...it's like TV Tropes, but LINKED DATA!
Dark City
- 703 statements
- 138 feature instances
- 64 referencing feature instances
Dark City | type |
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Dark City | label |
Dark City | |
Dark City | page |
DarkCity | |
Dark City | comment |
Dark City is a 1998 neo-noir science fiction film directed by Alex Proyas, starring Rufus Sewell, William Hurt, Kiefer Sutherland, Jennifer Connelly, and Richard O'Brien.A man (Sewell) wakes up in a bathtub with no memories—he doesn't even recall that his name is John Murdoch until he checks his wallet. He finds a dead woman in the bedroom; so when the phone rings and the voice on the other end tells him to get out before "they" come for him, John does so. Despite the damning evidence, John is convinced that he's not a killer, and he sets out to prove this while evading the police... and the pale men in dark coats who have taken an interest in him.Meanwhile, Emma Murdoch (Connelly) is contacted by Dr. Daniel Schreber (Sutherland); he claims to be her husband's doctor and says that he desperately needs to speak with John. But it becomes increasingly unclear whether or not Dr. Schreber is on John's side.Meanwhile, Inspector Frank Bumstead (Hurt) is investigating a serial killer targeting streetwalkers—the dead woman in John Murdoch's room was the latest victim. The evidence does seem to paint John as the serial killer, but some pieces just don't fit. Bumstead is beginning to understand why the last detective on this case went insane.It's going to be a very long night for everyone.Also worth noting: The opening monologue from the original cut spoils the movie to hell. (It was a last-minute addition at the behest of New Line Cinema.) It's recommended that you either watch the Director's Cut (which omits the narration) or mute the opening if you're watching the theatrical version. (Unmute at the closeup of the pocketwatch.) If you want spoilers, check out our synopsis page.Not to be confused with the 1950 Film Noir of the same title starring Charlton Heston in his first starring role. | |
Dark City | fetched |
2023-05-27T01:58:50Z | |
Dark City | parsed |
2023-05-27T01:58:50Z | |
Dark City | processingComment |
Dropped link to M: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
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Dark City | isPartOf |
DBTropes | |
Dark City / int_1044a759 | type |
Dying Race | |
Dark City / int_1044a759 | comment |
Dying Race: The Strangers, although exactly why they are on their way out remains ambiguous. | |
Dark City / int_1044a759 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_1044a759 | featureConfidence |
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Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_1044a759 | |
Dark City / int_11e0d645 | type |
Arc Symbol | |
Dark City / int_11e0d645 | comment |
Arc Symbol: Circular mazes. Dr. Schreber has one in his office for testing rats, Walenski was driven mad into drawing them all around his apartment, and the city itself is maze-like and constantly changing. Not to mention the spaceship itself houses the city in a circular shape. The serial killer also carved symbols resembling them into his victims' chests. | |
Dark City / int_11e0d645 | featureApplicability |
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Dark City / int_11e0d645 | featureConfidence |
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Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_11e0d645 | |
Dark City / int_1420a9b8 | type |
Scenery Censor | |
Dark City / int_1420a9b8 | comment |
Scenery Censor: Subtle example: the bathtub water is cloudy enough to conceal John's nudity in the opening scene. | |
Dark City / int_1420a9b8 | featureApplicability |
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Dark City / int_1420a9b8 | featureConfidence |
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Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_1420a9b8 | |
Dark City / int_175163cb | type |
Transferable Memory | |
Dark City / int_175163cb | comment |
Transferable Memory: The Strangers are trying to isolate the human soul by tracking the effects of swapping memories around various people. | |
Dark City / int_175163cb | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_175163cb | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_175163cb | |
Dark City / int_17fe1048 | type |
Naked on Arrival | |
Dark City / int_17fe1048 | comment |
Naked on Arrival: John Murdoch wakes up in a bathtub with no memories or a sense of identity. | |
Dark City / int_17fe1048 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_17fe1048 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_17fe1048 | |
Dark City / int_191a3673 | type |
Graceful Loser | |
Dark City / int_191a3673 | comment |
Graceful Loser: Mr. Hand, after the rest of the Strangers are killed, admits he’s dying and simply has a polite conversation with John where he explains his motives. | |
Dark City / int_191a3673 | featureApplicability |
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Dark City / int_191a3673 | featureConfidence |
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Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_191a3673 | |
Dark City / int_1994ba0b | type |
Gone Horribly Right | |
Dark City / int_1994ba0b | comment |
Gone Horribly Right: John Murdoch. The Strangers wanted to test humans and see what would happen. Murdoch happened. Dr. Schreber actually taunts them with this when they complain. | |
Dark City / int_1994ba0b | featureApplicability |
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Dark City | hasFeature |
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Dark City / int_1b010521 | type |
Diesel Punk | |
Dark City / int_1b010521 | comment |
Diesel Punk: One of the more important Trope Codifiers, cementing the aesthetic's connections to Film Noir and a vaguely Spiritualist/Lovecraftian breed of Applied Phlebotinum bordering on Magitek. | |
Dark City / int_1b010521 | featureApplicability |
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Dark City / int_1b010521 | featureConfidence |
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Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_1b010521 | |
Dark City / int_1b5fa24a | type |
The Brute | |
Dark City / int_1b5fa24a | comment |
The Brute: Mr. Wall. | |
Dark City / int_1b5fa24a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_1b5fa24a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_1b5fa24a | |
Dark City / int_1b711f57 | type |
Faceplanting into Food | |
Dark City / int_1b711f57 | comment |
Faceplanting into Food: When the clock strikes midnight and the entire city falls asleep at once, one couple drops into the bowls of soup they were eating. | |
Dark City / int_1b711f57 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_1b711f57 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_1b711f57 | |
Dark City / int_1e584efa | type |
Cruel and Unusual Death | |
Dark City / int_1e584efa | comment |
Cruel and Unusual Death: One of the Strangers gets scalped when the giant metal hand of a woman on a billboard swings down and slices the back of his head off. Another Stranger falls through a wooden bridge and gets his neck tangled in ropes connected to gears, and when the gears start turning he's painfully strangled to death. Another one gets smashed like a bug when he gets trapped between two moving buildings as the city is changing. Squelch! Getting thrown out into space cannot have been pleasant for either Mr. Wall or Bumstead. Mr. Book gets stabbed in the throat with a knife and then slammed into a watertower with great force. | |
Dark City / int_1e584efa | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_1e584efa | featureConfidence |
