This is a criminally underrated movie should be well known by now

@1987MartinT

4 жыл бұрын

I fucking love this movie.

@thejudgmentalcat

4 жыл бұрын

@@1987MartinT Me too. So atmospheric you can smell the wet brick.

@campinatorxbox1610

4 жыл бұрын

Or better yet a criminally underrated masterpiece.

@dwilliams2794

4 жыл бұрын

What was "criminal" was the fact this garbage called a movie was ever in theaters. I watched it 3 times just to see if it was really that bad or if I was missing something. I tried to give it an honest chance but it's really that bad.

@anonb4632

4 жыл бұрын

@@dwilliams2794 Okay, I'll bite. Which aspects didn't you like? I watched it again a couple of years ago, but a lot of it had stayed with me from twenty years ago. I'm surprised it isn't more famous, but there are a number of naff aspects.

I saw this in the theater on it's second week of release. I convinced my girlfriend at the time to see it and she HATED it. My wife, on the other hand, loves it.

@bfdidc6604

3 жыл бұрын

You traded up.

@coldchillin8382

3 жыл бұрын

I remember as a young kid my sister had a sleepover with our friends from school and we all liked it.

@LeMayJoseph

3 жыл бұрын

This comment has an excellent ending

@MrSFblack

3 жыл бұрын

You married the right woman

@bencracknellCA

3 жыл бұрын

sounds like you made the right choice

Amazing film, was shocked when I left the cinema, wanted to talk about it soooo much, but no one was going to see it. Way more original in both story/score/visuals than most big movies.

I actually liked this movie more than The Matrix, when I was a kid.

@artboymoy

4 жыл бұрын

LOL. I was just about to post this comment, since they came out pretty much at the same time...

@darkgnome666

4 жыл бұрын

I remember watching this back ´99 in the same night as The Matrix and I totally got the two mixed up and when I saw The Matrix the second time I was very disappointed as it seemed to miss a lot of stuff I remembered. Then I bought a VHS of Dark City just because of the name and cover and holy hell was I pleasantly surprised I found the movie again!

@Dessydd

4 жыл бұрын

It is the Matrix! The same pattern. There is a video on the similarities. They are a great grind house. It's a shame where those directors went with their future visions

@Frank-dv4zu

4 жыл бұрын

wow, way to make me feel old, thanks Mr Big

@CountOrlok22

4 жыл бұрын

I was thirteen in 1998 and "Blade" and "Dark City" were two of my favourite films from that year. I didn't see "The Matrix" in theatres because it looked like a rip-off of those two films based on the trailers. LOL!

I love this movie. The soundtrack is absolutely amazing, too. I love how people think it's a Matrix rip-off, when Matrix re-used a lot of the sets from Dark City.

@1pcfred

4 жыл бұрын

The other "Matrix ripoff" is The Thirteenth Floor. www.imdb.com/title/tt0139809/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_13 Which I think actually stood up better as far as plot goes. But The Matrix is a more fun movie to watch.

@jasonblalock4429

4 жыл бұрын

@@1pcfred Yeah, the Thirteenth Floor got totally buried, but is such a fun little flick. For that matter, this is the same year that gave us David Cronenberg's eXistenZ as well. Three movies came out within so many months of each other, all playing with the idea of people being plugged into virtual worlds, but all taking the idea in totally different directions.

@4879daniel

4 жыл бұрын

@@1pcfred Think there were a few, Equilibrium was another.

@Palmieres

4 жыл бұрын

The Matrix? You mean that movie that ripped off Ghost In The Shell? Dark City is super charming, though.

@1pcfred

4 жыл бұрын

@@4879daniel Equilibrium was a forgettable movie. Basically a ripoff of Fahrenheit 451. With Gun-kata.

01:35 Jennifer Connelly is always young. She literally doesn't age.

@harrydemkee912

4 жыл бұрын

Mark Rogers haha agreed!

@theshocker4626

4 жыл бұрын

Shes delicious

@GEMINIEARTHWALKER

4 жыл бұрын

Wrong she has 2 stages Labyrinth and post Labyrinth

@alfredthegreat9543

4 жыл бұрын

@@GEMINIEARTHWALKER What about Omce upon a time in America- 2 years before Labyrinth.

@doublep1980

4 жыл бұрын

Jennifer Connelly in this here and in "The Rocketeer" (the scene where she shows up in that white evening gown) looks just absolutely breathtaking. And she´s still a very attractive lady as seen in "Alita: Battle Angel".

This was the film that made me think Rufus Sewell would have made a brilliant Doctor Strange. I'm still bummed that never happened.

