Dark City (1998)

In an undefined time and place, a group of aliens called "Strangers" are dying in their planet and are experimenting new options of life with humans.

A amnesiac man awakens in a bathtub and receives a phone call from a Dr. Daniel Schreber (Kiefer Sutherland) warning him that he should leave the hotel room since he will be captured. Before leaving the room, he finds the corpse of a woman and a knife. Soon a group of Strangers hunts him down but he succeeds to escape. Before leaving the hotel, the front desk informs that his wallet is in a restaurant. He retrieves his wallet and learns that his name is John Murdoch (Rufus Sewell) and is married with Emma (Jennifer Connely). He is followed by the persistent police inspector Frank Burnstead (William Hurt) that believes he is a serial- killer. Murdich also learns that he has uncontrolled powers called tuning similar to the Strangers and he flees using the powers. Murdoch notes that the city does not have daylight and every midnight the Strangers rearrange the city and change the people memories. Further, everybody knows the coastal town Shell Beach by heart but nobody knows how to go there. He teams up with Burnstead and Emma and apparently Dr. Schreber is the only human who knows what is happening in the city. What will be the fate of the humans in the hands of the Strangers?

"Dark City" is a timeless cult sci-fi noir that has not aged and uses references from other films that perfectly works. The noir style is a tribute to the period between 1939 and 1950; the "Strangers" and the Gothic style are visibly inspired in "Nosferatu" and "Metropolis"; the aliens that take the human bodies are inspired in 'Body Snatchers". Further, it certainly has influenced "Matrix" that was released one year later. The cinematography and special effects are astonishing and the performances are top-notch. Like a wine, this film seems to be better as years go by. Fortunately the writers and director have not been seduced with the success and there is no sequel of this little masterpiece. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "Cidade das Sombras" ("City of the Darkness")

Fmovies: I will be part of the rabid throngs of people lining up to catch a spectacle as huge as Reloaded and Revolution. Despite(and maybe because of) Matrix sky high hype right now, my thoughts drift back to this overlooked classic...but a little on Neo and gang first below...

The Matrix just happened.

With an uncanny midas touch, The Warchowski bros launched this(then unknown film) at the the right place, in the right time. With an execution commercial enough to bring in the box office moola and a philosophical subtext accessible enough for the general public to latch on to, the rest, as they say...is history.

The philosophical under pinnings though, (of blue pills, red pills, the subreality of consciousness and all that mambo jambo etc), so successfully popularised by The Matrix, was infact neither originated by The Matrix nor as fully realised than in other more accomplished works.

Which leads me to....drumroll.....

As such, IMHO, the best execution on the concept of reality and perception was already explored in a much more unbelievably visual opus, one year earlier, the grossly overlooked, criminally under-rated,

"Dark City". (One of My Top 10 All time Favourite Films)

This scifi/ film noir hybrid was impactful both cinematically and ideologically. Most importantly, it rewarded my wildly abandoned reach for human imagination and thirst for ideas, by fulfilling as much promise a motion picture can ever hope to give.

On top of that, my background as a "trekkie" scifi nerd meant I instinctively respond to films which challenge me both intellectually and spiritually. Dark City was thus a near religious, life cleansing experience for me.

And any which way I look at it, this film soars to heights unseen since 2001: A Space Odyssey...

But due to its messed up(or near-absent) marketing campaign(positioning the film to resemble a horror film for the teenage crowd), the film did not find its intended audience and flopped unceremoniously. Of course it found its audience but by then its was too late...

That said, the thirst for something better than our run of the mill pop corn fare is still there, waiting to be quenched.

And The Matrix filled that void.

Too bad it wasn't this film. But in a ideal world, it would. Sad.

Ever since I first saw the first Crow film with Brandon Lee, I've been an avid fan of Alex Proyas' film making and Dark City is another amazing example of his cinematic expertise. Filmed primarily in Sydney and starring Rufus Sewell, Jennifer Connoly, William Hurt and Keifer Sutherland, Dark City is an incredible piece of work with an intricate and detailed story with an even more amazingly executed motion picture behind it. The sets and visual effects have been so well thought out and performed that together with the impressive acting (including many Australian actors such as Colin Friels and that tall funny looking guy from Mad Max) the film simply sucks you in and you can fully believe that the word Proyas has created exists; which is something that not many film makers can achieve easily. From start to finish, an instant classic that will surely gain cult status as the years progress.

Dark City fmovies. This is probably the best Sci-Fi-Film of the Ninetees. Matrix is good, but this film is better. Both deal with the same question: What is reality? Not only was Dark City first, it also handles the subject much better and more adult than Matrix. Also its conclusion is far better than the one of Matrix.

Not only does this film deal with reality, it also deals with humanity, something which lacks Matrix. What makes us humans? To quote Dr. Schreber from the film "Are we more than just the sum of our Experiences?" This film is slowpaced, but not boring at all. And it deserves the title: Dark. The film is dark, "noir" and this gives the film a great atmosphere. The darkness and coldness of the strangers is in contrast to the bright light of the sun created by John Murdoch in the end.

This film is very philosophic, which I like. The best films are those which help us to think and this one clearly is such a film. Something which is needed in our society of marionettes and idiotic consumers who know more than anyone else before in history but who lack the ability to truly think.

The show down was a little weak, but the film made this up again at the very end with the last meeting between Murdoch and Mr. Hand. I remember Murdoch's words well and he speaks of a truth which is sometimes forgotten: What makes us human is not to be found in our heads, our brains and our minds.

Dark City (1998) New Line Cinema.

Review: Dark City being directed by Alex Proyas, who directed the dark thriller The Crow, I had to see this movie. This is an original, dark, engaging, and one of the best movies of 1998.

The story is the best. A man who wakes up in a bathtub has no memory at all. He discovers that some ominous beings are coming after him. Who are they? What do they want? And to top it off, he is a suspect in several murders. As the story unfolds, it just gets more interesting. The look of the city is quite a sight. It has an old school comic book feel to it. The style of everything is a nice 1940's style, from clothing to the cars.

As we follow our hero, we learn more about him....or do we? What is real? What is fake? Questions keep coming up but, are their any answers to all these questions? Even more weird is when at the stroke of midnight, the city changes shape while everyone sleeps.

Our hero is also followed by an honest detective, Insp. Bumstead, who just wants answers to the murders and gets involved in the mystery too. Our hero wants to look for one location that could unlock the mystery to everything. What could it be?

Another strong point here is the acting is excellent. Rufus Sewell plays his role with conviction and passion. The casting is flawless.

The Last Word: Awesome flick. This is a movie that is excellent brain food. It makes you think....a lot. You will most likely watch this over and over again to figure everything out. No problem. This movie never gets old. Highly recommended.

Dark City is the best film of Alex Proyas. He uses the Gothic and claustrophobic themes commonly and dark colors prevail during the film like "The Crow" .The story doesn't follow a certain order of rule, instead there is some mind games and puzzles in the film, that causes watchers to be active in each minute and motivate to the movie..

The topic is about a man who loses his past and first finds himself in a bath tub, doesn^t know about himself and his life, but he has one ability that no one has, he can be alive when the evil forces stops the time and reshapes the world according to their own demand. The story is so fantastic and Proyas' nightmare world come true in that movie.

I can basically say that it's one of the best science fiction movies ever made, it opens doors to different dimensions and force human brains' capability....

"Mutlu Bahar"