History Film / DarkCity1998

-->'''Mr. Hand''': [[WhatIsThisThingYouCallLove I wanted to know what it was like … how you feel.]]
-->'''Murdoch''': You know how I was ''supposed'' to feel. That person isn’t me—never was. You wanted to know [[HumansAreSpecial what it was about us that made us human]]. Well, you're not going to find it ''<<points at his head>>'' in here. You were looking in the wrong place.

* ALongTimeAgoInAGalaxyFarFarAway: [[spoiler: Where is the city? Has it been sealed from the world? No. There is no world - it's floating in space.]]
* LovecraftLite: [[spoiler: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.]]

'''Cook:''' When you left your wallet. You think ''I'' remember?

** Interestingly, rather than the classical MIB archetype, they seem to be based a specific real life case, that of a Herbert Hopkins, an UFO researcher who claimed to have been visited in 1976 by a hairless, pale-skinned man with a black hat who demonstrated supernatural powers.

-->'''Bumstead:''' ''[upon being shown to Walenski's office]'' I'm being punished for my sins, aren't I?

* SafelySecludedScienceCenter: The film's big twist is that [[spoiler: 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.]]

* SpoilerOpening: The theatrical version begins with an OpeningMonologue that completely spoils ''every major reveal and plot twist'' you're about to see. This was apparently mandated by Executive Meddling, as the studio [[ViewersAreMorons 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. Shreber's pocket watch.)

* TimeStandsStill: 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 is immune after that, and it's implied Walenski is the same way (but has no powers), hence why he's crazy.
* ToKnowHimIMustBecomeHim: Mr. Hand's justification for being injected with John's memories. Other Strangers 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.

* {{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.

* NoodleIncident: 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 [[spoiler: 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. [somebody]".

* SpoilerOpening: The theatrical version begins with an OpeningMonologue that completely spoils ''every major reveal and plot twist'' you're about to see. This was apparently mandated by Executive Meddling, as the studio [[ViewersAreMorons 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!)

* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:Detective Walenski.]]

* AluminumChristmasTrees: Many viewers might not realize that the automat was a real type of dining establishment popular around the middle of the 20th century. They are quite common in the Netherlands and a few are still in operation elsewhere.

* IntriguedByHumanity: [[ExaggeratedTrope To an extreme degree!]] The Strangers’ whole purpose in creating the city and performing their nightly experiments is to study humans in order to [[PinocchioSyndrome become like them]] and reverse the [[DyingRace death of their species]].

[[quoteright:290:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/darkcity.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:290:[[TimeStandsStill "Shut it down."]]]]

->''"A world where the night never ends. Where man has no past. And humanity has no future."''
--> -- '''{{Tagline}}'''

%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented on. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.

* ActionSurvivor: [[spoiler: 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.

* KnifeNut: All the Strangers carry nasty-looking extendable knives which they love to threaten people with.
** Mr. Hand becomes a far more straightforward version of this after injecting himself with the memories meant for John.

* TheMenInBlack: The Strangers are aliens impersonating men in dark formal clothing who manipulate and threaten people. Interestingly, rather than the classical MIB archetype, they seem to be based a specific real life case, that of a Herbert Hopkins, an UFO researcher who claimed to have been visited in 1976 by a hairless, pale-skinned man with a black hat who demonstrated supernatural powers.

* AluminumChristmasTrees: Many viewers might not realize that the automat was a real type of dining establishment popular around the middle of the 20th century. They were quite common in the Netherlands and a few are still in operation elsewhere.

%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.

A man (Sewell) [[YouWakeUpInARoom wakes up in a bathtub]] with [[EasyAmnesia 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. In spite of 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 [[LooksLikeOrlok pale men in dark coats]] who have taken an interest in him.

Meanwhile, Emma Murdoch (Connelly) is contacted by one 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 really on [[ReluctantMadScientist John's side]].

Meanwhile, [[SympatheticInspectorAntagonist 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 there are some pieces that just don't fit. Bumstead is beginning to understand why the last detective on this case [[RoomFullOfCrazy went insane]].

