Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Dark Sci-Fi Question-Reality Film
Review: The trailers for Dark City suggested a film so complex and impeneterable to leave the viewer rather confused at its conclusion, yet in execution the film makes far more sense than the intriguing montage in the trailer.Set in a dark world--literally dark, as no one seems to remember being out during the day--the film focuses on John Murdoch (Rufus Sewell), a man who awakens amnesiac to find a murdered woman nearby. Soon thereafter pursued by the police (led by William Hurt), he must solve the mystery of his missing memories and eerie pursuers. Helped along the way by a woman claiming to be his wife (Jennifer Connelley) and a pendactic psychiatrist (Kiefer Sutherland), Murdoch learns that his pursuers are a race of aliens with the power to warp reality with their minds who continually change the city and the memories and even lives of the people inhabiting it in an experiment designed to save their lives. Murdoch has developed their same power to "tune" and save humanity from the aliens' machinations. The film's theme of questionable reality--carried across on two levels as both human memories are manipulated and the physical world itself changed on a nightly basis--is done fairly well if somewhat less successfully than the in the Matrix. Replete with dark imagery suiting the film noir genre and quite at home in Blade Runner, the movie makes for a stunning visual performance. The aliens are masterfully done as frightening and eerie outsiders. My only complaint is that I was able to grasp the film's actions and meanings on a first viewing with little difficulty; I had expected to come out with the sense of, "What the heck?!" that would require two or three viewings to fully digest the film's depth. Yet that aside, the film is still a definite watch for any fans of film noir or reality-questioning sci-fi. The DVD includes a number of special features to sweeten the deal, including two commentary tracks, the theatrical trailer (whose music unfortunately didn't make it into the film), an isolated score track, and more. The video and audio transfers are crisp and clean.
Rating: 
Summary: Better than Amazon thinks
Review: Dark City may have been one of those pictures you never got around to seeing at the theater. And you may have planned to rent it at one time but forgotten. It's a terribly under-rated movie--maybe because it defies easy genre classification. Dark City isn't science fiction in the popular Aliens or Star Wars sense, nor is it horror, nor is it the detective flick it starts out as. However Dark City is a very compelling film with a terrific premise and a well plotted story. There are complaints on this board that the characters are too one-dimensional, but this in fact is critical to the way the story unfolds for its main character, Murdoch. To be swayed from sampling this movie because of anyone's claim that the plot is excessively thin is to do yourself a diservice. The effects in this film are universally impressive, but what's more, refreshingly integral to the story. Both the sound and the picture are fantastic. If you're able to watch this on a good television capable of deep blacks, you'll find yourself marveling at just how great DVD is all over again. Be warned that some of the extras listed in the product description here are somewhat underwhelming. This "Platinum Edition" doesn't measure up to some of New Line's other "Platinum Edition" DVDs such as Boogie Nights or Magnolia. For example, the "Comparisons to Metropolis" feature is a wonderful idea, but is executed here with about as much thought as goes onto the back of a cereal carton. Of the two alternate voice tracks, Roger Ebert's is actually the more insightful. The film makers' voice track is muddled with too many participants. You realize pretty quickly that the director, writers, production designers, and photographer recorded their comments separately. The unfortunate result is a disjointed and repetetive commentary track. No matter how you feel about Roger "the fat one" Ebert or about critics in general, he will teach you something you didn't know in his commentary track.
Rating:
Summary: This movie says so much...
Review: In a city where daylight never comes, people have been brought to be subjects of experiments, and mainly, to reviel why humans have survived so long.The hosts are aliens who use dead human bodies as vehicles, and have special powers: they fly, share thoughts, and put people to sleep.One day, or in fact, one night, during the routine "world changing" process, one of the subjects wakes up...
Despite its low budget, Dark City was a terrific achievement.Not only the story, but also the music and the special effects were pretty good.The acting was almost perfect, and the movie is counted as a cult picture today.A must see for all sci-fic fans.
Rating: 
Summary: Dark Sci-fi Noir Rich on Atmosphere
Review: Dark City is a stunning visual production with a cross-genre sci-fi, murder mystery plot line. The protagonist awakes with no knowledge of his identity but quickly learns that he is a murder suspect in this dark, twisted alien world. The movie plays with the concept of alternate reality ("this world is but an illusion") in a much less intelligent way than the Matrix did. The look and feel are great falling somewhere in between "Hellraiser" and "City of Lost Children" if you can picture that. The acting is up and down with Rufus Sewell being pretty good and Kiefer Sutherland being quite awful honestly.
