Dark City (New Line Platinum Series) |  | Director: Alex Proyas
Actors: Rufus Sewell, Kiefer Sutherland, Jennifer Connelly, William Hurt, Richard O'Brien
Studio: New Line
Category: DVD
List Price: $9.98
Buy New: $1.52
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Rating:  522 reviews
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, Widescreen, NTSC
Languages: English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 100 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.6 x 0.5
MPN: DN4657D
ISBN: 0780622553
UPC: 794043465727
EAN: 9780780622555
Theatrical Release Date: February 27, 1998
Release Date: July 29, 1998
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
When john murdoch awakens in a strange hotel room he finds that he is wanted for a series of brutal murders. The problem is he cant remember a thing. Pursued by the police and haunted by the strangers mysterious beings who possess the ability to stop time and alter reality he seeks to unravel his identity. Studio: New Line Home Video Release Date: 02/03/2004 Starring: Rufus Sewell Jennifer Connelly Run time: 100 minutes Rating: R Director: Alex Proyas
Amazon.com
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. Befitting a film of such ambition, the DVD includes a feast of bonus features, including audio commentaries by the director, producer, writers, and cinematographer, and also by film critic Roger Ebert, who named Dark City one of the best films of 1998. Also included is an isolated music track, an interactive game, and a photo gallery of production stills and set design sketches. --Jeff Shannon
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 522
 Great movie, outstanding picture! A must-see for sci-fi fans.. October 27, 2009
Aldenir A. Moraes (rio de janeiro, brazil)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I was surprised by the quality of the digital film transfer. If you haven't seen this movie before, here's an excellent opportunity to know it. This is not a regular sci-fi movie, and I think this is really what makes it unique in the genre.
Dark City the way Alex Proyas intended it to be. October 6, 2009
Mark B. (Pittsburgh, PA)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
While the original DVD release of Dark City is quite good it's here where Alex Proyas delivers an expanded story and rights some errors that were necessitated by the studio in its original 1998 release. Characters have been expanded further and the pace was tightened up on what I considered to be an excellent movie to begin with. It simply gets better in the director's cut.
The most notable change I've noticed was the removal of the narration at the beginning which simply gave away the film's secret far too early regarding "tuning". Also the opening sequence is shorter without any cutaways to the traffic and denizens of the city. Wordlessly, Dr. Schreber (Kiefer Sutherland) checks his watch as it freezes at midnight, turns and walks away from the camera as if he were Marty Feldman beckoning you to "walk this way". On the original commentary on the 2001 DVD release Proyas stated that, regarding the original cut, he was pleased with 90% of it. The introductory sequence was a sizable chunk of that 10% he was unhappy with for it was the studio's decision and not his to spoon-feed the audience.
Afterwards it was the slow revealing of the nature of the city and the characters who inhabit it where the director's cut shines. Once past the abbreviated beginning the story now has a bit of extra time to develop the details further.
The director's cut DVD, while marred by the "Digital Copy" (Expired July 29, 2009, even though all DVDs are already digital copies of film/video to begin with) it has a much better picture when compared to the original 2001 flipper DVD release. It also boasts three commentary tracks: A version of Roger Ebert's original commentary with new interview details spliced in (you can tell which parts were spliced due to when Ebert got surgery performed on his jaw), a newly-recorded Alex Proyas commentary and finally commentary track with both Lem Dobbs and David Goyer. Three documentaries (totaling 82 minutes) help to flesh out an already spectacular thought-provoking film.
I wouldn't replace the old 2001 release with this DVD. I do prefer Ebert's more detailed commentary on the 2001 DVD release. And, like Ebert's commentary, the other commentary tracks are different enough to render the original release worth keeping. It is also missing the "Find Shell Beach" interactive "game" (more along the lines of "find all the easter eggs for a kitschy little animation") and some other lesser features such as the pan'n'scan 4:3 version of the film. New Line has always done excellent DVD's for their "Platinum Series". And, if you don't have the 2001 version, it can be found cheap.
With the discovery of a lengthier and more complete version of Fritz Lang's "Metropolis" found in Buenos Aires, Dark City whets the appetite for its inspiration. And, within these links of films, I wonder how much of an influence Dark City had on 1999's "The Matrix".
I'm not disappointed by this DVD. It was an impulse buy for me for $15 at a brick'n'mortar store a couple years ago. The price is even better now on Amazon. It's a cut which has the fans of Dark City and neo-noir science fiction in mind.
 The human laboratory September 28, 2009
Edmonson (Canada)
Dark City (1998), directed by Alex Proyas (I, Robot), is a film noir sci-fi which plays tribute to much older black and white silent films like Metropolis, and Nosferatu. Kiefer Sutherland portrays a rather mad scientist (Dr. Daniel Schreber) who assists aliens in their experiments on the humans trapped in this artificial world. Every night the city is shifted into new configurations, and the people are given new memories. These aliens, "Strangers", are endangered parasites with a collective consciousness, who are experimenting on humans so as to analyze the "nature verses nurture" concept of the human hosts in their hope to find a way to survive. John Murdoch is one human that has accidentally awoken during the night and is now beyond the control of the Strangers. As he's trying to make sense of the world that he finds himself in, the aliens are trying to track him down. William Hurt also appears in the film as a tough guy inspector, who begins to suspect that Murdoch might be telling the truth. Jennifer Connelly is Emma, John Murdoch's wife.
The Matrix film, which came out a year later, shares many similar qualities. As in the Matrix, there is a protagonist who discovers that he has the ability to manipulate the virtual world that he is living in. And as in the Matrix, the humans are being used, mostly unbeknownst to them, by an alien race. Both films question notions about reality, perception, and identity.
The blu-ray extended cut has 15 extra minutes compared to the theatrical release. In these extra minutes the director has added some additional scenes that help to further develop the characters. Also, in the extended cut, the director has eliminated the voice over that was originally heard at the beginning of the film on the theatrical version of the film.
Dark City provides bright blu-ray! September 15, 2009
Doctor Trek (North Dakota)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Always loved this movie! The blu-ray brightens the heart of the viewer with crisp images and full sound (LOVE that soundtrack!). The Director's Cut is the same as the anniversary dvd, but after seeing this on blu-ray, well... And this came with the Digital Copy, so I can enjoy this movie on the road on my PSP as well.
Dark City (1998)-Beautiful special effects, good performances, interesting ideas! August 17, 2009
Keith Mirenberg (www.spaceanimations.org)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I saw Dark City when it first came out in 1998 and believe it is a five star sci-fi thriller. Dark and colorful, it is another story of circumstances totally out of control masquerading as possible paranoid delusion. The ending reminded me of the Matrix, but it was very interestingly done.
It appears that the overused theme of an individual (or individuals) suffering from paranoia underwent an increase in usage in middle of the 90's in movies. Fortunately, it was pretty clear almost from the outset of the movie that this was not the case. The atmosphere of the film was dark, brooding and always troubling, until its Matrix like ending. John Murdoch is "the one"!
This film had absolutely terrific special effects, and featured some good performances of an interesting theme.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 522
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