Dark City Director's Cut in 2006 (1 Viewer)

[Dave Mack]

Well, in Paul Sammon's book, "Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner" there is a whole section on this with a few people stating that Harrison hated the idea of the narration and having to record it three times, purposefully recited it badly on the third version, (according to Katy Haber, production executive who was actually at the recording session, page 298 of the book) hoping that they wouldn't be able to use it.... That's the version they released it with... So it's not a rumor to her as she went on record in the book saying that.
If Harrison denied it years later it wouldn't surprise me as it makes him look unprofessional. And I love Harrison, but the narration is awfully read IMHO.

 

[AlexCremers]

It's Katy Haber that is responsible for creating this rumour, but it's nothing more than an assessment. Her valuation is just her "take" on the matter. It's solely based on an assumption. It's how she sees it, or how she explains it to herself. Of course, it doesn't mean that's it's the truth.

Yes, Harrison hated the voice over, just like he hated the idea that he would be a replicant in the end.


Now, back to 'Dark City' or we both get banned !

 

[Dave Mack]

true, true...

Dark City is one of my faves but unfortunately I am VERY rainbow sensitive and it is one of the few titles I own that REALLY trigger the effect for me with my DLP.

 

[GuruAskew]

I've read that a lot of fans actually go to the effort of muting VO at the beginning every time they watch it, which strikes me as pretty absurd. I think there's a case to be made that this should be done the first time someone watches the movie, but what's the point of muting the VO on your second, third, fourth viewing, etc.? I'm sure these viewers haven't completely forgotten the events of the movie as a whole, so why make the effort to mute out a "spoiler"? Also, you aren't just muting the VO, you're muting the score, too. The whole thing just strikes me as sort of ridiculous.

 

[Citizen87645]

Yes, they might as well be sticking their fingers in their ears and saying "la la la" until it's over.

 

[gordon_campers]

I believe that in the script there were scenes involving a kid parents being taken or killed and the kid was found by the main character and rescued, i do not know if these scenes were shot or not

maybe these are some of the deleted scenes

 

[Carlo_M]

I actually have muted it once, when showing it to friends who had never seen the movie before. Afterwards, I explained why I did what I did and played the opening VO. All three (2 women, one man, in case anyone cares about how the sexes feel about it) agreed wholeheartedly that it was better without the VO.

Personally, even though I love this film and have it in my top 5 of the last 10 years, I don't watch it over and over and keep muting the intro. The 2 or 3 times I've seen it in the last few years, I've just started the movie and went and got a soda and chips or whatever while the opening VO is going on. By the time I get back to my couch the VO is pretty much done.

I certainly wouldn't call someone wanting to mute the VO as ridiculous, any more than I would call someone who transferred their original Star Wars Trilogy LDs onto DVD rather than watching the Special Edition DVDs. It's about trying to maintain the original intent or best experience of the movie.

If you don't like it, that's cool. But if it works for them, more power to 'em!

 

[Tim Glover]

I'll confess to have never seen Dark City. Should I pick up the current dvd which can be found for barely nothing or wait for the Director's Cut?

This is one of those films that everyone who has seen it really likes it but they also say you need to be in the mood for it too. It's been on my "must see" list for years.

 

[Paul.S]

Bill, Guo and Carlo:

Thx for your comments, Carlo.

The goal/ideal is to mute only the center channel audio if one has separates, maintaining the other channels' audio. This is the way it has been handled at some revival screenings.

-p

 

[GuruAskew]

Like I said, I understand doing it for the first time (and even on every subsequent viewing if that is your preference) but I just think it's absurd to mute it if you're familiar with the VO. I am, I've seen the movie with the VO every time I've watched it, and even if I were to mute it I would still be thinking "this is where the VO explains a big part of the story". The thought of someone sitting there pretending that they don't know what is being said in the VO is what I found ridiculous. I personally hope that the Director's Cut omits the VO (which I think is a pretty safe assumption) and I have no opposition to the removal of the VO from the theatrical version on a personal, case-by-case basis, I just see it as something illogical in any case other than a first viewing.

 

[Paul.S]

The first viewing of a picture is hardly the only one from which I derive meaning or pleasure, particularly with the passage of years.

-p

 

[Carlo_M]

Bill, the comparison was not meant to be an exact comparison, only to show that people are willing to do certain things to get the movies in the way they view to be the best.

The studio forced the VO for Dark City. Lucas forces the new changes in the SEs. The viewers are trying to remedy that by doing the various "fixes" whether it's muting the center channel or hanging on/transferring to their original SW LDs.

I understand YOU think it's ridiculous for YOU, but if it works for other people, who am I to judge?

Paul, not sure if your comment is directed at me

 

[AndrewWickliffe]

Word!

I haven't seen "Dark City" in years--though it's great--and I didn't remember the VO until it was brought up in this thread. If that's all the director's cut consists of... fine.

Actually--if that's all the eventual director's cut does consist of, someone please let us know. Muting is easier on the wallet than $20+

 

[Mike_Richardson]

When theatrically released, I walked into DARK CITY late -- literally when Rufus Sewell wakes up in the tub -- so I basically saw the movie as Proyas intended: as an evolving mystery, where you're trying to figure out what's going on.

It was only months later that I bought the DVD and saw how the opening narration RUINED a prime component of my enjoyment of the movie the first around. There is NO reason for that voice-over -- it spoils everything that you're about to see, and was so obviously added by the studio as a means of telling the audience what was happening as opposed to (what Proyas intended) them figuring it out on their own while the film went along.

I can't even draw a comparison between it and BLADE RUNNER. Whether you like it or not, at least in the latter the Ford narration provides some atmosphere and does clarify plot points.

The DARK CITY prologue empties the entire bag of tricks right up front at the start, and that was surely NOT the intention of the filmmakers.

I also have to disagree with the earlier poster. Saying "pressing mute is riduclous" IS ridiculous, because listening to that Sutherland intro up front ruins what ought to be one of the film's chief pleasures (that you're not completely sure what's happening and you can fill it out for yourself while the story unfolds). Sure, you can say it didn't "ruin it" for you on your first viewing, but frankly -- unless you saw the movie the very first time MINUS the narration -- you have no idea how much more effective the film plays out without the knowledge of the film's backdrop from the very first scene.

Subsequently, I'm all for this DVD!

 

[Cassy_w]

I clearly remember the test screening reviews posted and the film the director intended may not be as "quick cutting" as the one we saw. Dark Horizens has a very interesting post about this and I for one am very much looking forward to seeing the director's cut.

 

[Mark Lucas]

The fast editing pace is intentional. The director's cut will mostly contain new scenes that weren't shot.

 

[Quint van der Vaart]

The Folks at Mi-Casa Studios has it listed as being in the works for mixing and mastering in 2.0 , 5.1 and 6.1

 

[Carlo_M]

Quint, nice! Thanks for the heads-up. Any future updates will be greatly anticipated.

Mike, what a unique perspective! Thanks for sharing your experience. When I did mute the VO for my friends they reacted the same way upon hearing the VO after the movie was over, but you never know if they're just pleasing the host

 

[Lord Dalek]

Terrific, DTS.

 

[Paul.S]

Yeah, Quint--thank you. http://www.robertmargouleff.com/newsite/

I still remember being impressed with their re-mix work for the Platinum Se7en.

-p