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Reviews from Amazon
Director's Cut: Superb Anamorphic transfer to DVD -  - This is a highly rated film--even by the professional movie critics. The Director's Cut--this is the version to buy-- its video and sound presentation are quite impressive--fantastic anamorphic widescreen picture that looks almost like a high-definition DVD! This is especially important for this movie because so many scenes are, well, in the dark. The blacks are deep and clear and the colors are rich and natural. The sound is also quite good (Dolby 5.1). The movie looked and sounded great on my large-screen high definition TV system with surround sound. It also helps if you have a high-quality DVD player (The "upconversion" feature of high defintion DVD players greatly enhances regular DVDs. My Toshiba 1080p HD DVD player is quite good at this--I believe the Blu ray players can more or less provide the same upconversion). Highly recommended!
It's all right -  - This is a movie that tries really hard to be weird. It is very affected and not really mind blowing. It's like a super-deluxe episode of the Twilight Zone. The story wasn't hard at all to follow or understand.
If you're someone who really loves weirdness, then you'll probably like this movie more than me. I like conventionality more. I recently saw Jumper and Transformers. I liked those movies better.
Some people seem to think that if you make something more weird, that that makes it more deep and intellectual. But I don't think so.
The reason I watched Dark City was just to see something different. It is fairly different from the normal summer blockbuster movies I usually see. It was reasonably entertaining, but slightly pretentious and extremely affected.
I don't want to say anything about what actually happens in the movie, because I don't want to spoil it for you. Let it all unravel as you watch.
The greatest film of all time never gets the respect it deserves. - - Yes, Dark City is my favorite movie ever made, and while this Blu-ray is the way to watch it, it still doesn't get the respect it deserves.
Included on the disc are the original Theatrical cut and the new Directors cut (who would have thought you could improve on near perfection?). Many great special features and generally everything you could ask for. Except good video quality.
While this release looks good (for a 10 year old film) and better than DVD, Dark City deserves better, so I can only give this 4/5. None-the-less, Dark City is worth your time and this Blu-ray is the best way to see it. As a film it stands with the best of dystopian Sci-Fi like Blade Runner, so if you haven't seen it, you need to.
I wish more reviewers would remember, we are rating the Blu-ray here, not the film. We have to consider the entire package, and while Dark City is a 5 star film, this is not a 5 star release.
a Dark movie - - Really cool movie, I was waiting for this edition long time ago, great sound and footage never seen before, got the director's comentary and some good extras as well, is a sci-fi movie that you must own!
Amazing Film - - Imagine if you settled down for a nice warm bath and it was so relaxing that you fell asleep. You startle awake and look around the bathroom. Something feels wrong. You can't remember how you got there and you don't know who you are anymore. There's a strange looking syringe on the ground, so maybe this is drug related. That doesn't really explain the amnesia logically though. This all sounds unbelievable doesn't it? Impossible even. However, this is precisely what happened to John Murdoch (played by Rufus Sewell) and that's how "Dark City" opens.
Part of me doesn't want to say anymore about this film and the other part wants to tell you all about it. This movie truly is a psychological thriller with a sci-fi horror twist. (If you understand the relation of that line to Aqua Teen Hunger Force, you will be amused.) I actually can't think of a better way to lay it out. The viewer is essentially brought into a very strange world, but it looks very close to, say, a 1920's setting. Something feels very amiss throughout the whole movie and the viewer is left to unravel the mysteries with John. In this guise the movie is very expertly written because we never learn something too soon. All we know is that something feels off in this world and when everything is revealed it's quite shocking.
The film concept doesn't end there. It's actually a very deep film and if you pay attention to what's going on it asks very human philosophical questions. Such as if faced with extinction what would humanity do? What kind of atrocities could be committed in order to save our race? While the film doesn't precisely answer these questions it does help us understand the antagonists called The Strangers.
Despite the strong performances from Rufus Sewell and Jennifer Connely (John's love interest), I think that Keifer Sutherland's performance was the most impressive. He played sort of the mad scientist kind of role. I realize this film came out in 1998, long before Keifer was the surefooted star of 24, but to view this in retrospect shows how strong of an actor he really is. Not only does he play the role of mad scientist kind of character, but he's also overly nervous and exhibits a limp. I just felt this was kind of out of the norm for Keifer and was impressed that he pulled this off so convincingly. It's also strange that I mention this because he was not the main star of the film, which was Rufus Sewell.
Unfortunately the film doesn't answer all the mysterious questions that came to my mind, but that's okay. You don't need all questions answered in a story all the time. The film is so strong and so well written that these details can easily be overlooked as well. If you like delving into bizarre worlds with a science fiction element then this is definitely a movie to watch. I picked this up on a whim because it had an interesting cast and an intriguing synopsis. I was blown away, probably by the sheer fact I had no idea what to expect from this film. Amidst all this complexity it maintains a very strong and dark 1920's mystery feel as well. It's a very bizarre film, but also very well done in my opinion. If you are summarily intrigued by this then I do recommend you give this a viewing.
4.5 out of 5
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