A true modern-day classic...

Rating: 10/10 (30 July 2008)

I remember as a boy, having my father bring in the VHS copy of "Dark CIty" from Blockbuster and being nothing short of mesmerized by it's entire set-up. A complete decade later, I decide to pop in my DVD copy of "Dark City" and let me just say, the film still holds its ground to this very day. Roger Ebert did his own commentary on the movie, and I like how he describes movies like this as a genre in themselves because only were special effects truly starting to evolve at this point. The characters are able to interact with this strange world, and it makes for visually striking images. Lots of things can look corny, due to age, but it's almost a window into the 90s and, in my own opinion, it's spark of creativity seen in almost every faucet of life. Dark City portrays the idea of what-if. What if mankind were nothing more than guinea pigs? Our very existence completely controlled by highly-evolved beings who use us as experiments to find out how mankind is able to withstand the test of time, and remain plentiful in population. The beings are described as Strangers. Almost a homage to the one thing every parent tells their kids, "Don't talk to strangers." In the Strangers world, they are able to distort the reality using telepathic technology that allows to literally make their own world. This becomes their testing lab, and the humans are the lab rats. They make only one city, and in this city they implant entire memories with surroundings to match. This manipulation of reality is called "tuning" as chosen by the Strangers. From picture in your wallet, to the mansion over your head, they provide literally everything to the human race, in hopes of discovering some kind of pattern that would let them save the Strangers dwindling population. The Strangers change everything around, during a complete shutdown where all time freezes and humans simply sleep through the time. During this time everything is changed and they have a specific human help to do their work. Dr. Daniel P. Schreber implants memories into peoples foreheads, using syringes full of chemicals that act almost as a disk for a computer. He implants the memories, making a middle class slob into a hoity-toity millionaire. Every once in a while, people wake up during the shutdown, and see what happens. Strangers merely round these people up, either starting over again with them, or killing them. One of these strays though is different than the rest. A man by the name of John Murdoch has the same ability to "tune" just like the strangers. Perhaps it is human evolution, the ability to adapt, when the Strangers realize that Murdoch is able to do something no other beings but themselves should do, they realize the answer to their questions may have just been answered. One problem, John Murdoch woke up during a memory replacement procedure. Incomplete, Murdoch was only able to pick up fragments of his memories. He was intended to be a killer, but even with the memories, he knows that deep down, that is not what he is. So he sets off, to not only find who he is, but also tries to define what is reality, not just in his own life, but in the entire world around him. As a good movie lover, I'll try not to go too deep into the plot, and let you, the reader, watch what is quite possibly one of the greatest sci-fi films ever made. The cinematography, the well acted parts, the striking images created from the settings and wardrobe. This movie still grabs me as much as it did ten years ago. It's no secret that the plot in of itself is not original, nor is it perfect, but I'll agree with Roger Ebert and say this one deserves to stand the test of time, and be called a true classic.