Roger Ebert remains the first name in both cinematic criticism and evaluation, and his opinion on movies carried significant weight during his 40+ year career, right up until his death in 2013. Ebert combined entertaining prose with poignant and cogent analysis as a movie reviewer, and he eventually evolved into one of the most important voices in the movie industry. The Pulitzer Prize winner also championed the causes of foreign and independent movies and filmmakers he enjoyed and believed in, famously including Werner Herzog, Spike Lee, Martin Scorsese, and Alejandro Iñárritu.
Ebert’s opinion and criticism was undeniably valuable, and fittingly, he didn’t offer it randomly. The advent of DVD commentary provided a new avenue for film analysis that movie fans embraced, and in that medium Ebert only lent his own analysis a handful of times. His voice can be found on versions of all-time classics like Citizen Kane and Casablanca, but Ebert loved the underrated sci-fi thriller Dark City so much that he offered his commentary on that as well.
Ebert famously crowned the sci-fi noir thriller Dark City as the best movie of 1998, which was questioned by many given that it was not some universally-acclaimed mega hit. In fact, Dark City opened fourth at the box office when it debuted, and didn’t even break the top 100 movies of the year in worldwide gross. Directed by Australian filmmaker Alex Proyas (The Crow), Dark City follows an amnesiac man who finds himself hunted by both the police and mysterious beings known as “Strangers” for a series of murders he has no memory committing. The entire affair is set against a stylish noir backdrop in a city of perpetual night, giving it a gritty, haunted feel.
Ebert was effusive in his praise of the movie upon its release, well in advance of more contemporary appraisals that have elevated Dark City to true cult classic status. Per the legendary film critic’s own review, Dark City is superior because of its pure, unbridled originality. The concept of course is inventive, but Ebert focused specifically on the visual imagination on display throughout the movie’s runtime. In his own words:
I responded so strongly to the film because it was intelligent, intriguing, darkly atmospheric, and most of all because it was visually breathtaking… It was a daring act of the imagination. So strongly did I feel about it that for the first time I agreed to do a commentary soundtrack for the DVD video, where you can hear me talking for two hours about the film’s mysteries and beauties.
‘Dark City’ Creates a Rare Blend of Noir Crime Thriller and Sci-Fi
Ebert is, of course correct in the film’s visual uniqueness. Like Proyas’ previous feature film, The Crow, Dark City feels like its own distinct plane of reality thanks to his ability to manipulate the shadows and grime that is endemic to the noir aesthetic. The 1998 movie blends sci-fi elements with a riveting crime thriller plot to create something brand-new. That genre blend isn’t unique, as other classics like Blade Runner, The Terminator, and Minority Report fully embrace futuristic technology in crime thriller plots. However, Proyas’ distinct visual style is what sets it apart from similar genre movies.
Dark City also flirts with horror at points, as the black-hat-clad Strangers are revealed to be hive-minded aliens who use the corpses of dead humans as hosts. Clad in trench coats and fedoras, the pale-skinned Strangers are the poster children for a haunted noir aesthetic that few movies have ever been able to even come close to replicating. It makes Dark City a truly one-of-a-kind watch, and it’s easy to see why someone who watches as many movies as Roger Ebert would respond so positively to its originality.
‘Dark City’ Is the Definition of a Misunderstood Cult Classic
Dark City never really had a fair chance to take off upon its release for a few different reasons, leaving it overlooked by moviegoers in the late 90s. First and foremost, New Line Cinema didn’t have a grasp on how to market a dense and complex thriller with heavy themes, leading to a confused and inadequate marketing campaign that made it seem like a thematic follow-up to The Crow. The studio was operating out of fear that the movie would be over the heads of a mainstream audience, and even forced Proyas to add a voice-over explaining plot elements to the movie’s opening. That unfortunately also included giving away the movie’s core mystery right away, a mistake that was corrected in later cuts of the movie.
Dark City may have taken off in the years directly following its release, but it was unfortunately overshadowed by the release of The Matrix just a year later. The perception in the following years was that Dark City was an inferior imitation of The Matrix, with very few people even realizing that it came out first. The end result of all these factors was Dark City taking years to be fully appreciated, and for everyone to catch up to Roger Ebert who was certain of the movie’s brilliance from the start.
- Release Date
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February 27, 1998
- Runtime
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100 minutes
- Director
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Alex Proyas