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Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_1e584efa | |
Dark City / int_20598ec4 | type |
Cyberpunk with a Chance of Rain | |
Dark City / int_20598ec4 | comment |
Cyberpunk with a Chance of Rain: It's always dark in the city. Justified by the eponymous city being controlled by aliens who can't stand strong light. | |
Dark City / int_20598ec4 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_20598ec4 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_20598ec4 | |
Dark City / int_21fa6396 | type |
Regained Memories Sequence | |
Dark City / int_21fa6396 | comment |
Regained Memories Sequence: At the climax, John gets injected with a syringe containing his missing memories, conveyed to the audience as a rapid-fire montage of flashbacks. Complicating matters is that these memories, and John's entire past, is completely fabricated as part of the Strangers' vast experiment, and even John knows by this point. | |
Dark City / int_21fa6396 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_21fa6396 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_21fa6396 | |
Dark City / int_22cf536c | type |
Chekhov's Gun | |
Dark City / int_22cf536c | comment |
Chekhov's Gun: Dr. Schreber's special memory vial, which John pockets just before being captured. | |
Dark City / int_22cf536c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_22cf536c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_22cf536c | |
Dark City / int_2487c879 | type |
Forced Sleep | |
Dark City / int_2487c879 | comment |
Forced Sleep: The Strangers have the ability to put people to sleep simply by waving a hand and saying "Sleep now." They also combine forces to put the entire city to sleep so they can work undisturbed. | |
Dark City / int_2487c879 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_2487c879 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_2487c879 | |
Dark City / int_26d1f65f | type |
Verbal Tic | |
Dark City / int_26d1f65f | comment |
Verbal Tic: Mr. Hand says a hissing, rhetorical yes? after almost every sentence. | |
Dark City / int_26d1f65f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_26d1f65f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_26d1f65f | |
Dark City / int_28114487 | type |
Bald of Evil | |
Dark City / int_28114487 | comment |
Bald of Evil: All of the Strangers. | |
Dark City / int_28114487 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_28114487 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_28114487 | |
Dark City / int_282579b2 | type |
City in a Bottle | |
Dark City / int_282579b2 | comment |
City in a Bottle: Everybody seems to remember life outside the city, but nobody remembers how to get to any of those places. | |
Dark City / int_282579b2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_282579b2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_282579b2 | |
Dark City / int_287083f7 | type |
Power Floats | |
Dark City / int_287083f7 | comment |
Power Floats: The Strangers move by eerily gliding, stock-still, around the city. | |
Dark City / int_287083f7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_287083f7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_287083f7 | |
Dark City / int_294df577 | type |
Dark World | |
Dark City / int_294df577 | comment |
Dark World: The title should say it all. | |
Dark City / int_294df577 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_294df577 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_294df577 | |
Dark City / int_2a51fd2d | type |
Beam-O-War | |
Dark City / int_2a51fd2d | comment |
Beam-O-War: Twice during John's final battle with Mr. Book, the second time involving a thrown knife as well. | |
Dark City / int_2a51fd2d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_2a51fd2d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_2a51fd2d | |
Dark City / int_2d4fa515 | type |
Ax-Crazy | |
Dark City / int_2d4fa515 | comment |
Ax-Crazy: Mr. Hand, after being imprinted with the memories meant for John, mainly since these memories were designed to make him into a Serial Killer. | |
Dark City / int_2d4fa515 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_2d4fa515 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_2d4fa515 | |
Dark City / int_314c56b9 | type |
Time Stands Still | |
Dark City / int_314c56b9 | comment |
Time Stands Still: Sort of. The Strangers shut down the city at midnight each night. When they do this, everyone stops what they're doing and falls asleep. It's shown that people driving cars and doing other things take steps to stop what they're doing first, so they don't accidentally injure themselves or others. John wakes up during one such event and is immune after that, and it's implied Walenski is the same way (but has no powers), hence why he's crazy. | |
Dark City / int_314c56b9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_314c56b9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_314c56b9 | |
Dark City / int_319e101e | type |
Amplifier Artifact | |
Dark City / int_319e101e | comment |
Amplifier Artifact: The machine below the city allows tuners to create changes on a massive scale. | |
Dark City / int_319e101e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_319e101e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_319e101e | |
Dark City / int_319e4a2f | type |
Even Evil Has Standards | |
Dark City / int_319e4a2f | comment |
Even Evil Has Standards: Mr. Wall is the only one to object to imprinting Mr. Hand with the memories meant for John. While the rest of the Strangers are reluctant to do so, they ultimately do so anyway out of desperation. Considering what it turns Mr. Hand into, Mr. Wall's fears were definitely justified. | |
Dark City / int_319e4a2f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_319e4a2f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_319e4a2f | |
Dark City / int_34dd5f3 | type |
La Résistance | |
Dark City / int_34dd5f3 | comment |
La Résistance: Schreber works as The Quisling for the Strangers, but has been secretly waiting for the moment to undermine them. | |
Dark City / int_34dd5f3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_34dd5f3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_34dd5f3 | |
Dark City / int_381855db | type |
Five-Second Foreshadowing | |
Dark City / int_381855db | comment |
Five-Second Foreshadowing: When John and Bumstead smash through the wall of "Shell Beach", Bumstead almost falls out but John saves him. Moments later, the Strangers attack, and Bumstead goes out through the force-field for real. | |
Dark City / int_381855db | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_381855db | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_381855db | |
Dark City / int_3946634e | type |
The Smart Guy | |
Dark City / int_3946634e | comment |
The Smart Guy/Token Good Teammate: Dr. Schreber | |
Dark City / int_3946634e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_3946634e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_3946634e | |
Dark City / int_3c0a4666 | type |
Noodle Incident | |
Dark City / int_3c0a4666 | comment |
Noodle Incident: Apparently John wasn't the first "experiment" to wake up when he wasn't supposed to, and it's implied that another Stranger was killed as a result. When the Strangers are preparing to inject Mr. Hand with John's memories, Mr. Wall warns the others against the procedure, asking if they remember what happened "last time", and another Stranger agrees, lamenting "poor, poor Mr. Quick". | |
Dark City / int_3c0a4666 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_3c0a4666 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_3c0a4666 | |
Dark City / int_3cf10fcf | type |
*Click* Hello | |
Dark City / int_3cf10fcf | comment |
