The Dark Knight Trilogy...

Discussion in 'Science Fiction & Fantasy' started by Warped9, Dec 15, 2012.

  1. Warped9

    Warped9 Admiral Admiral

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    I picked this set up from Amazon. It comes with a nice little booklet as well as the three films nicely transferred onto BluRay. I haven't watched the films yet, but I have watched some of the special features. I particularly liked the feature on the Batmoblie in many of its incarnations.

    I am looking forward to watching the films in succession again. I've really enjoyed Nolan's trilogy overall and if nothing else I like the generally coherent and comprehensive world he created for Batman. Sure it isn't real and still takes liberties, but it often seems like it could be real. Nolan straddled that line nicely enough.

    It will be interesting to see the next direction taken with Batman and his world.
     
  2. zakkrusz

    zakkrusz Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I love the films, but I own them individually, not the set.
     
  3. Warped9

    Warped9 Admiral Admiral

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    I owned the first two films on DVD, but since then I'd purchased a BluRay player, so I opted to pick up the trilogy set with all three films on BluRay.
     
  4. the G-man

    the G-man Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    On black Friday i found Batman begins on Blu-ray for three bucks at Walmart. A couple more Thanksgiving holidays and I'll have the entire set for nine bucks.
     
  5. Agent Richard07

    Agent Richard07 Admiral Admiral

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    I got the trilogy as well and put in The Dark Knight Rises just to sample the quality. I don't like that the aspect ratio keeps changing. Sometimes the movie fills the whole screen and sometimes you see the black bars. I didn't notice in the theatre, but it's a little distracting when you see it on TV. Maybe I'll get used to it when I actually sit down to watch the whole movie, I don't know, but I wish they would have kept the picture consistent. I heard that the DVD version isn't like this.
     
  6. Tosk

    Tosk Admiral Admiral

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    It didn't switch ratios in the cinema if you didn't see it in IMAX.

    I'm not a huge fan of it on a home format either, but you get used to it eventually. :)
     
  7. Agent Richard07

    Agent Richard07 Admiral Admiral

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    ^ I saw The Dark Knight in IMAX and the switch wasn't distracting. Saw Rises in IMAX too and I didn't even notice if there was a switch. TV is a different story though.
     
  8. JarodRussell

    JarodRussell Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Same for me here.
     
  9. Set Harth

    Set Harth Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I find the BB DVD to be fine as it is; I don't think there's much, if any, need for improvement there.

    For some reason I don't find the aspect ratio change of TDKR to be distracting on home video, but that may have something to do with the shape of my current TV. ( It is admittedly a little weird to have been a widescreen-only diehard for so long, only to end up watching a film that often fills the whole screen. )
     
  10. JarodRussell

    JarodRussell Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Never compare the TDK blu ray to the TDK DVD like I did, otherwise your view on the world will be crushed. ;)
     
  11. Set Harth

    Set Harth Vice Admiral Admiral

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    How did that turn out? I wasn't really all that impressed with the TDK Blu-ray myself. Though I'm thinking part of the problem had to be my nonexistent tricked-out audio system. Dialogue and some other things were just not loud enough even with the TV at max volume. The same goes for one of the theaters I saw it in: Alfred's "you didn't make it loud enough" gag completely fizzles if the scene isn't REALLY LOUD in the first place.

    I tried experimenting with different audio settings but wasn't successful in fixing the situation. One of the audio tracks, the third English one, was actually at the right volume, but comes equipped with... wait for it... a voiceover explaining what's happening for blind people. "HARVEY LOOKS AROUND NERVOUSLY." Yes, I can see that! Thank you very much!!! :rolleyes::klingon:
     
  12. JarodRussell

    JarodRussell Vice Admiral Admiral

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    In my opinion, the blu ray is much better than the dvd in all regards. But I never had an issue with the audio on blu ray (especially not in the scene with the gatling gun).
     
  13. Set Harth

    Set Harth Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Are you using just regular TV speakers or do you have a better audio setup?
     
  14. JarodRussell

    JarodRussell Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I have a 7.1 audio setup, but I did try it today with regular TV speakers since you asked. Doesn't sound that great there (voices are too quiet, sound effects and music are too loud). It's kinda funny, because it makes that gatling gun scene even louder.
     
  15. Set Harth

    Set Harth Vice Admiral Admiral

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    That's what I'm talking about. TDKR was better in that respect.
     
  16. tomswift2002

    tomswift2002 Commodore Commodore

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    You have to remember that the IMAX ratio is different than the ratio from the 35mm sources. But it's odd how Warner brothers is only doing it on the high def source, but for the regular DVD's they just crop the footage to the same ratio as the rest of the film.
     
  17. Agent Richard07

    Agent Richard07 Admiral Admiral

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    I just watched the trilogy over the course of 3 nights. There's a lot to absorb and digest. I picked up things I didn't before, but I still didn't get everything. They're complex movies that require good observational skills and some thought. I initially thought that 4 or 5 movies would have been better in order to get more of Batman's crusade and include more of the rogues gallery, but right now, I'm not missing any of that as much as I did before. It feels like a complete story was told and that's something I didn't see when I saw one movie at a time over the course of 7 years.

    Nolan's trilogy works as a complete Batman saga.

    Batman Begins is a solid introduction to Bruce's crusade and The Dark Knight really captures the spirit of that crusade. Everything needed to tell a full Batman story was right there. Finally, The Dark Knight Rises touched on some of the trilogy's and Batman in general's biggest ideas and gave the story what I thought was a gripping and heart-felt conclusion. It did however seem more flawed than the other two, with elements that either didn't make total sense (Bane's mission and the citizens' behavior for example) or were glossed over (the commentary on the rich as well as Bruce and Selina's relationship for starters). The 8-year gap did fit the narrative better than I thought though. It felt like it was needed after the fallout from the Harvey Dent fiasco and Bruce realizing that maybe all this Batman stuff had gone far enough and accomplished what it was intended to do anyway, which was to round up the organized crime bosses.

    Nolan's trilogy also works as a beginning for the Batman saga.

    Around the time of the first two movies, a lot of us thought that we'd get a trilogy that sets up future Batman adventures, and it does. One of the messages we got was that Batman was a symbol and that he could be anyone. The trilogy told the story of Bruce Wayne, but no doubt, the crusade will continue, so those mentions of Batman having to take down the colorful rogues gallery that escaped from Arkham or Bats and the Joker going at it forever weren't said in vain.

    I look forward to watching the trilogy again to see what more I can take away because there's a lot there. Blink or get distracted and you'll definitely miss something. Fail to think or connect a few dots and you'll miss even more.

    I also have to say that the switch in the aspect ratio that I've been complaining about is hardly noticeable when you're engrossed in the movies. I still prefer a consistent picture, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Guess I don't have to buy the DVD versions afterall.
     
  18. Set Harth

    Set Harth Vice Admiral Admiral

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  19. Agent Richard07

    Agent Richard07 Admiral Admiral

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    More observations about the trilogy...

    - I liked the cityscape from Batman Begins. Too bad they didn't stick with it. I didn't like that Gotham in Rises was obviously Manhattan. I wonder why Nolan did that.

    - Didn't like the car chase in Batman Begins. There was too much damage done for him to eventually gain the trust of the police force. But at least they had official policy state that Batman is to be arrested. That helped put things back to making sense.

    - Batman wasn't actually deputized. He was just working secretly with Gordon and a few others. I didn't pick up on that in 2008.

    - Bruce and/or Wayne Enterprises caused a lot of the problems Batman had to fight. I'm seeing a lot of this these days... The hero being responsible for the story's conflict or whatever disaster has occurred.