@ComicBookGuy420

4 жыл бұрын

Never considered it before, but yeah, I could see it I think they made the right choice with Cumberbatch though

@commandercaptain4664

4 жыл бұрын

That's some fine casting right there. 👍🏾

@crayzmarc

4 жыл бұрын

Wow! good point!

@anonb4632

4 жыл бұрын

'I'm still bummed it never happened" - supposedly Sewell is very self-conscious about his bum. Some reviewer wrote that he was wide in the beam down there. You hardly ever see bum shots of Sewell. Only occasionally. He doesn't like camera men filming him from the rear.

@ricardohernandezvega8588

3 жыл бұрын

Were he more well-known and everywhere, that'd be absolutely fine by me

'The Best Movie You Never Saw' But I did see this!! In the theatre. Even own the DVD. I've seen it a number of times. This is SLANDER JoBlo! You won't get away with these lies! Expect to hear from my lawyer..

@whodafeak

4 жыл бұрын

@theone Andonly Same here. I don't remember it ever being in the theaters. I saw it one day at my local video shop (small mom and pop store) and thought the story seemed pretty cool from the box. I saw it after i saw the Matrix and was blown away with how much better the story was in Dark City. And I'm not saying the Matrix was bad, I just loved Dark City.

@Hiznogood

4 жыл бұрын

Didn’t see this in the theatre, think I saw it on cable or a streaming service. Great movie!

@SuperiorityQomplex

4 жыл бұрын

I used to work at a movie theatre when I was younger and I had already seen everything else. I knew nothing about this movie and just chanced upon it with a buddy thinking it would be bad but a time waster before grabbing some drinks. But damn! Such an awesome movie and such a huge surprise! I love discovering great things like that by accident. The only problem is, when everyone was going nuts over the Matrix, I was kinda, meh. I felt this was the superior film and no one knew what I was talking about when trying to compare..

@Micah_4D

4 жыл бұрын

Same, saw this in the theatre, have the DVD. Excellent movie.

I stumbled across this in the DVD bin at Wal-Mart when I was a teenager and absolutely loved it. Couldn't believe it wasn't a bigger deal

@captainhaire

4 жыл бұрын

Reminds me of how I found "Manhunter".

@w5winston

4 жыл бұрын

You lucky bastard! lol

@captainhaire

4 жыл бұрын

It really is a special thing isn’t it?

@tonebone7449

Жыл бұрын

First DVD I ever bought.

I think 'Dark City' is the more well-made film, but 'The Crow' is still my favorite from Proyas.

@GEMINIEARTHWALKER

4 жыл бұрын

Proyas is great at building worlds, all of his film build a great visual world even God's of Egypt

@alanguages

4 жыл бұрын

I could see Alex Proyas make excellent noir films. Other comic characters, that would be awesome if he directed it with a great script of course like Grendel (Hunter Rose).

@user-gb5mb1rv7f

4 жыл бұрын

I liked the "Giger-inspired" set designs.

@jamesesparza6893

4 жыл бұрын

heres a fun thing to do during dark city, as soon as the first cut of the film happens count to two over n over again.

This movie especially rocked me when I was an early teen. So much build up, mystery, substance. Ebert nails it when telling how "generous" Proyas is visually. I bet it was a delight to shoot this. It has always been at the forefront of cinema for me.

I saw this in theaters as a kid. After it ended I remember a woman leaving the theater with her husband/boyfriend angrily saying "that's that last time I let YOU pick the movie".

@Emulous79

3 жыл бұрын

One of those people was shallow.

The poster byline was vlassic: "They built the city to see what makes us tick. Last night, one of us went off."

The best movie I watch a couple times a year.

@ChadLPN

3 жыл бұрын

Right? I own one movie. One physical copy of a movie. It's this. I never want to be without it.

Dark City is a great film from same Director of The Crow, the Director's Cut is much better, i loved the story.

The scene at 2:21 after he's given his "training," comes off the table and "You Have the Power" starts playing never fails to give me goosebumps. Great payoff to the whole movie.

underrated - wtg, this movie is a classic

“World building”? Interesting choice of worlds considering that at the end, John recreates the world. This is the movie that made me a fan of Alex Proyas. Unfortunately, he has not directed anything since this (other than I, Robot) that I liked.

@matt_afact

4 жыл бұрын

This movie and the Crow I think are his best. I do love I Robot as well

This movie being my number one favorite movie of all damned time, I have seen it way more then quite a few times.

