What was "criminal" was the fact this garbage called a movie was ever in theaters. I watched it 3 times just to see if it was really that bad or if I was missing something. I tried to give it an honest chance but it's really that bad.
@@dwilliams2794 Okay, I'll bite. Which aspects didn't you like? I watched it again a couple of years ago, but a lot of it had stayed with me from twenty years ago. I'm surprised it isn't more famous, but there are a number of naff aspects.
I saw this in the theater on it's second week of release. I convinced my girlfriend at the time to see it and she HATED it. My wife, on the other hand, loves it.
I remember watching this back ´99 in the same night as The Matrix and I totally got the two mixed up and when I saw The Matrix the second time I was very disappointed as it seemed to miss a lot of stuff I remembered. Then I bought a VHS of Dark City just because of the name and cover and holy hell was I pleasantly surprised I found the movie again!
It is the Matrix! The same pattern. There is a video on the similarities. They are a great grind house. It's a shame where those directors went with their future visions
I was thirteen in 1998 and "Blade" and "Dark City" were two of my favourite films from that year. I didn't see "The Matrix" in theatres because it looked like a rip-off of those two films based on the trailers. LOL!
Amazing film, was shocked when I left the cinema, wanted to talk about it soooo much, but no one was going to see it. Way more original in both story/score/visuals than most big movies.
I love this movie. The soundtrack is absolutely amazing, too. I love how people think it's a Matrix rip-off, when Matrix re-used a lot of the sets from Dark City.
The other "Matrix ripoff" is The Thirteenth Floor. www.imdb.com/title/tt0139809/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_13 Which I think actually stood up better as far as plot goes. But The Matrix is a more fun movie to watch.
@@1pcfred Yeah, the Thirteenth Floor got totally buried, but is such a fun little flick. For that matter, this is the same year that gave us David Cronenberg's eXistenZ as well. Three movies came out within so many months of each other, all playing with the idea of people being plugged into virtual worlds, but all taking the idea in totally different directions.
Jennifer Connelly in this here and in "The Rocketeer" (the scene where she shows up in that white evening gown) looks just absolutely breathtaking. And she´s still a very attractive lady as seen in "Alita: Battle Angel".
'I'm still bummed it never happened" - supposedly Sewell is very self-conscious about his bum. Some reviewer wrote that he was wide in the beam down there. You hardly ever see bum shots of Sewell. Only occasionally. He doesn't like camera men filming him from the rear.
This movie especially rocked me when I was an early teen. So much build up, mystery, substance. Ebert nails it when telling how "generous" Proyas is visually. I bet it was a delight to shoot this. It has always been at the forefront of cinema for me.
I could see Alex Proyas make excellent noir films. Other comic characters, that would be awesome if he directed it with a great script of course like Grendel (Hunter Rose).
I saw this in theaters as a kid. After it ended I remember a woman leaving the theater with her husband/boyfriend angrily saying "that's that last time I let YOU pick the movie".
The scene at 2:21 after he's given his "training," comes off the table and "You Have the Power" starts playing never fails to give me goosebumps. Great payoff to the whole movie.
“World building”? Interesting choice of worlds considering that at the end, John recreates the world. This is the movie that made me a fan of Alex Proyas. Unfortunately, he has not directed anything since this (other than I, Robot) that I liked.
Thankfully I first saw the director's cut, so the reveal and the slow burn noir all worked as it should - and it stood head-and-shoulders above the Matrix as thoughtful sci-fi based on a similar plot/theme.
Just saw this at a local theater playing it for its 25th anniversary. I've always known about this movie (and it's connections to "the Matrix") but knew nothing of the story or even who starred in it. Needless to say, my mind is blown. This film is a masterpiece and criminally underrated. I'm gonna have to watch it at least a dozen times so that I see all the symbolism and references it uses. One thing I will say that I loved is that one of the main "hooks" in the score is a small piece from Igor Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring". It's those bigger bombastic moments where the strings get really loud (if you've seen Disney's "Fantasia", it's the music piece from when the T-Rex is fighting the Stegosaurus).
Interesting. One yr later I read your msg and just watched something I'd never seen and you're spot on. Wow. UA-cam and the internet can be uses for good laughing 😅
I remember watching this as a kid and really grew on me, I watched it again last year and oh boy! It's pretty great, and yeah, little time for a lot of information but well done. Thank you for bring it to this channel. This movie deserves more views.
