UHD Review Dark City: Limited Edition — 4K UHD review (1 Viewer)

[Lord Dalek]

JFTR the big twist in Dark City (the one everybody thinks The Matrix ripped off) wasn't even that original in the first place. Megazone 23 did it back in 1986.

 

[JoshZ]

JFTR the big twist in Dark City (the one everybody thinks The Matrix ripped off) wasn't even that original in the first place. Megazone 23 did it back in 1986.

Does anyone really think The Matrix "ripped off" Dark City? The two movies were made almost back-to-back and even shared some filming locations. Movie production simply doesn't move fast enough to crank out a script, get it greenlit and financed, and start shooting that quickly.

The "Reality is all a simulation!" theme was just circulating in the collective consciousness toward the end of the millennium. Other movies that played with that same idea at the time include The Thirteenth Floor and eXistenZ.

 

[Lord Dalek]

Does anyone really think The Matrix "ripped off" Dark City? The two movies were made almost back-to-back and even shared some filming locations. Movie production simply doesn't move fast enough to crank out a script, get it greenlit and financed, and start shooting that quickly.

The "Reality is all a simulation!" theme was just circulating in the collective consciousness toward the end of the millennium. Other movies that played with that same idea at the time include The Thirteenth Floor and eXistenZ.

Yes there are people online who think The Matrix copied Dark City. But more likely it ripped off the afforementioned Megazone 23 on top of all the other animes it swiped from (GITS, Dominion Tank Police, etc.) instead.

 

[JoshZ]

Yes there are people online who think The Matrix copied Dark City. But more likely it ripped off the afforementioned Megazone 23 on top of all the other animes it swiped from (GITS, Dominion Tank Police, etc.) instead.

The Matrix was a pastiche of many different influences: definitely lots of anime, cyberpunk, The Terminator, Tron, 12 Monkeys, Alice in Wonderland, John Woo, and more. Much like Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs or Kill Bill, saying it "ripped off" any one thing kind of misses the point of what it's doing to mash-up and fuse a ton of different ingredients together to create its own unique cocktail.

 

[Wayne Klein]

Does anyone really think The Matrix "ripped off" Dark City? The two movies were made almost back-to-back and even shared some filming locations. Movie production simply doesn't move fast enough to crank out a script, get it greenlit and financed, and start shooting that quickly.

The "Reality is all a simulation!" theme was just circulating in the collective consciousness toward the end of the millennium. Other movies that played with that same idea at the time include The Thirteenth Floor and eXistenZ.

No, it’s called zeitgeist. From what I gather people who worked on “The Matrix” did joke they were remaking “Dark City”. While they have similar themes, they examine those themes differently using a different plot but similar archetypes for various characters.

They were shot using some of the same sets as well. It is just a coincidence. The fact that New Line couldn’t make “Dark City” a success perhaps was a lack of faith in the film. Phillip K. Dick’s surreal science fiction novels had been devoured by many and integrated into many writers ideas. “The Matrix” owes a big debt to Dick’s books like “Ubik” along with others.

It reminds me in that regard of “Star Wars” which borrowed heavily from Frank Herbert’s novel and concepts and incorporated it with elements of “Flash Gordon” and “Buck Rodgers” along with the 40’s and 50’s space operas.

 

[Baenwort]

For anyone else worried on what they will miss with the regular release not having the theactrical cut: https://www.movie-censorship.com/report.php?ID=3551125

It seems that I will be fine with just the DC.

 

[JoshZ]

For anyone else worried on what they will miss with the regular release not having the theactrical cut: https://www.movie-censorship.com/report.php?ID=3551125

It seems that I will be fine with just the DC.

There's a lot more different to the two versions than can be compared in a list of missing content. As I explained in post 31 of this thread, the theatrical cut has a radically different editing rhythm that adds a tremendous amount of tension, unease, and disorientation just by how quickly every scene moves and how bluntly shots are cut together. The director's cut basically throws that entire aspect of the film away.

Imagine watching The Bourne Supremacy with a new transfer that uses A.I. or something to digitally stabilize all the shaky-cam shots. Some viewers may like that better, and there may even be valid arguments in its favor (the shaky-cam fad having gotten very annoying), but it would fundamentally just not be the same movie anymore.

 

[sbjork]

There's a lot more different to the two versions than can be compared in a list of missing content. As I explained in post 31 of this thread, the theatrical cut has a radically different editing rhythm that adds a tremendous amount of tension, unease, and disorientation just by how quickly every scene moves and how bluntly shots are cut together. The director's cut basically throws that entire aspect of the film away.

While it's perfectly cool that you prefer the theatrical cut, that's a wild exaggeration. The DC still has the off-kilter quick cutting of the theatrical cut. Proyas absolutely didn't re-edit the entire film. The added footage appears to disrupt the flow of the film as a whole for you, which is fine and a matter of personal preference, but the bulk of the film is still edited the same way as it was before.