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Dark City

Play trailer Poster for Dark City R 1998 1h 41m Fantasy Sci-Fi Play Trailer Watchlist
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78% Tomatometer 91 Reviews 85% Popcornmeter 100,000+ Ratings
John Murdoch (Rufus Sewell) awakens alone in a strange hotel to find that he is wanted for a series of brutal murders. The problem is that he can't remember whether he committed the murders or not. For one brief moment, he is convinced that he has gone completely mad. Murdoch seeks to unravel the twisted riddle of his identity. As he edges closer to solving the mystery, he stumbles upon a fiendish underworld controlled by a group of ominous beings collectively known as the Strangers.
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Dark City

Dark City

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Critics Consensus

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

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Critics Reviews

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Jake Cole Slant Magazine Jun 9
Dark City is ultimately positive, recapitulating noir’s post-WWII social anomie as a quest for self-actualization over complacency. Go to Full Review
Bill Boisvert Chicago Reader 06/16/2022
1/4
Real humanists may have misgivings. Go to Full Review
Mike Clark USA Today 01/09/2018
3/4
Dark City is fascinating, visionary filmmaking that captures the sensation of dreaming and being unable to wake up. Go to Full Review
Jeff Beck The Blu Spot Jun 24
3.5/5
It may have some problems with its finale, but this was a rather ambitious work that's mostly successful at accomplishing what it set out to do. Go to Full Review
Frank J. Avella The Contending Jun 16
B
The cast boasts impressive turns by Kiefer Sutherland, William Hurt and Richard O’Brien, with Jennifer Connelly delivering yet another wooden performance. How did this actress ever win an Oscar? Key to the film’s success is (Rufus) Sewell... Go to Full Review
David Reddish CBR May 5
4/4
The core of the film itself offers a meditation on human nature. Memories and personality do not define human beings; choices do. That haunting philosophy... makes Dark City live on as a classic; one of the most important sci-fi movies ever made. Go to Full Review
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William S @IronchefGorge 9h I had hoped for a looked over cerebral gem and got a film worthy of looking over. The atmosphere and mood start brilliantly, the noir detective vibe is spot on kitsch, but the camp excesses miss the mark where Harry Potter hits. Maybe John Hurt gets some credo wrt acting, but honestly it’s mostly painful to watch the rest stumble through the wooden lines. Then cliches of the ‘mad man sketching in the walls’ and Kiefer Sutherland’s stuttering mad scientist doctor. The orchestral music is utterly dissonant and the crooning of Jennifer Connelly is almost well dubbed. A finale of orally eminating vibrations phallus fight was mind numbingly awful. It’s a real shame- the concept was interesting but i feel rose tinted retrospection has bumped up reviews way beyond how it deserves to be received, and i suppose it was appropriately received at the time . See more Darren P @Darrenpatrick 2d Dark City is ultimately positive, recapitulating noir’s post-WWII social anomie as a quest for self-actualization over complacency. See more Nathan Y. @NathanYatesDouglass Jan 7 So much better than I anticipated. Like living in a graphic novel without the corny aspects that endeavor usually comes with. See more Jim P @OspreyT Jan 2 A movie that keeps moving around in my mind after many years of seeing it the first time. It has a beautiful dreamlike quality to it, with a bit of disturbing nightmare, but I think it was pulled off terrifically. The story, the sets, the music, the acting. All superb. It is in my Top 10 all-time cinema experiences. See more Brian F. @FedUpDVDCollector Dec 10 Sutherland has got to be the most famous, yet my least favorite, part of this film. See more Troy R @Grim16 Dec 1 Acting was great for all the actors mostly being unknown/b-list at the time. The story is for sure the centerpiece as it tiptoes the lines between being deep and keeping the story "realistic". The CGI/props are charming at points, reminding me of a simpler time of scifi where minisets were made with cardboard and used to show at scale shots. But when they start getting ambitious and having action scenes the cgi starts to feel really dated, especially when considering other movies that came out with the same budget around the same time. All in all though even watching this almost 30 years after it released, this movie was enjoyable to watch and was a treat to get a twilight zone like story in a full budget film. See more Read all reviews
Dark City

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Movie Info

Synopsis John Murdoch (Rufus Sewell) awakens alone in a strange hotel to find that he is wanted for a series of brutal murders. The problem is that he can't remember whether he committed the murders or not. For one brief moment, he is convinced that he has gone completely mad. Murdoch seeks to unravel the twisted riddle of his identity. As he edges closer to solving the mystery, he stumbles upon a fiendish underworld controlled by a group of ominous beings collectively known as the Strangers.
Director
Alex Proyas
Producer
Alex Proyas, Andrew Mason
Screenwriter
Alex Proyas, Alex Proyas, Lem Dobbs, David S. Goyer
Distributor
New Line Cinema
Production Co
New Line Cinema, Mystery Clock Cinema
Rating
R (Violent Images|Some Sexuality)
Genre
Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Feb 20, 1998, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Jul 1, 2008
Box Office (Gross USA)
$14.3M
Runtime
1h 41m
Sound Mix
Dolby Stereo, Dolby A, SDDS, Surround, Dolby Digital, Dolby SR
Aspect Ratio
Scope (2.35:1)
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