Dark City : Director's Cut

Review by Clint Morris

While some people now consider it a cult classic - hence this DVD release - and believe it was only pannedupon it's release was simply because "it was ahead of its time" (another way of saying "it's weird"), I personally don't think Dark City has changed one bit.

It still plays like the same disadvantaged and slightly oddball cousin of The Matrix as it did back in 1998. Ironically, the latter used the left-over sets from the former to shape it's cardboard city.

The thing is, Dark City isn't a bad film. In fact, it's quite an admirable film - but Dark City isn't a cult classic deserving of a super-duper Director's Cut DVD.

That said, they'll give out Special Edition DVDs to anything these days, so it's probably a little more deserving than some of the others that have been given the Golden Disc treatment in recent years. 

It's merely an enjoyable, if forgettable science-fiction romp that's as ambitious as it is messy. It wants to be Blade Runner or Metropolis - but merely works as a 'companion piece to The Crow', with it's cartoonish backdrop and deep sci-fi roots, which director Alex Proyas also helmed.

I remember talking to actress Melissa George (then fresh from her long-running stint on TV soapie Home & Away) at the time about the film. Now, of course, she's co-starring in big Hollywood flicks like The Amityville Horror and Derailed. But back then, she had a brief role in it as a prostitute.

I remember her words exactly, "It was fun - [but] it's a weird film", she let me know (I do recall George saying she was attracted to the project because Kiefer Sutherland - who she'd been crushing on for years - was involved in it).

And she's spot-on. It's fun, but it's weird.

There is something a little bit too ambitious about Dark City - it is one of those sci-fi thrillers thats a bit too smart for it's own good. It possesses a good idea, but doesn't entirely successfully implement it. It's the great pitch, without the budget or team to see it come to fruition - as it should be.

The story fixes on an amnesiac man (Rufus Sewell) who awakes in a mysterious big-city hotel room with no recollection of how he got there - let alone who he is. He slowly figures that out - with the help of an eclectic bunch of characters - and the reason why the world's been literally kept in the dark.

Ludicrous plot aside, no movie can have too much atmosphere and this takes full advantage of its [second-hand] impressive backdrop and visual palette. It looks gorgeous. Even today, next to such expensive uber-effectsy blockbusters like Transformers, Dark City looks bloody beautiful.

If, however, the filmmakers had spent as much time on the convoluted plot as the production designers did the sets, it'd be much more deserving of that 'cult' status we award too easily to films these days.

Did I mention Melissa George plays a prostitute?

DVD EXTRAS

There are two versions of the film on here - a Director's Cut (click on the trivia track to see the differences between it and the earlier cut as the scenes roll out) and the original theatrical version.

There are also a good lot of extras - most notably a very comprehensive retrospective documentary on the conception and production of the film. Apparently Tom Cruise was circling it at one stage. Hmmm. Interesting.

There are also dual commentaries - an older one featuring Dark City fan Roger Ebert, and a new one from the creative team. Both are well worth listening too. Last, but not least, there are essays, stills and trailers.

Conclusion: Movie 65% Extras: 75%