Movie info
| Languages: | English |
| Budget: | USD 27,000,000 |
| Gross: |
USA - 5,576,953 USD (1 March 1998) UK - 848,615 GBP (21 June 1998) Worldwide - 12,821,985 USD (except USA) |
| Plot: | John's life has become a nightmare. He is hunted by the police for a series of murders he knows nothing about, a woman who claims to be his wife is after him, and so is a mysterious "doctor". But his worst trouble is the strangers, a series of vastly powerful beings who seem to manipulate just about everything in the city, and want him because of the extraordinary powers he manifested. John decides to find out what is happening in his city; why is it always night? And why can nobody tell him a way to leave the city? |
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Original Soundtracks
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"Le Chale Bleu" Written by François Perchat (as Francois Perchat) Sung by Anita Kelsey "Sway" Written by Norman Gimbel and Pablo Beltrán Ruiz (as Pablo Beltran Ruiz) Sung by Anita Kelsey "The Night Has 1000 Eyes" Written by Marilyn Garrett, Dottie Wayne and Ben Weisman Sung by Anita Kelsey |
Goofs
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Crew: The cable supporting John Murdoch when he opens the door and nearly falls down the shaft. Crew: The cable holding the doctor while he is being levitated by the stranger is clearly visible as he lands. Continuity: When John Murdoch jumps across the roofs, he jumps onto the same roof twice. Crew: The cable holding John Murdoch when he jumps from the doorway to the building when being bitten by Mr. Sleep. Continuity: When on the fire escape, one of the Strangers opens the window and enters the building. In the next shot, all three Strangers are still on the fire escape. Revealing mistakes: When the glass partition is broken, a second sheet of glass is used to protect Jennifer Connelly. At slow speeds, John's hand is clearly visible reflected in this safety glass. Continuity: After John Murdoch opens the door and almost falls from the building, as he hangs by his hands the door is on his left, except when shown from above, when it is on his right. Continuity: When fleeing from Bumpstead, Murdoch jumps down the same stairs twice. SYNC: John Murdoch's wife sings in a club toward the beginning of the film. Though her lyrics match lip movement, the rest of the band is out of sync (drums, bass, etc.). Continuity: During the jail interview, Emma is alternately holding the phone by its top/bottom between shots. Continuity: When Emma is singing in the club, we first see her from behind. In the next shot (from the front) her left arm changes position, and is now hanging down. Continuity: When John Murdoch wakes up in the bathtub, the blood on his forehead changes position several times. Revealing mistakes: SPOILER: When the flashback shows Dr. Schreber injecting himself to erase his memories, the needle slides upward as he pushes it in his forehead, revealing it to be fake syringe. Continuity: After John uses his 'tune' to force the Automat slot open to get his wallet, the broken spring and lever for the food slot fall in. When it cuts to a close-up of his hand taking the wallet, the broken spring is gone. Continuity: During the time Murdoch is attempting to remember his first name, the little "Be Back at" sign in the haberdasher's window reveals one shot is a mirror-flip image, causing the sign's text and clock to appear backwards. Continuity: Mr. Quick meets his death when the waving arm of the Shell Beach billboard chops his skullcap off, leaving the waving arm hanging to the left of the other arm. In following close-ups, the waving arm is missing. Continuity: When questioning a stranger on the rooftop, Murdoch falls and catches himself by grabbing the top of the railing on a fire escape below. In a following shot, he is climbing up the railing supports just below where he had caught himself. SYNC: The band playing in the beginning has an upright bass-player, but the sound is clearly that of an electric bass-guitar. The playing style is also not true to an upright. The sliding note might give this impression, but the other notes are simply to light-touched to be an upright. |
Quotes
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[first lines] Dr. Schreber: [voiceover] First there was darkness, then came the strangers. Dr. Schreber: Remember John, never talk to strangers! Mr. Hand: Sleep, now. Mr. Hand: [stomps on a newspaper clipping] So it seems you discovered your unpleasant nature. John Murdoch: Who are you? Mr. Hand: We might ask the same question, yes? Sleep... now. Mr. Wall: She knows nothing, Mr. Hand. Mr. Hand: A dead end... Yes, Mr. Wall? Mr. Wall: We thought his imprint would allow us to track him, but instead we have been brought here. This is irrational. Mr. Hand: Instincts are irrational, Mr. Wall, and we must follow where they lead... Yes? Mr. Rain: Mr. Sleep suggests that he might go to places familiar... His job... [is interrupted by Mr. Hand] Mr. Hand: He does not care about our job... [is interrupted by Mr. Wall] Mr. Wall: Indulge us, Mr. Hand. If you were Murdoch... Yes? Mr. Hand: If I were Murdoch... I would remember how my wife had hurt me by sleeping with another man. And then, I would look for a way to hurt her in return... Leave me alone with her [May] , there is work to be done. [Murdoch opens the door to what should be Shell Beach and instead sees the same sign he saw earlier advertising it. Murdoch walks up to the sign, confused] Dr. Schreber: There is no ocean, John. There is nothing beyond the city. The only place home exists... is in your head. [Chuckles a bit at the irony] [Murdoch and Inspector Bumstead tear the sign from the wall, exposing bricks. They then begin to hammer at the bricks with pickaxes] Dr. Schreber: No! No! John, stop! No! Stop! Please! No! [Bumstead and Murdoch reach a soft spot in the bricks and begin to pry at it. John, frustrated, uses his tuning to push away the brick wall. What results is the bricks falling away exposing space, almost sucking Bumstead out and showing the bricks crashing against the ship's newly exposed forcefield. Murdoch and Bumstead stand there, stunned. Meanwhile, a group of aliens walks in from behind them] John Murdoch: What? Mr. Hand: And now you know the truth. [Fight ensues] Mr. Hand: It seems you have discovered your unpleasant nature. John Murdoch: I was just thinking, what you do seems kind of dangerous right now. I mean, how do you know I'm not the killer? May: I don't. Why, you feeling any urges I should know about? John Murdoch: When was the last time you remember doing something during the day? Inspector Frank Bumstead: What do you mean? John Murdoch: I just mean during the day. Daylight. When was the last time you remember seeing it? And I'm not talking about some distant, half-forgotten childhood memory, I mean like yesterday. Last week. Can you come up with a single memory? You can't, can you? You know something, I don't think the sun even... exists... in this place. 'Cause I've been up for hours, and hours, and hours, and the night never ends here. Mr. Wall: Do not fret, Anna. I will give you some more pretty things soon. Emma Murdoch: I'm not Anna. Mr. Wall: You will be soon, yes. Dr. Schreber: You are probably wondering why I keep appearing in your memories, John. It is because I have inserted myself into them. Mr. Hand: I have become the monster you were intended to be. John Murdoch: Here, let me ask you a question. You heard of a place called Shell Beach? Inspector Frank Bumstead: Sure. John Murdoch: Do you know how to get there? Inspector Frank Bumstead: Yeah. John Murdoch: Tell me. Inspector Frank Bumstead: Right. You just... you go to the... John Murdoch: Where? Where do you go? Inspector Frank Bumstead: Just give me a second, will you... John Murdoch: You can't remember, can you? John Murdoch: I know this is gonna sound crazy, but what if we never knew each other before now... and everything you remember, and everything that I'm supposed to remember, never really happened, someone just wants us to think it did? Emma Murdoch: But how can that be true? I so vividly remember meeting you. I remember falling in love with you. I remember losing you. Emma Murdoch: I love you John, you can't fake something like that. John Murdoch: No, you can't. [at the murder scene] Inspector Frank Bumstead: What's that make so far, Husselbeck? Six hookers in all? Husselbeck: I believe so, sir. Inspector Frank Bumstead: Give the man an "A" for effort. Husselbeck: Everything Detective Walenski committed to paper should be here. Inspector Frank Bumstead: The only thing that should be committed is Wolenski. John Murdoch: Hey, do you know the way to Shell Beach? Taxi Driver: You're kidding! Me and the Mrs. spent our honeymoon there. All you gotta do is take Main Street West to... or is it the Cross... You know, that's funny, I can't remember if it's Main Street West or the Crosstown. [after Mr. Hand is imprinted with Murdoch's memories] Mr. Book: Is it done? Mr. Hand: Oh yes, Mr. Book. I have John Murdoch in mind. Walenski: I've been trying to remember things, CLEARLY remember things, from my past, but the more I try to think back, the more it all starts to unravel. None of it seems real. It's like I've just been dreaming this life, and when I finally wake up, I'll be somebody else. Somebody totally different! Inspector Frank Bumstead: You saw something, didn't you, Eddie? Something to do with the case. Walenski: There is no case! There never was! It's all just a big joke! It's a joke! [Schraber mixes