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Summary: Part science fiction and part psychotic dreamscape
Review: Part film noir, part science fiction, part fantasy, and part psychotic dreamscape, "Dark City" is a visual marvel of a cinematic experience. If not always coherent, it takes on the striking essence of a visceral nightmare, where images flood and pour into one another, all drenched in inky darkness. The film takes place in a city where there is no daylight, and no one is who he thinks he is. It is perfect terrain for Proyas, the Australian-born music video director who wowed movie audiences in 1994 with his comic book masterpiece "The Crow." More than anything, "Dark City" resembles Japanese anime films like "Akira" (1988), both in style and substance. It is fast-moving, very rapidly edited and makes liberal use of computer generated imagery. All of these have been ingredients for disaster in the past. Proyas controls it all beautifully though, and is particularly good on when and how to use big special effects scenes. The film lacks neither ideas nor imagination (though many of its elements are derived from familiar sources), and it usually has good reason for every twist and turn of plot. The investigative structure of film noir is applied on two fronts, with Sewell plunging through his Kafkaesque labyrinth and policeman William Hurt following the more conventional trail of the killer on the loose which leads him to a place he never expected. Emotional depth is provided by Jennifer Connelly as Sewell's wife, providing context and consequence for the action and upping the stakes when the aliens attempt to use her to get to him. It never allows itself to loose track of where it is going for the sake of a big moment, and though it consistently looks stunning and is loaded with memorable scenes, it holds together and hits home like no other recent sci-fi film. DVD: The 16:9 enhancement is amazing on this disc. I never saw one singal artifact, black were black and fleshtones were very natural. One of the best "literal" pictures that I have seen. This disc is loaded. The "Shell Beach" game alone is worth it, along with two commentaries (one by Roger Ebert) and the other with the director. There also fully animated menus, set designs, trailers......
Rating:
Summary: Science Fiction Noir
Review: 'Dark City' is pure science fiction noir and a visual feast: a gloomy metropolis encrusted with bristling Gothic ornament, redesigned and reinvented in impressive FX sequences night after night. Making up original stories in the noirish setting is one difficult task, as you can tell by watching the movie. It is complicated and mysteriously complex, all to the point where, if you take your eyes of the film for one second, you can get lost. Every moment of your attention must be paid to the movie as it unfolds, otherwise you may perhaps not appreciate the quality and effort that movie brings on. Films like "Dark City" are the pinnacles of imagination and visual style--you look at them and wonder, how any human being could possibly create such breathtaking scenarios and stories. The movie is not for one second dull and dreary, and never for one moment a let down. The premise of the movie, outlined by Kiefer Sutherland's "mad doctor" character as we descend into the "Dark City", is that a race of aliens is dying, although they are advanced enough to control spacetime through thought alone, a process known as "tuning." His character is central to the plot of the aliens' experiments with a cast of human subjects by rearranging their memories nightly - not just within an individual, but from one person to the next. The whys and wherefores revolve around one John Murdoch, played with urgency by Rufus Sewell and shadowed throughout by John Hurt's angular, intense police detective. In this era of pretentious, over the top sci-fi films (The Matrix) Dark City stands as a triumph of imagination and will endure for years.
Rating:
Summary: "We use your dead as vessels!!!"
Review: First off, it is gratifying to see such a high, collective rating for this film. For the longest time I thought I was with a select few who appreciated this gothic Sci-fi tale from director Alex Proyas. Alex Proyas also directed "The Crow" which has a similar ambience. But "Dark City" is a different animal, altogether. Take the gothic texture from "The Crow," add an eerie touch of "Hellraiser," just a dash of "Blade Runner," and a vague understanding of this film begins to emerge. The title character played by Rufus Sewell is searching for his past, constantly pursued by "The Strangers," and slowly the mystery unfolds. I've heard some say that they knew what was happening long before the end, but when I saw this in the theater I had no idea what to expect so I let the story play itself out. Eventually I was rewarded for my patience with a superb plot revelation. As for the acting, Rufus Sewell is excellent, almost single-handedly carrying the film. All of "The Strangers" are memorable, particularly the lead characters who bring a seriously evil feeling to these nightmarish beings. Jennifer Connelly is passable, seeing that she really has nothing to work with here; that, and she can't lip-sync to save her life. William Hurt is good here, adding a slightly cynical perspective and depth to the grand mystery. But the eye-sore of the film is Kiefer Sutherland. He overacts in every scene, apparently gasping for air...between...every...word(or phrase)...he...says. It gets annoying fast. As for the visual effects, some are outstanding while others need a little more work. The look of the movie, from the costumes to the dark city-scape, are all well-thought out and memorable. "The Strangers" are some of the creepiest creations in recent memory: pale incarnations walking slowly after their prey while wearing long, black trenchcoats and black hats. More than once they hover and fly through the air, other times wielding switch-blade knives. All in all, this is a worthy edition to the Sci-fi genre, very nearly (at least in my mind) achieving Cult Film status.
