‘Dark City’: The Nearly Forgotten ’90s Cult Classic From ‘The Crow’ Director Gets A 4K UHD Release
The good people at Arrow Video have announced an upcoming 4K Ultra HD release of the vastly underrated 1998 steampunk noir, Dark City, from director Alex Proyas (The Crow). It will be available to order on June 24th, along with 2001’s Swordfish, and Roadhouse from 1989, but this article isn’t about vastly overrated movies. The limited edition 4K/Blu-ray set will include the acceptable theatrical cut, the superior director’s cut, and enough bonus features to create an eternal night for all fans of the forgotten classic.
There was actually a time (and not too long ago) when finding a physical copy of the film was harder than trying to find someone who can give accurate directions to Shell Beach. But that spiraling goose chance has finally ended, and the time has come to shine a light on this flawed masterpiece for a new audience to discover.
The movie stars Rufus Sewell as Mr. John Murdoch. He’s a troubled cuck whose problems escalate when he wakes up in a hotel bathtub with no memory, no idea how he got there, and a dead prostitute lying on the bedroom floor with spirals carved into her chest. Now a fugitive, John walks the streets of a city that never sees dawn, trying to figure out who he is, the meaning behind the weird, seemingly artificial fragments of memories from his past, and who is setting him up to be the next Jack the Ripper.
Things only get crazier when John notices that everyone in the city automatically falls asleep every time the clock strikes 12 o’clock (regardless of wherever they are at that time), while being stalked by a crazed doctor (Kiefer Sutherland) who’s trying to help him (but also acts like he’s getting way too high off of his own supply), and pursued by the strange beings behind the murderous mystery…
First, there was darkness. Then came the Strangers. They are a parasitic, semi-hive-minded race as old as time itself that mastered the ultimate technology. The ability to alter physical reality by will alone (and also to knock people out by whispering, “Sleep, now…” while waving a hand across their faces). They call this ability “Tuning,” but they are also dying. Their civilization was in decline, and so they abandoned their world seeking a cure for their own mortality. Their endless journey brought them to a small, blue world far across the galaxy. Our world. Here they thought they had finally found what they had been searching for…and it would come to them in the form a cuck.
It also stars ageless goddess, Jennifer Connelly, as John’s unfaithful (but remorseful) wife; the always reliable William Hurt, the detective trying to catch the killer; and the always fabulous Richard O’Brien (a.k.a. Riff Raff from The Rocky Horror Picture Show), as the sadistic Mr. Hand (and not Handyman!). He’s a seemingly more independent Stranger who leads the pursuit to apprehend John, and take him back to their subterranean domain, so they can convert him to their monochromatic alien ways with a bit of the mind flip.
Dark City is currently available to rent on the not-so-optimus Prime, and always remember to never talk to strangers.
Here are the contents of the limited 4K UHD release:
- Brand new 4K restoration from the original 35 mm camera negatives approved by director of photography Dariusz Wolski
- 4K Ultra HD (2160p) Blu-ray presentations of both the director’s cut and theatrical cut of the film
- Original DTS-HD MA 5.1, stereo 2.0 and new Dolby Atmos audio options for both cuts of the film
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- 60-page perfect bound collectors book featuring new writing by author Richard Kadrey, and film critics Sabina Stent, Virat Nehru, and Martyn Pedler
- Limited edition packaging featuring newly commissioned artwork by Doug John Miller
- Double-sided fold-out poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Doug John Miller
- Three postcard-sized reproduction art cards
- Postcard from Shell Beach
- Dr. Schreber business card
DISC 1: DIRECTOR’S CUT
- Brand new audio commentary by director Alex Proyas
- Brand new audio commentary with Craig Anderson, Bruce Isaacs, and Herschel Isaacs, co-hosts of the Film Versus Film podcast
- Archive audio commentary by director Alex Proyas
- Archive audio commentary by film critic Roger Ebert
- Archive audio commentary by writers Lem Dobbs and David S. Goyer
- Archive introduction by Alex Proyas
- Return to Dark City, a new hour-long documentary featuring interviews with director Alex Proyas, producer Andrew Mason, production designers Patrick Tatopoulos and George Liddle, costume designer Liz Keough, storyboard artist Peter Pound, director of photography Dariusz Wolski, actor Rufus Sewell, hair and makeup artist Leslie Vanderwalt, and VFX creative director Peter Doyle
- Rats in a Maze, a new visual essay by film scholar Alexandra West
- I’m as Much in the Dark as You Are, a new visual essay by film scholar Josh Nelson on film noir and identity in Dark City
- Design and storyboards
DISC 2: THEATRICAL CUT
- Archive audio commentary by director Alex Proyas, writers Lem Dobbs and David S. Goyer, director of photography Dariusz Wolski, and production designer Patrick Tatopoulos
- Archive audio commentary by film critic Roger Ebert
- Memories of Shell Beach, a 2008 featurette in which cast and crew look back at the making of the film from concept to reception
- Architecture of Dreams, a 2008 featurette presenting five perspectives on the themes and meanings of the film
- Theatrical trailer
- Image gallery
NEXT: ‘Locked’ Review – Parked and Injurious
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