MovieChat Forums > Dark City (1998) Discussion > NO Plot hole, just wondering something.....

NO Plot hole, just wondering something...

posted 10 years ago by matutorre
13 replies | jump to latest

I enjoyed the movie. It has really interesting ideas and a good development of the history. Good movie. Movies like this, and considering they don't explain all the reality of that world, make you wonder somethings:

Not trolling at all, I hope someone can apport an opinion about it.

1. The aliens hate the sun, so there wasn't sun in that world. Those humans shouldn't have died with no solar energy in all those months/years?

2. At the end of the movie, when the aliens are defeated, Murdoch has the "tuning" power so dominated and advanced that you could tell that, at the end of the story, he is like a God? (He can fly, he can change the reality, create a sun or at least make it appear, create a sea) What do you think?

3. I know the director din't also explain this, but the city was in some sort of asteroid or something gravitating in the space? or was it in a spaceship?

[–] amadaca 10 years ago

Your first question is a little tricky, but the short answer is Humans can absolutely survive without direct sunlight exposure for very long periods of time (think of the months spent by Navy personnel in submarines as tantamount to what we seeIin the film), & though it is the source of some debate, there is a degree of scientific support that Humans could conceivably live indefinitely without sunlight (though possibly with non-fatal health defects).

Second, I think of Murdoch as more of a demiurge than a God per se at the film's end --- he is not the creator of his world (as a God is usually described as), but he does have the ability to shape his world, like a demiurge. He lacks omniscience & does not have absolute control over his world or its people, but he is far & away the strongest figure in the city. Also, I know some people see this differently, but my interpretation is that he doesnt, 'create' a Sun --- he tilts the habitat to expose it to an already-existing Sun --- but that is up to debate I know.

Lastly, the city itself was a constructed habitat, not an asteroid. Its not clear whether it was mobile or moving through space, but it is a space station built by the Strangers.

Lastly,

[–] ZAROVE 10 years ago

ACTUALLY, gods in most Religions didn't Crreate the World. In the Abrahamic Faiths they did, but, despite the Universiality of those Religions nowadays, the fact is that most Religiosn didnt think fo the gods as Creators.

For exampl, the Olympian gods inhrited the World and powerover it from the Titains, their parents whom they had vanquished. The Titains themselves were the product of Uranus and Gaia and other Archaic gods, who in turn were the product of Chaos. The gods merged, as did the World.

In Norse mythlogy, the world also came abotu due to its own proccesses, wththe gods developign from that proccess.

It's actually qiet rare for gods to actually create the World.

Even when they do, like in Mesopotamian Mythology, they merely fashion itout of pre-existign parts, after thye themselves are created.

In Judaism, Christainity, and Islam we have God as self existing and Eternal, but that's not really True of the gods of most faiths.

[–] evejanelucille 9 years ago

Thanks for that. That was really interesting to learn about.

[–] sploiter 10 years ago

I never was sure if the humans in DC were alive or dead. If dead I guess it doesn't matter if they get some sun or not.

[–] Alexej 10 years ago

The humans were alive. The aliens were also alive in their own natural bodies which lived inside the heads of dead human bodies they were occupying. That is why they were pale and hairless.

So, everybody was alive, except that a few aliens got killed throughout the movie and all of them at the end (well, one of them, the one injected with Murdoch’s memories was still alive but he was dying, too).

IIRC (it’s been a while since I last watched it), the only humans who died were the murder victims and the detective who jumped in front of the train.

My name is Colin Creevey
and I’m a photoholic.

[–] sploiter 10 years ago

O.K. thanks that all makes sense.

[–] Alexej 10 years ago

You’re welcome.

My name is Colin Creevey
and I’m a photoholic.

[–] Jamez_Brown 10 years ago

Im pretty sure Inspector Bumstead would if died aswell.

[–] Jamez_Brown 10 years ago

.....and the Captain that has his throat slit by Mr Hand.

[–] Alexej 10 years ago

True. As I said, it’s been a while since I watched it. I should probably watch it again soon. A great movie! 

My name is Colin Creevey
and I’m a photoholic.

[–] Alexej 10 years ago

So I watched it tonight (just finished), the Director’s Cut, and counted five dead humans: The two prostitutes, the two detectives, and the police chief.

My name is Colin Creevey
and I’m a photoholic.

[–] amadaca 10 years ago

I've never really been sure where the idea comes from that they're dead. There's really nothing in the film to support that notion, & Proyas doesn't allude to it in any way on the DVD's.

It's an interesting idea, don't get me wrong, but it seems there's not much weight behind it & to me, everyone seems very much alive (albeit less than fully-functioning, for whatever reason).

[–] wormholeboy 8 years ago

Yes, it's bizarre that so many people seem to have come to that conclusion. Mr. Hand's statement to John about "we use your dead as vessels" would seem to pretty decisively establish that all the human characters are, in fact, alive.