Rating:
Summary: City Limitless
Review: DARK CITY is one of the most original science fiction films of the last decade Directed by Alex Proyas, the film is dark and edgey, much like his movie version of THE CROW comic, with Brandon Lee was. John Murdoch (Rufus Sewell) is a man that wakes up in a hotel room, not remebering how he got there, and somehow he is wanted for a series of murders. He is being chased by the cops, headed by Inspector Frank Bumstead (William Hurt). Murdoch also is huanted by visions of The Strangers, who have the unique gift of being able to stop time and alter reality. Kiefer Sutherland and Jennifer Connelly give fine performances here, that only enhance the viewers perceptions of what may be real and what may not. Some of the images in the film are truly striking and left quite an impression on me. The Platinum Series DVD boasts 2 great commentary tracks. The first comes from film critic Roger Ebert, who likes the movie and has an interesting take on the film, and its twists. The second track features Proyas, his writing partner Lem Dobbs, the production designers George Liddle & Patrick Tatopolos. The 2nd track takes us behind the scenes like few commentaries have on any DVD. There's a game that you can play using your remote control that's ok It also has cast and crew information, theatrical trailers, an essay comparing the "City" to the grandfather of the film, Fritz Lang's METROPOLIS, and a look at the film's sets. Viewers can choose to watch the film in either Widescreen or Pan and Scan formats DARK CITY is an entertainment that deserves your attention. Its twists are not hokey in any way. For folks that like intelligent films, this fits the bill, as both mystery and sci-fi visionary flick. Highly Recommended with ***** stars
Rating:
Summary: Terrific sci-fi movie with noir tendencies and decent DVD
Review: The DVD contains both formats of the movie with two commentaries: one by the filmakers and one by Roger Ebert. It's very interesting to listen to. The other features are somewhat scimpy. I really don't get the game about shell beach and I've never been able to get that going. Whatever, the film features a terrific supporting performance by William Hurt as the detective and a creepy Kiefer Sutherland performance to good effect. Rufus Sewell does a good job in the lead, but his character is more or less an effect of the environment rather than an individual character for most of the film. William Hurt's character has more individuality throughout even though he doesn't have the special power. At any rate, it's a classic of escapist sci-fi and truly creates a world where the individual can make it anything he wants and isn't that the message that we're always trying to convince ourselves of? That we can change the world to fit our own desires, which are to the benefit of the entire world would be a goal that anybody would have.
Rating:
Summary: Great visuals
Review: This movie leads the viewer through a maze of incredible imagery. The city above is neo-grunge, but the Strangers' city below is a bizarre Art Deco noir. The Strangers redesign that city above, every day, in amazing scenes of rubbery, expanding skyscrapers. The city below is filled with dark, cavernous spaces and monumental icons of unknown meaning. (The Strangers also defined the trenchcoat look later popularized by The Matrix.) The story has that Kafka feeling about it that is blatantly fictional, but still sounds true to that frightened little voice in the back of the mind. The city and everyone in it are manipulated every night at midnight by dark forces for dark purposes. Each morning, that facts of history have been altered. The population's memory has also been altered to match. All of the past has been changed, switched onto a new track -- except for one man. It's quite amazing how, with such a strong start, the movie falters so badly. There was much more to be made of this plot, and much better use to be made of Jennifer Connelly. The Strangers never managed to make much sense - despite the nominal purpose for their experiment, they show little interest in its outcome. In the end, the incredible visuals carry the movie. I like this one for its imagery and for the Twilight Zone sense of its beginning. It could have been more, but that's enough.
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