Dark City (10/10)

[Strider]

Dark City (1998)

Rated R for Violent Images & Some Nudity

Director: Alex Proyas

Starring Rufus Sewell, Keifer Sutherland, Jennifer Connelly, & William Hurt.

http://i.imdb.com/Photos/Ss/0118929/1-3.jpg

The film's plot focuses on John Murdoch(Rufus Sewell), who struggles with memories of his past in a nightmarish world with no sun and run by The Strangers, beings with telekinetic powers who seek the souls of humans.

Wow! This movie blew my mind away. It was so beautiful in many ways. The story, direction, sets, visual effects, & cinematography.

As for the acting, it was excellent. Everybody delivered great performances in their roles. Also, I must add that I found the characters to be very interesting, especially The Strangers. Just with their coats, hats, gloves, and pale white faces. They were so frightening, and sent chills down my spine.

I loved Dark City. It's one of the greatest Science-Fiction films I have ever seen. It intrigued me from beginning to end. A masterpiece like this can be enjoyed by Sci-Fi fans, comic-book fans, and anybody with a sense of wonder and imagination. What else can I say? Dark City is a brilliant achievement in film making. Thank you Alex Proyas!

Running Time: 1 hour 40 minutes

Grade: 10/10

Strider

[This message has been edited by Strider (edited 02-26-2002).]

[ilovemovies]

I liked this movie but I didn't quite love it. I personally prefer The Matrix. Or actually, my favorite of these kinds of movies that came out from 1998-1999 was the underrated The Thirteenth Floor. Vanilla Sky is also a good. But this was definately good too. Some of the visual effects were pretty nifty. The look of the movie was great. And ofcoarse the engaging mystery kept me involved. So, I think it is a very good movie, but I still think it falls a little short of greatness.
Grade: B+

[Fergus]

Why doesn't Proyas make more films?

My story:
In the end of the summer of 98' I had the pleasure of watching this HIGHLY ORIGINAL science fiction film for the first time--on video. It is a pity I didn't catch it in theaters, because I remember it coming out in either late January or early February of 98', and it only stayed in the theaters nearby for two weeks, then it was gone. I wish it would've made more money than that paltry... what was it? 14 million or something like that. The setup is intriguing, and keeps getting better. Aside, the special effects are quite the stunner. I bought this on DVD two years ago and it is high on my all time favorites list. Did you know that the first time I watched it, I didn't much care about the film. It wasn't until my second, third and fourth viewing that I loved it even more.

Kiefer Sutherland's character was a mighty big change for him, and I'm glad he went for a different kind of character; his voice patterns are quite strange too. The visuals and effects are pretty darn cool, and Jennifer Connelly is gorgeous as always. It also has one of the best trailers I have ever seen, without dialogue, just music. It is what got me to see the movie in the first place. Once you see the trailer, you know you gotta see it, because it just looks bizarre, and it is. Funny thing though, the movie has been out since 98' and I still have the movie poster hanging in my room.

***** out of *****

[This message has been edited by Fergus (edited 02-27-2002).]

[urbanlegend23]

Ugh...this movie is way overrated by you guys. It was quite clever in some scenes, had a few alright sequences and ideas, but I felt the movie didn't come together very well, it bored me, I didn't discover anything about the characters and those villains were incredibly funny - I take it that wasn't the look they were going for - especially that vampire-esque kid. Hehehe.

I love Jennifer Connelly but I hated Kiefer Sutherland in this role. He overracted majorly. Rufus Sewell didn't bother me too much, but he wasn't exceptional.

I enjoyed the technical aspects of the film, and the atmosphere wasn't bad, but this is way overrated by you guys IMO. Did you all just like it because JoBlo liked it?! I think this might be the case.

Dark City - 5/10

[Strider]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by urbanlegend23:
Did you all just like it because JoBlo liked it?! I think this might be the case.</font>

No, that's not the case. Hell, that would be the day when I force myself to like a movie just because someone else liked it.

Strider

[This message has been edited by Strider (edited 02-27-2002).]

[rupert_pupkin]

"Did you all just like it because JoBlo liked it?! I think this might be the case."

Hardly, I would say that I disagree with 70% of Joblo's ratings.

[urbanlegend23]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by rupert_pupkin:
"Did you all just like it because JoBlo liked it?! I think this might be the case."

