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Movies / On DVD / Dark City
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]

Reviews for Dark City

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

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

Murdoch's quandary proves surprisingly engrossing, the art direction is always striking, and unlike most contemporary sci-fi, the movie does risk a cerebral approach, tapping a vein of postmodern paranoia.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
01/26/06
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Proyas drenches each shot in a unique feel and delivers a movie with a visual sense with all the inventive, poetic power of Ridley Scott or Terry Gilliam firing on all cylinders.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
01/01/00
Adam Smith
Adam Smith
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A visionary slice of visceral experience.

Full Review Source: TheMovieReport.com | comment Comment
03/31/09
Michael Dequina
Michael Dequina
TheMovieReport.com
N/R

Click to read the article

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

mixes visual marvels with B-movie archetypes

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

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
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
Ty Burr
Entertainment Weekly

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

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

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
Andrea C. Basora
Newsweek

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
Stephen Hunter
Washington Post

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
Paul Tatara
CNN.com
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
Rob Gonsalves
eFilmCritic.com

Dark City is a truly scary flick.

Full Review Source: Houston Community Newspapers | comment Comment
05/09/07
Gary Brown
Gary Brown
Houston Community Newspapers
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 >> >|
all

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...

July 28, 2008: RT on DVD: Harold & Kumar, Doomsday and Dark City Director's Cut
Since we're all still recovering from Comic-Con 2008, and tons of new home video details dropped at the Largest Nerd Gathering in the World, it's time for RT on DVD: Geek... More...

July 26, 2007: Alex Proyas to Direct The Silver Surfer?
After having a grand old time shooting "Ghost Rider" in Melbourne, it looks like producer Avi Arad wants to bring more superhero movies down to Austrlia. Plus, word is that an... More...

May 21, 2007: Four Directors Up for the Next "Bond" Flick?
Curious to know who'll be directing the next James Bond flick? Join the club. One source has a short list of potential helmers, all of whom would be pretty ... distinctive. More...

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