Dr. Ellie Arroway (Jodie Foster), after years of searching, finds conclusive radio proof of extraterrestrial intelligence, sending plans for a mysterious machine.
Director:
Robert Zemeckis
Stars:
Jodie Foster,
Matthew McConaughey,
Tom Skerritt
Astronaut Sam Bell has a quintessentially personal encounter toward the end of his three-year stint on the Moon, where he, working alongside his computer, GERTY, sends back to Earth parcels of a resource that has helped diminish our planet's power problems.
Director:
Duncan Jones
Stars:
Sam Rockwell,
Kevin Spacey,
Dominique McElligott
In a future world devastated by disease, a convict is sent back in time to gather information about the man-made virus that wiped out most of the human population on the planet.
A game designer on the run from assassins must play her latest virtual reality creation with a marketing trainee to determine if the game has been damaged.
John Murdoch awakens alone in a strange hotel to find that he has lost his memory and is wanted for a series of brutal and bizarre murders. While trying to piece together his past, he stumbles upon a fiendish underworld controlled by a group of beings known as The Strangers who possess the ability to put people to sleep and alter the city and its inhabitants. Now Murdoch must find a way to stop them before they take control of his mind and destroy him.Written by
Anonymous
New Line Cinema forced Alex Proyas to include the opening narration by Kiefer Sutherland, which gives away several plot reveals. Proyas objected to it, saying it was unnecessary, and he subsequently removed the narration from his director's cut. See more »
Goofs
(at around 57 mins) Although when John Murdoch jumps across the roofs, he jumps onto the same roof twice, in this city it's quite possible for there to be two identical roofs. See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
Dr. Schreber:
[voiceover]
First there was darkness. Then came the strangers. They were a race as old as time itself. They had mastered the ultimate technology. The ability to alter physical reality by will alone. They called this ability "Tuning". But they were dying. Their civilization was in decline, and so they abandoned their world seeking a cure for their own mortality. Their endless journey brought them to a small, blue world in the farthest corner of the galaxy. Our world. Here they ...
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Alternate Versions
The director's cut omits the opening monologue. See more »
In an undefined time and place, a group of aliens called "Strangers" are dying in their planet and are experimenting new options of life with humans.
A amnesiac man awakens in a bathtub and receives a phone call from a Dr. Daniel Schreber (Kiefer Sutherland) warning him that he should leave the hotel room since he will be captured. Before leaving the room, he finds the corpse of a woman and a knife. Soon a group of Strangers hunts him down but he succeeds to escape. Before leaving the hotel, the front desk informs that his wallet is in a restaurant. He retrieves his wallet and learns that his name is John Murdoch (Rufus Sewell) and is married with Emma (Jennifer Connely). He is followed by the persistent police inspector Frank Burnstead (William Hurt) that believes he is a serial- killer. Murdich also learns that he has uncontrolled powers called tuning similar to the Strangers and he flees using the powers. Murdoch notes that the city does not have daylight and every midnight the Strangers rearrange the city and change the people memories. Further, everybody knows the coastal town Shell Beach by heart but nobody knows how to go there. He teams up with Burnstead and Emma and apparently Dr. Schreber is the only human who knows what is happening in the city. What will be the fate of the humans in the hands of the Strangers?
"Dark City" is a timeless cult sci-fi noir that has not aged and uses references from other films that perfectly works. The noir style is a tribute to the period between 1939 and 1950; the "Strangers" and the Gothic style are visibly inspired in "Nosferatu" and "Metropolis"; the aliens that take the human bodies are inspired in 'Body Snatchers". Further, it certainly has influenced "Matrix" that was released one year later. The cinematography and special effects are astonishing and the performances are top-notch. Like a wine, this film seems to be better as years go by. Fortunately the writers and director have not been seduced with the success and there is no sequel of this little masterpiece. My vote is nine.
Title (Brazil): "Cidade das Sombras" ("City of the Darkness")
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In an undefined time and place, a group of aliens called "Strangers" are dying in their planet and are experimenting new options of life with humans.
A amnesiac man awakens in a bathtub and receives a phone call from a Dr. Daniel Schreber (Kiefer Sutherland) warning him that he should leave the hotel room since he will be captured. Before leaving the room, he finds the corpse of a woman and a knife. Soon a group of Strangers hunts him down but he succeeds to escape. Before leaving the hotel, the front desk informs that his wallet is in a restaurant. He retrieves his wallet and learns that his name is John Murdoch (Rufus Sewell) and is married with Emma (Jennifer Connely). He is followed by the persistent police inspector Frank Burnstead (William Hurt) that believes he is a serial- killer. Murdich also learns that he has uncontrolled powers called tuning similar to the Strangers and he flees using the powers. Murdoch notes that the city does not have daylight and every midnight the Strangers rearrange the city and change the people memories. Further, everybody knows the coastal town Shell Beach by heart but nobody knows how to go there. He teams up with Burnstead and Emma and apparently Dr. Schreber is the only human who knows what is happening in the city. What will be the fate of the humans in the hands of the Strangers?
"Dark City" is a timeless cult sci-fi noir that has not aged and uses references from other films that perfectly works. The noir style is a tribute to the period between 1939 and 1950; the "Strangers" and the Gothic style are visibly inspired in "Nosferatu" and "Metropolis"; the aliens that take the human bodies are inspired in 'Body Snatchers". Further, it certainly has influenced "Matrix" that was released one year later. The cinematography and special effects are astonishing and the performances are top-notch. Like a wine, this film seems to be better as years go by. Fortunately the writers and director have not been seduced with the success and there is no sequel of this little masterpiece. My vote is nine.
Title (Brazil): "Cidade das Sombras" ("City of the Darkness")