*Click* Hello: Utilized when Murdoch and Bumstead confront Schreber. | |
Dark City / int_3cf10fcf | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_3cf10fcf | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_3cf10fcf | |
Dark City / int_3d699462 | type |
Curb-Stomp Battle | |
Dark City / int_3d699462 | comment |
Curb-Stomp Battle: Once Dr. Schreber gives him a whole lifetime of training via Exposition Beam, John trashes the Strangers in about five minutes of screen time. | |
Dark City / int_3d699462 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_3d699462 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_3d699462 | |
Dark City / int_4215e705 | type |
Graceful Ladies Like Purple | |
Dark City / int_4215e705 | comment |
Graceful Ladies Like Purple: Emma wears a purple dress when performing "The Night Has A Thousand Eyes", and also has a purple coat she wears in the latter half of the movie. | |
Dark City / int_4215e705 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_4215e705 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_4215e705 | |
Dark City / int_42a055ac | type |
Happy Place | |
Dark City / int_42a055ac | comment |
Happy Place: Shell Beach, which everyone knows yet no one knows how to reach. Unlike the perpetual darkness of the city, visions of Shell Beach are in bright, oversaturated sunshine. Did it ever exist before John "created" it? Who can say? | |
Dark City / int_42a055ac | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_42a055ac | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_42a055ac | |
Dark City / int_444154b8 | type |
Nightmare Fuel Coloring Book | |
Dark City / int_444154b8 | comment |
Nightmare Fuel Coloring Book: The murdered prostitute's daughter draws one of the crime scene. | |
Dark City / int_444154b8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_444154b8 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_444154b8 | |
Dark City / int_44606d14 | type |
Becoming the Mask | |
Dark City / int_44606d14 | comment |
Becoming the Mask: When Mr. Hand imprints himself with the memories meant for John, he starts to act and behave more like a human. Unfortunately, since the memories were designed to make John into a Serial Killer, Mr. Hand starts to become one too. | |
Dark City / int_44606d14 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_44606d14 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_44606d14 | |
Dark City / int_45398e01 | type |
Psycho Knife Nut | |
Dark City / int_45398e01 | comment |
Psycho Knife Nut: All the Strangers (sinister Puppeteer Parasites occupying dead bodies) carry nasty-looking extendable knives which they love to threaten people with. | |
Dark City / int_45398e01 | featureApplicability |
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Dark City / int_45398e01 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_45398e01 | |
Dark City / int_45a387bc | type |
Light Feminine and Dark Feminine | |
Dark City / int_45a387bc | comment |
Light Feminine and Dark Feminine: The prostitute May is blonde, upbeat and friendly (Light). John's wife Emma is brunette, troubled and distant (Dark). | |
Dark City / int_45a387bc | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_45a387bc | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_45a387bc | |
Dark City / int_49d59be9 | type |
Scenery Porn | |
Dark City / int_49d59be9 | comment |
Scenery Porn: The city, the lighting, the cinematography, it's gorgeous. | |
Dark City / int_49d59be9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_49d59be9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_49d59be9 | |
Dark City / int_4ae13674 | type |
To Know Him, I Must Become Him | |
Dark City / int_4ae13674 | comment |
To Know Him, I Must Become Him: Mr. Hand's justification for being injected with John's memories. Other Strangers (particularly Mr. Wall) consider it a bad idea, primarily because attempting to imprint Strangers with human memories always results in the recipient Stranger's death. Mr. Book is willing to go along with it anyway, because Murdoch isn't blindly wandering the City, but following the clues the Strangers set out for him as part of the Murdoch-as-serial-killer experiment. The imprint will lead them down the path he's following far faster than trying to re-create the experiment. And besides, Mr. Hand is really interested in giving human sociopathy a try. | |
Dark City / int_4ae13674 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_4ae13674 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_4ae13674 | |
Dark City / int_4afa0e25 | type |
Bio Punk | |
Dark City / int_4afa0e25 | comment |
Bio Punk: While it leans more toward Diesel Punk, the film incorporates several biopunks touches as well and has had a big impact on much later biopunk works with a Retro Futuristic vibe. The development team for Bioshock, for instance, cited this film as a major influence on their designs not just in the plasmid technology but also for the city of Rapture as a whole. | |
Dark City / int_4afa0e25 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_4afa0e25 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_4afa0e25 | |
Dark City / int_4eb5691c | type |
Squashed Flat | |
Dark City / int_4eb5691c | comment |
Squashed Flat: Happens to one of the Strangers chasing Murdoch when he gets trapped between two moving buildings at the wrong time. | |
Dark City / int_4eb5691c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_4eb5691c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_4eb5691c | |
Dark City / int_500ecfb7 | type |
The Big Guy | |
Dark City / int_500ecfb7 | comment |
The Big Guy/The Brute: Mr. Wall | |
Dark City / int_500ecfb7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_500ecfb7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_500ecfb7 | |
Dark City / int_53407671 | type |
Action Survivor | |
Dark City / int_53407671 | comment |
Action Survivor: Before he learns how to master his Tuning, John Murdoch's just a terrified guy trying to survive as best as he can, but he actually manages to kill a few Strangers through quick thinking and luck, and knocks down Mr. Hand with one punch during their rooftop confrontation. | |
Dark City / int_53407671 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_53407671 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_53407671 | |
Dark City / int_537dd8fe | type |
Affably Evil | |
Dark City / int_537dd8fe | comment |
Affably Evil: While most of the Strangers fall into Faux Affably Evil, Mr. Hand seems far more genuine in his politeness. It becomes far more pronounced after he gives himself the memories meant for Murdoch. | |
Dark City / int_537dd8fe | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_537dd8fe | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_537dd8fe | |
Dark City / int_53f5119f | type |
The Dragon | |
Dark City / int_53f5119f | comment |
The Dragon/Dragon with an Agenda: Mr. Hand | |
Dark City / int_53f5119f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_53f5119f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_53f5119f | |
Dark City / int_54367e5d | type |
Mathematician's Answer | |
Dark City / int_54367e5d | comment |
Mathematician's Answer: When John goes to the automat to retrieve his wallet. | |
Dark City / int_54367e5d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_54367e5d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_54367e5d | |
Dark City / int_55d919f7 | type |
Lovecraft Lite | |
Dark City / int_55d919f7 | comment |
Lovecraft Lite: There's an ageless race of squishy, invertebrate aliens who capture humans to toy with as they please, endlessly manipulating us for our entire lives, invisibly, and we are completely at their mercy... until one of us obtains their superpower, then the tables start to turn. | |
