If you like your cuppa Noire extra murky with a side of sci-fi, Alex Proyas’ long-awaited follow-up to The Crow is one tasty treat. Though it was considered a lukewarm success, the film was mostly tuned-out by the time The Matrix took over the cinematic existentialist and determinist discourse.
I was actually shocked at how short the collective memory was for this movie in the years after its release. I originally walked out of an early ‘sneak preview’ expecting accolades worthy of a modern gothic masterpiece, but instead it quietly took its place on the connoisseur’s video shelf next to Blade Runner, Streets of Fire, Kafka or Angel Heart.
It’s been largely re-appreciated by way of the superbly superior Director’s cut, but that original unfinished version I screened (replete with the original narration, unfinished visuals and visible stunt cables) was already more than the sum of its parts.
I’ll see you in Shell Beach. -Pop
Dark City arrived on Home Video this week in 1998, after a February 27th theatrical release.