A stunning cyber-punk visual tour-de-force

Rating: 9/10 (18 April 2000)

Directed by Aussie Alex Proyas (The Crow') & with an all-star & very British cast including Rufus Sewell, William Hurt, Kiefer Sutherland, Jennifer Connolly, Ian Richardson & Mr. Rocky Horror' himself, the great Richard O'Brien, Dark City' is a moody, spectacular & visually stunning cyber-punk' sci-fi thriller.
It reminds me of a very good dance track put together by a top DJ using loads of samples from many older & diverse tracks. Although borrowing inspiration from & copying the work of others the DJ, using his skill & creativity, messes around with then mixes the individual samples together, adds his own touches, & shapes it all into something that exceeds the sum of it's parts & takes on an entirely new identity of it's own.
So it is with this film: borrowing/sharing ideas from (for instance) the original Star Trek' TV series, Michael Moorcock's The Dancers at the End of Time' books, films such as Blade Runner' & The City of Lost Children', & more recent films The Truman Show' & The Matrix'; Dark City' has very little that I haven't seen before in some way or other, but it manages to mesh it's disparate strands into an end product that is fresh, original & highly entertaining.
The eponymous dark city, unbeknown to it's population, is ruled over by mysterious cadaverous beings known only as The Strangers'. These beings have the power to reshape matter at will with the help of great machines underneath the city, a process they call tuning'. Every day at the same time they put everyone in the city to sleep in order to retune' their city environment & reprogram their memories, with the help of psychiatrist Dr. Schreber (Sutherland).
Occasionally a city inhabitant wakes up while he is being reprogrammed' & realises the awful truth, usually leading to madness &/or death. John Murdoch (Sewell) however is different - not only does he escape when he awakes but he somehow himself gains the ability to tune'. In their determination to capture him the Strangers not only chase him themselves but also frame him for a series of vicious murders. Meanwhile Murdoch is desperately trying to find Shell Beach' - a place of which everyone knows but for which they can never quite remember the directions. He vividly remembers spending his childhood there & feels that if he can find it he can escape to freedom.
Plotwise there isn't an awful lot else to it  will the Strangers &/or the police find Murdoch - & if so can he fight them off  or will he find his mythical Shell Beach & escape? Is there a way to defeat the Strangers? And exactly what is the dark city' anyway?
As good as all this is, where this film really excels is stylistically & visually: in those regards this is one of the most amazing films that I have ever seen  the designs, the sets, the costumes, the special effects & the film's overall look & feel are simply stunning. There are images here that are I think some of the most striking in cinema history.

I enjoyed this film immensely  for sheer visual impact & atmosphere it's hard to beat, & the Strangers are some of the most flesh-crawlingly creepy villains I've ever seen. Although I found the plot to be somewhat inconsistent, there's enough to maintain interest, & there's a great surprise or 2 towards the end.
Overall Dark City' is a very rich & rewarding experience, & one that I can thoroughly recommend.