Dark City

DVD Details: Anamorphic Widescreen/Fullscreen Audio Tracks: English, French, 2 Commentary Tracks Subtitles: English/French/Spanish Talent Bios/Filmographies Trailer/Set Designs Find Shell Beach "Game" Comparison to Metropolis! R, 96 minutes

Imagine one day you wake up, and it looks like you've just done something very bad, but you can't remember anything. Not how you got there, not your name, nothing. What would you do? This is the situation John Murdoch finds himself in. As he tries to figure out what's going on, things get weird. For one, it never seems to be day. And everyone talks about heading out to Shell Beach to relax, and yet no one can remember how to get there. Soon it's revealed that everyone is being manipulated by a group known only as The Strangers, and it's left up to John (how surprising) to make things right.

This was the first DVD I ever bought. I had read a "review" at some point after the movie had left the theaters, and decided this movie was as good as any to be the first DVD I bought. After much searching and analyzing, I decided it was a good disc and finally bought it. How happy I was when I got it. This disc is one of the nicest I have, especially considering that it was a relatively early DVD release. When most discs were only carrying a movie and the trailer, the guys at New Line were rolling out a disc any collector would be proud to own.

The movie is very good quality, as is it be expected with the anamorphic transfer present. There's also a full-frame version on the flip side, but I've never looked at it. I assume it's fine, but I wouldn't recommend watching it that way if you have a big enough TV/monitor. The menus are well done, animated in a very nice, surreal way.

There are TWO commentary tracks on this disc, one by portly movie critic Roger Ebert, and another with the Director, Writers, and a couple other people involved with the movie's Production. Both are interesting as commentaries go, and contain some nice insights. There are also a few other extras, like a little game, some Set Designs, and the obligatory trailer. Looking back, I think the reason I didn't see this movie when it was released in theaters was because I had no idea what it was about. The trailer looks nice, but keeps the movie a mystery. (Isn't that just like The Matrix too?)

which brings me to the bulk of this review. I saw this movie after I saw the Matrix, and I immediately noticed a LOT of parallels. If you've seen them both, I'm sure you feel the same way. If I had seen Dark City FIRST, you bet I'd be yelling "Copy Cat!" to everyone that brought up The Matrix. I would consider Dark City much more dark, and in some ways it's even better than The Matrix. Both are based on the idea that this world is not real, but Dark City has a much more twisted sense to it. Not that I expected something happy from the director of The Crow.

In a general sense, this movie is more for the sci-fi/film noir person, but it's really a good movie that could be enjoyed by almost anyone who likes a good mystery. I didn't hear much about this movie when it came out, I guess it was just a bit early for the alternate reality crowd. I'm really glad I have this disc now, as it's a fairly unknown, but very good movie. I think it'll be one of those movies that people say "Oh, I've never heard of this one, what's it like?" And this is a very nice way of presenting it to those people. I have to commend the guys behind this disc, and hope that other DVD makers will look to it as an example of the right way to do a disc.