i will be part of the rabid throng of people line up to catch a spectacle as huge a reloaded and revolution . despite ( and maybe because of ) matrix sky high hype right now and my thought drift back to this overlook classic . but a little on neo and gang first below . the matrix just happen . with an uncanny midas touch and the warchowski bros launch this ( then unknown film ) at the the right place and in the right time . with an execution commercial enough to bring in the box office moola and a philosophical subtext accessible enough for the general public to latch on to and the rest and a they say . be history . the philosophical under pinning though and ( of blue pill and red pill and the subreality of consciousness and all that mambo jambo etc ) and so successfully popularise by the matrix and be infact neither originate by the matrix nor a fully realise than in other more accomplished work . which lead me to . drumroll . a such and imho and the best execution on the concept of reality and perception be already explore in a much more unbelievably visual opus and one year earlier and the grossly overlooked and criminally under rat and dark city . ( one of my top 10 all time favourite film ) this scifi or film noir hybrid be impactful both cinematically and ideologically . most importantly and it reward my wildly abandon reach for human imagination and thirst for idea and by fulfil as much promise a motion picture can ever hope to give . on top of that and my background a a trekkie scifi nerd meant i instinctively respond to film which challenge me both intellectually and spiritually . dark city be thus a near religious and life cleanse experience for me . and any which way i look at it and this film soar to height unseen since 2001 represent a space odyssey . but due to it mess up ( or near absent ) marketing campaign ( position the film to resemble a horror film for the teenage crowd ) and the film do not find it intended audience and flop unceremoniously . of course it find it audience but by then it be too late . that say and the thirst for something well than our run of the mill pop corn fare be still there and wait to be quench . and the matrix fill that void . too bad it wasn not this film . but in a ideal world and it would . sad .