Dark City (Director's Cut) [Blu-ray]

The Bottom Line:

Marred only by a somewhat out-of-place and formulaic action sequence near the end, this otherwise-perfect film deftly blends a fusion of times and genres into a spellbinding movie.

An addendum to the other reviews.

It is possible that we will soon live in an (individually) customizable reality. For example, take some one whose primary reality verification source is the Internet.

Another example is basing decisions on "hunches." Which sensory channels did these hunches arrive from? Which part of your sensory spectrum could you guarantee? Are there possibly edge-of-spectrum inputs that you did not block out? Audio (ultra / sub-sonic suggestions)? Visual (infra-red / low-contrast suggestions)? A topic you hadn't thought about? Followed by recommendations about some possible ways you could feel about it?

Take the first issue - a channel like the Internet. You could, theoretically, be getting fed a self-consistent "channel," or selective reality.

Every now and then, it may help to break out and grab hold of some non-manipulable sources. Verify your accustomed reality using connections/"friends" besides your publicized ones.

Back to "hunches." Look at when you arrived at your hunch. Were you in an environment where you could not restrict edge-of-input-spectrum "suggestions?" Examine the possible source of your hunches. Select an environment where you could shut out some sensory or electronic input communication sources, at least temporarily. Hunches under these conditions are more likely to be based on your own synthesis.

This could be a remote possibility now. So dredge it up for reexamining later in a few decades. And if it's not valid then, then plug it into your calendar for and check its relevance in another decade or so.

This movie facilitates an outlier mindset. Somehow, its more successful successor "The Matrix" did not (at least for me). This at least got me developing back-of-the-mind responses to such outlier scenarios.

In a sense, this movie adds contingency planning, if for a currently remote risk, to the thinking of those who watch it. Other movies tend not to add real value. It also stands out as an interesting, unusual, and well-made movie. I would definitely recommend buying it. I tried twice, and got it this time.

The skinheads looked like a bunch of malnourished prisoners from San Quentin (with the exception of the pint-sized bald urchin). They also reminded me of a bunch of Freddy Krueger Wanna-Be's; without the acne problem.
SLEEEEEP!

Kiefer Sutherland delivers his usual low-talking dialogue (just a tad louder than in "24"). Jennifer Connolly is an air-head nightclub singer (there is no day) and wife of "Murdoch." Murdoch? We wanders the streets "Tuning," between the 'time stops' and the 'flying baldies' pursuing him. Willian Hurt is cast in his usual "heavy" part that he's been relegated to, the past decade or so.

SHELL BEACH, SHELL BEACH, SHELL BEACH. Yeah......real fun movie (he says tongue-in-cheek). Then again, maybe my review is a fabrication and an illusion ;-)

The picture quality in Blu-ray version is absolutely stunning!! This is how all transfers to high def should be. With a calibrated a TV you will be blown away with its inky blacks and spot on colors.
The finest BD I've to date. Buy this just to show off your rig and if you like the movie then just consider it a bonus.

At last! A director's cut that actually improves on the original!

The 1998 version of Dark City was a fantastic film (apart from the studio enforced opening narration), very inventive plot with lots of good 'reveals' throughout, also, the cuts were very fast (I don't think a single 'shot' lasted longer than five seconds) which propelled the story along at a blistering pace.

The new edit has an improved 5.1 soundtrack and the re-cut has slowed the film down - which actually improves it. There are extensions to lots of scenes that round off each character's involvement in the plot, and the opening narration has been removed (hurrah!). The picture has also had a major clean up that reveals plot as well as detail.
The new extras are also very interesting and a welcome change from the usual, boring, "This is how we did the effects" documentaries.

All in all, a better version of an already outstanding film. 10/10.