 Metacritic reports an aggregated score of 96/100 based on 4 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".Contemporary reviews were very positive.Frank Nugent of "The New York Times" wrote, "'Modern Times' has still the same old Charlie, the lovable little fellow whose hands and feet and prankish eyebrows can beat an irresistible tattoo upon an audience's funnybone or hold it still, taut beneath the spell of human tragedy ... Time has not changed his genius."