautiful and full of Old World splendor. And the organ solo that accompanied the film set the proper mood for this medieval German epic.And I thought that the scene where Siegfried fought the dragon was all right. I expected the scene to be flimsy effects-wise, but it wasn't. In fact, it was much better than I expected. Kudos to the special effects people.I have yet to see its latter half "Krimhilde's Revenge". I hope that it is as good as "Siegfried".

This film depicts the epic story of the rise and fall of the great German hero, Siegfried. It follows the classic pattern of the young hero who overcomes one challenge after another, only to be defeated in the end through his own weakness. Siegfried's early adventure, where he fights and slays the dragon, is masterfully filmed, with a special-effects monster that is amazingly sophisticated for its era. Further tests of his valour and cunning are required before he can marry the Burgundian princess, Kriemhilde; chief among these are assisting his future brother-in-law, Gunther, the King of Burgundy, to win the hand of the Amazon queen, Brunhild. Aided by a cloak of invisibility, Siegfried fixes the contests between Gunther and Brunhild to defeat the imperious queen and delivers her unwillingly to Gunther. This service ultimately leads to his downfall, however, as he eventually confides in Kriemhilde his duplicity and she betrays his secret to the outraged Brunhild, who then seeks his death. Despite being made in the midst of the Expressionist era of filmmaking in Germany, this movie is largely naturalistic in its sets and acting. The Burgundian court, as befits its artificial and ceremonious atmosphere, is depicted through angular and stiff sets and costumes, somewhat reminiscent of the expressionist style, but there are not the disturbing distortions seen in such classic films as "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari".