I played as one of the extras in this movie. We didn't get paid, but they had catering. Free food all day and we got to hang around and watch how a movie is filmed. I still have one of the props from this movie up in the attic.

I looooved how John is "taught" how to use his powers via fake memories. That's just ridiculously cool!

Y'all caught me by surprise with this one. This is such an overlooked sci-fi classic from the 90's. Another totally unique, visual pleasure with an interesting story. Proyas was really firing on all cylinders during this time.

Funny you said something about Neil Gaiman. One of the writers of Dark City (David S. Goyer) actually helped develop and an executive producer on The Sandman with Neil Gaiman.

Great movie. Not many reactors react to it thanks for doing it. Matrix took this movie sets and reuse it but this movie came out first. You should also watch the 13th floor, The main lead actor play in "The illusionist" and "A Knight Tale" (Both good movies you should see) he also played in the Amazon almost perfect series (Until the destroyed it in the last season) "The Man in the High Castle"

*The 13th Floor* (1999) is a really good movie in the same vein. Highly recommended.

one of my all time favorite movies! truly a hidden gem, with twists and turns - so glad you enjoyed it!

So glad you're doing this one! Such an underrated flick!

So nice to see you two reacting to this one. This movie seems to have been mostly forgotten about but it has remained in my top 5 sci-films for quite a while.

Thank you for this reaction. Dark City is one of my favorite movies for many reasons. To me the most important scene is very early, when John has just woken up confused, left the tub and slipped a couple times he accidentally breaks the fish bowl, but immediately saves the fish by putting it into the much larger tub. This scene points to his basic compassion and humanity, which has survived hundreds or thousands of different personalities imprints. It's also an analogy for the entire plot of the movie: how he accidentally breaks the Dark City, but immediately also saves and improves it for its inhabitants, and creates the ocean surrounding the city.

"Neil Gaiman comic book" is so perfect. It's world building in a small form

Hey, Chandra and Jordan! 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! 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. 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 "Dangerous Beauty", "The Illusionist", "The Legend of Zorro", "The Man in the High Castle", "John Adams" and, currently, "The Diplomat". I wish automats would make a comeback. They were a real thing.

I haven't even watch the video yet, but I wanted to say thank you for doing what no other of the several dozens of film reactors I watch haven't done by watching this film.

One film that Alex Proyas directed that I think is a very underrated Drama/Apocalyptic/Sci-Fi movie is The Knowing. Nicolas Cage is a mathematician/scientist with a son, who receives from a time capsule a piece of paper with numbers on it. The sequence of numbers corresponds with disasters that have taken place, are taking place, and future disasters yet to come. Very intense movie with an underrated Nicholas Cage performance. Definitely check this movie out soon sometime.

Yes, such a gem. Delighted you watched it 🙂

30:30 you missed that Uncle Karl (who was in the wheelchair) was the guy who stood up to give his seat to Anna on the bus.

Hi, I was an extra in this film. I was one of the Strangers.....in the underground labyrinth, lair stuff. Shooting most of the 'tunings' 'imprints' and the end fight. You asked whether the area with the face/clock was real? The answer is yes. That whole space was built as you see it in the film. It was huge!! I think I spent a couple of weeks working on that. Actually have pics dressed as a Stranger with director Alex Proyas, Kiefer Sutherland and Rufus Sewell. Amazing memories. Amazing experience. Lucky to have worked on such a great film.

Fun fact the serial killer alien was Riff Raff from Rocky Horror Picture Show. He's so creepy here. Love the commentary, thanks for sharing!

Roger Ebert did the dvd commentary, it's a great watch.

ohhhhh! One of my favorites. This DVD had a pretty unique commentary by Roger Ebert because he loved the movie so much.

Bought this on vhs when it first came out as an unknown punt...turned out to be one of my favourite movies ever.

One of my favorite films ever. Sadly so few know about it ! And I still can't believe how criminally underrated it is ! Its just nuts ! No idea why most reactors don't watch this!! Cheers! PS: In many ways this movie is Matrix before the Matrix. Its quite easy to see the connections and similarities. Such a great unique film.

Do our memories alone make us who we are? If we injected all our memories into another person would they just do what we do? Or is there something else inside that makes us more than that? These are some of the questions this movie really makes you stop and think about. That isn't even getting into the whole though process of "what if someone is sculpting our reality?". fantastic movie.

Thank you both for reacting to this awesome film, as has been said several times virtually no one is reacting to this film, it's becoming forgotten by new generations online. I remember the trailers for Dark City on television, and for some dumb reason I did not go, probably because I was still in school with no money. I wish I had seen it in theaters, but then again, the Director's cut is the better experience, even if the original cut is edited in a very interesting way, no time wasted, one beat into the next. I remember first watching this one in VHS a long time ago, we'd rent movies on Sundays, and I was mesmerized by the story, it harks back to shows like The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, noir films, an amalgamation of all, the twists and revelations still shocking, even with the original opening intro. It was Roger Ebert's review of the movie that first got me interested in watching it, he said the movie is ..."not a story so much as an experience..." I think it was his favorite movie of that year, or up there at least. As others have said, look up his show review of it, and read his written review of it, and if you ever rewatch it, try to get his commentary track. Try to watch all the extras that were included in the VHSs/DVDs/Blu-rays from back then, they explain how the city was put together and the filmmakers' fascinating reasoning and techniques. Then the sets were reused in The Matrix. Recommendations for Christmas, I am very late here, I recommend Violent Night, fun Santa movie. Recommendations like this movie: The Matrix, of course. Others, not exactly these genres, but with the general vibes and themes, include Memento, Inception, and in tangential ways A Ghost Story, and Gattaca. For a sample of Ebert's review, look how many movies he compares to Dark City just in his opening: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Dark City'' by Alex Proyas is a great visionary achievement, a film so original and exciting, it stirred my imagination like "Metropolis'' and "2001: A Space Odyssey.'' If it is true, as the German director Werner Herzog believes, that we live in an age starved of new images, then "Dark City'' is a film to nourish us. Not a story so much as an experience, it is a triumph of art direction, set design, cinematography, special effects--and imagination. Like "Blade Runner,'' it imagines a city of the future. But while "Blade Runner'' extended existing trends, "Dark City'' leaps into the unknown. Its vast noir metropolis seems to exist in an alternate time line, with elements of our present and past combined with visions from a futuristic comic book. Like the first "Batman,'' it presents a city of night and shadows, but it goes far beyond "Batman'' in a richness of ominous, stylized sets, streets, skylines and cityscapes. For once a movie city equals any we could picture in our minds; this is the city "The Fifth Element'' teased us with, without coming through. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

So cool to see some reactors watch this film. An underrated classic, and not viewed on anywhere near enough reaction channels! And it features the fantastic British/New Zealand actor Richard O'Brien (from Rocky Horror Show, and host of a classic British TV game show The Crystal Maze) as Mr Hand. Another good sci-fi/mystery I'd suggest is The Thirteenth Floor.

One of the best 90s movies! The Matrix overshadowed it on release (ironically The Matrix used some of the same sets left over from Dark City in Australia). Sadly Alex Proyas never made any more films nearly as interesting. 'I, Robot' is an ok popcorn movie but you wouldn't really know it was made by him.

Awesome, this is a great movie. I highly recommend the movie Equilibrium, much like this movie I feel it is often overshadowed by The Matrix in its themes.

Predestination (2014) is very strange, dark and amazing. The City Of Lost Children (1995, French) is stranger, and extraordinary. I highly recommend both. The City Of Lost Children for atmosphere, Predestination for chewing over that ending for a long time, until you digest it.

One of my all-time faves. So glad you watched the Director's Cut!! The Theatrical version has a voice-over at the beginning which spoils a lot of the mysteries/surprises. It was really great to hear you APPRECIATE the mystery. 🙂 I discovered your channel from your "Edge of Tomorrow" reaction, and, there too, you enjoyed the fact that the story takes its time to reveal itself. I look forward to watching more movies "with" you guys. One of my favorite unfolding stories is "Pleasantville." It starts off seeming like a screwball comedy, but becomes so much more.

There is another similiar themed movie about the same time as the Dark City and the Matrix is the 1999 The Thirteenth Floor. Although it was a mystery much strait forward, but still quite fun to watch.

I saw a test screening of this well before it was released. Once this ended up coming out and being released on video it seemed so much different than the version I saw, but then that was the only version available for a while. Once I saw the directors cut I enjoyed it better than the theatrical, though in my head not nearly as much as the test version. However it had been so long in between with only one viewing of the test one there's no way to remember why it was so different, or if a lot of that was in my head.

The sound track contributes significantly to the atmosphere of the movie yet few reviewers acknowledge it.

I remember falling in love with this movie growing up... it was like the Matrix before the Matrix.. wish more people would experience or react to it more. Found your channel through LOTR reaction... can't wait to check out rest of your content. Subbed

One of my favorite Holiday movies is from Finland. "Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale" is a 2010 Finnish fantasy action horror comedy film written and directed by Jalmari Helander about people living near Korvatunturi who discover the secret behind Santa Claus. [Little known factoid from Dark City] the last of the aliens who John made the heart not the mind reference to had visited Earth before many many years. A film was made about how he and his sister and there friends came to earth to make the perfect man. 😏

I love the worldbuilding in this. The look and feel of it reminds me of Brazil (1985), directed by (Monty Python's) Terry Gilliam.

Violent night with David harbor, do good. Great video too lol

Love your movie choices! Other unique scifi movies that can be super easily recommended are District 9, Ex Machina, City of Lost children (weird but again atmospheric), Blade Runner (1982) ofc, Minority Report and maybe Arrival from more recent ones. You can say they belong in the arthouse category of sci-fi film-making for sure. PS: Also forgot the Thing (1982) for a more raw horror/scifi blend.

i love the psychic power showdown, usually psychic powers are displayed by moving objects and shattering things, as people look or stare, to see the waves of thought, the rippling, shuttering wave, seeing the telekinesis is such a comic touch

4:59😢, reactors usually skip the song, unaware of the posiible hint it may give. Blue Headscarf (Siniy platochek) is a 90 years old Russian song. It is possible that Bumstead is either the original Walenski, or used to have Walenski's identity and memories injected in the past...

Very underrated movie.. saw this when it came on video.. I was just taken by it.. such cool ideas. But batman returns is a great Christmas movie

Great! I can clearly see two faces and no pet! 😼👍

It's fascinating when you consider that in the span of 1998 to 1999 three iconic films came out which were all about a character discovering that they lived in an artificial reality that had been constructed around them to control and exploit them, and they ultimately learn how to take control of their reality themselves. So that was Truman Show and Dark City in 1998, and The Matrix, in 1999. Interestingly, Truman Show was written by New Zealand filmmaker, Andrew Niccol (see: 1997's Gattaca) and directed by Australian, Peter Weir. Dark City was written and directed by Australian, Alex Proyas, and sets from Dark City were reused in the Matrix in Australia where it was mostly filmed. I'm mostly mentioning that because I'm Australian. ;)

This is one of my favorites, I'm so glad you watched the director's cut.

It's so obvious that The Matrix was inspired by this film.

Hope you two are having an great and awesome day ❤

The Underworld section gave me strong H.R. Giger vibes.

Filmed here in Australia. Refreshingly seeing Sewell as something other than a bad guy

I love the fact that the doctor doesn't seem to be any particular age. Is he 28? Is he 52?

You need watch The Thirteenth Floor (1999)

12:29 I love how these creepy badass villains are doing this mundane factory work, to accomplish their dastardly deeds.

Whenever I shut my computer down I can't help but say (or at least think) "Shut it down! Shut it down forever!" While I did see Stand By Me before this movie, this is the first one I remember Kiefer Sutherland in and I still think it's probably his best role. It's definitely among my top 10 favourite movies. It's hard to do a proper review of it after only just having watched it. It sticks with you and you continue think about it for years. And I do mean years, I didn't see it in theaters, but grabbed it off the "new releases" shelf at the video rental store.

Congratulations! Hardly any reactors have watched this masterpiece, which is one of my 10 favorite science-fiction films. I loved your perceptive reaction to this, such as when Jordan noticed the change in the movie marquee from “The Evil” to “The Book of Dreams,” and Chandra’s recognition of how superbly this film imitates nightmares. I’ve decided to subscribe. I second the recommendation that you watch “The Thirteenth Floor.”

So glad you got to see the Director's Cut first. I saw this film in the cinema, and I felt the opening narration not only spoilt the twist, but also treated the audience like idiots.

there are a few movies i will instascribe to a channel for and THIS is one of them

Great Pick guys this movie is a classsic, some say an inspiration to the Matrix a few years later.

great reaction guys to a cult classic love this movie

It was filmed in Sydney in studios. Some of it was reused for the rooftop chase scene in Matrix 1.

Such a gem of a movie. One of the film's writers, Lem Dobbs, wrote another puzzle box type mystery movie called The Limey. For movies set around Christmas, I would recommend Go as a must watch.

Had never heard of this movie before- really fun to watch along.

Thank you for reacting to this masterpiece! You two are awesome!

Not enough reacts to this! Glad people are still finding this absolute gem. Not quite as perfect as this, but if you enjoy this tone, seek out The City of Lost Children.

Christmas movie suggestions: Gremlins, A Christmas Story, Die Hard, Home Alone, It's A Wonderful Life and Bad Santa are some of my favorite ones.

This is one of my favourite films! I love everything about it! I'd love to see you react to Coherence. It's so good, and no one reacts to it XD

Wintery and/or Christmas-y movies? Two that pop to mind are, "While You Were Sleeping" (1995), and the 1955 version of "We're No Angels" with Humphrey Bogart and Peter Ustinov. And of course, the institutional standbys of "It's a Wonderful Life" and "A Christmas Story".

Thanks for the review. This is my favourite movie and have watched it an embarrassing amount of times. For years you couldn't even get any reviews of it and it seems to have found a resurgence lately. It has such an eerie feeling and some amazing performances that mostly went under the radar because of other similar films out at the same time. Thanks for the review I really enjoyed it. I will only add one point that is a bit of a gaping hole. "Mr book, does he know?", should we not know Mr hand? ......you share one mind , I think you will know already 😅

Such an underrated masterpiece.

This was a unique one of a kind movie and came out about 1 year before the matrix did. It's a hidden gem that gets very little attention that it should have gotten over the decades it's been around. It was ground breaking and yet remains obscure. Another obscure movie that takes place around Christmas is a Canadian movie called, "Black Christmas" and was the inspiration for John Carpenter to create his first Halloween slasher movie. Other than that you might want to check out Tim Allan's movie called "Santa Clause" or the original 1951 A Christmas Carol, with Alistair Sims, colorized version if you can find it. All very well done movies.

Yes! Such a good movie. No one I knew at the time of this movies release, had seen this or had any plans to do so, which was disappointing to me. I would love to go into details as to why, but it might spoil other movies you intend to watch, at some point. Anyway, great stuff 🍺 🍿(Edit) - Movie suggestions with similarities: - The Matrix - The Truman Show - Inception

One of the best science fiction movies ever made and I remember hearing about a possible Dark City show at one point. I would like to see more of this world.

Some xmas suggestions: The Family Stone Fred Claus Klaus (Netflix animation) Noelle'

I remember seeing this at the Cinema and being blown away by it - I agree that voice over was a bad idea but its only a spoiler in retrospect it didn't truly spoil it for me at the time but it did make me pay more attention to everything as the film went on and made me better appreciate all its clues. This film and Ghost in the Shell is the reason I didn't see the Matrix as such an original Idea (I liked it at the time it was cool and that but I didn't see it as an original thought provoking masterpiece people presented it as - not saying they copied but you can see the inspirations - like Star wars did but rougher). In fact this film got across a lot of the same concepts and ideas better in one film (in a style and aesthetic I preferred) than the Matrix ever did with a Bloated trilogy. While this is probably the best film Proyas has ever done (iRobot is a guilty pleasure for me - a daft film and a bad example of how to adapt something but fun and well made) the Wachowskis better films Bound and V for Vendetta (a great example of how to adapt something) get over shadowed by the Matrix also - I highly recommend both of them if you haven't seen them.