Yes yes yes yes! This is my favorite film of all time. I caught it in the theater randomly in my small town and fell in love. I've seen it over 1000 times, and have scored a couple of costume pieces. Amazing soundtrack, color pallette, and more. "Do you know the way to shell beach?"
This is one of my all-time favourite films. Love so many things about it, particularly the style: it looks and sounds truly unique. The story is great, with something very rare in movies: a truly meaningful ending. Regarding the Theatrical cut/Director's cut recommendation, though, I have to disagree. Let me explain. My recommendation, for those who have never seen this movie and would like to give it a go: watch the Theatrical Cut, but mute the audio (and subtitles) at the beginning of the movie. You can unmute the audio when we see a close-up of the doctor's watch, that's when he's done talking. If you enjoyed the movie, and would like to watch it again, feel fre to watch the Director's cut. Why do I recommend this? Because I do believe the Theatrical cut is the best version of the movie: the movie flows better and is overall a more enjoyable experience. The problem with it, though, is the Doctor's speech at the beginning, which ruins part of the experience, as explained in this video and by the director in the audio commentary of the movie. The Director's cut has some interesting additional bits that are interesting to watch, particularly more pointers at the "fakeness" of the world the characters live in. However, I feel the movie doesn't flow as well, the music doesn't go very well with some parts of the resulting movie, and the overall experience is not as good, imho.
One of the BEST late 90s flicks EVER. Seriously. So wonderfully done and i still remember how it felt watching the trailer for this film for the first time at the theaters. The bald men reminded me a bit of the Time Banksters from "Momo" where Armin Müller Stahl was playing the Boss TIme Bankster. You know, the ones who always had to smoke cigars to stay alive. The late 90s were a damn fine period for such surprising blasts of movies before the new Millenium hit us. A wonderful reminder that there was a time when Hollywood actually dared to do something new and innovative.
This movies is a good example of my favorite genre or rather sub-genre Dark Science Fiction. One of my personal favorites, especially the scene when John reaches his full potential, gives me chills every time.
Didn't see this in the theater. I bought the dvd in the clearance bin at some video store.Totally an impulse buy...and was blown away by how good it was. Glad you covered this one because it's an underrated gem alright.
I still remember seeing this movie in the theater as a kid. The thing that stuck with me the most is the ending where there's the blinding white between being in the theater for so long and the dark movie it was legit overwhelming.
I mean it's one of my top 3 favorite movies of all time. I owned it on DVD with the Roger Ebert commentary track. Legendary movie. I always recommend it.
I didn't see Matrix until I bought it on VHS. This movie was my Matrix. Even with the intro voice over it was a beautiful, everlasting mind-f*ck and I have never forgotten it. I did buy the Blu-ray and the Director's Cut was even better. What about City of Lost Children, though?
@@ComicBookGuy420 look up the dates you jackass. Titanic was dec 19th 1997. Dark city was feb 27 1998. That's 2 months genius. Titanic was in theaters forever.
@@johnsmith-wx5fb look up the dates you jackass. Titanic was dec 19th 1997. Dark city was feb 27 1998. That's 2 months genius. Titanic was in theaters forever.
I saw it, as I also saw 'Dragon: The Bruce Lee story' I was fortunate to have a video rental store just down the road from me and made it a habit to rent a movie every week. Please feature 'The Thirteenth Floor' for a future installment.
Have you been to Shell Beach, Chris? Your every episode, most of which cover films I remember from childhood, further crystallizes the realization of what a fan of movies I grew to be, not to mention the frankly staggering amount of grey matter some might find me to have utterly squandered with volumes of cinematic imagery, sound, verbatim dialogue, and most frivolous of all, trivia. I regret none of this. For example, I was smiling from ear to ear at your shout out to Garage Days! Last, I've not a thing to say in criticism, only to beg you for an episode featuring Hard Core Logo, an incendiary, intensity-in-ten-cities film I continue to find remains woefully unsung among the cinephiliac community, and one of my dear brother's all time (no less than third if ranked) favorites.
my friend took me to this and i hadn't seen any trailers for it. didn't know anything about it, not even who was in it. it blew me away. that's the best way to go into a movie i think.
The first time I saw this movie was with my Dad and we absolutely loved it!! It's such a great movie night watch!! A total lost gem worth so much more love!!!!!!
