Dark City [1998]

Country of Origin: USA
Year of Production: 1998
Running Times: 100 mins
Format: colour Super 35 35mm [anamorphic]
Ratio: 2.35:1
Sound: Dolby Digital SDDS

SELECTED CREDITS

[Full Credits]

PRODUCTION
Production Companies: Mystery Clock / New Line Cinema
Executive Producers: Michael De Luca, Brian Witten
Producers: Andrew Mason, Alex Proyas
Line Producer: Barbara Gibbs

SCRIPT
Script: Alex Proyas, Lem Dobbs, David Goyer
Story: Alex Proyas

DIRECTION
Director: Alex Proyas

PHOTOGRAPHY
Director of Photography: Dariusz Wolski

EDITING AND POST PRODUCTION
Editor: Dov Hoenig

MUSIC
Music: Trevor Jones

MAKE UP AND COSTUMES
Costume Designer: Liz Keogh

SPECIAL EFFECTS
Digital Visual Effects: DFILM Services

DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Production Designers: Patrick Tatopolous, George Liddle

LOCATIONS
Locations: Los Angeles, California, USA; Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; Twentieth Century Fox Studios, Australia

CAST
Rufus Sewell [John Murdoch]
Kiefer Sutherland [Dr Schreber]
Jennifer Connelly [Emma Murdoch]
Richard O'Brien
Ian Richardson
William Hurt [Bumstead]
Colin Friels
Mitchell Butel
Frank Gallacher
Bruce Spence
Melissa George
John Bluthal
Ritchie Singer
Justin Monjo
Nicholas Bell
Satya Gumbert
Noah Gumbert
Frederick Miragliotta
Peter Sommerfeld

John Murdoch wakes in an unfamiliar hotel with no idea who he is nor where he is. He soon learns that he is being hunted by the police as the prime suspect in a series of brutal slayings of prostitutes. As Murdoch unravels his past, he begins to expose a monstrous plot to manipulate the inhabitants of an unnamed city by alien creatures known as The Strangers.

A brilliant and original SF mystery, tautly plotted and atmospherically acted. Some of the performances may be a bit questionable but for sheer originality and audacity it's hard to beat. If only more contemporary science fiction movies had been as mature and intellectually challenging as this.

France
Theatrical Distributor: Metropolitan Filmexport

Germany
Theatrical Distributor: Kinowelt Filmverleih

Hong Kong
Theatrical Distributor: EDKO Film Ltd

Portugal
Theatrical Distributor: Vitoria Filme

USA
Theatrical Distributor: New Line Cinema

Australia
Rating: M

Brazil
Rating: 14

Finland
Rating: K-16

France
Rating: -12

Germany
Rating: 16

Hong Kong
Rating: IIB

Netherlands
Rating: 16

New Zealand
Rating: M

Portugal
Rating: M/12

Singapore
Rating: PG

Switzerland
Rating: 16

UK
Rating: 15

USA
Rating: R

1996
August
12: Production begins

1998
February
20: USA - theatrical release
28: Portugal - shown at the Fantasporto Film Festival

April
17: Sweden - theatrical release
24: Denmark - theatrical release

May
20: France - theatrical release
22: Spain - theatrical release
29: UK - theatrical release

June
5: Portugal - theatrical release

July
2: Singapore - theatrical release
30: Hong Kong - theatrical release

August
6: Australia - theatrical release
14: Iceland - theatrical release
20: Malaysia - theatrical release
22: Finland - shown at the Espoo Film Festival
27: Germany - theatrical release
28: Austria - theatrical release
28: Switzerland - theatrical release in German speaking region
29: Taiwan - theatrical release

September
5: Indonesia - theatrical release
16: Sweden - shown at the Fantastisk Film Festival Lund
24: Hungary - theatrical release

October
15: Argentina - theatrical release
15: New Zealand - theatrical release
16: Mexico - theatrical release

November
6: Brazil - theatrical release
28: Japan - theatrical release

December
5: South Korea - theatrical release
11: Finland - theatrical release

They built the city to see what makes us tick. Last night one of us went off.

Forget the Sun. Forget Time. Forget Your Memories.

Darkness Falls Soon.

Dark Empire - early title
Dark World - early title

SEE ALSO
Blade Runner [1982]
Die Büchse der Pandora [1929]
La cité des enfants perdus [1995]
A Clockwork Orange [1971]
The Crow [1994]
The Evil [1978]
Hellraiser [1987]
M [1931]
The Matrix [1999]
Metropolis [1927]
Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens [1922]
Phenomena [1985]
Urusei Yatsura 2: Byûtifuru dorîmâ [1984]
The Wizard of Oz [1939]
Zardoz [1973]

MAGAZINES

Cinefantastique October 1997 pp.64-67

Correio da Manhã 5 June 1998
review [by Vitoriano Rosa]

Diário de Notícias 5 June 1998
review [by Nuno Henrique Luz]

Diário de Notícias, DNmais 23 January 1999
review [by José De Matos-Cruz]

Film Review [UK] June 1998 p.21
review [by Ian Calcutt]

Total Film [UK] June 1998 p.90
review [by Cam Winstanley]

deja vu; souls; alien abductions; suicide; space travel; aliens; clocks; amnesia; cities; beaches; psychiatrists; memory; psychokinesis; psychics; police