Dark City / int_55d919f7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_55d919f7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_55d919f7 | |
Dark City / int_581f6468 | type |
Hero of Another Story | |
Dark City / int_581f6468 | comment |
Hero of Another Story: Some of the Strangers' conversations imply that Murdoch wasn't the first to wake up when he wasn't supposed to. Mr. Wall mentions an incident where another Stranger seems to have been killed, asking the others if they remember what happened "last time". It's possible that Detective Walenski was one of those people. | |
Dark City / int_581f6468 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_581f6468 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_581f6468 | |
Dark City / int_5c613245 | type |
Thrown Out the Airlock | |
Dark City / int_5c613245 | comment |
Thrown Out the Airlock: Or rather, thrown out the forcefield into space. So long, Bumstead and Mr. Wall. | |
Dark City / int_5c613245 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_5c613245 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_5c613245 | |
Dark City / int_5f611b7e | type |
Good All Along | |
Dark City / int_5f611b7e | comment |
Good All Along: Dr. Schreber. | |
Dark City / int_5f611b7e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_5f611b7e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_5f611b7e | |
Dark City / int_60e49895 | type |
The Leader | |
Dark City / int_60e49895 | comment |
The Leader/Big Bad: Mr. Book | |
Dark City / int_60e49895 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_60e49895 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_60e49895 | |
Dark City / int_6126185e | type |
You Wake Up in a Room | |
Dark City / int_6126185e | comment |
You Wake Up in a Room: John wakes up in a bathtub, unable to remember who he is. | |
Dark City / int_6126185e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_6126185e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_6126185e | |
Dark City / int_61375e57 | type |
BigDamnKiss | |
Dark City / int_61375e57 | comment |
Big Damn Kiss: While talking about their "relationship" in the jail visiting room, John realizes he's fallen in love with Emma for real. He telekinetically shatters the glass between them and kisses her passionately. | |
Dark City / int_61375e57 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_61375e57 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_61375e57 | |
Dark City / int_617f0563 | type |
Heel–Face Turn | |
Dark City / int_617f0563 | comment |
Heel–Face Turn: Dr. Schreber reveals that he's actually on humanity's side after all. | |
Dark City / int_617f0563 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_617f0563 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_617f0563 | |
Dark City / int_62434fe2 | type |
Sanity Slippage | |
Dark City / int_62434fe2 | comment |
Sanity Slippage: This is what happens when a Stranger is imprinted with the memories meant for a human, as we see first hand with Mr. Hand. | |
Dark City / int_62434fe2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_62434fe2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_62434fe2 | |
Dark City / int_624b1791 | type |
LivingLabyrinth | |
Dark City / int_624b1791 | comment |
Living Labyrinth: The city transforms at 12 o'clock, new buildings sprouting up and others retracting. | |
Dark City / int_624b1791 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_624b1791 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_624b1791 | |
Dark City / int_62f20fd6 | type |
A Long Time Ago, in a Galaxy Far, Far Away... | |
Dark City / int_62f20fd6 | comment |
A Long Time Ago, in a Galaxy Far, Far Away...: Where is the city? Has it been sealed from the world? No. There is no world — it's floating in space. | |
Dark City / int_62f20fd6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_62f20fd6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_62f20fd6 | |
Dark City / int_66ce8a39 | type |
Fake Memories | |
Dark City / int_66ce8a39 | comment |
Fake Memories: Regularly and on a city-wide scale. | |
Dark City / int_66ce8a39 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_66ce8a39 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_66ce8a39 | |
Dark City / int_6941e30b | type |
Room Full of Crazy | |
Dark City / int_6941e30b | comment |
Room Full of Crazy: Detective Walenski's bedroom (and, to a lesser extent, his office at the police station). | |
Dark City / int_6941e30b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_6941e30b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_6941e30b | |
Dark City / int_6b2b3b59 | type |
The Reveal | |
Dark City / int_6b2b3b59 | comment |
The Reveal: The city is actually a giant spaceship. The theatrical version ruins this surprise with the opening monologue. | |
Dark City / int_6b2b3b59 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_6b2b3b59 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_6b2b3b59 | |
Dark City / int_6cc39b20 | type |
Puppeteer Parasite | |
Dark City / int_6cc39b20 | comment |
Puppeteer Parasite: "You've seen what we are. We use your dead as vessels." | |
Dark City / int_6cc39b20 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_6cc39b20 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_6cc39b20 | |
Dark City / int_6d332aea | type |
Driven to Suicide | |
Dark City / int_6d332aea | comment |
Driven to Suicide: Detective Walenski, who throws himself in front of a subway train when he sees it as the only way out of the City. | |
Dark City / int_6d332aea | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_6d332aea | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_6d332aea | |
Dark City / int_6ec4232f | type |
Casting Gag | |
Dark City / int_6ec4232f | comment |
Casting Gag: The creators said the Strangers were inspired by Riff-Raff from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. So Mr Hand is played by Richard O'Brien. Jennifer Connelly had previously starred in Mulholland Falls and Inventing The Abbotts - and this was the third film in a row that had her playing someone in the 40s/50s setting. | |
Dark City / int_6ec4232f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_6ec4232f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_6ec4232f | |
Dark City / int_6f7e17df | type |
TheyPlottedAPerfectlyGoodWaste | |
Dark City / int_6f7e17df | comment |
They Plotted a Perfectly Good Waste: The plot holes aren't. They're foreshadowing. | |
Dark City / int_6f7e17df | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_6f7e17df | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_6f7e17df | |
Dark City / int_7301ae04 | type |
Serial Killer | |
Dark City / int_7301ae04 | comment |
Serial Killer: John was supposed to be one, but he woke up in the middle of the procedure and screwed up the memory imprint. Mr. Hand starts to become very bloodthirsty after imprinting himself with John's memories. | |
Dark City / int_7301ae04 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_7301ae04 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_7301ae04 | |
Dark City / int_7464705c | type |
Arc Words | |
Dark City / int_7464705c | comment |
Arc Words: "Remember." "Do you know the way to Shell Beach?" "You ever think about the past?" | |
Dark City / int_7464705c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_7464705c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_7464705c | |
Dark City / int_75979171 | type |
The Cuckoolander Was Right | |
Dark City / int_75979171 | comment |
The Cuckoolander Was Right: Every single word that Detective Eddie Walenski says to anyone turns out to be perfectly true, despite the fact that his partner, Inspector Bumstead, is absolutely right when he describes Walenski as being around the bend. | |
