Dark City (Director’s Cut) – 1998 – Sci-Fi, Mystery
Directed by: Alex Proyas
Written by: Alex Proyas; Lem Dobbs; David S. Goyer
Main Players: Rufus Sewell; Jennifer Connelly; William Hurt; Kiefer Sutherland; Melissa George

A stronger movie all around then the Theatrical Cut, the Director’s Cut of the Sci-Fi mystery Dark City brings stronger cohesion and narrative substance and is the one that should be seen.
A night sky full of stars sits above the sleeping city. On the streets below, a strange doctor (Sutherland) slowly trudges along and checks his watch. It stops at exactly midnight. Odd.
Across the city in a tall apartment building, another man wakes in a bathtub as a light swings back and forth overhead. He looks in the mirror yet is unsure of who he is. He dresses and leaves the bathroom, examining the apartment. He dons a coat; finds a set of keys and a briefcase he assumes is his. In it, clothes and a post card for Shell Beach.
The phone rings… and the doctor’s voice offers help, he knows this man’s memory has been erased and tells him there are men coming for him. He must go, now! Then things go from bad to much, much worse. Enter dead bodies, investigating cops, a group of terrifying pale men, and an incredibly sexy nightclub singer with a missing husband.
Dark City offers a wonderful mysterious and haunting opener. As the story progresses, what plays out is an interesting puzzle to solve, full of thrilling Sci-Fi elements. The setting is a very cool mix of futuristic and classic design, with 40s and 50s motifs. The city is well-designed with cool buildings and darkly lit interiors.
The plot is pretty good overall and offers plenty to think about. I think that it still has plenty of room left on the table to explore ideas and things to enhance, but some of that could have been budget and script constraints, as there is only so much 2 hours can cover. A massive amount of money probably would have allowed for a deeper exploration of some of the concepts and slicker action, but the final results still work decently well.
Overall, Dark City remains a solid Sci-Fi movie with some pretty crazy concepts and a haunting visual presentation that fits the mystery perfectly. A lot of good people are in this and it is visually awesome to look at most always with tons of cool set details. Can’t you see! There’s no way out!
The theatrical release was… okay, but the director’s cut enhances the story and flow via a few means. Additional story beats and exposition mixed in with removing a pretty annoying opening narration from the theatrical cut rounds out the film into a better version which should be the one sought out by viewers.
See This If You Liked:
The Thirteenth Floor; The Matrix; Brazil; eXistenZ; Equilibrium; Minority Report; Blade Runner; The Source Code; Inception; Gattaca; Virtuosity; Déjà Vu
Score:
7.5