Both Matrix (the first and the only) and Dark City are on the same shelf next to each other in my mental bookshelf (or my heart if you will). With Inception, Fight Club, Thirteenth Floor, Beautiful Mind. They all share a common theme and cover it in mind blowing ways, they all challenge the reality. Shame on me if I've forgotten to mention similar movies on the same subject and of the same quality. I'd be happy to pay to see it on a big screen.
Criminally underrated! Always caught this on TV when I was young. The Matrix has NOTHING on this! Rufus Sewell and the rest of the cast, including Kiefer Sutherland is great. The Strangers (Richard O' Brien especially) are pure creepiness.
I saw on release, and from the opening minute I was sucked into it. I love the Production design and direction and world building. Such an Underrated gem. Now can you please do Perfume The story of a Murderer ;)
I’ve seen this movie so many times I lost count lol I would say this is probably my favourite movie. I have the DVD and I watch it regularly. Totally underrated!
When I saw this at a store, I remembered it being discussed in relation to The Matrix and decided to check it out. It really was something special and interesting.
I watched it 3 times at the theater when I was a freshman in college. I've not seen the director's cut yet so I will go hunt it to do so. Something about the movie has always stuck with me since the first time I watched it, just like with the Crow. Love the story.
It was 1995. EVERYONE was a "young" somebody. You are right, I have totally forgotten about this move though I saw it in the theater and was mesmerized by it. But then again, I was "A young" person as well and was easily mesmerized.
Just tagging along after 3 years. But, YES, I agree with you! Definitely, his best work and greatly underappreciated. Reminds me of Oh Brother. Where are thou?, in that, it did not get a proper launching but Oh Brother did have a modest comeback when later the critics raved about it. There are so many implications and applications of this movie. It meant a lot to me during that time in my life. Thank you for your review!
I recently saw Old and the whole time I kept trying to think of where I knew the guy from. Then I remembered he's the lead in this amazing movie! Shout out to Jennifer Connolly because i'm convinced she has a stipulation in her contracts that she MUST stand on a pier lol
I was in grad school at the time so I missed it in the theater. Siskel & Ebert gave it thumbs up so I was intrigued but at the end of the day it was more than 10 years after its release that I finally sat down and rented it on Netflix to see on my 42" surround sound home theater. Boy was it ever a good looking movie with the thinnest storyline. I watched it 2 or 3 times hoping that it would get better, but it really didn't. It ends up being more like a 2-hour episode of the Twilight Zone, with insane production value. Don't think I ever need to see it again.
When you see this pop up in your suggestions, decide to rewatch the movie first since it had been more than 10 years, only to afterwards find out there apparently is a director's cut now?! Time to upgrade my first-gen cardboard-cased double-sided DVD I guess...
This was an excellent movie, which I liked from the very beginning. I never saw the similarities with the Matrix, but I guess it could be possible. Well worth watching, over and over again.
I wouldn't have thought of it, either, but now that it's been mentioned, I can see the similarities. I definitely enjoyed it more than 'The Matrix', it's a shame it never found a proper audience at the time.
the greatest movie ever made - imho - we named our band after it. love it - the most human of movies ironically and a tremendous narrative of the love that makes us human
I was 15 or 16 when this came out. However I didn't see it until 1999 on 📼 and i remember being obsessed with it at the time. I was even able to get a movie poster from the local video rental store. Such a great movie. I love how it mixes 1920s-probably early 60s but no later than 64. Really well done. Also, I bet they could make a sequel , or even do a remake with today's tech etc. But maybe not, the original really is well done.
#1 Favorite Movie. I first saw it in 2004 in my library in college. I wanted to put the headphones on and have something on in the background while I studied. Not long after it started, I realized the headphones weren’t in and I missed most of that opening monologue. I heard “I am just a man. I help the Strangers. I have betrayed my own kind.” I didn’t get any studying done. There’s nothing wrong at all about this movie. It’s perfect. I don’t even think the opening monologue is that off.
Yes! I rented this from blockbuster thinking it would a dumb sci-fi movie based on the dvd cover. When i got home i was pleasantly surprised and in awe.
This movie was probably the most memorable movie I’ve seen, and I remember watching it on the TV one day and didn’t know the name of it, till 10 or so years later that I could bring up the info and the title of the movie. I’m glad that I bought it on ITunes, but till get it on Blu-Ray.
I need to go back and watch it from beginning to end, I always seem to find it airing and start watching it midway and always hopelessly lost and end up turning it off
First movie filmed at Fox Studios in Sydney. Then followed by The Matrix, Moulin Rouge and The Phantom Menace. Alex Proyas talks about how the paint was still drying on the walls when they started filming. Love this movie.