memories] Dr. Schreber: These do bring back memories. This one is still warm. What is it? The recollections of a great lover? A catalog of conquests? We will soon find out. You wouldn't appreciate that, would you, Mr. Whatever-your-name is? Not the sort of conquest you would ever understand. Let's see, a touch of unhappy childhood, a dash of teenage rebellion, and last but not least, a tragic death in the family. Mr. Hand: There used to be a ferry when I was a boy. Biggest thing you ever saw, lit up like a floating birthday cake. Emma Murdoch: That's just what my husband once said to me on this very spot. Mr. Hand: Where is your husband now? Emma Murdoch: I wish I knew. What brings you here? Mr. Hand: I met my wife at this place. Emma Murdoch: It's where I first met my husband. Mr. Hand: Small world. [Emma notices Bumstead's accordian] Emma Murdoch: It's beautiful. Inspector Frank Bumstead: It was a gift from my mother. She died recently. I keep it with me to remind me of her. Emma Murdoch: I'm sorry. Inspector Frank Bumstead: It's a funny thing, though. I can't remember WHEN she gave it to me. How do you think I could forget a thing like this? [At the final tuning] Mr. Book: SHUT IT DOWN! SHUT IT DOWN FOREVER! Inspector Frank Bumstead: So Husselbeck, what kind of killer do you think stops to save a dying fish? John Murdoch: Excuse me. How do I get to the end of the line? Train Passenger: You want the Express. John Murdoch: [after train blows by him] Hey, how come that train didn't stop? Station Master: That's the Express. Mr. Hand: But I wanted to know what it was like... how you feel. John Murdoch: You know how I was supposed to feel. That person isn't me... never was. You wanted to know what it was about us that made us human. Well, you're not going to find it... [Murdoch points at his head] John Murdoch: ...in here. You were looking in the wrong place. [after overhearing a phone call between Emma and Karl] Mr. Hand: Karl. Uncle Karl. Haven't seen you in so long. Yes. [Floats away] Dr. Schreber: You still don't understand, John. You were never a boy. Not in this place. [from the director's cut] Mr. Hand: We're very lucky when you think about it. Emma Murdoch: I'm sorry? Mr. Hand: To be able to revisit those places which have meant so very much to us. Emma Murdoch: I thought it was more that we were haunted by them. Mr. Hand: Perhaps. But imagine a life Alien to yours. In which you memories were not your own, but those shared by every other of you kind. Imagine the torment of such an existence....no experiences to call your own. Emma Murdoch: If it was all you knew, maybe it would be a comfort. Mr. Hand: But if you were to discover something different...Something....better. Mr. Wall: No more Mr. Quick. Mr. Quick, dead, yes. Stranger: Poor, poor Mr. Quick. Dr. Schreber: It appears that John has suffered a psychotic break. Complete memory loss. He may be delusional. Even violent. Emma, if he were to contact you, and I suspect he will, you must call me immediately. Do you understand? It is imperative that I be the first one to reach him. Wherever you husband is, he is searching... for himself. Dr. Schreber: Listen to me, John. You have their power. You can make things happen by will alone. They call it "Tuning." That is how they make the buildings change. Just now you acted out of self-defense, a reflex. But I can teach you to control your power consciously. Let me help you, John. Together We can stop them, we can take the city back. Dr. Schreber: I call them the Strangers. They abducted us and brought us here. This city, everyone in it... is their experiment. They mix and match our memories as they see fit, trying to divine what makes us unique. One day, a man might be an inspector. The next, someone entirely different. When they want to study a murderer, for instance, they simply imprint one of their citizens with a new personality. Arrange a family for him, friends, an entire history... even a lost wallet. Then they observe the results. Will a man, given the history of a killer, continue in that vein? Or are we, in fact, more than the sum of our memories? Dr. Schreber: When they first brought us here, they extracted what was in us and stored the information, remixed it like so much paint, and gave us back new memories of their choosing. But they still needed an artist to help them. I understood the human mind better than they ever could, so they allowed me to keep my skills as a scientist... because they needed them. They made me delete everything else. Can you imagine what it's like to erase your own past? Mr. Book: He's becoming like us. Mr. Wall: So we must become like him. [last lines] Emma Murdoch: I'm Anna, by the way. What's your name? John Murdoch: John. John Murdoch. |
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