Not to be confused with the 1950 FilmNoir of the same title starring Creator/CharltonHeston in his first starring role.

* AlwaysNight: The city exists in a state of perpetual night [[spoiler: till the end of the movie, when John [[CueTheSun creates the sun.]] ]]
* AmnesiacLover: [[spoiler:John to Emma in the beginning, then Anna (formerly Emma) to John at the end.]]
* AmplifierArtifact: [[spoiler:The machine below the city allows tuners to create changes on a massive scale.]]
* ArcSymbol: 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. [[spoiler:Not to mention the spaceship itself houses the city in a circular shape.]]

* BackstoryInvader: [[spoiler: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 about his own powers.]]
%%* BadassLongcoat: John, Inspector Bumstead and the Strangers.

* BioPunk: While it leans more toward DieselPunk, the film incorporates a number of biopunk touches as well, and has had a big impact on many later biopunk works with a RetroFuturistic vibe. The development team for VideoGame/{{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.
* BlankBook: Stranger-made artifacts of John's "childhood".

** Jennifer Connelly had previously starred in ''Film/MulhollandFalls'' and ''Inventing The Abbotts'' - and this was the third film in a row that had her playing someone in a 40s/50s setting.
* TheChanteuse: Emma Murdoch's occupation. [[spoiler:Or at least the one the Strangers have chosen for her.]]
* ChekhovsGun: Dr. Schreber's special memory vial, [[spoiler:which John pockets just prior to being captured]].

* CityNoir: Given this film is a homage to classic FilmNoir and GermanExpressionism, it's to be expected. But there's the added twist that [[spoiler: 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.]]

* CueTheSun: How the film ends. [[spoiler: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.]]

-->'''Schreber:''' Maybe you've finally found what you're looking for, and it's going to bite you on your -- ''aahh!!''
* CyberpunkWithAChanceOfRain: [[ShapedLikeItself It's always dark in the city]]. Justified [[spoiler:by the eponymous city being controlled by aliens who can't stand strong light]].

* DeathIsTheOnlyOption: [[spoiler:Walenski has a pretty good grasp of what's happening in the city, and figures out that the only escape is by committing suicide]].

* DisposableSexWorker: [[EnforcedTrope Enforced]] by the Strangers, who give prostitute identities to certain women, then kill them, and then give John memories of killing them—all in order to see if he will kill another woman chosen to be a prostitute. John [[DefiedTrope refuses to follow through]], but once Mr. Hand gets John’s manufactured memories he [[DoubleSubvertedTrope finds and kills her]].

* DyingRace: [[spoiler:The Strangers, although exactly why they are on their way out remains ambiguous.]]

* EndOfTheWorldSpecial: The last 10 minutes, in which [[spoiler:John frees the world from the shackles of The Strangers and recreates it to be a better place for all those who inhabit it.]]

* ExpositionBeam: An Exposition ''Syringe''. [[spoiler:Doctor Schreber wants to give John a fighting chance against the [[RealityWarper reality warping]] Strangers, so he fills the last Syringe with both exposition and a lifetime of experience in using his matter manipulating powers. [[CurbstompBattle Carnage ensued.]] ]]

* FilmNoir: The whole movie is an homage to this combined with GermanExpressionism, you have a disturbed protagonist unsure of his own morality entangled in a web of lies far larger than himself, his beautiful [[TheChanteuse nightclub singer]] lady friend, the stoic police inspector tracking him down, a [[HerrDoktor 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.
* FiveSecondForeshadowing: [[spoiler: 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.]]

** Murdoch taking the fish from its shattered bowl and placing it in a bathtub.

* GlowingEyesOfDoom: A subtle example whenever John uses his powers. Most noticeable right at the end, when his face is completely in shadow.

* GracefulLoser: [[spoiler: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.]]

* HappyPlace: 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. [[spoiler:Did it ever exist before John "created" it? Who can say?]]

* SafelySecludedScienceCenter: The big twist of the film is that [[spoiler: the entire city is actually a secret research facility floating in deep space, and the human inhabitants of the city 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.]]