I literally saw a comment last week mentioning this movie and then now I'm seeing this in my recommended. I'm guessing that's the cosmos saying I really need to watch this movie
I love this film. I discovered it about a year ago and was fascinated by it. Wonderful cast (really liked Rufus Sewell 's performance). Challenging ideas. Original. Too bad it was ignored for so long. It is well worth taking a look at.
Definitely a film I have seen and enjoyed. And as an Aussie, it was great to see so many Aussies in the film, albeit, not in major roles, but still. The premise and execution was very good, and a stellar casting.
I LOVE this movie. Not only have I seen this film, I have seen it multiple times and own both the theatrical cut and the directors cut on DVD. When I saw Inception, my first thought was, they got that building shifting idea from Dark City!
This is a criminally underrated movie should be well known by now
I fucking love this movie.
@@1987MartinT Me too. So atmospheric you can smell the wet brick.
Or better yet a criminally underrated masterpiece.
What was "criminal" was the fact this garbage called a movie was ever in theaters. I watched it 3 times just to see if it was really that bad or if I was missing something. I tried to give it an honest chance but it's really that bad.
@@dwilliams2794 Okay, I'll bite. Which aspects didn't you like?
I watched it again a couple of years ago, but a lot of it had stayed with me from twenty years ago. I'm surprised it isn't more famous, but there are a number of naff aspects.
I saw this in the theater on it's second week of release. I convinced my girlfriend at the time to see it and she HATED it. My wife, on the other hand, loves it.
You traded up.
I remember as a young kid my sister had a sleepover with our friends from school and we all liked it.
This comment has an excellent ending
You married the right woman
sounds like you made the right choice
I actually liked this movie more than The Matrix, when I was a kid.
LOL. I was just about to post this comment, since they came out pretty much at the same time...
I remember watching this back ´99 in the same night as The Matrix and I totally got the two mixed up and when I saw The Matrix the second time I was very disappointed as it seemed to miss a lot of stuff I remembered. Then I bought a VHS of Dark City just because of the name and cover and holy hell was I pleasantly surprised I found the movie again!
It is the Matrix! The same pattern. There is a video on the similarities. They are a great grind house. It's a shame where those directors went with their future visions
wow, way to make me feel old, thanks Mr Big
I was thirteen in 1998 and "Blade" and "Dark City" were two of my favourite films from that year. I didn't see "The Matrix" in theatres because it looked like a rip-off of those two films based on the trailers. LOL!
Amazing film, was shocked when I left the cinema, wanted to talk about it soooo much, but no one was going to see it.
Way more original in both story/score/visuals than most big movies.
I love this movie. The soundtrack is absolutely amazing, too. I love how people think it's a Matrix rip-off, when Matrix re-used a lot of the sets from Dark City.
The other "Matrix ripoff" is The Thirteenth Floor. www.imdb.com/title/tt0139809/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_13 Which I think actually stood up better as far as plot goes. But The Matrix is a more fun movie to watch.
@@1pcfred Yeah, the Thirteenth Floor got totally buried, but is such a fun little flick. For that matter, this is the same year that gave us David Cronenberg's eXistenZ as well. Three movies came out within so many months of each other, all playing with the idea of people being plugged into virtual worlds, but all taking the idea in totally different directions.
@@1pcfred Think there were a few, Equilibrium was another.
The Matrix? You mean that movie that ripped off Ghost In The Shell? Dark City is super charming, though.
@@4879daniel Equilibrium was a forgettable movie. Basically a ripoff of Fahrenheit 451. With Gun-kata.
01:35 Jennifer Connelly is always young. She literally doesn't age.
Mark Rogers haha agreed!
Shes delicious
Wrong she has 2 stages Labyrinth and post Labyrinth
@@GEMINIEARTHWALKER What about Omce upon a time in America- 2 years before Labyrinth.
Jennifer Connelly in this here and in "The Rocketeer" (the scene where she shows up in that white evening gown) looks just absolutely breathtaking.
And she´s still a very attractive lady as seen in "Alita: Battle Angel".
This was the film that made me think Rufus Sewell would have made a brilliant Doctor Strange. I'm still bummed that never happened.
Never considered it before, but yeah, I could see it
I think they made the right choice with Cumberbatch though
That's some fine casting right there. 👍🏾
Wow! good point!