My all time favorite Christmas movie is The Family Stone

Is it weird to say my favourite Christmas movie is 'Black Christmas' from 1974. If you want horror in your Christmas movies and a well made film then I suggest that. Great reactions as always. 👍🏻

If you haven’t seen them, essential Christmas movies to watch are It’s A Wonderful Life and The Bishop’s Wife.

Christmas movie suggestion "The Ref" w/ Denis Leary. Quirky Xmas comedy.

I absolutely love this film

Loved this movie! By the director of “ the crow”.

Underrated movie.

For me it is a great Movie, thank you for the Reaction.

one of my favorite fantasy movies. I especially like that it leaves a lot of questions unanswered…

1:19 fun christmas movies 🤔 ...Rare Exports 🇫🇮 👍

Just stumbled onto this channel. Great reaction. John begins the movie in room 614: From the New Testament, John 6:14, After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” That's a reference to the movie's hero.

Love this version of the movie. The narration actually gives away the origin of The Strangers, hinting at their extraterrestrial existence.

For more mind bending movies definitely watch Donnie Darko (I'd suggest theatrical cut), Memento, and A Scaner Darkly.

I only recently discovered this film despite having known about it for decades and the endless comparisons with The Matrix. It's funny because just by looking at the cover, it looks like a straight up horror film, but it's not. It's not even scary, but more of a thriller mystery. It makes sense since it's an Alex Proyas film of The Crow fame. While The Matrix overshadows this and the two films deal with fairly similar themes, they go about them very differently. Matrix is a sci-fi cyberpunk film that prattles on with preachy exposition and has lots of action. Dark City, on the other hand, is a brooding neo noir mystery with gothic horror and German expressionistic elements. It's show, don't tell. I find Dark City to be much more cerebral and more like my favorite film, Blade Runner. Dare I say, I found Dark City to be a better film overall in terms of narrative cohesion, even if The Matrix is more remembered in pop culture.

Hell yes! Subscribed.

Director Alex Proyas claims this film was held back for over a year and that during that time, it was screened for the filmmakers who were going to make the Matrix. That would explain a lot of the similarities between the films. The Matrix even reused rooftop sets from Dark City.

Great movie. Love me some Gnostic/Dick/jung/sci-fi mash up. This film probably does it better than any other (honourable mention to first season of west world). Cool reaction.

I can tell you, in 1997, after The Crow and this flick, my high school friends and I expected Alex Proyas to be one of the future masters of Hollywood. Then... it went downhill. Why, Alex, whyyyy.

Interestingly, we have no idea how time is measured in the city. It's possible that one iteration of reality may only take 12 hours or it's possible that it takes less time. We are never explicitly told that the clock is based on earth time. 12 to 12 may be 6 of our hours, 12 of our hours, 24 of our hours. It may be 30 minutes, 1.5 hours, or 4 hours. There's an infinite time that one of their hours can last.

Add DONNIE DARKO, the director's edition

a strange but very interesting movie

Another Kiefer Sutherland movie suggestion - "The Vanishing" 1993 also starring Sandra Bullock and Jeff Bridges. Kiefer was great in the tv series "24" too.

Themes overlap with Total Recall (1990), The Matrix, Gattaca. You've already seen They Live.

Nice! You seem quite intelligent and got the concepts pretty well. This is one of a very select group of channels that is willing to look at some of the better, but more obscure films. Some recommendations: Sci-Fi with somewhat similar feel (and from the same era): Gattaca (1997) Equilibrium (2002) Not Sci-Fi, somewhat similar feel: Mexico City (2000) Black Swan (2010) The Replacement Killers (1998) I have just subscribed.

On your free time.. I recommend a rewatch with Roger Ebert's commentary track. It's amazing.

This came out before The Matrix.

FYI This movie was heavily influenced by the German Expressionist films of the silent era. The strange dark visuals and even the buildings growing and morphing come from silent German movies. The look of the alien parasites who took over dead human bodies, the look of them pale faced and in their long black coats also comes straight out of the silent German expressionist films.

This was better than The Matrix.

Thank you So much for reviewing the Director's cut. The voiceover at the start is so unnecessary and full of spoilers it totally ruins the film. We Need the uncertainty and to discover things with the character to appreciate the film.