Talk:Dark City (1998 film)

References to use

 * Please add to the list references that can be used for the film article.



Citations to use
Citations to use. — Erik (talk • contrib) 20:04, 19 November 2008 (UTC)

DVD review
American Cinematographer has a DVD review. — Erik (talk • contrib) 18:29, 6 January 2009 (UTC)

Starring roles in lede and infobox
In regard to the recent edits, I posted a question here in order to get the opinions of editors involved in Wikiproject Film. ---  RepublicanJacobite  TheFortyFive 06:34, 10 December 2011 (UTC)


 * Further edits to the lede and infobox should be discussed here. ---  RepublicanJacobite  TheFortyFive 22:35, 11 December 2011 (UTC)

Glaring omission
To me the most obvious feature of the movie was the implicit criticism of priesthoods: Catholic, Orthodox, and/or Jewish. Mr. Book (Book = Bible, get it?) is like the pope, or patriarch, or maybe chief rabbi. The priests are all male. They all wear cassocks. The hats are similar to those worn by many rabbis. They are deeply interested in, or prying into, the lives of the people (parishioners, etc.), and putting ideas in their heads. They don't do any ordinary labor. They rule by virtue of their mental abilities. Murdoch defeats the priesthood with superior mental abilities when he breaks out of his leather band on the head from which he is bleeding (crown of thorns!) while lashed to a wheel-like object (crucifix), unlike Jesus who just had to take it.

Surely some well known movie critic must have noticed this. 200.83.106.120 (talk) 22:59, 14 May 2015 (UTC)
 * Please see WP:No original research and WP:Not a forum. Ian.thomson (talk) 23:22, 14 May 2015 (UTC)


 * I read this a little differently. The OP appears to be aware of those policies, but believes the symbolism is obvious, and suggests that a reliable source should be able to be found which would provide sufficient support to include the content in the article. That being said, I can't find very much... A few forum discussions, passing mentions on blogs, etc. Nothing from major critics, and certainly nothing to the level the OP perceived. Did Ebert mention any of it in his DVD commentary track? I forget - it's been a while. --Fru1tbat (talk) 12:44, 15 May 2015 (UTC)


 * I am the creator of this section and you have gotten it exactly right. My point was that there should be a much better source for this from among the well-known critics, of which I am certainly not one. I thought about just adding my own commentary, but that seemed contrary to what Wikipedia tries to accomplish.  200.83.84.62 (talk) 21:09, 15 May 2015 (UTC)

Space habitat or the void.
Just saw the movie yesterday in a old-movies TV channel, I have some doubts. In the article it states that after breaking the brick wall its showed that the whole city was built over a Space habitat. However I dont know if it was my TV screen, but I saw something that looked more to me to The Void than Space, In other words that the city was build over a platform in the middle of The Void. Not outer space, also one character (the doctor) claimed that those beigns could even create/shut down the sun if they want to (Something the Protagonist does at the very end of the Movie). My question is this? Was the whole place/location of the movie (City and Space) a Creation of those especies?? Out of the City some could be considered it Outer Space, but also could be Part of the Universe, a Universe made by those creatures. In other words that no Earth exist and those humans are made to believe they come from somewhere, when in reality they are just something adquired by the aliens for their purposes.Mr.User200 (talk) 16:53, 25 May 2015 (UTC)
 * There must be something wrong with your TV or the channel, because there are clearly stars when they show outside the city. The "Sun" was just a big bright light at the top of the city, not an actual star.  The original cut (not the director's cut) was even more explicit that the humans there were abducted from earth.  Ian.thomson (talk) 17:00, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

Matrix
This sentence is misleading: "The film continues to be reviewed positively; over the years, however, many critics have pointed out its similarities with the highly successful Matrix series, with some even accusing it of plagiarism" The word "however" indicates an opposition toward the stated positive reviews, HOWEVER, the alleged plagiarism is OF dark city BY the matrix. There is bad subject/object agreement (what is "it").

The sentence should read something more like The film continues to be reviewed positively; additionally, many critics have pointed out Dark City's similarities with the later, highly successful Matrix series, with some even accusing the latter of plagiarism.

This would clear up the confusion. -50.156.18.22 (talk) 06:23, 22 October 2015 (UTC)


 * I rewrote the sentence, but not exactly as you have above. First of all, "the film continues to be reviewed positively" is not really supported by the sources or the critical response section, a couple of which I'm not sure are exactly reliable anyway (Ebert is, but he was always an enthusiastic supporter of the film). I'm also not sure "plagiarism" is appropriate given the above (Ebert uses the word "recycled", but this happens in films all the time). My rewrite should eliminate the bad agreement that you pointed out above, though. --Fru1tbat (talk) 11:03, 22 October 2015 (UTC)


 * There's no doubt anymore that there actually was plagiarism. The creators of The Matrix got an early viewing of a pre-release print of Dark City during the year that the production company sat on the finished final film and they also gained access to still-standing sets created for Dark City that they shot some of The Matrix on. This is not speculation or allegation anymore.  -Reticuli 2600:2B00:7628:D700:A9F5:CEA:DF2F:D04C (talk) 03:33, 15 March 2021 (UTC)

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Temporal setting
Though the film has a film noir feel, and many of the props suggest the 1940s (Inspector Blumstead drives a 1940's sedan, for instance), there are too many anachronisms to set the film in that period. The cab that Murdoch rides is a Checker Marathon, not made until the 1950s, and the police cars (and most of the other cars) are from the 1960s. Mr Hand also indicated that the city is a pastiche' of eras. --Badger151 (talk) 01:50, 15 August 2016 (UTC) (edited: changed "William Hurt" to "Inspector Blumstead" --Badger151 (talk) 01:54, 15 August 2016 (UTC)

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"Murdoch turns the habitat toward the star it had been turned away from, and the city experiences sunlight for the first time"
Indeed, so why no background anent the role of the Sun?