'I'm still bummed it never happened" - supposedly Sewell is very self-conscious about his bum. Some reviewer wrote that he was wide in the beam down there. You hardly ever see bum shots of Sewell. Only occasionally. He doesn't like camera men filming him from the rear.
Were he more well-known and everywhere, that'd be absolutely fine by me
I stumbled across this in the DVD bin at Wal-Mart when I was a teenager and absolutely loved it. Couldn't believe it wasn't a bigger deal
Reminds me of how I found "Manhunter".
You lucky bastard! lol
It really is a special thing isn’t it?
First DVD I ever bought.
This movie especially rocked me when I was an early teen. So much build up, mystery, substance. Ebert nails it when telling how "generous" Proyas is visually. I bet it was a delight to shoot this. It has always been at the forefront of cinema for me.
I think 'Dark City' is the more well-made film, but 'The Crow' is still my favorite from Proyas.
Proyas is great at building worlds, all of his film build a great visual world even God's of Egypt
I could see Alex Proyas make excellent noir films. Other comic characters, that would be awesome if he directed it with a great script of course like Grendel (Hunter Rose).
I liked the "Giger-inspired" set designs.
heres a fun thing to do during dark city, as soon as the first cut of the film happens count to two over n over again.
Dark City is a great film from same Director of The Crow, the Director's Cut is much better, i loved the story.
Check out KNOWING another excellent Proyas film.
The best movie I watch a couple times a year.
Right? I own one movie. One physical copy of a movie. It's this. I never want to be without it.
I saw this in theaters as a kid. After it ended I remember a woman leaving the theater with her husband/boyfriend angrily saying "that's that last time I let YOU pick the movie".
One of those people was shallow.
underrated - wtg, this movie is a classic
The scene at 2:21 after he's given his "training," comes off the table and "You Have the Power" starts playing never fails to give me goosebumps. Great payoff to the whole movie.
This movie being my number one favorite movie of all damned time, I have seen it way more then quite a few times.
“World building”? Interesting choice of worlds considering that at the end, John recreates the world. This is the movie that made me a fan of Alex Proyas. Unfortunately, he has not directed anything since this (other than I, Robot) that I liked.
This movie and the Crow I think are his best. I do love I Robot as well
Loved it so much I stayed in theatre and watched it again.
Such a based movie, this is one of the best cult classics, the movie dosen't care about his special effects it just care about telling his story
Thankfully I first saw the director's cut, so the reveal and the slow burn noir all worked as it should - and it stood head-and-shoulders above the Matrix as thoughtful sci-fi based on a similar plot/theme.
Just saw this at a local theater playing it for its 25th anniversary. I've always known about this movie (and it's connections to "the Matrix") but knew nothing of the story or even who starred in it. Needless to say, my mind is blown. This film is a masterpiece and criminally underrated. I'm gonna have to watch it at least a dozen times so that I see all the symbolism and references it uses. One thing I will say that I loved is that one of the main "hooks" in the score is a small piece from Igor Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring". It's those bigger bombastic moments where the strings get really loud (if you've seen Disney's "Fantasia", it's the music piece from when the T-Rex is fighting the Stegosaurus).
Interesting. One yr later I read your msg and just watched something I'd never seen and you're spot on. Wow.
UA-cam and the internet can be uses for good laughing 😅
I remember watching this as a kid and really grew on me, I watched it again last year and oh boy! It's pretty great, and yeah, little time for a lot of information but well done. Thank you for bring it to this channel. This movie deserves more views.
The poster byline was vlassic:
"They built the city to see what makes us tick.
Last night, one of us went off."
This one of the few "greatest movies you never saw" i actually never saw but always wanted.
R.I.P. William Hurt. 💔😢🌹🙏
Yes yes yes yes! This is my favorite film of all time. I caught it in the theater randomly in my small town and fell in love. I've seen it over 1000 times, and have scored a couple of costume pieces. Amazing soundtrack, color pallette, and more. "Do you know the way to shell beach?"
I've been singing this film's praises since forever.
This is one of my all-time favourite films. Love so many things about it, particularly the style: it looks and sounds truly unique. The story is great, with something very rare in movies: a truly meaningful ending. Regarding the Theatrical cut/Director's cut recommendation, though, I have to disagree. Let me explain.
