{"id":48510,"date":"2025-06-30T23:30:16","date_gmt":"2025-07-01T03:30:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=48510"},"modified":"2025-07-01T02:21:08","modified_gmt":"2025-07-01T06:21:08","slug":"dark-city-1998-arrow-video-limited-edition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2025\/06\/30\/dark-city-1998-arrow-video-limited-edition\/","title":{"rendered":"Dark City (1998) [Arrow Video Limited Edition]\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Now available from Arrow Video through your favorite reseller (it is fully out of print at Arrow Video)\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

In dark world, a man realizes he has no real memories of his past and doesn\u2019t know his own wife. As he investigates, tall figures start following him. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Written by Alex Proyas, Lem Dobbs, and David S. Goyer and directed by Alex Proyas, this is a dark, dark, gloomy, unnerving film with its own universe, rules, and ways of living. As Proyas feature film follow up to The Crow, the expectations here were sky high back when this film was released and for some of us, it hit just right. There was something about this that felt almost in the same universe, perhaps the almost-goth feel to everything, the almost Faustian feel to the story at times, or the miniatures used in some of the establishing scenes. The story here is one that is not for everyone but when it hits right, it hits very right. The writing here is interesting and creates a universe for the film that is encapsulated within the runtime. The characters here are made to have some secrets and a lot of mystery around them. Some would say this applies to the tall men who are up to something, but it also applies to the lead, his wife, and his doctor. Proyas\u2019 direction here greatly helps bring his story (co-written but still created by him) to the screen in a cohesive manner with vision and a way to fascinate that is perfect to bring people into the world the film creates. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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The cast here is solid with Rufus Sewell in the lead of John Murdoch, playing a man who thinks he knows who he is and soon finds himself questioning everything about himself, his life, his surroundings. Sewell does great work, giving a lost soul who is still charismatic and makes the film that much better with his presence. Playing his wife Emma Murdoch is Jennifer Connelly who is charming, lovely, and has a quiet strength about her. Joining them as the doctor and the inspector are Kiefer Sutherland and Wiliam Hurt giving just the right performances for the film\u2019s needs. Rounding out the cast, Richard O\u2019Brien, Ian Richardson, and Bruce Spence play the leads of the tall mysterious pale men. Their performances are unnerving and on point. The cast as a whole here is solid, reminding the viewer that good actors play off of each other and can really bring a story to life.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The look of the film here is striking, even 27 years later, with a universe built for the film full of darkness, gloom, and locations that could be anywhere and nowhere at the same time. The only scenes with a bit more joy and brightness are the beach memories and sequences. The film\u2019s production design by George Liddle and Patrick Tatopoulos and the art direction by Richard Hobbs and Michelle McGahey are sublime. The attention to detail, the connection between every location and every scene, the way everything is cohesive and looks like it could be a noir film city with sci-fi elements, maybe even a cyberpunk influence (while not being cyberpunk per sey), the overall look and effect are fantastic and a touch creepy no matter the scene or setting. The costume design by Liz Keogh Palmer is lovely and dark, the special effects work great still, this is a film that shows that when attention is paid to details and a specific, central vision is applied to a universe, a film can transcend its limitations and make you feel like you are right there with the characters. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Overall, Dark City is a fantastic gothic-sci-fi tale that has aged decently well with strong writing, great performances, and incredible world building. While some will decry the lack of a sequel, the way this film ends is just right for its needs and does not require any further exploration on the screen. This is the late 90s sci-fi fans love and miss, one where everything is calculated, the aesthetics are on point, and there is plenty to pour over once the film ends.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In this new release by Arrow Video, the Blu-ray is what was used for this review with the Director\u2019s Cut being watched (having seen the theatrical release so many times already). The transfer here looks great and sounds really good, with clarity in darkness without adding visual noise to the darker sequences. This being a 2-disc set; the extras are beyond plentiful. The film is available here in its theatrical cut and the director\u2019s cut. Both look good but only the director\u2019s cut was watched in full here. The extras for these are all listed on the Arrow Video website<\/a> for those who would like to see what is included. Here, at Cinema-Crazed Central, the preferred extras have been the slew of audio commentaries (listened to while doing other things because there is only so much time in life), the Return to Dark City documentary that explores the production design among other things, the designs and storyboards, and the Alexandra West visual essay. There is so much on here that it feels like one could take a whole week to get through it all. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Now available from Arrow Video through your favorite reseller (it is fully out of print at Arrow Video)\u00a0 In dark world, a man realizes he has no real memories of his past and doesn\u2019t know his own wife. As he investigates, tall figures start following him. \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1511,349,703,824,1458,1087],"class_list":["post-48510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-collectors-den","tag-cyberpunk","tag-fantasy","tag-mystery","tag-re-release","tag-sci-fi","tag-thriller"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48510"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48510\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48511,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48510\/revisions\/48511"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}