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Dark City

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Dark City (1998)

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77 %
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Reviews Counted: 77

Fresh: 59

Rotten:18

Average Rating: 7/10

Consensus: Stylishly gloomy, Dark City offers a polarizing whirl of arresting visuals and noirish action.

Runtime: 1 hr 51 mins

Genre: Science-Fiction/Fantasy

Synopsis: Upon awakening with a start in an icy bathtub in a strange room--with a woman's dead body inconveniently nearby--John Murdoch can't remember how he got there. With a police detective hot on his... Upon awakening with a start in an icy bathtub in a strange room--with a woman's dead body inconveniently nearby--John Murdoch can't remember how he got there. With a police detective hot on his trail and a psychiatrist skulking around, Murdoch discovers that the key to his mystery is the presence of strange extraterrestrial creatures, the Strangers, who are experimenting with the memories of the humans in his city--from which there may be no escape. Ambitious sci-fi noir, with rich production design and a dense, Kafkaesque concept. [More]

Starring: Rufus Sewell, Kiefer Sutherland, Jennifer Connelly, Richard O'Brien

Starring: Rufus Sewell, Kiefer Sutherland, Jennifer Connelly, Richard O'Brien, Ian Richardson, William Hurt, Bruce Spence, Colin Friels, John Bluthall, Mitchell Butel, Melissa George, Frank Gallacher, Ritchie Singer, Justin Monjo, Nicholas Bell, Satya Gumbert, Frederick Miragliotta, Peter Sommerfeld, Timothy Jones, Jeanette Cronin, Paul Livingston, Michael Lake, David Wenham, Alan Cinis, Bill Highfield, Terry Bader, Rosemary Traynor, Edward Grant, Maureen O'Shaughnessy, Dhobi Oparei, Marques Johnson, Doug Scroope, Cinzia Coassin, Tyson McCarthy, Luke Styles, Anthony Kierann, Laura Keneally, Natalie Bollard, Eliot Paton, Naomi van der Velden, Peter Callan, Mark Hedges, Darren Gilshenan, Ray Rizzo, Bill Rutherford, Marin Mimica, Tony Mosley, Glenford Richards, Stanley Steer, Greg Tell, William Upjohn

Director: Alex Proyas

Director: Alex Proyas
Composer: Trevor Jones
Producer: Andrew Mason, Alex Proyas
Story: Alex Proyas
Screenwriter: Alex Proyas, Lem Dobbs, David S. Goyer

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Jun 14, 2005

[DVD Details]
 
 
  • Alex Proyas, (The Crow) directs this futuristic thriller about a man waking up to find he is wanted for brutal murders he doesn't remember. Haunted by mysterious beings who stop time and alter reality, he seeks to unravel the riddle of his identity.
  • Source: Warner Home Video
  •  
     
     
     

    Reviews for Dark City

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    1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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    A visionary slice of visceral experience.

    Full Review Source: Mr. Brown's Movies | comment Comment
    03/31/09
    Michael Dequina
    Mr. Brown's Movies
    N/R

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
    01/07/09
    Jon Popick
    rec.arts.movies.reviews

    The experience of Dark City is one that no film lover should miss... seen now as it was intended after 10 long years of wandering in the shadows.

    Full Review Source: Flipside Movie Emporium | comment Comment
    08/10/08
    Rob Vaux
    Flipside Movie Emporium

    Proyas assembles his inspirations into a unique amalgam with the power of myth to tap the fears and desires of our collective unconscious. [Blu-Ray]

    Full Review Source: Groucho Reviews | comment Comment
    08/05/08
    Peter Canavese
    Groucho Reviews

    mixes visual marvels with B-movie archetypes

    Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
    07/28/08
    Jesse Hassenger
    Filmcritic.com

    Was "The Matrix" before "The Matrix" was ever in the pop culture lexicon...

    Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed | comment Comment
    07/27/08
    Felix Vasquez Jr.
    Cinema Crazed

    In the annals of noir Sci-Fi, by any measure, this is a Classic of cinematic invention.

    Full Review Source: Cinema Signals | comment Comment
    07/25/08
    Jules Brenner
    Cinema Signals

    ...the movie is mostly style, but it's a style so engrossing, it more than makes up for any lack of substance.

    Full Review Source: DVDTown.com | comment Comment
    07/25/08
    John J. Puccio
    DVDTown.com

    A mishmash of iconography lifted from better movies.

    Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
    04/28/08
    Lisa Alspector
    Chicago Reader
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Dark City trades in such weighty themes as memory, thought control, human will and the altering of reality, but is engaging mostly in the degree to which it creates and sustains a visually startling alternate universe.

    Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
    04/28/08
    Todd McCarthy
    Variety
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    City ultimately plays like one of those art-deco dystopian CD-ROM adventures of recent years.

    Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | comment Comment
    04/28/08
    Ty Burr
    Entertainment Weekly
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    [A] stylish hybrid of futuristic thriller and film noir.

    Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
    04/28/08
    Rita Kempley
    Washington Post
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Proyas floods the screen with cinematic and literary references ranging from Murnau and Lang to Kafka and Orwell, creating a unique yet utterly convincing world.

    Full Review Source: Newsweek | comment Comment
    04/28/08
    Andrea C. Basora
    Newsweek
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    If you don't fall in love with it, you've probably never fallen in love with a movie, and never will.

    Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
    04/28/08
    Stephen Hunter
    Washington Post
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    This is one of those movies that's more concerned with set design motivation than anything that's going on inside the characters' heads.

    Full Review Source: CNN.com | comment 1 Comment
    04/28/08
    Paul Tatara
    CNN.com
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    It does not take long to realize that there is a lot less here than meets the eye.

    Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
    04/28/08
    Channel 4 Film
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    One of the most ludicrous movies in years.

    Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
    07/29/07
    Rob Gonsalves
    eFilmCritic.com

    Dark City is a truly scary flick.

    Full Review Source: Houston Community Newspapers | comment Comment
    05/09/07
    Gary Brown
    Houston Community Newspapers

    Um verdadeiro clássico contemporâneo da ficção científica, nos presenteia com um roteiro brilhante, uma fotografia impecável, uma direção de arte belíssima e, é claro, com questionamentos filosósicos incrivelmente instigantes.

    comment Comment
    06/15/06
    Pablo Villaca
    Cinema em Cena

    The sound and visuals of this movie are not to be missed on the big screen if at all possible.

    Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment 1 Comment
    05/26/06
    Jeffrey M. Anderson
    Combustible Celluloid
     
     
    1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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    Latest News for Dark City

    March 10, 2009: Alex Proyas Looks Back at Dark City Opens in new window
    Director Alex Proyas has kicked off his guest-starring stint at /Film in the best possible way -- namely, by revisiting "Dark City." More...

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