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Dom Robinson reviews
Entertainment In Video
- Cat.no: EDV 9005
- Cert: 15
- Running time: 96 minutes
- Year: 1998
- Pressing: 1999
- Region(s): 2 (UK PAL)
- Chapters: 16
- Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 (Dolby Surround)
- Languages: English
- Subtitles: English
- Widescreen: 2.35:1 (Super 35)
- 16:9-enhanced: No
- Macrovision: No
- Disc Format: DVD 5
- Price: £19.99
- Extras : Scene index, trailer, ‘making of’ featurette.
Director:
- Alex Proyas
(The Crow)
Producer:
- Andrew Mason and Alex Proyas
Screenplay:
- Alex Proyas, Lem Dobbs and David S. Goyer
Music:
- Trevor Jones
Cast:
- John Murdoch: Rufus Sewell (Amy Foster, Carrington, Cold Comfort Farm, Dirty Weekend, Hamlet (1997), Martha Meet Frank…, TV: “Middlemarch”, “The Woodlanders”)
Inspector Frank Bumstead: William Hurt (The Accidental Tourist, Alice, Altered States, The Big Chill, Body Heat, Broadcast News, Children of a Lesser God, The Doctor, Gorky Park, I Love You To Death, Jane Eyre (1996),Kiss of the Spider Woman, Lost in Space, Michael, Mr Wonderful, One True Thing, Second Best, Smoke, Trial By Jury, Until the End of the World,TV: A Midsummer Night’s Dream)
Dr. Daniel Poe Schreber: Kiefer Sutherland (Bright Lights Big City, The Cowboy Way, Eye For An Eye, A Few Good Men, Flashback, Flatliners,The Lost Boys, Renegades, Stand By Me, The Three Musketeers (1993), A Time To Kill, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, The Vanishing, Young Guns 1 & 2)
Emma Murdoch/Anna: Jennifer Connelly (Career Opportunities, Higher Learning, Inventing the Abbots, Labyrinth, Mulholland Falls, The Rocketeer)
Mr. Hand: Richard O’Brien (The Rocky Horror Show, TV: The Crystal Maze)
Dark Cityis a dark, psychological thriller which is a follow-up to Alex Proyas’ equally-darkThe Crow. Rufus Sewell plays John Murdoch, a man who has a rudeawakening when he surfaces from his bath to find that he’s wanted for a seriesof brutal murders. He can’t remember a thing and that includes all memoriesof his beautiful wife Emma (Jennifer Connelly).
As he tries to unravel the mysteries of the past which takes him into a bizarreunderworld where he is chased by the police (led by William Hurt) andsome weird shadow-like men named The Strangers, led by Mr. Hand (RichardO’Brien), there’s only one man who can possibly help him – the sinisterDoctor Schreber (Kiefer Sutherland).
From then on this film is difficult to describe. There’s no doubting that it’s a visual feast, it has a promising start and there’s some genuinely intriguingmoments, but there’s just not enough substance to make it last the full 96minutes. The best moments come at midnight each night when the normal populustake an enforced nap. The building morph all around them and when they awakethey don’t seem to realise. During this time, John Murdoch is one of the fewwho doesn’t fall asleep and he has to use this time wisely, while coming toterms with the fact that he’s adopted some of the ‘special powers’ that theStrangers use.
The film has a few cameos from Ian Richardson as one of the Strangers,Mr. Book, Australian actor Colin Friels, who you may remember fromBen Elton’s Stark as Eddie Walenski and Melissa George as May.She also played Home And Away‘s Angel.
Several releases down the line and EiV still haven’t quite grasped thebenefits of anamorphic presenations for all their releases. The Americans hadone for their Special Edition, but we are bypassed here – this is a shame asthe set design is brilliant. That said, it is one of the better non-anamorphicpictures I have seen. The average bitrate is a fine 5.34Mb/s, occasionallypeaking at 9Mb/s.
The sound is very good indeed, with a couple of numbers from actress-cum-chanteuseJennifer Connelly, one of them being “Sway”, recently remade and nearlytopping the charts as “(Mucho Mambo) Sway”, as part of the Latin dance movementsweeping the charts. However, while the Americans were treated to a DolbyDigital 5.1 soundtrack, we only get makeshift Dolby Surround or ProLogic giventhe particular amplifier in use. I have to ask why, since Surround/Prologic-onlyis nothing but a backward step.
Extras : Chapters & Trailer :A mere 16 chapters cover the 96 minutes of film which isn’t enough. The originaltheatrical trailer is also included. Languages & Subtitles :Just one language for this disc – English in Dolby Surround – and with subtitlesin the same language. ‘Making of’ featurette :A five-minute ‘making of’ featurette is included but it’s more like an extendedtrailer and doesn’t offer any more insight into the film.
What’s missing ? :
Stacks of things. We are asked to pay twenty notes for the UK release, but aswell as an anamorphic transfer and a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack the Americansgot a lot more for their dollar :
- Full animated menuTwo audio commentaries: one from film critic Roger Ebert andthe other from director Alex Proyas, writers Lem Dobbs andDavid Goyer and production designer Patrick Tatopoulos.Biographies and FilmographiesComparisons to Fritz Lang‘s MetropolisSet Designs
Menu :
The menu is static and silent with a dull menu that’s meant to represent cog-wheelsas featured in the film.
Even if you’re a fan of this film I can’t recommend it over the Americanrelease, unless you’ve no intention to buy into Dolby Digital sound, widescreentelevision and like being fleeced of £20. If you’ve not seen the filmbefore and have a taste for the bizarre then I’d recommend you rent it. If youstill like it and have the requisite hardware, buy the Region 1 DVD.
For those interested in Alex Proyas‘ previous work, a review ofThe Crow (PAL Laserdisc)can be found online by clicking on the title.
FILM : **½PICTURE QUALITY : ****SOUND QUALITY: ****EXTRAS: *½——————————-OVERALL: ***
Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 1999.
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.