As Will Smith once rapped so many years ago, "OK, here's the situation": You are a director working on your first major film. The movie has a modest budget, it's based on a somewhat obscure comic book, and you're shooting in Wilmington, N.C. It would have been very easy for this product to go unnoticed. Suddenly, the star is killed in an on-set accident and the world takes notice of the movie. It opens to critical acclaim and becomes a touchstone for goth kids worldwide. So, if you are Director Alex Proyas, how do you follow The Crow? Proyas' next film, Dark City, would have a look similar to that of The Crow, but the story would be much, much deeper.

Dark City is set in a city (obviously), but in an indeterminate time and place. (The citizens speak English and the cars and clothes could be from several different eras, but that's all we know.) John Murdoch (Rufus Sewell) awakens in a bathtub with no recollection of how he got there, or anything else for that matter. As if that weren't bad enough, John discovers a dead woman in the next room. He quickly gets dressed and flees the scene. He retrieves his wallet, thus learning his name, and begins to try to learn who he is. Meanwhile, John's wife, Emma (Jennifer Connelly), is searching for her husband, and is approached by a psychiatrist, Dr. Schreber (Keifer Sutherland), who claims to have worked with John. She then seeks the help of police Inspector Bumstead (William Hurt), who is convinced that John is the killer for whom he's been seeking. John finds himself by a group of bald men dressed in black who seem to be able to move about the city at will. Who are these men? Why does the sun never rise? And why does everyone fall asleep at midnight? It seems that John is the only man who can answer these questions.

Dark City is an ambitious film and given the popularity of The Crow, the movie should have been a smash. And yet, it opened and closed very quickly, brining in only half of its reported budget. Why did this happen? Seeing the film a decade later, it's pretty obvious why general audiences weren't (and probably still aren't) ready for this movie. Please don't take that to mean that Dark City isn't a good movie, because it is, but there's a lot going on in the film and it's easy to understand how some people couldn't follow it, or wouldn't have the patience to let the story unfold. Essentially, there are two stories happening here. We have the tale of John Murdoch, amnesiac and possible murderer and the bald men who live under the city. Once these two stories converge in the second half of the film, things make sense, and there are some good twists, but the movie never shies away from being hardcore science fiction.

Despite the views of some naysayers, Proyas has created a unique world with Dark City and the film's look alone should be enough to draw admirers. Not unlike The Crow and Tim Burton's Batman, Dark City takes place in an urban landscape where noir is an understatement. Every street and alley looks menacing, and even if John didn't think that he were a murderer, it would be easy to understand if he couldn't relax in this town. And again, the story unfolds at its own pace, giving us pieces of the puzzle. When we finally learn what is happening, Dark City reveals itself to have a story which can be placed along-side classic Twilight Zone plots in terms of creativity.

The newly released Dark City Blu-ray Disc contains both the original theatrical cut of the film and a new director's cut, which runs some 12 minutes longer. I hate to sound like a general audience type, but I prefer the theatrical cut. The one good thing about the director's cut is that it does away with the opening narration. (Shades of Blade Runner there.) Other than that, the director's cut isn't dissimilar from the theatrical version. The difference is that Proyas has moved a few scenes around and he's added some shots and lines here and there. The extended running time makes the film feel long and drawn out. Dark City isn't an action film and slowing the pacing even more is a mistake. However, it is fantastic that we are getting this release and the opportunity to compare the two versions. Dark City is a shining example of the fact that sci-fi doesn't have to mean spaceships and robots.