Hardly, I would say that I disagree with 70% of Joblo's ratings. </font>

All I meant was maybe you got too hyped up about seeing it and maybe expected too much and then ended up liking it just to agree with someone, I know I've done that before (but in the end I changed my end). Meant no harm.. http://www.joblo.com/ubb/wink.gif

[Fergus]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by urbanlegend23:
Did you all just like it because JoBlo liked it?! I think this might be the case.</font>

To tell you the truth urbanlegend, no. I had already bought and watched it a few times before I had even started to come to JoBlo's site. I suppose it is just one of those films that appeals to "that one group", or maybe not, I could be wrong.

[LordKaruku]

I also give Dark City a 10/10, and not just because JoBlo liked it... I remember I had seen the brilliant theatrical trailer some months before the film's release and was very excited to see the film itself. But then, I didn't hear another word about it -- no more trailers, no advertising, no word of mouth -- and I was quite surprised to see in the papers one day that it had already come out and had been playing for a week. I went and saw it that night (a Tuesday) and loved it. Daringly original (remember, people, The Matrix came out more than a year after this), and photographed beautifully.

Anyway, I went to see it with a different group of friends each on Wednesday night and Thursday night, because of this funny feeling I had -- and sure enough, come Friday it had been pulled from theaters. New Line, usually good at marketing genre stuff, completely failed in their advertising campaign, or lack thereof. While Dark City certainly wasn't commercial enough to be a huge hit, you'd think if they bothered actually telling anybody about the movie, it could have at least made back it's budget. ("From the director of the Crow" would have generated a few million, you'd think...)

Roger Ebert's proclamation that Dark City was the best film of the year won him a lot of points with me, which still haven't quite worn off. http://www.joblo.com/ubb/smile.gif

[Fergus]

I would just like to say that tonight, I was rummaging through my DVD's and put this one in. I had never watched it with Roger Ebert's commentary, so I decided to do that. I love the guy's commentaries. He's smart, he's insightful, and he knows his stuff. I felt the same way after listening to his "Citizen Kane" commentary. It feels like I actually got an hour and a half of real education, and it was just as interesting as watching the movie.

Those who have heard one of his commentaries already know this, but Ebert goes into much detail about the film, voicing his own theories and opinions about the visual aspects, the story, and the acting. This is from a critics point of view, and I'm glad he backs his praises and criticisms up--it shows what a great critic he is. I think he should do more commentaries like that because there is that crowd of people (including me) that mop the information up.

Coming out from seeing Dark City for the 4th (or 5th?) time, I actually appreciate the film more, than I did the last time I watched it. It is really neat how the film represents an 1940's film noir picture, and how Proyas tells the story from a comic book point of view. On top of that, adds elements of sci fi.

Most people look at the film as "science fiction". And walking through the film with Ebert, I saw the roots of the original idea Proyas had. It all started with a "film noir detective story". And he took it from there. The science fiction aspect is really what is seen on the surface. This may make no sense, but information and deep explanations like this fascinate me. Proyas took what terminally could've been cliches and turned them into original ideas; it just amazes me how he got around them.

Which brings me to my next question:

Alex Proyas, WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?

[Fergus]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by urbanlegend23:
Ugh...this movie is way overrated by you guys. It was quite clever in some scenes, had a few alright sequences and ideas, but I felt the movie didn't come together very well, it bored me, I didn't discover anything about the characters and those villains were incredibly funny - I take it that wasn't the look they were going for - especially that vampire-esque kid. Hehehe.

I love Jennifer Connelly but I hated Kiefer Sutherland in this role. He overracted majorly. Rufus Sewell didn't bother me too much, but he wasn't exceptional.

I enjoyed the technical aspects of the film, and the atmosphere wasn't bad, but this is way overrated by you guys IMO. Did you all just like it because JoBlo liked it?! I think this might be the case.</font>

OK urbanlegend23, having just watched the film while listening to Ebert's commentary, I want to URGE to you how much you have missed out on this great film. Whatever you don't understand, or anything you didn't see, Ebert points it out. If you ever get the chance to get yourself a copy of the DVD, and listen to his commentary, I highly doubt you will be disappointed with the film. I don't know any film fan who wouldn't. It is well worth it.

[The Heart Collector]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Fergus:
Alex Proyas, WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?</font>


He's making some garage band comedy.


don't ask.