Obscure 90s Sci-Fi That Sold Its Set Pieces to The Matrix Ended Up Being 10x Better

Summary:

• Back in 1998, the world saw a science fiction movie quite similar to the first The Matrix film, released in 1999.
• It followed an amnesiac man who wakes up in a mysterious city not knowing who he is and why he ended up there.
• The movie is reminiscent of The Matrix not only by its plot and style, but also by the sets, which were sold to the Wachowskis team.

25 years ago, The Matrix fever swept the whole world, as the Wachowskis’ movie made a revolution in sci-fi and action films and set new standards in cinematography. Despite its brand-new visual effects, the main point there was the film’s groundbreaking concept of people trapped inside a simulated reality by the intelligent machines.

Surprisingly, there is a movie that was released one year earlier and offered a more curious science fiction idea to the audience. Even though the memories of this film became overshadowed by its more popular successor, the genre’s lovers assure it’s even better than Matrix and deserves much more hype.

Its plot revolves around an amnesiac man, who awakens in an unfamiliar place and then finds himself suspected of murder. Doubting his own guilt, he moves around the city meeting mysterious men with superpowers, who interfere with his investigation of the past events and of his own understanding of the situation where he ended up.

Without delving much into spoilers, it also deals with the topics of fake realities and memories, just like The Matrix, and that’s why these two movies are often compared. Besides, they are both full of dark colors and present suspenseful cinematic codes.

However, it’s not the very end of their similarities, as it turns out that a number of the film’s set pieces were sold to The Matrix’s production team at the end of shooting. These included the recognizable rooftop set that Carrie-Anne Moss’ Trinity uses to escape from a group of the agents early in the first film of the Wachowskis’ franchise.

Disappointingly, back in 1998, the movie didn’t become as successful as The Matrix and earned $27.2M against the budget of $27M. Nevertheless, over the course of these years it has been recognized as one of the best sci-fi masterpieces of the 20th century.

Titled Dark City, this Rufus Sewell and Jennifer Connelly’s movie is just as dark as the title implies.

“It is insane visually and the narrative is highly ambitious. A dystopian sci-fi concept with a surreal, noir atmosphere,” says Redditor @PaschalisG16 about it.

Check out this lesser known sci-fi gem, as Dark City is available for streaming on Prime and Apple TV+ .