★★★★★ 5
One of my all-time favorites looking better than ever!
Firstly, the bad (see pictures). I'm not knocking off any stars, because there's nothing wrong with the movie/4K transfer. If you see the 4K variant listed for cheap, be aware you may need to buy a new case, which for a single is roughly $8-$9 per, and $22 if you buy a pack. I had a case, and just moved the slip cover over. Not ideal, but... If I didn't have a spare case I would've had it replaced. For a movie that's special to me as this one is I'd prefer to have the OEM case. Something just feels less authentic knowing I had to transfer a movie (one of my all-time favorites) that recently got a 4K transfer, into another case. Just be aware of this if you see it pop up for sale on Amazon for a low price. It's possible it could have something to do with shipping, but this was shipped from Amazon. I just don't "think" it would be crushed so bad to break the plastic housing into pieces on the top, bottom, and bottom of the spine from shipping. The seller may not have shipped it in this condition, but I assume they did, or I wouldn't imagine it would've been listed as cheap as I got it for. I'm not knocking the seller or Amazon. It was a great deal overall, but maybe not so much so if I hadn't had a spare case.
The improvements to the 4K variant are very good. The contrast and black levels are drastically improved over the HD Blu-ray. Colors are better, and the overall transfer just looks great. It's a genuine 35mm transfer, and with the resolution boost I can see things in this movie now that I don't ever recall being able to see before. I may be redundant here, but truly, the black levels of the suits are excellent. No more gray looking suits. The overall contrast of the film is greatly enhanced.
Film grain:
I think this is important to mention, because it won't be long before 120+ inch TVs are more widely available, and affordable. I'm viewing this on a 120" screen projected from a Sony laser projector, and I'm not saying that as a humble brag. I'm simply saying I realize most will be viewing this on smaller screens at the time of writing this review, and the film grain will be less evident for the average viewer. Even at 120" it looks good. Too many details may have been scrubbed away if they tried to remove all of the film grain, and it would lose that 35mm look. Now, Jurassic Park 4K? I have to watch it on a smaller screen to be bearable, because the film grain in Jurassic Park 4K is intolerably bad for my liking.
For anyone who owns and enjoys older films that are really special to you, never get rid of your smaller screen if you do eventually move up to 100+ inches, because even as horrible as the film grain is on Jurassic Park 4K at 120", it looks like it was shot yesterday when I watch it on a 65". I imagine Dark City 4K would look amazing on anything below 100" (unless you sit really close to the screen), but again, it still looks really good to me at 120".
This film is one of my childhood and all-time favorites. I won't write a review explaining the movie itself, because I imagine most people who are reading this have already seen and love this film, and are only looking to see what the improvements are for the 4K transfer. Search YouTube "Dark City 4K Vs HD" for really good side-by-side comparisons so you can see just how much they put into this. I think the channel name is "Twin Flicks" that I watched the comparison on before purchasing this/Dark City in 4K.
I highly recommend the 4K variant of Dark City from Arrow. I'm not really qualified to say, but I think they did a great job with this transfer.
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Reviewed in the United States on January 23, 2026
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