Dark City / int_75979171 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_75979171 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_75979171 | |
Dark City / int_75e2bf23 | type |
Chiaroscuro | |
Dark City / int_75e2bf23 | comment |
Chiaroscuro: As part of the homage to German Expressionism. | |
Dark City / int_75e2bf23 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_75e2bf23 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_75e2bf23 | |
Dark City / int_77315f4f | type |
You Have to Believe Me! | |
Dark City / int_77315f4f | comment |
You Have to Believe Me!: Schreber is desperate for Murdoch to believe him, even though what he's saying seems impossible. | |
Dark City / int_77315f4f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_77315f4f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_77315f4f | |
Dark City / int_78270847 | type |
Curse Cut Short | |
Dark City / int_78270847 | comment |
Curse Cut Short: Dr. Schreber, cut off mid-rant by Mr. Book. | |
Dark City / int_78270847 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_78270847 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_78270847 | |
Dark City / int_78a96b71 | type |
Safely Secluded Science Center | |
Dark City / int_78a96b71 | comment |
Safely Secluded Science Center: The film's big twist is that the entire city is a secret research facility floating in deep space, and the city's human inhabitants are just abducted test subjects for the Strangers' efforts to uncover the truth of the human soul. For good measure, the central laboratory is hidden hundreds of feet beneath the city, to the point that it requires an underground monorail service to reach, and the Strangers themselves only venture out to adjust the memories of their captives — or to hunt down a test subject running loose. | |
Dark City / int_78a96b71 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_78a96b71 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_78a96b71 | |
Dark City / int_7b6e47a5 | type |
Armor-Piercing Question | |
Dark City / int_7b6e47a5 | comment |
Armor-Piercing Question: "Do you know the way to Shell Beach?" It's part of everyone's memory, but nobody remembers the trip due to the limits of the Strangers' constructions. The question tricks people into noticing the missing link. "When was the last time you did anything during the day?" | |
Dark City / int_7b6e47a5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_7b6e47a5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_7b6e47a5 | |
Dark City / int_7ec94d53 | type |
Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds | |
Dark City / int_7ec94d53 | comment |
Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: John becomes one by the end, although he probably won't destroy the world. | |
Dark City / int_7ec94d53 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_7ec94d53 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_7ec94d53 | |
Dark City / int_7f67e11 | type |
The Night That Never Ends | |
Dark City / int_7f67e11 | comment |
The Night That Never Ends: Not only is it part of the film's atmosphere, it becomes a plot point. | |
Dark City / int_7f67e11 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_7f67e11 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_7f67e11 | |
Dark City / int_7febc23b | type |
Establishing Character Moment | |
Dark City / int_7febc23b | comment |
Establishing Character Moment: John saving the goldfish at the beginning demonstrates his good nature. Bumstead even takes note of it during his investigation. | |
Dark City / int_7febc23b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_7febc23b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_7febc23b | |
Dark City / int_801c7e4a | type |
Quest for Identity | |
Dark City / int_801c7e4a | comment |
Quest for Identity: John tries to find out who he is. | |
Dark City / int_801c7e4a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_801c7e4a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_801c7e4a | |
Dark City / int_86e12b9a | type |
City Noir | |
Dark City / int_86e12b9a | comment |
City Noir: Given this film is a homage to classic Film Noir and German Expressionism, it's to be expected. But there's the added twist that this city always changes. Literally. Buildings are never in the same place twice, bridges or roadways constantly shift, apartments can become hotels, housing developments can transform into five-star restaurants, etc. This only heightens the uncertainty, surrealism, and paranoia in the atmosphere. It's a prison with ever-changing cells. This takes the Film Noir metaphor of the city as a repressive labyrinth of the soul to the logical extreme. | |
Dark City / int_86e12b9a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_86e12b9a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_86e12b9a | |
Dark City / int_8816272b | type |
Blinded by the Light | |
Dark City / int_8816272b | comment |
Blinded by the Light: Mr. Hand when the sun comes up. | |
Dark City / int_8816272b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_8816272b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_8816272b | |
Dark City / int_89b8822f | type |
Go Mad from the Revelation | |
Dark City / int_89b8822f | comment |
Go Mad from the Revelation: Whatever Detective Walenski found out while investigating the case drove him utterly around the bend. | |
Dark City / int_89b8822f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_89b8822f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_89b8822f | |
Dark City / int_8a4988bb | type |
Mind Rape | |
Dark City / int_8a4988bb | comment |
Mind Rape: The entire premise of the mysterious syringes, and inverted when Mr. Hand makes use of John's memories to track him down. | |
Dark City / int_8a4988bb | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_8a4988bb | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_8a4988bb | |
Dark City / int_8ca6d01e | type |
Green and Mean | |
Dark City / int_8ca6d01e | comment |
Green and Mean: Invoked. Most of the clothes John has arranged for him are green and the Strangers were planning to imprint him with the personality of a serial killer. | |
Dark City / int_8ca6d01e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_8ca6d01e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_8ca6d01e | |
Dark City / int_8e04fdd7 | type |
Dragon with an Agenda | |
Dark City / int_8e04fdd7 | comment |
Dragon with an Agenda: Mr. Hand has himself injected with the memories meant for John, claiming it will make him able to track John better. However, he eventually admits that his goal was to experience individuality and what it's like to be human. | |
Dark City / int_8e04fdd7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_8e04fdd7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_8e04fdd7 | |
Dark City / int_95bca4c9 | type |
Tuckerization | |
Dark City / int_95bca4c9 | comment |
Tuckerization: Dr. Schreber is named after Daniel Paul Schreber — a German judge who suffered from psychosis and suspected schizophrenia. His book Memoirs of My Nervous Illness is alluded to many times throughout the film. | |
Dark City / int_95bca4c9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_95bca4c9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_95bca4c9 | |
Dark City / int_970c790a | type |
Big Bad | |
Dark City / int_970c790a | comment |
Mr. Book gets stabbed in the throat with a knife and then slammed into a watertower with great force. | |
Dark City / int_970c790a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_970c790a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_970c790a | |
Dark City / int_985f0a0f | type |
Production Throwback | |
Dark City / int_985f0a0f | comment |
Production Throwback: The movie theater advertises Book of Dreams, a previous film by Alex Proyas. | |