Just saw this at a local theater playing it for its 25th anniversary. I've always known about this movie (and it's connections to "the Matrix") but knew nothing of the story or even who starred in it. Needless to say, my mind is blown. This film is a masterpiece and criminally underrated. I'm gonna have to watch it at least a dozen times so that I see all the symbolism and references it uses. One thing I will say that I loved is that one of the main "hooks" in the score is a small piece from Igor Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring". It's those bigger bombastic moments where the strings get really loud (if you've seen Disney's "Fantasia", it's the music piece from when the T-Rex is fighting the Stegosaurus).

Thankfully I first saw the director's cut, so the reveal and the slow burn noir all worked as it should - and it stood head-and-shoulders above the Matrix as thoughtful sci-fi based on a similar plot/theme.

Loved it so much I stayed in theatre and watched it again.

I remember watching this as a kid and really grew on me, I watched it again last year and oh boy! It's pretty great, and yeah, little time for a lot of information but well done. Thank you for bring it to this channel. This movie deserves more views.

Thankfully, I have seen Dark City and love it. One of the most original movies I have seen that still holds up.

@justinratcliffe947

3 жыл бұрын

It aged good too

One of the BEST late 90s flicks EVER. Seriously. So wonderfully done and i still remember how it felt watching the trailer for this film for the first time at the theaters. The bald men reminded me a bit of the Time Banksters from "Momo" where Armin Müller Stahl was playing the Boss TIme Bankster. You know, the ones who always had to smoke cigars to stay alive. The late 90s were a damn fine period for such surprising blasts of movies before the new Millenium hit us. A wonderful reminder that there was a time when Hollywood actually dared to do something new and innovative.

This is one of my all-time favourite films. Love so many things about it, particularly the style: it looks and sounds truly unique. The story is great, with something very rare in movies: a truly meaningful ending. Regarding the Theatrical cut/Director's cut recommendation, though, I have to disagree. Let me explain. My recommendation, for those who have never seen this movie and would like to give it a go: watch the Theatrical Cut, but mute the audio (and subtitles) at the beginning of the movie. You can unmute the audio when we see a close-up of the doctor's watch, that's when he's done talking. If you enjoyed the movie, and would like to watch it again, feel fre to watch the Director's cut. Why do I recommend this? Because I do believe the Theatrical cut is the best version of the movie: the movie flows better and is overall a more enjoyable experience. The problem with it, though, is the Doctor's speech at the beginning, which ruins part of the experience, as explained in this video and by the director in the audio commentary of the movie. The Director's cut has some interesting additional bits that are interesting to watch, particularly more pointers at the "fakeness" of the world the characters live in. However, I feel the movie doesn't flow as well, the music doesn't go very well with some parts of the resulting movie, and the overall experience is not as good, imho.

This one of the few "greatest movies you never saw" i actually never saw but always wanted.

I LOVE Dark City ever since I first saw it on home video in 1998/99

Yes yes yes yes! This is my favorite film of all time. I caught it in the theater randomly in my small town and fell in love. I've seen it over 1000 times, and have scored a couple of costume pieces. Amazing soundtrack, color pallette, and more. "Do you know the way to shell beach?"

I still remember seeing this movie in the theater as a kid. The thing that stuck with me the most is the ending where there's the blinding white between being in the theater for so long and the dark movie it was legit overwhelming.

I remember my dad taking me to see this while mom and friends went to see titanic for the 3rd time. Good call dad, good call.

@johnsmith-wx5fb

4 жыл бұрын

No he didnt.

@ComicBookGuy420

4 жыл бұрын

The two movies were a year apart you fuckin' liar

@Lennyg845

4 жыл бұрын

@@ComicBookGuy420 look up the dates you jackass. Titanic was dec 19th 1997. Dark city was feb 27 1998. That's 2 months genius. Titanic was in theaters forever.

@Lennyg845

4 жыл бұрын

@@johnsmith-wx5fb look up the dates you jackass. Titanic was dec 19th 1997. Dark city was feb 27 1998. That's 2 months genius. Titanic was in theaters forever.

@Lennyg845

4 жыл бұрын

Don't you both take your daddy issues out on me

I have never heard of this film. It looks great. Thank you kindly for the enjoyable video and reference to see this flic. Great video. God bless!

Didn't see this in the theater. I bought the dvd in the clearance bin at some video store.Totally an impulse buy...and was blown away by how good it was. Glad you covered this one because it's an underrated gem alright.

I mean it's one of my top 3 favorite movies of all time. I owned it on DVD with the Roger Ebert commentary track. Legendary movie. I always recommend it.

