Dark City - Director's Cut (1998)
Last Watch Date - February 25, 2024
Total Times Watched - Once for the Director's Cut, but 5-10 for Dark City
Comments
I had been reading some reviews online about Dark City as I was looking for something to show my daughter. I am personally a big fan of the movie, so I wanted to see how younger folks feel about it. While doing that, I saw there was a Director's Cut that both extends some scenes but also changes one minor annoyance from the theatrical cut. For some reason, they added a voiceover to the theatrical release's introduction that explains.. everything. It spoils the entire plot. WHY? The DC has a silent introduction and it makes the entire movie hit harder as it goes.
With THAT out of the way, let's talk casting! This movie has Rufus Sewell, Kiefer Sutherland, William Hurt, Richard O'Brien, and the always amazing Jennifer Connelly. Oh, and also a young (22) Melissa George getting naked. The cast is so good and probably takes the movie from what could have easily gotten cheesy into something that feels impactful and serious. William Hurt is particularly good and Kiefer Sutherland is frustratingly excellent as the out of breath doctor. His cadence makes me feel like I'm struggling to breathe, so I guess well done? I love Jennifer Connelly and she plays her character well, despite not having much to her. As scripted, the character is a bit flat and meh, but JC puts so much emotion and weight into it – you can feel her sadness and hope.
The plot of this movie is pretty interesting. In the director's cut, it's truly a mystery that gives off some noir vibes, but it's also a great sci-fi movie with grit. I'm not going to go into plot details. Instead! I'll tell you that the pacing is great. Even at 1 hour 51 minutes for the DC, it feels like it's buzzing through. I believe the DC is about 10 minutes longer, but it doesn't seem to have anything BRAND NEW in it, just extended scenes (from what I could tell). I'll watch the theatrical this week and compare. Maybe there will be some BIG THINGS that I didn't realize I didn't know.
Because this is a sci-fi movie from the 90s, it's worth bringing up the special effects. This movie is HEAVY on them, mostly digital, and quite frankly mostly good. Some of them are obviously clunky in comparison to what you could do with today's machines, but nothing is distractingly awful like, say, the Lawnmower Man. The "tuning" in particular looks impressive. The rooftop scenes remind me so much of The Crow (another Proyas movie) visually and thematically. I think those scenes overlooking the city are my favorite visuals in the whole movie. As an aside, it also reminds me a bit of the video game Stray. In more ways than one. I'm guessing they took some influence from this movie when they made their city.
The lowest points of computer effects happen during the, er, battle? at the end. I'm not overly fond of the effect that pops out of Sewell's forehead, and it gets even sillier when that's the main focus. There are also some environmental effects that look pasted over the film. It's pretty distracting. I think they tried to make up for it by having strobes all over but no dice. The entire battle is pretty cheesy and takes a point off for me.
All that said, this movie is firmly a part of my 90s sci-fi hall of fame. It has highs that compete with The Matrix or The Thirteenth Floor. Though the mystery in this is a bit different in style than those movies, I think it stands on its own. All three of them feel like they were of the same DNA. I miss that type of movie. There was a weird obsession with the 50s and 60s in the 90s that I think is a bit lost on folks now given we are now 60-70 years out from it.
Recommended?
Yes. Especially the Director's Cut. It takes an already good movie and makes it even better. It's noir, sci-fi, romance, and grittiness all rolled into one.