My recommendation, for those who have never seen this movie and would like to give it a go: watch the Theatrical Cut, but mute the audio (and subtitles) at the beginning of the movie. You can unmute the audio when we see a close-up of the doctor's watch, that's when he's done talking. If you enjoyed the movie, and would like to watch it again, feel fre to watch the Director's cut.
Why do I recommend this? Because I do believe the Theatrical cut is the best version of the movie: the movie flows better and is overall a more enjoyable experience. The problem with it, though, is the Doctor's speech at the beginning, which ruins part of the experience, as explained in this video and by the director in the audio commentary of the movie.
The Director's cut has some interesting additional bits that are interesting to watch, particularly more pointers at the "fakeness" of the world the characters live in. However, I feel the movie doesn't flow as well, the music doesn't go very well with some parts of the resulting movie, and the overall experience is not as good, imho.
One of the BEST late 90s flicks EVER. Seriously. So wonderfully done and i still remember how it felt watching the trailer for this film for the first time at the theaters. The bald men reminded me a bit of the Time Banksters from "Momo" where Armin Müller Stahl was playing the Boss TIme Bankster. You know, the ones who always had to smoke cigars to stay alive. The late 90s were a damn fine period for such surprising blasts of movies before the new Millenium hit us. A wonderful reminder that there was a time when Hollywood actually dared to do something new and innovative.
This movies is a good example of my favorite genre or rather sub-genre Dark Science Fiction. One of my personal favorites, especially the scene when John reaches his full potential, gives me chills every time.
Thankfully, I have seen Dark City and love it. One of the most original movies I have seen that still holds up.
It aged good too
Didn't see this in the theater. I bought the dvd in the clearance bin at some video store.Totally an impulse buy...and was blown away by how good it was. Glad you covered this one because it's an underrated gem alright.
I've seen it multiple times. I own it. Dark gothic Sci-fi horror mash-up+ Jennifer Connelly? Sold!
I still remember seeing this movie in the theater as a kid. The thing that stuck with me the most is the ending where there's the blinding white between being in the theater for so long and the dark movie it was legit overwhelming.
When can we expect the Hudson Hawk episode? I see it in the intro.
I'm a big fan. Stay awesome, stay safe!
One of my favorite, creepy, Alien Abduction movies, so glad you're covering it.
I mean it's one of my top 3 favorite movies of all time. I owned it on DVD with the Roger Ebert commentary track. Legendary movie. I always recommend it.
I didn't see Matrix until I bought it on VHS. This movie was my Matrix. Even with the intro voice over it was a beautiful, everlasting mind-f*ck and I have never forgotten it. I did buy the Blu-ray and the Director's Cut was even better. What about City of Lost Children, though?
Could you please put "The Best Movie You Never Saw" into its own playlist please. Brilliant channel I have to say
I remember my dad taking me to see this while mom and friends went to see titanic for the 3rd time. Good call dad, good call.
No he didnt.
The two movies were a year apart you fuckin' liar
@@ComicBookGuy420 look up the dates you jackass. Titanic was dec 19th 1997. Dark city was feb 27 1998. That's 2 months genius. Titanic was in theaters forever.
@@johnsmith-wx5fb look up the dates you jackass. Titanic was dec 19th 1997. Dark city was feb 27 1998. That's 2 months genius. Titanic was in theaters forever.
Don't you both take your daddy issues out on me
Ok....I stopped halfway through because I want to see this movie now! I'll come back and watch the rest after I see it! Thanks!
Saw it in the theater. Always had a love for it's original themes. It definitely stands alone as very unique in style
I saw it, as I also saw 'Dragon: The Bruce Lee story'
I was fortunate to have a video rental store just down the road from me and made it a habit to rent a movie every week.
Please feature 'The Thirteenth Floor' for a future installment.
Ya know I always liked Dragon.
Have you been to Shell Beach, Chris?
Your every episode, most of which cover films I remember from childhood, further crystallizes the realization of what a fan of movies I grew to be, not to mention the frankly staggering amount of grey matter some might find me to have utterly squandered with volumes of cinematic imagery, sound, verbatim dialogue, and most frivolous of all, trivia. I regret none of this. For example, I was smiling from ear to ear at your shout out to Garage Days!
Last, I've not a thing to say in criticism, only to beg you for an episode featuring Hard Core Logo, an incendiary, intensity-in-ten-cities film I continue to find remains woefully unsung among the cinephiliac community, and one of my dear brother's all time (no less than third if ranked) favorites.
