Dark City [Blu-ray] [1998] [US Import] [Region A]
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Dark City [Blu-ray] [1998] [US Import] [Region A]

4.4/5
Product ID: 191066647
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Details

  • Format
    Blu-ray Colour
  • Contributor
    Trevor Jones
  • Language
    English
  • Runtime
    1 hour and 51
  • Colour
    Unknown

Description

Dark City [Blu-ray] [1998] [US Import] [Region A]

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Reviews

4.4

All from verified purchases

A**R

Star Trek meets The Big Sleep

Dark City is a film so filled with secrets that I can only describe a fraction of the plot and hope that my fellow critics have done likewise. John Murdoch (Rufus Sewell) wakes up in a strange apartment with a prostitute's bizarrely mutilated corpse. He has no idea how or why he found himself there, but is contacted by psychiatrist Dr. Schreber (Kiefer Sutherland) who claims he's in terrible danger. John is then pursued by the police and a group of aliens.And that's all I'll say. The rest you'll have to discover yourself, as I did; it's an incredible journey, full of beautiful, surreal images and a screenplay which masterfully encompasses several genres, including two of my favourites, noir and sci-fi. The humans dress and talk like characters in a hardboiled drama; there's dames, cops and johns, and they live in a city which echoes Tim Burton's Gotham, with steam always rising from the sewers. The aliens, meanwhile, bear a striking resemblance to Nosferatu, and possess powers that evoke hypnotic visuals. The special effects are great, springing not just from technology but also imagination. What I love most about this film is its perfect marriage of imagery and story; neither element has been neglected, unlike, say, the Transformers series, which spends all its budget on special effects then gives them no reason to exist. Dark City is a banquet both visually and mentally.The cast also does a magnificent job. Sewell gives a sturdy performance as the kind of hunted, haunted man beloved by Alfred Hitchcock, and Sutherland plays the nervous, eccentric shrink with his usual aplomb. Sutherland, perhaps best known for playing TV action hero Jack Bauer, is I think underrated when it comes to his subtler roles.Dark City is an almost perfect masterpiece, and if I had to pick a flaw it would be its romantic element, which feels contrived and tacked on. I think it also creates a plot hole that I won't go into. Otherwise, however, Dark City is a smart, exciting mystery which is one of my favourite films, blending genres I love and all that makes cinema such a magical art form.A note on the DVD: this isn't a feature packed disc, containing only a five minute "making of" segment and a two minute trailer.

K**Y

Solid Scifi.

Verry good movie you can see where the matrix was influenced by scenes in this movie.The acting can be a bit hit and miss but the plot keeps you engaged throughout.

A**R

Amazing movie

Amazing noir mystery sci fi thriller. Love this movie.

D**A

👍

Good 👍

S**D

A decent Dystopian movie witht he added edge of film noir

I really enjoyed the film, and the concept is brilliant. Performances were strong, and the visuals were very trippy. The overall feel is as the title suggest, "Dark" - Brilliantly shot, and cinematically pleasing.I know its film noir, but I still found some of the dialogues to be a bit cheesy, although I guess they have to be true to the genre.Won't dissapoint, but not one that would make my top twenty.

C**T

One of the best 👌

Classic Sci fi movie, one of the best from it's time and still holds up today. Original and different to most. It deserves way more recognition

D**.

Not quite what I was expecting!

I'd heard of Dark City for many years and never gotten around to checking it out until now.It's certainly quite an unusual (and pretty campy) tale to be sure!While I wouldn't go so far as to say it's a bonafide sci-fi classic, it's got a lot of good things going for it. For one, it's a pretty unique story concept (it was actually released a year before The Matrix which has some obvious similarities in the overall story, if not the tone and aesthetics).And added to the mix are some decent leading performances and competent supporting back-up work, along with some elaborate and mind-bending set design. Great to see Richard O'Brien being given a good platform to ham it up a bit as the main antagonist too.It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I would definitely recommend it to any sci-fi fan!

T**H

Hidden Gem and a future cult classic

This film is very impressive and I don't know how I ever missed it at the Cinema.Yes it is dated (1998), yes it has its faults, but it is overall a flawless presentation of 'science fiction' - exactly what the viewer wants who is into this style of film and who purchases a film like this expecting 'science fiction'. On that basis, you won't be disappointed, the product does exactly what is hoped for from the DVD front cover.What makes the movie work so well is a highly original idea, commendable acting, a 'smoldering' femme fatale (Jennifer Connoly) and a big eyed lead male character (Rufus Sewell) who is equally 'cool' and bristles with mystique in equal measure to the freaky villain/hero doctor, one memorable hesitant speech! (Kiefer Sutherland). These three humans come up against some very bizarre unworldly individuals who have inhabited their world, a type you will have seen nothing like before in a movie, except perhaps if you consider something like, The City of Lost Children (1995). There are atmospheric similarities with that movie for sure, a similar 'look'.So Dark City is indeed dark, there is no sunlight! The viewer observes a steam punk concrete world that is utterly surreal and originally so. There is no sex, no real violence to speak of, and the special effects are more than adequate although are nothing astonishing such as in, The Matrix (1999).Overall, you won't be disappointed with Dark City if you enjoy your Sci-Fi a little dark and twisted, a little funny, and a bit wacky!

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