STUDIO: Warner Brothers
RELEASE DATE: July 29, 2008
STARRING: Rufus Sewell, Jennifer Connelly, Kiefer Sutherland, William Hurt, Ian Richardson, and Richard O'Brien
WRITTEN BY: Alex Proyas and Lem Dobbs and David S. Goyer
DIRECTED BY: Alex Proyas
FEATURES: Documentaries:
- Introduction By Alex Proyas
- Memories Of Shell Beach (Making Of)
- Architecture Of Dreams
Production Gallery
Text Essays
Neil Gaiman Review Of Dark City
Director's Cut Fact Track
Theatrical Trailer
Multiple Audio Commentary Tracks Featuring Director Alex Proyas, Writers Lem Dobbs And David S. Goyer, Director Of Photography Dariusz Wolski, Production Designer Patrick Tatopoulos And Film Critic Roger Ebert

With tones of classic noir, Metropolis, Blade Runner, Nosferatu, the paintings of Edward Hopper, and The Matrix (which it technically preceded by a year but undeniably has a lot in common with thematically), Dark City has developed a well-deserved cult following on DVD in the decade since its release. Honestly, I remembered that Dark City was a good, underrated movie when it came out, but I hadn't seen it in years before I eagerly popped in the long-awaited director's cut of Roger Ebert's best film of 1998. I was wrong. It's not a good, underrated movie. It's a GREAT movie and the new director's cut is simply a must-own on Blu-Ray DVD. This is what the format was made for and, if there's any justice, Dark City: Director's Cut will become one of the highest-selling discs in Blu-Ray history. Complex, visionary sci-fi movies like Blade Runner and Brazil often take years to develop the following and acclaim that they deserve. It's been ten since Dark City. It's time that we re-assess this film that felt like an ambitious effort in 1998 and looks more like a masterpiece a decade later.

The first time that Dark City has been available in High-Definition, the Blu-Ray release of the film includes the theatrical cut and the all-new director's cut, which features some MAJOR changes. In 1998, the studio (New Line) felt like Alex Proyas' first cut of Dark City was a little too complex and forced the filmmaker to add narration at the beginning and include some scenes in the opening that might explain things to us mere mortals. Of course, as any Blade Runner fan will tell you, narration in a movie like Dark City is a BAD idea. The director's cut restores the more mysterious opening, fine tunes some special effects, includes Jennifer Connelly's original vocals, and adds enough other details that it makes an already rich film feel even more complete. It's nice to have both the director's and theatrical to contrast and compare, but you don't even have to do that, as the "Director's Cut Fact Track" will fully explain what has changed. Once again, like Blade Runner, the director's cut will soon be the only version of Dark City that matters.

In case you're completely unfamiliar, Rufus Sewell stars in Dark City as the mysterious John Murdoch, a man who wakes up in a tub with the body of a brutally murdered dead girl in the other room. He has no memory of what happened or who he is, but he can tell something is wrong. Enter a mysterious group of pale men, a cop played by William Hurt, a femme fatale played by Jennifer Connelly, and Kiefer Sutherland as a creepy doctor who knows more about this unusual city that seems to be always covered in night. In many ways, Dark City is the Pulp Fiction of sci-fi. Just as Tarantino took other material, the history of pulp novels and films, and made something completely fresh and new, Proyas and writers Lem Dobbs and David S. Goyer took dozens of noir and sci-fi influences and made something unique. Ten years removed, with Dark City now a part of the fabric that it originally cribbed from, the film feels more like a classic.

The Blu-Ray version of this modern classic is one of the best DVD releases of the year. Ignore the fact that the director's cut is now the only version of Dark City that we should be watching or that this is the BEST video quality I've seen on the market yet, the special features on this WB/New Line release are spectacular. Start with the feature-length documentary about the making-of the film, which basically consists of interviews with Proyas, Dobbs, Goyer, Sewell, and other people involved with the production, before moving into interviews with critics and scholars about what the film means to them. It's a fantastic documentary - much more than just the EPK, talking-head junk that usually makes up these special features. The critical analysis of the film in "Architecture of Dreams" will enhance your enjoyment of Dark City immensely, but if it's not enough, there are FIVE commentary tracks on the film itself. Five! Honestly, I haven't had the time to get through them all but I look forward to doing so. Other great features include a production gallery, text essays, a review of the film by Neil Gaiman, and the theatrical trailer.

In "Memories of Shell Beach", Goyer and Sewell both mention that they're constantly approached and told by fans that Dark City is one of their favorite movies. Goyer even goes as far as to say that he thinks the film is the best he's been involved in. At the same time, Proyas talks about how he's approached often but usually by fans who wonder why this great movie was never released in theaters. That's how few people saw and appreciated Dark City in 1998. The film has grown a cult following on DVD in the last decade and that small group of loyal fans is about to become a movement. A great movie has received a perfect Blu-Ray treatment. There is movie justice, even if it takes ten years to get it.