John Murdoch (Rufus Sewell) woke up. He wasn’t supposed to, but he did all the same. Now, stepping out of the bathtub only to find a dead body and no memory whatsoever, he slowly comes to realize everything around him is not what it seems, the world he’s wandering around in a never-ending macabre cycle of darkness almost impossible to fathom.

CRITIQUE

Back in 1998 I loved Dark City. Maybe not as much as Roger Ebert (he lauded it as the year’s best film, labeled it an instant classic and honored it with a placement on his list of the decade’s greatest achievements), but I still found it to be a spectacularly innovative and miraculously intoxicating achievement, co-writer and director Alex Proyas (The Crow) going above and beyond anything I ever could have anticipated.

But much like another landmark piece of sci-fi (that one concerning replicants, flying cars and a dove-cradling Rutger Hauer), the Dark City released to theaters was not the one the director originally intended. Call it a case of cold feet, but test screenings and a worried studio convinced Proyas to edit his labor of love down to a scant 90-plus minutes and add a pointless narration spelling things out for a viewing public supposedly incapable of figuring it out for themselves.

Now, ten years after its initial release, Proyas and New Line Cinema have joined forces once again to release the real Dark City to DVD, the resulting motion picture easily more than worth the wait. The only travesty here is, unlike Ridley Scott’s now-classic effort, this one isn’t going to see the darkly lit confines of a movie theater like it richly deserves, and even though this new Blu-ray release looks and sounds spectacular the fact I don’t get to see it projected up on the big screen is a disappointment almost too upsetting to bear.

Thankfully this new cut of the film is so wonderfully spectacular this is one disappointment I’m fairly positive I’ll get over pretty darn quickly. This is a richer Dark City, a more layered and introspective Dark City, and, more than anything else, it is a more satisfying Dark City. Gone is Kiefer Sutherland’s beginning narration. Added are more edges to Murdoch and Inspector Frank Bumstead’s (William Hurt) dual investigation into the mysterious pale-faced men in the long black trench coats.

I think what I loved most about this new release of the film is that you can, if you are so inclined (and I was), watch both versions of the film back-to-back. Watching the original ’98 cut it’s easy to see why Ebert fell in such rapture. There isn’t a climactic character arc that isn’t shaded and hinted at early on, there is no twist or surprise to which clues aren’t cleverly given three or four scenes beforehand.

As good as it was, however, there was always something just a little bit off about Dark City, a sprinting feeling of unease that all was not how it should be. The movie seemed so intent on spiraling towards its conclusion with such rapid-fire gusto I never quite got a total handle on what exactly it was the visitors were looking for and their prisoners should have been fighting to achieve. As glorious as it looked, sounded and, at times, felt my rapture was always just a wee bit short-lived, too many moments of head-scratching bewilderment for the film to ever be quite the classic some in my profession were so quick to try and label it to be.

Looking at Proyas’ exquisite original vision I take all those criticisms back. I knew who Murdoch was (even if he didn’t) and could easily root for what it was I wanted him to fight for. More, I could understand the visitors, could pity their misguided motivations and feel sorry for their pain even though their solutions riled my stomach. This is a film that assumed I had a brain, knew that I could take the time to put the clues together and finish the puzzle myself, and whereas the earlier cut felt like cookies waiting to be baked this one had the aroma of greatness I could smell more than a mile away.

I admit, looking at Dark City now it’s a little hard to get the specter of The Matrix and its subsequent effect on the sci-fi genre out of my mind. That was a movie that hit the cultural zeitgeist where this one didn’t even come close to doing anything even remotely similar. They unfortunately cover a lot of the same territory, and as much as it pains me to say so looking at this now I find it almost impossible to not compare the two.

Pity, because after watching both the old cut and now this new one (twice, actually) I’ve come to the conclusion that I think Dark City is actually the better of the two motion pictures. It’s characters are richer, deeper, more full-bodied, and while it’s story doesn’t have quite the same visceral kick Proyas’ effort is still a deeper, far more philosophically complicated noir-tinged ride into emotional darkness impossible to resist.

Oh, who am I kidding? They’re both great films and they’re both classics, the only pity being it’s taken this long for people to notice. Hopefully, now with this release of Proyas’ ultimate vision of Dark City, others out there will get their opportunity to agree with me. 

THE VIDEO

Hands down, this is the best movie I have ever seen on Blu-ray. Both cuts of the film are spectacular on a visual level, New Line and Warner Bros absolutely outdoing themselves with this new digital 1080p 2.35:1 Widescreen transfer.

THE AUDIO

Available audio tracks include English 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, English DTS 5.1 Surround and English Stereo DTS 2.0 with optional English, English SDH and Spanish subtitles. Like the video, this is the best sounding Blu-ray release I own. I was, in a word, astounded.

THE EXTRAS

Some of the extras (like Roger Ebert’s magnificent commentary track) are carryovers from the previous Platinum Edition DVD release from a few years ago. Most are brand new. Some of the highlights include:

• Commentary Tracks featuring Director Alex Proyas, Writers Lem Dobbs and David S. Goyer, DP Dariusz Wolski and Production Designer Patrick Tatopoulos
• Brand New Three-Part Documentary on the film’s release, reception, making-off and subsequent re-editing
• Director’s Cut Fact Track
• Text Essays concerning the film’s history and influence
•  A Review of “Dark City” by author Neil Gaiman
• Production Galleries
• Theatrical Trailers

It’s a great collection of material, and while I wish stars Hurt, Sutherland and Jennifer Connelly had added their input during the documentaries New Line has down a splendid job of lining up just about all the important behind-the-scenes players (as well as actors Sewell and Richard O’Brien) to wax poetic about their time making the motion picture. The Director’s Cut Fact Track is also kind of a hoot, and it’s definitely helpful if you want to know exactly where the new footage has been inserted and if you’re curious what other changes to the film have been made.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Dark City is a magnificent sci-fi sensation that is finally getting the proper ovation it deserves. It is a timeless enterprise full of originality and imagination deserving to be seen by as wide an audience as possible. I say see it today.