UHD Review Dark City: Limited Edition — 4K UHD review (2 Viewers)

[Robert Crawford]

But there is a standard 4k release coming.
It just drops the theatrical cut.
I don't believe it will be available again in 4k on a standard edition.

I just checked, according to DVD Profiler, it only has the theatrical cut. Is that correct?

Edit: I just checked Arrow's site, they're only showing one 4K/UHD release that is called the Limited Edition with two 4K/UHD discs with the theatrical and director's cut on different 4K discs.

 

[DaveF]

Dave,

In the coming months, there is a likely going to be a standard 4K/UHD release of this film that will be much cheaper than this current 4K/UHD release. It won't have the booklet but will have the same 4K/UHD disc.

Excellent! I don’t care about collectibles. Just want the movie and special features / commentaries. I’ll pay $25 to $35 for that.

But there is a standard 4k release coming.
It just drops the theatrical cut.
I don't believe it will be available again in 4k on a standard edition.

I don’t remember the difference between the two cuts. One has an opening monologue? Despite having collected various cuts of some favorite, movies, I never get around to watching the non-recommend versions. As long as the standard 4K release has the “correct” presentation, I’ll be fine.

 

[Konstantinos]

@Robert Crawford
No. The standard edition has only the director's cut.

Dark City 4K Blu-ray (Director's Cut | Standard Edition) (United Kingdom)

Dark City 4K Blu-ray Release Date July 21, 2025 (Director's Cut | Standard Edition). Blu-ray reviews, news, specs, ratings, screenshots. Cheap Blu-ray movies and deals.

www.blu-ray.com

It's like with their Robocop release on UHD.

 

[Robert Crawford]

@Robert Crawford
No. The standard edition has only the director's cut.

Dark City 4K Blu-ray (Director's Cut | Standard Edition) (United Kingdom)

Dark City 4K Blu-ray Release Date July 21, 2025 (Director's Cut | Standard Edition). Blu-ray reviews, news, specs, ratings, screenshots. Cheap Blu-ray movies and deals.

www.blu-ray.com

It's like with their Robocop release on UHD.

That's coming to the UK in another three weeks with a July 21st release date.

 

[Konstantinos]

I don’t remember the difference between the two cuts. One has an opening monologue?

I don't know, but apparently everyone says the theatrical cut ruins the film by explaining the plot in the first minutes, while in the director's cut you discover what's going on bit by bit alongside the characters.

 

[DaveF]

Someone yell at me when the standard release is out

 

[Robert Crawford]

Someone yell at me when the standard release is out

Yeah, Arrow is confusing sometimes with their releases.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I'm glad back in March; I preordered Dark City and Swordfish 4K/UHDs and received both of them for a total of $66.47 including shipping cost from Rarewaves.

 

[pitchman]

Wonderful review! Thank you! I am still anxiously waiting for my Amazon pre-order to ship. IIRC, it went from release day Prime shipping to we'll let you know when we have date...and it's been stuck there ever since. This has been happening more often than not with Amazon pre-orders and there does not appear to be any rhyme nor reason to how they ship their pre-orders. I've had things I pre-ordered on Day One get held up while others have pre-ordered the same thing a couple of days before release and they still get it on release day. A simple first in / first out policy seems more fair to me.

 

[JohnRice]

Arrow seems to play marketing games with us stupid yanks that they don't do over the pond. They release a Limited Edition, which sells out, but profiteers have grabbed them and try to sell for a premium. Then, months later, a cheaper, regular edition comes out, or more limited editions show up. They don't seem to do this outside our shores. The problem might be more due to the profiteers grabbing up copies, hoping to sell them for 2-4x the regular price.

Anyway, this release looks excellent. The DC scenes are just slightly less resolved than the rest, but honestly I don't know if it's noticeable unless you know which scenes they are.

 

[JoshZ]

He's trying to do Peter Lorre. Is that hard to understand?

For audiences in 1998 who'd never heard of Peter Lorre and had probably never seen a classic film before, that was apparently quite difficult to understand, unfortunately.

I don’t remember the difference between the two cuts. One has an opening monologue?

I don't know, but apparently everyone says the theatrical cut ruins the film by explaining the plot in the first minutes, while in the director's cut you discover what's going on bit by bit alongside the characters.

I like the theatrical cut. Some fans get really up in arms about the opening narration giving away who the "Strangers" are right away, but I don't think that's too detrimental to the story, personally.

The two versions of the movie are edited very differently. The theatrical version cuts every shot to the barest number of frames required to convey its purpose, and moves at a much more rapid cut-cut-cut-cut-cut-cut-cut rhythm. This is intentionally disorienting and creates great feelings of tension and unease.

The director's cut has much more traditional pacing. Shots are allowed to linger and breathe. It feels like a completely different movie. In my opinion, it loses a lot of the dynamic tension.

Yes, the director's cut drops that opening narration to withhold the identity of the Strangers until the end. But honestly, would anyone have not figured that out right away anyway? It's not really much of a mystery.

 

[Citizen87645]

It's been a minute since I watched either cut. But I do kind of recall preferring the theatrical cut, but I wasn't sure if that's just because that's the one I saw first or was used to.

Narration tends to be pooh-poohed as a rule, but I think it can work sometimes.

 

[Bryan^H]

I hope I don't regret having bought this! (I have watched it in the past but I don't remember anything at all). Thank you for your review!

I bought the DVD when it was released so many years ago. Solely because of the glowing review from Roger Ebert. I didn’t care for it. I watched it a second time to try and warm up to I before I sold it.
Some movies aren’t for everyone.

 

[Konstantinos]

I bought the DVD when it was released so many years ago. Solely because of the glowing review from Roger Ebert. I didn’t care for it. I watched it a second time to try and warm up to I before I sold it.
Some movies aren’t for everyone.

You know, these limited editions, the 4k format, the glowing reviews on the disc quality and the enthusiasm from many people get me all the time and I may buy movies I don't really need!

 

[Bryan^H]

You know, these limited editions, the 4k format, the glowing reviews on the disc quality and the enthusiasm from many people get me all the time and I may buy movies I don't really need!

Yeah…me too.

 

[tenia]

Someone yell at me when the standard release is out

It's easy : the LE is out, and the standard one will be on July 21st and drops the disc with the theatrical cut.

 

[Keith Cobby]

I bought the DVD when it was released so many years ago. Solely because of the glowing review from Roger Ebert. I didn’t care for it. I watched it a second time to try and warm up to I before I sold it.
Some movies aren’t for everyone.

Same here. I'm a big fan of Rufus Sewell (Aurelio Zen) but the film didn't work for me.

 

[dpippel]

I bought the DVD when it was released so many years ago. Solely because of the glowing review from Roger Ebert. I didn’t care for it. I watched it a second time to try and warm up to I before I sold it.
Some movies aren’t for everyone.

Yes, as with all art, the enjoyment of any particular film is completely subjective. Sorry that Dark City isn't your cup of tea. I love it.

 

[Brian Kidd]

Dark City is a nearly-perfect film. I'm with Ebert on this one. The new disc looks fantastic. The original New Line DVD was the first DVD I ever bought back around 1998. This is like watching a different film.

 

[Douglas Bailey]

It’s fairly divisive. Not much middle ground.

No? I've always been in the middle ground about it, myself. Great cast (Ian Richardson, Richard O'Brien, and Bruce Spence!), atmospheric cinematography and production design, and a story that does The Matrix before The Matrix did it… but with a bit more "leading man as super-special hero" and "leading woman as Born Sexy Yesterday" than I'd like. And I've never found Kiefer Sutherland's performance all that wonderful. It's a film I like, but not a film I adore.