'''Also worth noting''': The {{opening monologue}} from the original cut [[TrailersAlwaysSpoil spoils the movie to hell]]. (It was a last-minute addition [[ExecutiveMeddling 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 [[Recap/DarkCity our synopsis page]].

'''Also worth noting''': The {{opening monologue}} from the original cut [[{{spoiler}} spoils the movie to hell]]. (It was a last-minute addition [[ExecutiveMeddling 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 [[Recap/DarkCity our synopsis page]].

* BadassLongcoat: John, Inspector Bumstead and the Strangers.
* BaldOfEvil: All of the Strangers.
* BeamOWar: [[spoiler: ''Twice'' during John's final battle with Mr. Book, the second time involving a thrown knife as well.]]

* BigBad: Mr. Book, the leader of the Strangers.

* MohsScaleOfViolenceHardness: It rates a fairly light 7, with the two scenes of dead, topless prostitutes killed by the Strangers as the only explicitly gory scenes (we don't get to see the actual stabbings either, just the corpses afterwards). A couple of the other Strangers die in some fairly messy ways, but the effect isn't as gruesome due to the fact that their blood is [[AlienBlood bluish]]-[[BlackBlood black]] and not red.

* DeadpanSnarker: Bumstead.

* FakeMemories: [[spoiler:Regularly and on a city-wide scale]].
* FiveManBand: The most prominent Strangers:
** TheLeader[=/=]BigBad: Mr. Book
** TheDragon[=/=]DragonWithAnAgenda: Mr. Hand
** TheBigGuy[=/=]TheBrute: Mr. Wall
** The CreepyChild: Mr. Sleep
** TheSmartGuy[=/=][[spoiler:TokenGoodTeammate]]: Dr. Schreber

* SpoilerOpening: The theatrical version begins with an OpeningMonologue that completely spoils every major reveal and plot twist you're about to see. This was apparently mandated by ExecutiveMeddling, as the studio [[ViewersAreMorons thought viewers would be confused]]. It is conspicuously removed from the Director's Cut.

-->'''Cook:''' You left your wallet here, buddy.
-->'''John:''' When did I do that?
-->'''Cook:''' When you were last here.
-->'''John:''' When was that?
-->'''Cook:''' When you left your wallet.
* MemoryJar: Dr. Schreiber implants FakeMemories into people's heads with syringes, and he's later seen concocting the fluids that make up these memories.

* DieselPunk: The one of the more important {{Trope Codifier}}s, cementing the aesthetics's connections to FilmNoir and a vaguely [[SpookySeance Spiritualist]][=/=][[CosmicHorrorStory [=Lovecraftian=]]] breed of AppliedPhlebotinum bordering on {{Magitek}}.

* TheMenInBlack: The Strangers are aliens impersonating men in dark formal clothing who manipulate and threaten people. Interestingly, rather than the classical MIB archetype, they seem to be based a specifical real life case, that of a Herbert Hopkins, an UFO researcher who claimed to have been visited in 1976 by a hairless, pale-skinned man with a black hat who demonstrated supernatural powers.

%%* OntologicalMystery

%%* YouHaveToBelieveMe

** WordOfGod is that the Strangers were inspired by Riff-Raff from ''Film/TheRockyHorrorPictureShow''. So Mr Hand is played by Richard O'Brien.

* DaysOfFuturePast: According to [[WordOfGod the director]], although his co-screenwriters have a different interpretation.

* FocusGroupEnding: [[spoiler:Test screening audiences were "troubled" by the notion that the entire city wasn't sucked out into space once the Shell Beach City Wall was breached. Thus, a last minute SFX addition of Bumstead and a Stranger drifting through a force field was created.]]

''Dark City'' is a 1998 science-fiction film directed by Creator/AlexProyas, starring Creator/RufusSewell, Creator/WilliamHurt, Creator/KieferSutherland, Creator/JenniferConnelly, and Creator/RichardOBrien.

** Murdoch taking the fish from it's shattered bowl and placing it in a bathtub.