What can I say, I've got good taste. When I first saw Dark City in the cinema, I was absolutely blown away. A year later, when box office smash The Matrix was released, I was underwhelmed - sure, Keanu Reeves bending backwards dodging bullets in slo-mo looked cool, but it was nothing more than a pale (though more expensive) imitation of the genius that was Alex Proyas' science fiction masterpiece.
"Not a story so much as an experience, it is a triumph of art direction, set design, cinematography, special effects--and imagination." Roger Ebert
A man wakes up in a bathtub. He has no idea who he is or where he is. He discovers that his name is John Murdoch and he is wanted for a series of murders - not only is his estranged wife, Emma, seeking him, so is the tenacious detective Bumstead. In Murdoch's quest to find out what the hell is going on, he discovers an underworld and a sinister group of Strangers who seem to exercise control over the fates of the people who live in the city that's always dark.
There's no way for me to give this film an unbiased review because I've loved it for over a decade. I've seen the Australian theatrical release, the censored Singaporean Video CD, and now the director's cut on DVD. Dark City has not lost an ounce of impact or visual beauty in the last 11 years - it is still an amazing film that should have us all asking questions about who we really are, and do we even know if we are who we think we are?
While Proyas - in his interview on the DVD - has asserted that he thinks this version is a vast improvement over the original cut, I'm not sure that's true. The film has certainly benefited from the elimination of the voiceover in the opening sequence (hello, Blade Runner) but I'm not convinced that some of the extended scenes really made the film significantly better. But these are miniscule issues that do not detract from what I consider to be one of the best science fiction films ever made - and the cult following it's built bears me out.
Dark City Director's Cut
Director: Alex Proyas
Starring: Rufus Sewell, Jennifer Connelly, William Hurt