I have the pleasure of seeing it in the theater opening night. They were about 12 of us in there. What a shame. It’s an incredible film.
Uhhh.
I've actually owned DARK CITY on DVD since 2000!!!! It's awesome!
There's another movie out there called THE SIGNAL which has similar ideas!
I remember seeing this film in the theater. There were 3 or 4 other people there. The ending was mind blowing and of course I got the Bluray.
Saw it when it came out and loved it. This is a slept-on classic.
my friend took me to this and i hadn't seen any trailers for it. didn't know anything about it, not even who was in it. it blew me away. that's the best way to go into a movie i think.
I saw Dark City in theaters. That trailer really intrigued me.
I LOVE Dark City ever since I first saw it on home video in 1998/99
I saw this in theaters and absolutely loved it. It was gloomy, gritty, and full of amazing twists. Incredible film.
The first time I saw this movie was with my Dad and we absolutely loved it!! It's such a great movie night watch!! A total lost gem worth so much more love!!!!!!
Both Matrix (the first and the only) and Dark City are on the same shelf next to each other in my mental bookshelf (or my heart if you will). With Inception, Fight Club, Thirteenth Floor, Beautiful Mind. They all share a common theme and cover it in mind blowing ways, they all challenge the reality. Shame on me if I've forgotten to mention similar movies on the same subject and of the same quality.
I'd be happy to pay to see it on a big screen.
Yeah saw this movie when I was a kid. Totally underrated but influence a lot of movies.
Criminally underrated! Always caught this on TV when I was young. The Matrix has NOTHING on this! Rufus Sewell and the rest of the cast, including Kiefer Sutherland is great. The Strangers (Richard O' Brien especially) are pure creepiness.
Fun Fact:Roger Ebert put this as his #1 film for the year of 1998.I agree with him on that as it's also one of the best sci-fi flicks of all time.
he also absolutely hated carpenters the thing - ebert was a weird little dude. bad filmmaker as well...
I saw on release, and from the opening minute I was sucked into it. I love the Production design and direction and world building. Such an Underrated gem. Now can you please do Perfume The story of a Murderer ;)
I’ve seen this movie so many times I lost count lol I would say this is probably my favourite movie. I have the DVD and I watch it regularly. Totally underrated!
I’m always shocked when people haven’t seen this movie. To me it’s a classic and I love it but many people don’t even know it exists.
Saw it in the theater, loved it, bought it on DVD and loaned out to many friends, great movie!!
This was a great movie. One of my favorites. I showed everyone who I could when I first seen this.
@0:53
“... in the wake of Titanic.”
Nice word play there, Sir. 👍
When I saw this at a store, I remembered it being discussed in relation to The Matrix and decided to check it out. It really was something special and interesting.
yeah...i've seen this movie many times. did an entire study on it in high school. It's one of my all-time favorites.
I watched it 3 times at the theater when I was a freshman in college. I've not seen the director's cut yet so I will go hunt it to do so. Something about the movie has always stuck with me since the first time I watched it, just like with the Crow. Love the story.
This is one of my fav movies of all time. #sleep
And I love both versions💜
It was 1995. EVERYONE was a "young" somebody.
You are right, I have totally forgotten about this move though I saw it in the theater and was mesmerized by it.
But then again, I was "A young" person as well and was easily mesmerized.
Just tagging along after 3 years. But, YES, I agree with you! Definitely, his best work and greatly underappreciated. Reminds me of Oh Brother. Where are thou?, in that, it did not get a proper launching but Oh Brother did have a modest comeback when later the critics raved about it. There are so many implications and applications of this movie. It meant a lot to me during that time in my life. Thank you for your review!
Saw it on it's opening weekend is an empty theater. Favourite movie of all time. Shame no one else saw it.
I recently saw Old and the whole time I kept trying to think of where I knew the guy from. Then I remembered he's the lead in this amazing movie! Shout out to Jennifer Connolly because i'm convinced she has a stipulation in her contracts that she MUST stand on a pier lol
I was in grad school at the time so I missed it in the theater. Siskel & Ebert gave it thumbs up so I was intrigued but at the end of the day it was more than 10 years after its release that I finally sat down and rented it on Netflix to see on my 42" surround sound home theater. Boy was it ever a good looking movie with the thinnest storyline. I watched it 2 or 3 times hoping that it would get better, but it really didn't. It ends up being more like a 2-hour episode of the Twilight Zone, with insane production value. Don't think I ever need to see it again.
