Dark City Blind Reaction!!! (Director's Cut!)

[@Dularr]

The theatrical release included a voice over that explained the entire plot at the start of movie. The executives felt the general audience would not understand.

[@732ReviewCrew]

We are so glad we didn't watch that version

[@alanfoster6589]

The original release of "2001: A Space Odyssey" (I saw it the week it opened in L.A.) did not have the subtitles that were later included, for the same reason.

[@arparso]

I've only ever seen the theatrical version and still loved the movie. It's not as bad as people make it out to be and thankfully doesn't spoil all the important facts. E.g. the reveal that they're not actually on Earth still works well. It spoils that the strangers aren't human (which is quickly figured out in the movie, anyway), that they have a world-altering power called "tuning" (but viewers still don't know how that works or how it looks) and that Dr. Schreber is working with them on their experiments. Of course, if you have a choice, you should always watch the Director's Cut first. But even if you only have the theatrical version, chances are good you'll still like the movie.

[@wackyvorlon]

The voiceover from the theatrical version bugs me, it basically spoils the entire movie right at the start. Without the voiceover you have a really effective mystery. Also the Director’s Cut uses Jennifer Connelly’s real singing voice.

[@alanfoster6589]

@@wackyvorlon Never understood that substitution. Connelly has a very pleasant singing voice.

[@oxhine]

Hey, Review Crew! This is one of my favorite films! The Director's Cut was definitely the way to go because it eliminates the spoiling opening narration. I saw this five times in a packed NYC theater and the audience audibly gasped each time they burst through the wall at Shell Beach! Collective mind-blowing! It's a brilliant puzzle-box story! Director Alex Proyas really should revisit this story to chronicle Murdoch's godhood and the search for home. Absolute power corrupts and Proyas once considered a sequel with a villainous Murdoch which would have been really interesting. Murdoch went to the automat because the desk clerk at the hotel told him his wallet had been found there. Automats were real food dispensaries from the 1930s to the 1960s. Murdoch is a mutant, an evolutionary leap ahead. It is unknown how many generations of humans the Strangers have been experimenting on. Late film critic Roger Ebert was an outspoken champion of this film. The Wachowski siblings used some of the sets from this movie when they shot "The Matrix" at the same Australian studio. Rufus Sewell has also been in "Old", "Dangerous Beauty", "The Illusionist", "The Legend of Zorro", "The Man in the High Castle", "John Adams" and, currently, "The Diplomat".

[@alanfoster6589]

One of the best SF films, period.

[@wackyvorlon]

This, and the Thirteenth Floor are two massively underrated movies. Both are great scifi.

[@RenfrewPrume]

@@wackyvorlon Ironically, "The Thirteenth Floor" is based on the oldest source material compared to "Dark City" and "The Matrix," a 1964 novel by Daniel F. Galouye, "Simulacrum 3."

[@ScotchBeard78]

This movie's amazing. Roger Ebert was a huge advocate of it at the time, but I think it was still kind of forgotten. It came out a year before the Matrix, and you can see (besides the obvious noir elements), it's got a lot of the same black & green palette and vibe. Good pick! You guys should take a look at GATTACA, another great sci-fi movie from the same time.

[@josephkrengel]

The Matrix re-used some of the sets from Dark City.

[@invaderliz]

Ah yes, the first Matrix movie! Jennifer Connolly is best known for being in Labyrinth and Requiem for a Dream. Great reaction and not one a lot have other people have done!

[@LordMalice6d9]

Most reaction channels are terrible and lazy, they require almost no effort.

[@ZakhadWOW]

Mr Hand was played by Ricgard O'Brien, better known as Riff-Raff from Ricky Horror Picture Show

[@pangaea90]

At the beginning of the movie, the doctor was imprinting the ability of the strangers in John when he woke up, so he had some of their ability and he didn't sleep. The second time he was imprinted, the doctor was just finishing the job. Some people say this movie was the basis for the Matrix

[@elvwood]

This film has a special place for me, because it changed how I experienced movies. I couldn't see the point in doing commentaries before, but a friend had the laserdisc (remember them? probably not) and he wanted to watch Roger Ebert's commentary, so I decided to watch with him. It provided me with an entirely different way of appreciating _Dark_ _City,_ and of looking at film and TV in general. It was the first time I considered a director's choices in detail. Nowadays, if I think a film or TV episode is worth it, I'll watch at least once just appreciating it on an emotional level, then I'll watch again paying attention to the production. Oh, and if there's a commentary I'll do that too! [Also, I've been a sucker for anything starring Jennifer Connelly since _Labyrinth...]_

[@themonkeytrainer]

The doctor said that the "building which housed the memories was destroyed", so people kept the memories that had been implanted: the original memories stored in the building were probably lifted from the original humans that were "kidnapped" onto the aliens' world/machine, and just filed away to be dissected and remixed.

