MovieChat Forums > Dark City (1998) Discussion > Who saw this in cinemas back in 98?

Who saw this in cinemas back in 98?

posted 9 years ago by bozo_500
25 replies | jump to latest

Who saw this back in the day? What were your memories - the anticipation of seeing it in the weeks/days before, the actually seeing it and how much a big deal was it where you were back then, the crowds, audience etc and after coming out of the cinema what were your thoughts and in the days/weeks that followed...
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I remember being intrigued by the film noirish poster http://posterposse.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Darkcity.jpg, it being from the director of The Crow, and vague reviews which described it as Kafkaesque (had a very vague awareness about the works of Kafka). thought was would be something similar to the J Irons Kafka movie (which I hadn't seen but read about in Cinefantastique when it came out and was intrigued. in fact I still haven't seen it yet). Absolutely didn't know it was a SciFi movie (don't think it was revealed in any promo stuff although I wont have seen the trailer or anything back then like you can now easily) so when weird SF stuff started happening it was a big surprise, and recall being very shocked when they broke through the wall (and when we saw the whole picture I immediately thought 'Terry Prachett!'). as youd expected there was only me an maybe a couple others in the theatre (which has since closed which kind of adds a sort of Dark Cityesque distant memories quality for me now). quite a haunting film so it stayed with me a good long while after - the mystery of it all...the eerie dark atmosphere ..the retro/gothic/noir 'night hawks'/kafka look....that feel of a dark underworld that only some people know about.. the urban legendness of it ('whens the last time you saw daylight'/the need to get to Shell Beach/the circle rats in a maze symbol/Walenskis madness/the alleyway leading to the door revealing 'shell beach' and then breaking through the poster brick wall where they uncover 'the truth')..

[–] celestedrake-83582 7 years ago

I saw it in the theaters and loved it. Loved the concept of new city every day, loved Rufus Sewell, and mostly just loved that it was sic fi -- there wasn't nearly enough sci fi in theaters or on TV then, outside the Star Trek franchise and some schlocky stuff.

[–] bozo_500 7 years ago

oh damn I just realised these 'who saw this in cinemas back in whatever year' threads I occasionally do for various films will soon be no more😖

[–] bozo_500 (12289) 6 years ago

A belated happy anniversary to DC

[–] Owlwise (1497) 4 years ago

I saw it in a small local multiplex by my apartment complex, on its very last night. I was the only viewer in that theater! Everyone else was watching the other more popular & anticipated films. So it was quite an experience, having that particular theater entirely to myself. Not unlike being inside the movie, actually, which enhanced its already considerable power for me.

[–] bozo_500 (12289) 2 years ago

watching DC alone in a theatre. Dosnt get any better than that

[–] Owlwise (1497) 2 years ago

I couldn't believe my luck, especially as the film went on, just getting better & better. :)

[–] T79 (121) 2 years ago

I saw it but was disappointed. It didn't seem to have the competency of Hollywood movies and the ending was too simple for a big concept sci fi movie. Now that I watch it on DVD, I like it better because of Jennifer Connelly and hidden God meanings. I think God in this movie is not Murdoch but the Tuners...

[–] SandyR (7398) a year ago

I saw it in the theater. I liked it until the end, which I thought didn't quite fit with the rest of the movie.

[–] acidraindrop (3055) a year ago

I wish I had. This would have been incredible. The trailer was intriguing as fuck (think I might have caught a tv spot), but didn't get to watch until much much later from a rental store.

Didn't know it was a scifi movie, and frankly, by design, you can't really explain a movie like this to someone else without spoiling it, so that super stylish first trailer was great.

[–] Druff (1465) a year ago

Did not see it in a theater. I vaguely recall seeing a trailer for it, and/or TV commercials... I wasn't particularly interested. A co-worked friend hyped it up to me at some point, and it was one my first DVDs when I finally got a player. i.e. Playstation 2 in early 2001.