When you see this pop up in your suggestions, decide to rewatch the movie first since it had been more than 10 years, only to afterwards find out there apparently is a director's cut now?! Time to upgrade my first-gen cardboard-cased double-sided DVD I guess...
Just found your channel and so glad I did. I watched Top Secret on your recommendation and loved it. Really looking forward to this one also
This was an excellent movie, which I liked from the very beginning. I never saw the similarities with the Matrix, but I guess it could be possible. Well worth watching, over and over again.
I wouldn't have thought of it, either, but now that it's been mentioned, I can see the similarities. I definitely enjoyed it more than 'The Matrix', it's a shame it never found a proper audience at the time.
the greatest movie ever made - imho - we named our band after it. love it - the most human of movies ironically and a tremendous narrative of the love that makes us human
I was 15 or 16 when this came out. However I didn't see it until 1999 on 📼 and i remember being obsessed with it at the time. I was even able to get a movie poster from the local video rental store. Such a great movie. I love how it mixes 1920s-probably early 60s but no later than 64. Really well done. Also, I bet they could make a sequel , or even do a remake with today's tech etc. But maybe not, the original really is well done.
I saw it too and its one of my favorites.
I loved this movie! Ironically, there was another movie with the same matrix/dark city concept called the 13th floor, which was also very very cool.
#1 Favorite Movie.
I first saw it in 2004 in my library in college. I wanted to put the headphones on and have something on in the background while I studied. Not long after it started, I realized the headphones weren’t in and I missed most of that opening monologue. I heard “I am just a man. I help the Strangers. I have betrayed my own kind.” I didn’t get any studying done.
There’s nothing wrong at all about this movie. It’s perfect. I don’t even think the opening monologue is that off.
Yes! I rented this from blockbuster thinking it would a dumb sci-fi movie based on the dvd cover. When i got home i was pleasantly surprised and in awe.
This movie was probably the most memorable movie I’ve seen, and I remember watching it on the TV one day and didn’t know the name of it, till 10 or so years later that I could bring up the info and the title of the movie. I’m glad that I bought it on ITunes, but till get it on Blu-Ray.
I don't know if this was commented on here already but the matrix producers were actually told to reuse some of dark city's sets.
Don't know what to add here after reading the comments. You guys have pretty much said it all. When it comes to this movie, I'll just say, I LOVE IT.
I need to go back and watch it from beginning to end, I always seem to find it airing and start watching it midway and always hopelessly lost and end up turning it off
I always remember this movie as a kid. Way over my head at the time. Just seemed weird. But always remembered it. And looked for it.
Oh please, I've got this on Blu-Ray. And while I might not have seen this in the theater, I definitely rented it on VHS back in the day.
loved this movie and will now go back a rewatch.. Thanks for the review Joe Blow.
I love using the soundtrack to this to test out new headphones or speakers, particularly "You Have The Power." (The final battle.)
First movie filmed at Fox Studios in Sydney. Then followed by The Matrix, Moulin Rouge and The Phantom Menace. Alex Proyas talks about how the paint was still drying on the walls when they started filming. Love this movie.
I literally saw a comment last week mentioning this movie and then now I'm seeing this in my recommended. I'm guessing that's the cosmos saying I really need to watch this movie
I love this film. I discovered it about a year ago and was fascinated by it. Wonderful cast (really liked Rufus Sewell 's performance). Challenging ideas. Original. Too bad it was ignored for so long. It is well worth taking a look at.
Dark City, Thirteenth Floor, They Live, Time Bandits, The Night of the Comet are ALL Amazing Cult Classics!
Every film that Jo places in this series is something I HAVE seen. Where do I pick up my "hipster cred" membership card?
This movie demands more attention. Rufus Sewell was also amazing in it.
Definitely a film I have seen and enjoyed.
And as an Aussie, it was great to see so many Aussies in the film, albeit, not in major roles, but still.
The premise and execution was very good, and a stellar casting.
I never liked the Matrix much to be honest, but I always loved this.
I have never heard of this film. It looks great. Thank you kindly for the enjoyable video and reference to see this flic. Great video. God bless!
I LOVE this movie. Not only have I seen this film, I have seen it multiple times and own both the theatrical cut and the directors cut on DVD.
When I saw Inception, my first thought was, they got that building shifting idea from Dark City!
Amazing and very underrated film. Going to see this in the theater was the only thing I wanted for my birthday the year of its release.