[@boqndimitrov8693]

for those who have seen it, this film is a classic in the genre. great actors, it's a pity that William Hurt is no longer alive..

[@corgiluver9718]

A great SF film, glad you guys enjoyed. It is fun watching you guys being confused & trying to figure out what's going on. Such a good cast: Rufus Sewell was really good in the Prime series The Man in the High Castle (alt history where Nazi Germany & Imperial Japan win the war) and in a number of movies I've enjoyed including A Knight's Tale, The Illusionist, and Cold Comfort Farm. Jennifer Connelly you might remember from her Oscar winning role in A Beautiful Mind but she's been in lots of things. I really love Kiefer Sutherland in this. So different from Jack Baeur in 24. William Hurt, another Oscar winner, has been in a number of good movies including Body Heat, Altered States, Broadcast News, and The Accidental Tourist (this one directly lead to my discovery of and love of Corgis).

[@Emburbujada]

I love the score in this one. So good! And this is from the same director as The Crow, another of my favourite films!

[@sean-ito_kel1336]

This came out before THE MATRIX, and it had the same writers. There are DARK CITY AND MATRIX COMPARISON videos on KZbin. They’re actually pretty interesting.

[@djoneforever]

One of the greatest sci Fi movies ever made

[@MrDeadstu]

This movie was overshadowed by The Matrix at the box office, Dark City came out just before, in fact The Matrix actually used some of the sets from Dark City. Anyone that has seen this movie remembers it, it's a great film, cinematography is top notch.

[@JoeRandoms]

this movie is so cool visually

[@tomaszmankowski9103]

Great! I am glad you were given this chance to watch this movie. It was definetely a good decision to watch the Director's Cut. Sometimes the production studios just think the audience is too dumb and needs something explaining the plot, which will wreck the experience for some reason. I hope someone from the patrons suggested that - I think I did, but frankly I am not sure so cannot take credit for that. Ironically when I first watched the movie I've seen it in tv and was a minute or so too late, so skipped the nonsense introduction. Only years late I've learnt there is this introduction. Sometimes you are just that lucky. The movie has such an unique style and it might be the only 1950s-60s noir sf movie or the only, which was given such a great cast and plot. The Stangers definetely inspired some people, I think that Necromunda's Delaques are their depiction on the tabletop, even their weapons are kinda similar. Take care!

[@CamillaDrakenborg]

Since you are into all these older sci-fi´s currently I really do hope someone recommended 1995´s Screamers. If not, Recommended!!! I think its quite the underrated movie & havnt seen any react to it so Im itching for someone to discover it 😀

[@RemoGutierrez1]

John's hotel room is 614. John 6:14

[@CamillaDrakenborg]

Still got Dark City on VHS just no vhs player lol

[@Smileybeeblevrox]

The Matrix stole from this film and a comic book series called The Invisibles.

[@Jacana2k6]

The W's had the idea for the Matrix before they did the movie Bound which came out in 1996. They wanted to make the Matrix first but had not done a major movie yet so they did Bound instead. So unlikely they stole too much from this movie as it came out while filming the Matrix. More likely they were inspired/stole from The Invisibles.

[@sean-ito_kel1336]

@@Jacana2k6they had the same writing teams. So nobody really stole anything (except from comic). I saw in an interview (I can’t remember where) that one team member laughed and said, “So you just want us to write the same movie?”

[@Dmitriy.0]

The Matrix 0.1

[@themonkeytrainer]

Directed by Alex Proyas.

[@RemoGutierrez1]

🔥🔥🔥✌️

[@Pablo_sanz359]

The "experiment" the doctor was referring to during the initial telephone call was the one he was doing on John by imprinting memories of doctor teaching him the truth about the Strangers and how to beat them. The cocktail was not perfected yet at that point so he woke up in the middle of it. The doctor kept working on it some more, and when he was injected with the finished cocktail after he was captured, he gained the full power.