Dark City / int_985f0a0f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_985f0a0f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_985f0a0f | |
Dark City / int_9951519 | type |
Water Tower Down | |
Dark City / int_9951519 | comment |
Water Tower Down: Mr. Book is thrown through a water tower because that's his weakness. | |
Dark City / int_9951519 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_9951519 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_9951519 | |
Dark City / int_997719d0 | type |
Exposition Beam | |
Dark City / int_997719d0 | comment |
Exposition Beam: An Exposition Syringe. Doctor Schreber wants to give John a fighting chance against the reality warping Strangers, so he fills the last Syringe with both exposition and a lifetime of experience in using his matter manipulating powers. Carnage ensued. | |
Dark City / int_997719d0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_997719d0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_997719d0 | |
Dark City / int_9a08c9a6 | type |
Intrigued by Humanity | |
Dark City / int_9a08c9a6 | comment |
Intrigued by Humanity: To an extreme degree! The Strangers’ whole purpose in creating the city and performing their nightly experiments is to study humans in order to become like them and reverse the death of their species. | |
Dark City / int_9a08c9a6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_9a08c9a6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_9a08c9a6 | |
Dark City / int_9bee1a7f | type |
Eldritch Location | |
Dark City / int_9bee1a7f | comment |
Eldritch Location: The Strangers can adjust the architecture of the city at will. | |
Dark City / int_9bee1a7f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_9bee1a7f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_9bee1a7f | |
Dark City / int_9d12bbc1 | type |
Foreshadowing | |
Dark City / int_9d12bbc1 | comment |
Foreshadowing: On repeated viewings, a lot of lines and shots can be seen to call forward to the plot twist: John is noticeably bleeding from his forehead in the first scene, which not only foreshadows the memory injections but also the aliens in the Strangers' bodies, which enter and leave through wounds in their foreheads. Bumstead notes that Emma seems unused to wearing her wedding ring. The second song that Emma Murdoch sings. "So remember when you tell those little white lies/that the night has a thousand eyes..." Murdoch takes the fish from its shattered bowl and places it in a bathtub. After Murdoch finds the newspaper clippings about the murdered prostitutes, one of them blows out of his hand onto the ground, where Mr. Hand steps on it. | |
Dark City / int_9d12bbc1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_9d12bbc1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_9d12bbc1 | |
Dark City / int_9d137658 | type |
The Chanteuse | |
Dark City / int_9d137658 | comment |
The Chanteuse: Emma Murdoch's occupation. Or at least the one the Strangers have chosen for her. | |
Dark City / int_9d137658 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_9d137658 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_9d137658 | |
Dark City / int_9e67ec50 | type |
Flashback Cut | |
Dark City / int_9e67ec50 | comment |
Flashback Cut: John's shattered memories of Shell Beach. Also how Dr. Schreber presents himself to John to teach him to master Tuning in mere seconds. | |
Dark City / int_9e67ec50 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_9e67ec50 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_9e67ec50 | |
Dark City / int_a1a1491e | type |
Homage | |
Dark City / int_a1a1491e | comment |
Homage: This film is a love letter to German Expressionism and the classic Film Noir era. See Shout-Out for more details. | |
Dark City / int_a1a1491e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_a1a1491e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_a1a1491e | |
Dark City / int_a2359d9 | type |
Death Is the Only Option | |
Dark City / int_a2359d9 | comment |
Death Is the Only Option: Walenski has a pretty good grasp of what's happening in the city, and figures out that the only escape is by committing suicide. | |
Dark City / int_a2359d9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_a2359d9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_a2359d9 | |
Dark City / int_a698ad42 | type |
City with No Name | |
Dark City / int_a698ad42 | comment |
City with No Name: Mainly because it's a pastiche built from the mixed-and-matched memories of people abducted from numerous time periods throughout the Twentieth Century. | |
Dark City / int_a698ad42 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_a698ad42 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_a698ad42 | |
Dark City / int_aaece264 | type |
Rousing Speech | |
Dark City / int_aaece264 | comment |
Rousing Speech: Dr. Schreber instructing John on Tuning, the Strangers' Underworld machines, and how to combat them in his memories. | |
Dark City / int_aaece264 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_aaece264 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_aaece264 | |
Dark City / int_ae2b8366 | type |
Possessing a Dead Body | |
Dark City / int_ae2b8366 | comment |
Possessing a Dead Body: The Strangers (really Octopoid Aliens with incredibly strong psychic abilities) can only occupy dead human bodies, hence their pale skin tone and sunken eyes. Presumably this is because possessing a living human would cause them to experience human emotions, which are fatal to their species. They're not picky either; one of them has taken the body of a dead child. | |
Dark City / int_ae2b8366 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_ae2b8366 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_ae2b8366 | |
Dark City / int_ae3d6438 | type |
Deadpan Snarker | |
Dark City / int_ae3d6438 | comment |
Deadpan Snarker: Bumstead. | |
Dark City / int_ae3d6438 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_ae3d6438 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_ae3d6438 | |
Dark City / int_b0155044 | type |
Always Night | |
Dark City / int_b0155044 | comment |
Always Night: The city exists in a state of the perpetual night till the end of the movie, when John creates the sun. | |
Dark City / int_b0155044 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_b0155044 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_b0155044 | |
Dark City / int_b034d333 | type |
Film Noir | |
Dark City / int_b034d333 | comment |
Film Noir: The whole movie is an homage to this combined with German Expressionism, you have a disturbed protagonist unsure of his morality entangled in a web of lies far larger than himself, his beautiful nightclub singer lady friend, the stoic police inspector tracking him down, a sinister German doctor, and a whole bunch of sinister men in black trenchcoats hunting him down, all of it taking place in the city, at night, and in very heavily shadowed surroundings. | |
Dark City / int_b034d333 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_b034d333 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_b034d333 | |
Dark City / int_b06186c2 | type |
RoofHopping | |
Dark City / int_b06186c2 | comment |
Roof Hopping: Murdoch confronts Hand and flees other Strangers after a roof-leaping chase. Unusually suspenseful in that the buildings are changing shape as he's running across them. | |
Dark City / int_b06186c2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_b06186c2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_b06186c2 | |
Dark City / int_b77c5ecb | type |
"End of the World" Special | |
Dark City / int_b77c5ecb | comment |
"End of the World" Special: The last 10 minutes, in which John frees the world from the shackles of The Strangers and recreates it to be a better place for all those who inhabit it. | |
