5/1/2023 0 Comments Dark city sleep now gifThe mishmash of eras in the movie’s production design ( 1940s/1950s/early 1960s) has a logical explanation. Rufus Sewell’s “John Murdoch” takes in a perfunctory meal in a 1950s-looking Automat. its similarly narrated 1982 theatrical version. Note: This big change between the two versions reminded me of the changes made to the 2007 Final Cut of “Blade Runner” vs. This key difference lets the viewer unwrap the mystery gradually, without so much awkward upfront exposition. The much-improved Director’s Cut opens with a quick, muted shot of Schreber before cutting to John Murdoch (Rufus Sewell). This piece of admittedly vital exposition is now moved to a later point in the story, where it belongs. Schreber essentially solves the mystery for the viewer before it ever gets started. Daniel Schreber (Kiefer Sutherland, in a Peter Lorre-esque performance) detailing the plan of the alien “Strangers” to study humans and save their dying race. In the original, we hear narration of Dr. The single biggest difference between the theatrical cut and Director’s Cut is the opening of the film. However, I’ve linked an article detailing all the specific differences between both versions following the middle section of this column. The version I’m choosing to focus on is the Director’s Cut. Note: I won’t get into each of the many differences between the theatrical version and Director’s Cut–only noting a few changes when relevant. ![]() Last weekend I broke out my trusty HD digital projector and 7 ft./2 meter collapsible screen and gave myself the keys to “Dark City” once again… However, with a large backlog of items on my too-long watchlist, I’m afraid I once again didn’t give this underrated masterpiece the love it deserved…until now. Rumors of a forthcoming director’s cut of “Dark City” began percolating in interviews with the dissatisfied director Alex Proyas, and I eventually bought the new version on Blu-Ray sometime after it was released. Schreber a psychiatrist forced to aid the “Strangers.” Stranger Things.Ī very un-Kiefer Sutherland plays the Peter Lorre-esque character of Dr. I certainly preferred “Dark City” over its later, more popular rival, “The Matrix,” as I felt “Dark City” told its own similar story more efficiently and effectively. With some fine ‘tuning’ ( forgive the pun) it could even be a modern classic. Despite my own nit-picking, the movie was fundamentally sound. However, the thick, nightmare-noir atmosphere that permeated every frame of this richly photographed film transcended such minor deficits ( cinematographer Dariusz Wolski is a genius). Some of the supporting characters were a bit lacking as well ( even for living ciphers whose lives are being continually rewritten). Not surprisingly, my wife and I enjoyed “Dark City” very much, though I recognized a few minor editorial flaws specifically, the exposition-heavy opening where the biggest mysteries are largely solved for the viewer before the movie gets underway. The multi-period cityscape of “Dark City” is a nocturnal metropolis in a perpetual state of flux. At the time, this was the theatrical cut, which was the only version available. My wife is into sci-fi/fantasy as well ( though our specific tastes differ, of course), and shortly after we were married, we bought “Dark City” on DVD. Well, a lot of life changing-stuff happened to me in 1998, and I got married a year later. Sadly, I was ‘one of those people’ who didn’t show this movie the proper support when it first came to theaters in February of 1998, though I do remember feeling a few glimmers of interest. The first I’d heard of director Alex (“The Crow”) Proyas’ “Dark City” was sometime in late 1997, where I might’ve seen the trailer and filed it away to be ignored later in my younger, stimulus-addled brain. *****REALITY-BENDING SPOILERS AHEAD!*****
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