One of my all time favorites! Such an underrated flick! Thanks for focusing on it

This movies is a good example of my favorite genre or rather sub-genre Dark Science Fiction. One of my personal favorites, especially the scene when John reaches his full potential, gives me chills every time.

Ok....I stopped halfway through because I want to see this movie now! I'll come back and watch the rest after I see it! Thanks!

Just found your channel and so glad I did. I watched Top Secret on your recommendation and loved it. Really looking forward to this one also

Saw it in the theater. Always had a love for it's original themes. It definitely stands alone as very unique in style

I've been singing this film's praises since forever.

loved this movie and will now go back a rewatch.. Thanks for the review Joe Blow.

R.I.P. William Hurt. 💔😢🌹🙏

When can we expect the Hudson Hawk episode? I see it in the intro. I'm a big fan. Stay awesome, stay safe!

I saw it, as I also saw 'Dragon: The Bruce Lee story' I was fortunate to have a video rental store just down the road from me and made it a habit to rent a movie every week. Please feature 'The Thirteenth Floor' for a future installment.

@captainhaire

4 жыл бұрын

Ya know I always liked Dragon.

Such a based movie, this is one of the best cult classics, the movie dosen't care about his special effects it just care about telling his story

One of my favorite, creepy, Alien Abduction movies, so glad you're covering it.

my friend took me to this and i hadn't seen any trailers for it. didn't know anything about it, not even who was in it. it blew me away. that's the best way to go into a movie i think.

I didn't see Matrix until I bought it on VHS. This movie was my Matrix. Even with the intro voice over it was a beautiful, everlasting mind-f*ck and I have never forgotten it. I did buy the Blu-ray and the Director's Cut was even better. What about City of Lost Children, though?

Could you please put "The Best Movie You Never Saw" into its own playlist please. Brilliant channel I have to say

Saw it when it came out and loved it. This is a slept-on classic.

Saw it in the theater, loved it, bought it on DVD and loaned out to many friends, great movie!!

Fantastic summary ❤️🙏🏼

Great pick! I saw this when I was maybe 18. Don't remember that much about it, but it definitely had elements that stayed w me and make me wanna re-watch it. It'd be interesting to see how it holds up in 2020

Fun Fact:Roger Ebert put this as his #1 film for the year of 1998.I agree with him on that as it's also one of the best sci-fi flicks of all time.

@havanaradio

4 жыл бұрын

he also absolutely hated carpenters the thing - ebert was a weird little dude. bad filmmaker as well...

yeah...i've seen this movie many times. did an entire study on it in high school. It's one of my all-time favorites.

I saw on release, and from the opening minute I was sucked into it. I love the Production design and direction and world building. Such an Underrated gem. Now can you please do Perfume The story of a Murderer ;)

The first time I saw this movie was with my Dad and we absolutely loved it!! It's such a great movie night watch!! A total lost gem worth so much more love!!!!!!

I love this film. I discovered it about a year ago and was fascinated by it. Wonderful cast (really liked Rufus Sewell 's performance). Challenging ideas. Original. Too bad it was ignored for so long. It is well worth taking a look at.

I remember seeing this film in the theater. There were 3 or 4 other people there. The ending was mind blowing and of course I got the Bluray.

Both Matrix (the first and the only) and Dark City are on the same shelf next to each other in my mental bookshelf (or my heart if you will). With Inception, Fight Club, Thirteenth Floor, Beautiful Mind. They all share a common theme and cover it in mind blowing ways, they all challenge the reality. Shame on me if I've forgotten to mention similar movies on the same subject and of the same quality. I'd be happy to pay to see it on a big screen.

Have you been to Shell Beach, Chris? Your every episode, most of which cover films I remember from childhood, further crystallizes the realization of what a fan of movies I grew to be, not to mention the frankly staggering amount of grey matter some might find me to have utterly squandered with volumes of cinematic imagery, sound, verbatim dialogue, and most frivolous of all, trivia. I regret none of this. For example, I was smiling from ear to ear at your shout out to Garage Days! Last, I've not a thing to say in criticism, only to beg you for an episode featuring Hard Core Logo, an incendiary, intensity-in-ten-cities film I continue to find remains woefully unsung among the cinephiliac community, and one of my dear brother's all time (no less than third if ranked) favorites.

I need to go back and watch it from beginning to end, I always seem to find it airing and start watching it midway and always hopelessly lost and end up turning it off

This was a great movie. One of my favorites. I showed everyone who I could when I first seen this.

appreciate you talking about this movie, love this movie. Hope it reaches a new gen

I heard there might be a series coming out, I can't wait!!!! a hidden pleasure when I recommend it to people that love "Scifi" when they are sooo surprised and thank me for the recommendation.

