I’m not a person who buys very many DVDs. I figure if I want to see a movie, I can rent it. I only buy the stuff I truly love and will want to revisit. Dark City is definitely in that category. Dark City is directed by Alex Proyas who also did the The Crow and I, Robot.

It’s hard to know where to start with this movie. I love stories that deal with the distortion of time, and that is a central concept in the movie. I also love movies that deal with fish out of water scenarios, and there is that element here too. And possibly one of my all time favorite plot themes – the person who has no idea who they are. (A great book along those lines is the Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny – some other time on that one.)

This movie starts out with a bang and doesn’t stop until the end, and it has a great cast to boot. Roger Ebert actually picked it as his movie of the year in 1998. We start out with John Murdoch lying in a dirty bath in a dark room. He gets out, wipes off a small spot of blood on his head and gets dressed. Murdoch is played by Rufus Sewell who does a wonderful job – the guy has serious acting chops if you look him up.

And there’s a dead woman in his room, and he has no memory of who she is or how he got there.

He flees out into a dark world – a dark city that is. And we find it odd that it never seems to be daytime. We’re introduced to a inspector who is not only trying to solve this murder – but many like it – played by none other than William Hurt. He doesn’t seem to be all that happy of a guy – in fact, nobody does.

Meanwhile Murdoch searches for his identity based on clues he found in his clothes and suitcase. He finds out he was married and recently divorced, to Emma Murdoch. Emma is played wonderfully by Jennifer Connelly – need I say more? She has been to a doctor/psychiatrist played by Keifer Sutherland – one of his great sleeper roles.

The Doctor turns out to be a central figure in the film. He has something quite important to do with the ways things are in the city. John Murdoch finds out he has a strange ability when he recovers his wallet, but even more strangely he is walking the streets and the whole city… shuts down. Cars stop, people slump.. and the city changes. What is going on?

That’s what the journey is all about. I can’t really say much more without ruining things. The writing is incredible and the journeys the characters make during their discovery of what is really going on is quite amazing. We follow our four main characters, John Murdoch, Emma Murdoch, The Doctor and Inspector Bumstead as they struggle to find out the true nature of the world in which they are living. As we follow them they transition from lifeless silhouettes of human beings to troubled characters desiring to break out of a dark and dire existence.

Visually the movie is amazing. Certainly dark, and with its share of effects but not the type of glitzy over the top effects you’d see in a big budget movie, but rather effects that fit the mood of the piece. They aren’t cheesy effects, but they are visual befitting of the mood. Everything from the colors and the lighting supports the themes of the film.

There’s also a wonderful commentary track to listen to which, if you’re into that sort of thing is quite amazing and I learned quite a bit from listening to it. In fact, it’s on my list to do again. Nothing like learning from the best.

So if you’re looking for a movie to watch – and this one is definitely sci-fi – pick up or rent a copy of Dark City – you won’t be sorry.