One of the best movies of the 1990s, genre or not genre, was Alex Proyas’ Dark City (1998). (This not even considering in the “Jennifer Connolly Factor,” which states that any movie in which Jennifer Connolly appears is automatically 20-30% better than it would have been without her.) Proyas created a world which not only held a noir-ish mystery, but which posed some existential mysteries as well.
Now Warner Home Video has announced that a new director’s cut of the film will be released on DVD and BluRay on July 29. The new edition will feature approximately 15 minutes of footage edited back into the film, as well as some improved special effects and a new sound mix. Although the studio has announced all the special features for the release, it did state that there will be three new audio commentaries for the film. Hopefully, they will also be including the commentary track that critic Roger Ebert did for the first DVD release, as it is one of the best and most knowledgable commentaries ever recorded.
I have to admit that I am greeting this news with a mixture of excitement and apprehension. I’m excited to see what new things Proyas is bringing back into the film in terms of story and thematic elements. I am apprehensive, as the film is about as near a perfect bit of filmmaking as one can get. Of course, I had the same misgivings about the expanded version of Tom Hanks’ That Thing You Do! that was released last year, but the new material blended in seamlessly, without detriment to the film. Here’s hoping that Proyas can pull off the same trick.
Via SlashFilm.