Loved this when it came out and still do, have it on Bluray now 👍

The Best Move You NEVER Saw...Watched this film a couple of times...Hell my film teacher played it in class. It's brilliant. Do a what the hell happened on League of Extraordinary Gentleman please.

Absolutely agree with you Chris, Dark City really is a Masterpiece, absolutely stunning and one of my all time favourites.

I saw this in theaters and absolutely loved it. It was gloomy, gritty, and full of amazing twists. Incredible film.

I have the pleasure of seeing it in the theater opening night. They were about 12 of us in there. What a shame. It’s an incredible film.

I saw Dark City in theaters. That trailer really intrigued me.

Uhhh. I've actually owned DARK CITY on DVD since 2000!!!! It's awesome! There's another movie out there called THE SIGNAL which has similar ideas!

I’ve seen this movie so many times I lost count lol I would say this is probably my favourite movie. I have the DVD and I watch it regularly. Totally underrated!

Ohhhhhhhhhhhh... I've just found this in the DVD lending library in the laundrette... going to grab it and give it a home xx

Great movie. And you've just reminded me to recommend it to a few lads I know who will love it, too.

I love this movie, one of my favorites. It was very mysterious and intriguing story, gave a lot of insight even with such a short story. I loved the tiny island city setting.

Oh please, I've got this on Blu-Ray. And while I might not have seen this in the theater, I definitely rented it on VHS back in the day.

I watched it 3 times at the theater when I was a freshman in college. I've not seen the director's cut yet so I will go hunt it to do so. Something about the movie has always stuck with me since the first time I watched it, just like with the Crow. Love the story.

I love using the soundtrack to this to test out new headphones or speakers, particularly "You Have The Power." (The final battle.)

When I saw this at a store, I remembered it being discussed in relation to The Matrix and decided to check it out. It really was something special and interesting.

I don't know if this was commented on here already but the matrix producers were actually told to reuse some of dark city's sets.

Saw it on it's opening weekend is an empty theater. Favourite movie of all time. Shame no one else saw it.

I saw it in the theater. Thanks for catching up.

Glad you mentioned this movie, it's highly underappreciated but well with the watch.

Excellent flick. Have owned the dvd for years

Amazing and very underrated film. Going to see this in the theater was the only thing I wanted for my birthday the year of its release.

I always remember this movie as a kid. Way over my head at the time. Just seemed weird. But always remembered it. And looked for it.

When you see this pop up in your suggestions, decide to rewatch the movie first since it had been more than 10 years, only to afterwards find out there apparently is a director's cut now?! Time to upgrade my first-gen cardboard-cased double-sided DVD I guess...

I went to see this when it FIRST came out and it did NOT disappoint!

Every film that Jo places in this series is something I HAVE seen. Where do I pick up my "hipster cred" membership card?

This movie was probably the most memorable movie I’ve seen, and I remember watching it on the TV one day and didn’t know the name of it, till 10 or so years later that I could bring up the info and the title of the movie. I’m glad that I bought it on ITunes, but till get it on Blu-Ray.

I am glad I saw the directors cut instead. i was fully immersed all through out the movie.

Definitely a film I have seen and enjoyed. And as an Aussie, it was great to see so many Aussies in the film, albeit, not in major roles, but still. The premise and execution was very good, and a stellar casting.

First movie filmed at Fox Studios in Sydney. Then followed by The Matrix, Moulin Rouge and The Phantom Menace. Alex Proyas talks about how the paint was still drying on the walls when they started filming. Love this movie.

It is a hidden gem, going to re-watch it again. I never saw "Fallen" with Denzel, so thanks for mentioning that one.

@carltonstaples7423

4 жыл бұрын

Fallen is another underrated gem with Denzel Washington, John Goodman and Donald Sutherland!!

What's trippy about these dark guys is that they look like the tall Hat man people see on their dreams or even in real life.

One of my favorite movies, just wanted to see what's being said about it. Good stuff.

@0:53 “... in the wake of Titanic.” Nice word play there, Sir. 👍

This movie is part of top 5 sci-fi movies I've ever seen.

@blueskyz8097

4 жыл бұрын

it could be rick and morty episode now...

Just tagging along after 3 years. But, YES, I agree with you! Definitely, his best work and greatly underappreciated. Reminds me of Oh Brother. Where are thou?, in that, it did not get a proper launching but Oh Brother did have a modest comeback when later the critics raved about it. There are so many implications and applications of this movie. It meant a lot to me during that time in my life. Thank you for your review!