Directed, co-written, and co-produced by Alex Proyas, Dark City was a bomb, but one that has found its audience. It followed Proyas’ first two films, Spirits of the Air, Gremlins of the Clouds and The Crow. Maybe the movies that followed — Garage Days, I, Robot, Knowing and Gods of Egypt — didn’t live up to the promise he was showing here, but at least we still have some great stuff to look back on. Perhaps his adaptation of R.U.R. will be excellent.

According to Wikipedia, “Concerned that audiences would not understand the film, New Line asked Proyas to add an explanatory voice-over to the introduction, and he complied.” Nothing good ever comes of that. But perhaps Dark City paved the way for The Matrix to run.

John Murdoch (Rufus Sewell) wakes up in a hotel with a ritualistically murdered woman in the next room. A phone call from Dr. Daniel P. Schreber (Kiefer Sutherland) urges him to run, as The Strangers are on their way. Inspector Frank Bumstead (William Hurt) is looking for whoever is killing sex workers, which makes Murdoch a suspect.

It’s always night here, and soon, both Murdoch and Bumstead learn that The Strangers are aliens who can use “tuning” to distort reality. As a group of humans sleep, they are mining them for the data that may save their world. Tracked by a Stranger with his memories, Mr. Hand (Richard O’Brien, Riff Raff in another iconic role), he must find and rescue his wife Emma (Jennifer Connelly) and stop the aliens from taking over the entire human race, while also getting back to his hometown, Shell Beach, a place everyone knows about. Still, no one knows how to get there.

I love movies shot all on a soundstage, and that’s what makes Dark City feel so unique. It’s a world that could be the 1940s but is also nowhere, filled with spirals, clocks and near-unending darkness. I can and can’t believe that this was released against Titanic but I have also learned that the right films always find their audience.

In 2021, Proyas made a short film in the same universe as Dark City, Mask of the Evil Apparition. 

The Arrow Video release of Dark City has a brand new 4K restoration from the original 35mm camera negatives approved by director of photography Dariusz Wolski, plus a 60-page perfect bound collectors’ book featuring new writing by author Richard Kadrey, and film critics Sabina Stent, Virat Nehru and Martyn Pedler. It’s inside limited edition packaging featuring newly commissioned artwork by Doug John Miller with a double-sided fold-out poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Doug John Miller, three postcard-sized reproduction art cards, a postcard from Shell Beach and a business card for Dr. Schreber.

The Director’s City disk has five commentaries: a new commentary by director Alex Proyas, another by Craig Anderson, Bruce Isaacs and Herschel Isaacs, co-hosts of the Film Versus Film podcast and an archival audio commentary by director Proyas; an archival commentary by Roger Ebert; and an archival commentary by writers Lem Dobbs and David S. Goyer. There’s also an archival introduction by Alex Proyas; Return to Dark City, a new hour-long documentary featuring interviews with director Alex Proyas, producer Andrew Mason, production designers Patrick Tatopoulos and George Liddle, costume designer Liz Keough, storyboard artist Peter Pound, director of photography Dariusz Wolski, actor Rufus Sewell, hair & makeup artist Leslie Vanderwalt and VFX creative director Peter Doyle; Rats in a Maze, a new visual essay by film scholar Alexandra West; I’m as Much in the Dark as You Are, a new visual essay by film scholar Josh Nelson on film noir and identity in Dark City and a design and storyboard gallery.

The theatrical cut has two archival commentaries, one by Proyas, writers Lem Dobbs & David S. Goyer, director of photography Dariusz Wolski and production designer Patrick Tatopoulos and the other by Roger Ebert. There’s also Memories of Shell Beach, a 2008 featurette in which cast and crew look back at the making of the film from concept to reception; Architecture of Dreams, a 2008 featurette presenting five perspectives on the themes and meanings of the film; a theatrical trailer and an image gallery.

While this is currently sold out, keep your eye on Arrow Video and MVD Shop.