Dark City / int_b77c5ecb | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
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1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_b77c5ecb | |
Dark City / int_b85c06f2 | type |
Glowing Eyes of Doom | |
Dark City / int_b85c06f2 | comment |
Glowing Eyes of Doom: A subtle example whenever John uses his powers. Most noticeable right at the end, when his face is entirely in shadow. | |
Dark City / int_b85c06f2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_b85c06f2 | featureConfidence |
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Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_b85c06f2 | |
Dark City / int_ba236071 | type |
It Makes Sense in Context | |
Dark City / int_ba236071 | comment |
One of the Strangers gets scalped when the giant metal hand of a woman on a billboard swings down and slices the back of his head off. Another Stranger falls through a wooden bridge and gets his neck tangled in ropes connected to gears, and when the gears start turning he's painfully strangled to death. | |
Dark City / int_ba236071 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_ba236071 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_ba236071 | |
Dark City / int_bab2af18 | type |
Backstory Invader | |
Dark City / int_bab2af18 | comment |
Backstory Invader: Schreber becomes a rare heroic example of this, injecting John with a syringe that contains all the memories he should have had, plus memories of Schreber showing up in his past to educate him about the Strangers and his powers. | |
Dark City / int_bab2af18 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_bab2af18 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_bab2af18 | |
Dark City / int_bdb0438e | type |
Everything's Better with Sparkles | |
Dark City / int_bdb0438e | comment |
Everything's Better with Sparkles: Emma's first dress we see her performing in is a sparkly green number. | |
Dark City / int_bdb0438e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_bdb0438e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_bdb0438e | |
Dark City / int_bef696dd | type |
Mind Screw | |
Dark City / int_bef696dd | comment |
Mind Screw: The premise is quite disturbing once you really start thinking through its implications. The movie starts with a white desk clerk changing to a black guy between camera cuts and just keeps rolling from there. | |
Dark City / int_bef696dd | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_bef696dd | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_bef696dd | |
Dark City / int_bf67c13e | type |
Opening Monologue | |
Dark City / int_bf67c13e | comment |
Opening Monologue: The opening scene in the theatrical cut has Dr. Schreber give an introductory narration about the Strangers. | |
Dark City / int_bf67c13e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_bf67c13e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_bf67c13e | |
Dark City / int_c09dbbbb | type |
Weaksauce Weakness | |
Dark City / int_c09dbbbb | comment |
Weaksauce Weakness: The Strangers hate water, which is likely the reason that they designed the city with little to no water sources, and Shell Beach does not exist. | |
Dark City / int_c09dbbbb | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_c09dbbbb | featureConfidence |
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Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_c09dbbbb | |
Dark City / int_c660bc15 | type |
Fan Disservice | |
Dark City / int_c660bc15 | comment |
Fan Disservice: We get a few shots of topless prostitutes, but since said prostitutes are dead and covered in spiral carvings at the time, it's hardly erotic. | |
Dark City / int_c660bc15 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_c660bc15 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_c660bc15 | |
Dark City / int_c75df49a | type |
Shout-Out | |
Dark City / int_c75df49a | comment |
Shout-Out: To Nosferatu, as each of the Strangers Looks Like Orlok. The Strangers are also partially based on the mob from M. The film's creator also noted that the original idea came from the look of Riff Raff in The Rocky Horror Picture Show. This makes Richard O'Brien's role especially notable. Dr. Schreber is named after a real person, Daniel Paul Schreber, a German judge. Why would a psychiatrist be named after a Judge? Because the judge wrote Memoirs of My Nervous Illness, an account of his symptoms during nine years of Dementia praecox. | |
Dark City / int_c75df49a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_c75df49a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_c75df49a | |
Dark City / int_c8f98eb5 | type |
Ontological Mystery | |
Dark City / int_c8f98eb5 | comment |
Ontological Mystery: John wakes up in a hotel bathroom with no idea how he got there or even who he is, and there's a murdered woman in the bedroom. As he tries to piece together his identity, it becomes increasingly clear that no one he meets is aware that they seem to be trapped in an anonymous city of constant night. | |
Dark City / int_c8f98eb5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_c8f98eb5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_c8f98eb5 | |
Dark City / int_c93a6560 | type |
Impaled with Extreme Prejudice | |
Dark City / int_c93a6560 | comment |
Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Mr. Book is taken out by a telekinetically-thrown knife to the throat. Though the knife doesn't actually do him in, crashing into a water tower as he's flailing about does. | |
Dark City / int_c93a6560 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_c93a6560 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_c93a6560 | |
Dark City / int_caf89e54 | type |
Taking You with Me | |
Dark City / int_caf89e54 | comment |
Taking You with Me: When Mr. Wall throws Bumstead out into space, the inspector manages to grab his coat and pull Mr. Wall with him through the forcefield. | |
Dark City / int_caf89e54 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_caf89e54 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_caf89e54 | |
Dark City / int_cd83fa5b | type |
Spoiler Opening | |
Dark City / int_cd83fa5b | comment |
Spoiler Opening: The theatrical version begins with an Opening Monologue that completely spoils every major reveal and plot twist you're about to see. This was apparently mandated by Executive Meddling, as the studio thought viewers would be confused. It is conspicuously removed from the Director's Cut. (Seriously, do not start with the theatrical version if you're a first-time viewer who likes stories to contain any mystery at all! Many fans will watch the theatrical version on mute until the close up of Dr. Schreber's pocket watch.) | |
Dark City / int_cd83fa5b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_cd83fa5b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_cd83fa5b | |
Dark City / int_d01cffbc | type |
Badass Longcoat | |
Dark City / int_d01cffbc | comment |
Badass Longcoat: John, Inspector Bumstead, and The Strangers. | |
Dark City / int_d01cffbc | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_d01cffbc | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_d01cffbc | |
Dark City / int_d4937788 | type |
Days of Future Past | |
Dark City / int_d4937788 | comment |
Days of Future Past: According to the director, although his co-screenwriters have a different interpretation. | |
Dark City / int_d4937788 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_d4937788 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_d4937788 | |
Dark City / int_d948b07 | type |
Terrain Sculpting | |
Dark City / int_d948b07 | comment |
