William Hurt Movie:

Editorial Review:
If you're a fan of brooding comic-book antiheroes, got a nihilistic jolt from The Crow (1994), and share director Alex Proyas's highly developed preoccupation for style over substance, you might be tempted to call Dark City an instant classic of visual imagination. It's one of those films that exists in a world purely of its own making, setting its own rules and playing by them fairly, so that even its derivative elements (and there are quite a few) acquire their own specific uniqueness. Before long, however, the film becomes interesting only as a triumph of production design. And while that's certainly enough to grab your attention (Blade Runner is considered a classic, after all), it's painfully clear that Dark City has precious little heart and soul. One-dimensional characters are no match for the film's abundance of retro-futuristic style, so it's best to admire the latter on its own splendidly cinematic terms. Trivia buffs will be interested to know that the film's 50-plus sets (partially inspired by German expressionism) were built at the Fox Film Studios in Sydney, Australia, home base of director Alex Proyas and producer Andrew Mason. The underground world depicted in the film required the largest indoor set ever built in Australia. --Jeff Shannon

Dark City [Region 2] Reviews:
I love this movie
2009-12-28 - I keep losing this movie... So and I keep buying it. This is a testament to how AWESOME this movie is

Nothing Beat's Watching "Dark City" with Such Detail!
2009-12-25 - I am a fan of David S. Goyer's work and had the pleasure of meeting him in person quite some time ago. "Dark City" has been one of my all-time favorite movies and finding the Blu-ray version made my day! The quality of the picture, along with the sound, is fantastic. I also like the added footage found within the director's edition. If you like suspense and sci/fi then this version of "Dark City" comes highly recommended!

Sometimes, Style DOES Triumph Over Substance
2009-12-22 - Dark City doesn't have the most interesting plot when it comes to science fiction movies. There's little character development, , and the movie is pretty much a series of chases, running around that basically piles evidence about the big picture that can be summed up in a paragraph (and also loses the mystery and the jolt moments after you see it again). How can a movie with a story like this possibly even warrant a good grade?

Well, Dark City does, and it does so with ease, thanks to the visionary directing of Alex Proyas, the art style, some fine performances, and execution. Excellent, excellent execution. Director Alex Proyas was responsible for that turd Knowing, but I always thought that the directing was very good in a sense. However, it was it's totally unimaginative in all aspects and really bored me to death (and the movie didn't even explain why those things were even there!). Dark City, however, doesn't bore you, thanks to it's one of a kind world that it creates. Sure, Dark City may not be any way significant or have anything to say, and it's frequent comparison, The Matrix, even said a lot more, and I find that movie to be little more than psuedophilosphy (don't get me wrong, I dig the Matrix, I just don't believe it's worthwhile social commentary like A Clockwork Orange)

Even though the story isn't the most profound of science fiction I've seen, it's miles better than garbage like The Day After Tommorrow, Armageddon, and even Alex Proya's own Knowing. It's not terribly complex, and the movie almost seems like a game of Myst regarding it's plot. However, unlike, say, Knowing, Dark City features some explanations that are at least interesting and gives us some insight on the creatures, who can do all kinds of crazy things and are merely just curious. It's not among the most memorable stories out there, but at least it has some grounding in creating interest and some insight.

However, Dark City really elevates itself to it's execution, from it's acting to it's sound, and most of all, it's visual style. The acting is reasonable as it makes the characters believable and somewhat likeable even though they don't develop much (but actually works because of the plot), but it's the two senses that make Dark City a great movie to behold (inspired by German Expressionalist Films) Borrowing from such movies as Metropolis (1927) (though I really can't see much of the influence of M and Nosferatu, to be honest). A special note is the effects, which are great to see. The climax of this movie, in particular, is awesome. I still can't believe they were able to make a movioe with a visual style like this in 1998, a decade before big budget CGI fests flooded the Hollywood market.

Dark City does have it's influences, but it still is a good movie that should easily complement movies like Brazil, Blade Runner, The City of Lost Children, and The Matrix, and not replace them (and those movies should not replace them either). Dark City may not have many mindblowing secrets, but it sure is a place worth visiting again and again. This DVD makes the movie even better, as it includes 3 commentaries, a theatrical trailer, cool production shots, and two documentaries totaling an hour and a half. It also adds fifteen minutes of footage to the movie (and movies) Whether or not you get the director's cut or not, the trip to Dark City is worth it.

B-

Circle of circles
2009-12-16 - The Amazon editorial review implies this film is all style no substance, but that is untrue. Although a lot of effort went into the style (partly in homage to Fritz Lang's 'Metropolis') the darkness here is no mere plot device, it is a metaphor.

The 'dark city' is an elaborate device created by a soulless race of aliens (who all look like John Gielgud, perhaps because they "use our dead as vessels") as part of a giant experiment to find out what makes humans IRREDUCIBLE (i.e. the part of us that can't be measured or quantified - our souls). 'Dark City' is clearly influenced by Gnostic spirituality, with its concept of a demiurge who has trapped us in a materialistic 'circle of circles'.

The film is tightly scripted and packed together, with extremely fast camera shots (like British show 'The Prisoner', with which it has much in common), and more than one viewing may be necessary to understand the plot in its entirety.

Dark City is Magnificent on Blu-ray
2009-11-24 - There are a plethora of reviews of the movie, but my review is mostly a comparison of the BD vs DVD version. I won't discuss its merits as movie.

I've seen its 2 DVD releases and finally BD. The DVD versions were consistently mastered in the best possible quality, although the DVD menu design is spartan and unimaginative.

DC is stellar in BD, and carries the reputation of fine digital mastering over to a new media. Rich, textured detail burst out in sets, costumes, CGI, and actor's faces to make DC a reference for video quality. Thread patterns on clothing, pores on faces, nearly readable text on papers held by characters are easily visible, but such details make obvious props from CGI effects, as the CGI has far less detail.

One can watch the movie multiple times and see something new. The BD menus and extras are identical to the DVD version, except that both director's cut and theatrical releases are on the same disk.

Audio quality is crisp and clear, except it lacks more distributed imaging. This is the movie's principle drawback.

As DC exemplifies, its better to spend less on fancy BD disk menus and more to insure the highest video and audio quality is placed on disk, something we still do not see universally in many BD releases.

If you own DC on DVD, the BD is worth the upgrade price and a steal at $10, current as of this review.