MovieChat Forums > Dark City (1998) Discussion > Who else HATED the 'twist'?

Who else HATED the 'twist'?

posted 11 years ago by cooler56
21 replies | jump to latest

I am talking about when they find out that the city is in space. The moment I saw that I became completely underwhelmed. I was expecting something mind-blowing. I thought to myself, "that's it? kinda lame."

Then the next 40 minutes did a total 180. It became a "Matrix" ripoff with Dragon Ball Z undertones. (I know that The Matrix is actually more of a ripoff of Dark City, but you get my point).

Not as impressed with this movie as much as I thought I would be.

[–] oobie-1 11 years ago

Def. I think seeing movies like the matrix before pictures such as dark city really influence our opinions and make is desensitized on older movies w/ same subjective plots. I was totally excited to finally find ANY copy if this at all and found it on blu-ray and was like bored... If you take it other ways in the society u live in it's fun to dissect.

[–] moviewarriorpex 11 years ago

Dragonball Z? LOL ... cheap anime nonsense.

[–] RynoII 8 years ago

I don't see how this can be a Matrix rip off, since this came out before The Matrix.

[–] sploiter 11 years ago

I never felt that way at all. The reveal to me was not much of a surprise but neither was it a disappointment. Where I agree is the about the wizard fight at the end. I would have liked to see something less generic but I guess they felt like the teen Matrix crowd would feel robbed without it. Definitely kind of a shame.

Overall I still rate it way higher than most other SF stuff of the past years.

[–] jeffer23 11 years ago

No. I don't get your point. You botched up and corrupted your thoughts with stupid internet garbage comparing the two movies before watching "Dark City" rather than watching two movies for what they are worth. I love both movies. Beyond "The Matrix" having much better special effects (newer movie) I think "Dark City" has a slightly better plot.

One is more of a battle for a guy to realize he is "The One" so he can attack the aliens to save the human race (typical sci-fi plot) while the other one is a mystery about a guy who doesn't know what the hell is going on around him while he is being chased as a mass murderer. On one of them it is made clear that the city is not the real world while the other one doesn't allow for this idea until near the end. In fact John in "Dark City" doesn't know the world isn't real and is trying to go to Shell Beach due to his screwed up implanted memories. "The Matrix" has no such memory changes to the people at midnight and it doesn't contain the whole movie inside of this city up to the end. Their not even close to being the same kind of movie.

I don't even think of "The Matrix" when I watch "Dark City". And likewise, I don't think of "Dark City" when I watch "The Matrix". Both are fun to watch and different.

[–] sploiter 11 years ago

I think DC is way smarter than Matrix but I can watch them both no problem. If I had to choose it will always be DC because it's a smart movie and not just about cgi. A lot of people say Matrix is unoriginal and derivative and I agree a lot of it is. People claimed it was the smartest thing since sliced bread when it was 1st released but even then you could see it was just a patchwork of a lot of other stories but it looks so great I don't mind that it lacks originality.

Dark City is the better of the two by a lot imo but I still like both.

[–] jeffer23 11 years ago

I agree with your comment completely. I also got burned out at some point from an overload of too much discussion about The Matrix when it came out. Dark City always seems fresh for me when I watch it.

[–] sploiter 11 years ago

Matrix has Joe Pantoliano who can do no wrong in my book. Other than him there were no really 'distinguished' actors in the movie. DC has William Hurt, Keifer Sutherland and Jennifer Connolly.

I think Rufus Sewell and Laurence Fishburne are about on par.

DC doesn't feel like it has action for the sake of action the way Matrix does. Not to say the Matrix action isn't darn cool but a lot of it felt like it was shoehorned in to keep the teen boys happy. The story seemed to be an excuse for cgi and action scenes too much of the time where in DC the story was everything.

Matrix looks great and it is a lot of fun most of the time but it lacks the depth of DC. As I said before, I like them both just in different ways.

[–] Jules666 10 years ago

"I think Rufus Sewell and Laurence Fishburne are about on par".

That's about the most outrageous comment i have ever read anywhere, going about comparing Sewell,who was less than average in everything he had acted so far IMO with Fishburne, who is brilliant without even trying.

But then each to his own...right!

[–] sploiter 10 years ago

Ha well I haven't seen a lot of the work of LF but the only thing I ever thought he was good in was that Uhnuld movie Red Heat!

The other times I've seen him in anything he was totally average besides the Matrix - that was the worst performance I have ever seen, like he was drugged or acting it in slow mo the whole time. Hey maybe I was being too hard on RS?

[–] spookyrat1 10 years ago

Just a reminder to one and all that the Matrix came AFTER Dark City and in fact used some of its sets. DC's influences on films like The Matrix and Inception are very obvious. It's not the other way around as some people clearly appear to have convinced themselves.

I also think DC in its 100 minutes of storytelling told a more coherent, interesting story than the Matrix was able to tell in its lengthy and ultimately unrewarding trilogy.

[–] moonglum9 11 years ago

One is more of a battle for a guy to realize he is "The One" so he can attack the aliens to save the human race

There weren't no aliens in The Matrix. You missed the whole point of the movie - which is that Jesus will save your soul if you have faith. Sheesh.

[–] sploiter 11 years ago

So what happens when the faithful die and discover they don't have a soul and there is no jesus? Oh right, they'll be too dead to ever discover that, so I guess they can go right on being faithful in life because they're never gonna find out it's a waste of time.

[–] moonglum9 10 years ago

The faithful don't die, you atheist. Their souls are taken up out of their shells by Xenu and given over to Jesus where Xenu, Jesus, Buddah, Allah and Quetzalcoatl throw them a never ending party in heaven with 70 virgins and 12 coconuts for each of the true believers. You just don't know that because you haven't read the bible.

[–] sploiter 10 years ago

None of that agrees with what the Flying Spaghetti Monster told me.

[–] moonglum9 10 years ago

Well, that's understandable. All those minor deities that I listed have to keep it on the DL so the Supreme One doesn't hog all the souls.

[–] sploiter 10 years ago

All hail the pasta sauce!

[–] bozo_500 10 years ago

I am talking about when they find out that the city is in space. The moment I saw that I became completely underwhelmed. I was expecting something mind-blowing. I thought to myself, "that's it? kinda lame."

[–] sploiter 10 years ago

Yeah it would have been way more betterer if the city was underground! That's why it would be dark, because it's underground! Or maybe it could have all been inside Murdoch's head, like in the Matrix?

[–] rj-27 10 years ago

I think it was betterer just because it was in space, which is, you know, dark and void just like creation before it was created.

Democracy is the pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance. H.L. Mencken

[–] sploiter 10 years ago

The creator voice inside my head tells me that the universe is really just the space inside her head. She also tells me to burn things.