Terrain Sculpting: The strangers do this all the time, using their "tuning" powers to reshape the labyrinthine architecture of the city to conduct their experiments on the human inhabitants. After their defeat at the end, Murdoch uses his own tuning powers to create an ocean at the edges of the city. | |
Dark City / int_d948b07 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_d948b07 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_d948b07 | |
Dark City / int_db8b1727 | type |
Window Love | |
Dark City / int_db8b1727 | comment |
Window Love: John and Emma are about to do this. Then John breaks the glass instead. | |
Dark City / int_db8b1727 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_db8b1727 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_db8b1727 | |
Dark City / int_dbeee130 | type |
Pillar of Light | |
Dark City / int_dbeee130 | comment |
Pillar of Light: A beam of light appears as the dark world dissolves. | |
Dark City / int_dbeee130 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_dbeee130 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_dbeee130 | |
Dark City / int_dc9b1fe9 | type |
Cue the Sun | |
Dark City / int_dc9b1fe9 | comment |
Cue the Sun: How the film ends. John, after having taken control of the massive space station, rotates it so that the sun is shining across its surface for the first time. | |
Dark City / int_dc9b1fe9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_dc9b1fe9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_dc9b1fe9 | |
Dark City / int_df24d8fa | type |
Platonic Cave | |
Dark City / int_df24d8fa | comment |
Platonic Cave: In this case the "cave" is an alien spaceship/laboratory made up to look like an American city ca. the 1940s. | |
Dark City / int_df24d8fa | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_df24d8fa | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_df24d8fa | |
Dark City / int_e2a6ebc1 | type |
Closed Circle | |
Dark City / int_e2a6ebc1 | comment |
Closed Circle: The titular story itself. | |
Dark City / int_e2a6ebc1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_e2a6ebc1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_e2a6ebc1 | |
Dark City / int_e63228a7 | type |
InfoDump | |
Dark City / int_e63228a7 | comment |
Info Dump: A well-done one, when Dr. Schreber explains the nature of the City to Murdoch and Bumstead. | |
Dark City / int_e63228a7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_e63228a7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_e63228a7 | |
Dark City / int_eb4ee9eb | type |
Guns Are Worthless | |
Dark City / int_eb4ee9eb | comment |
Guns Are Worthless: Inspector Bumstead learns this the hard and tragic way. | |
Dark City / int_eb4ee9eb | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_eb4ee9eb | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_eb4ee9eb | |
Dark City / int_ecbf37ff | type |
Disposable Sex Worker | |
Dark City / int_ecbf37ff | comment |
Disposable Sex Worker: Enforced by the Strangers, who give prostitute identities to certain women, then kill them, and then share John's memories of killing them—all to see if he will kill another woman chosen to be a prostitute. John refuses to follow through, but once Mr. Hand gets John’s manufactured memories he finds and kills her. | |
Dark City / int_ecbf37ff | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_ecbf37ff | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_ecbf37ff | |
Dark City / int_ee6201b8 | type |
It Was a Gift | |
Dark City / int_ee6201b8 | comment |
It Was a Gift: Bumstead's accordion, which he thinks he got from his late mother. | |
Dark City / int_ee6201b8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_ee6201b8 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_ee6201b8 | |
Dark City / int_ef92caa4 | type |
World Gone Mad | |
Dark City / int_ef92caa4 | comment |
World Gone Mad: In the climax, Mr. Book and John's psychic battle overloads the Tuning machine, causing the entire city to start uncontrollably warping. | |
Dark City / int_ef92caa4 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_ef92caa4 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_ef92caa4 | |
Dark City / int_f2227354 | type |
Powers as Programs | |
Dark City / int_f2227354 | comment |
Powers as Programs: Dr. Schreber injects people with a substance that alters their skills and experiences in a heart beat. | |
Dark City / int_f2227354 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_f2227354 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_f2227354 | |
Dark City / int_f2d29e14 | type |
Evil Brit | |
Dark City / int_f2d29e14 | comment |
Evil Brit: The Strangers all speak with English RP accents. Non-American actors Rufus Sewell (British) and Melissa George (Australian) use American accents as their more sympathetic characters. | |
Dark City / int_f2d29e14 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_f2d29e14 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_f2d29e14 | |
Dark City / int_f3d5d15f | type |
Creepy Child | |
Dark City / int_f3d5d15f | comment |
The Creepy Child: Mr. Sleep | |
Dark City / int_f3d5d15f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_f3d5d15f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_f3d5d15f | |
Dark City / int_f5c92fe0 | type |
Amnesiac Lover | |
Dark City / int_f5c92fe0 | comment |
Amnesiac Lover: John to Emma in the beginning, then Anna (formerly Emma) to John at the end. | |
Dark City / int_f5c92fe0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_f5c92fe0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_f5c92fe0 | |
Dark City / int_f8e010ce | type |
Evil Cannot Comprehend Good | |
Dark City / int_f8e010ce | comment |
Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Mr. Hand's final conversation with John, who tells him the Strangers were looking for humanity "in the wrong place." | |
Dark City / int_f8e010ce | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_f8e010ce | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_f8e010ce | |
Dark City / int_f9ab4501 | type |
R-Rated Opening | |
Dark City / int_f9ab4501 | comment |
R-Rated Opening: John Murdoch discovering a topless, mutilated prostitute in the room next door to his in the first scene (although oddly enough, this is one of only two times where we see blood or nudity). | |
Dark City / int_f9ab4501 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_f9ab4501 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_f9ab4501 | |
Dark City / int_fd4f8299 | type |
Well-Intentioned Extremist | |
Dark City / int_fd4f8299 | comment |
Well-Intentioned Extremist: The Strangers are conducting the city as an experiment into the nature of the human soul in order to save their dying race, and it's implied that they don't truly understand the cruelty of their actions. | |
Dark City / int_fd4f8299 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_fd4f8299 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_fd4f8299 | |
Dark City / int_fdad3753 | type |
When Things Spin, Science Happens | |
Dark City / int_fdad3753 | comment |
When Things Spin, Science Happens: The Machine that amplifies the Strangers' powers rotates during the Tuning process. | |
Dark City / int_fdad3753 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_fdad3753 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_fdad3753 | |
Dark City / int_ff0f3915 | type |
Memory Jar | |
Dark City / int_ff0f3915 | comment |
Memory Jar: Dr. Schreber implants Fake Memories into people's heads with syringes, and he's later seen concocting the fluids that make up these memories. | |
Dark City / int_ff0f3915 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Dark City / int_ff0f3915 | featureConfidence |
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Dark City | hasFeature |
Dark City / int_ff0f3915 | |
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Dark City |
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