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The Dark Knight - Grading & Discussion

Grade the movie...


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Where was that from? It's probably a good thing I'm going back to see it again during the day Wednesday. There's some of this stuff that I'm simply not remembering!

It looks like it was composited between "Batman" and the last "Spider-man" feature. It basically says, "Batman pwns Spider-man" (by breaking records set by the previous Spider-man movie.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why I couldn't remember that "scene" at all. It wasn't there!
 
But it was just so damn GOOD and awesome, and "true" to the look of the character. Seeing his entire eyeball there and his teeth, and the inside of his mouth when he took a drinking (with some dribbling on his chin) and, pretty much just seeing his SKULL there was just... GREAT.

Far better than what they did with TLJ in Forever.

Over the top? A little.

Greusome? Absolutely. Which is why I loved it.

Nolan has said they actually scaled back the effects of Two-Face's scarring - because they didn't want the audience to look away every time it was on screen.


I've a couple other questions I just thought of.

What was the point of firing the high-powered gun into the bricks? I get that Batman/Bruce took the brick out of the wall and "reassmnbled" the fragmented bullet to get the ballistics/fingerprint off of it but what did firing the test-shots do?

It seemed to have something to do with discovering which kind of bullet was used, and how it shattered so they could recover all the pieces in the reconstruction. In looking for a fingerprint, you'd need to recover a good deal of the information.

And.

When/How did Harvey get out of the hopsital? We see the Joker leave the room, sanitize his hands, walk down the hall and activate the bombs. How did Harvey get out?

Joker must have let him out first. Maybe he's sanitiing his hands after helping Harvey up.

Someone asked about Batman the Detective - we see Bruce do the ballistics testing and recover the fingerprint. He creates the plan to use the irradiated bills in order to identify the mob banks. During Loeb's memorial as he leaves he tells Alfred, "I have four possibles." and then instructs him to find the apartment overlooking the street that would be most likely to hide a sniper which leads to him finding the kidnapped cops. The film didn't waste too much screen time showing every little thing he did, but there are plenty of drops that indicate his detecting.

Someone else asked about Gordon's final lines - this isn't exact but, in response to his son's asking, Why is he running?

Because we have to chase him. Because he's the hero Gotham deserves but he's not the hero it needs right now. (There's a line here I can't remember) He's the silent guardian, the (something - invisible?) protector - the Dark Knight.

Sorry - maybe someone else can fill in some more.
 
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This movie is freaking me out even now. I was looking over my novel that I wrote a few years ago, trying to do some editing tonight when I found the following passage:

Desperation worked in and of itself, like it was its own little world. It had its own natural laws, and they were similar but not quite the same as those everyone else is governed by. Gravity is a stronger force in desperation; things fall faster, the very things that are needed the most, and there’s never time to catch them before they hit the ground, and those very things always fall in unpredictable ways, unpredictable places, somehow always out of view, and maybe later they’ll be found, all the way over there, on the other side, long after they are needed.


That passage, which I hadn't read in a long time, reminded my of the Joker's "Madness is like Gravity," bit, "all you need is a little push."
 
Someone else asked about Gordon's final lines - this isn't exact but, in response to his son's asking, Why is he running?

Because we have to chase him. Because he's the hero Gotham deserves but he's not the hero it needs right now. (There's a line here I can't remember) He's the silent guardian, the (something - invisible?) protector - the Dark Knight.

Sorry - maybe someone else can fill in some more.
That was me. :) Thanks, Lapis; I did find it somewhere: "Because he's the hero Gotham deserves. But not the one it needs right now. So we'll hunt him. Because he can take it. Because he's not a hero. He's a silent guardian. A watchful protector. A dark knight. "

Now I just need the rest of Alfred's "some men just want to watch the world burn." :lol:
 
I just got back from an IMAX showing of this movie and this is how I rate The Dark Knight: Excellent.

IMO, this is a perfect film. Every actor played their part brilliantly, I was especially surprised by Aaron Eckhart, and the script was full of twists and surprises.

Bring on the next Batman movie!
 
Someone else asked about Gordon's final lines - this isn't exact but, in response to his son's asking, Why is he running?

Because we have to chase him. Because he's the hero Gotham deserves but he's not the hero it needs right now. (There's a line here I can't remember) He's the silent guardian, the (something - invisible?) protector - the Dark Knight.

Sorry - maybe someone else can fill in some more.
That was me. :) Thanks, Lapis; I did find it somewhere: "Because he's the hero Gotham deserves. But not the one it needs right now. So we'll hunt him. Because he can take it. Because he's not a hero. He's a silent guardian. A watchful protector. A dark knight. "

Now I just need the rest of Alfred's "some men just want to watch the world burn." :lol:
“In their desperation they turned to a man they didn’t fully understand. Some men aren’t looking for anything logical. They can’t be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.”
 
Someone else asked about Gordon's final lines - this isn't exact but, in response to his son's asking, Why is he running?

Because we have to chase him. Because he's the hero Gotham deserves but he's not the hero it needs right now. (There's a line here I can't remember) He's the silent guardian, the (something - invisible?) protector - the Dark Knight.

Sorry - maybe someone else can fill in some more.
That was me. :) Thanks, Lapis; I did find it somewhere: "Because he's the hero Gotham deserves. But not the one it needs right now. So we'll hunt him. Because he can take it. Because he's not a hero. He's a silent guardian. A watchful protector. A dark knight. "

Now I just need the rest of Alfred's "some men just want to watch the world burn." :lol:
“In their desperation they turned to a man they didn’t fully understand. Some men aren’t looking for anything logical. They can’t be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.”
Awesome. Thanks!
 
Someone else asked about Gordon's final lines - this isn't exact but, in response to his son's asking, Why is he running?

Because we have to chase him. Because he's the hero Gotham deserves but he's not the hero it needs right now. (There's a line here I can't remember) He's the silent guardian, the (something - invisible?) protector - the Dark Knight.

Sorry - maybe someone else can fill in some more.
That was me. :) Thanks, Lapis; I did find it somewhere: "Because he's the hero Gotham deserves. But not the one it needs right now. So we'll hunt him. Because he can take it. Because he's not a hero. He's a silent guardian. A watchful protector. A dark knight. "

Thank you! That's a great line, so I'm happy to have it correct too.
 
Anyways - on another note - Bats' costume - especially his helmet was awful! Maybe that humongous helmet protected him when he fell (multiple times in the movie) but it almost always took me out of the movie whenever they had a closeup of Bats talking to various people.

Yeah when we finally got a good look at the cowl in the light of the interrogation room, I was struck by how... odd the shape was.

Nolan definitely needs to get a better art designer for the next movie.
 
Someone asked about Batman the Detective - we see Bruce do the ballistics testing and recover the fingerprint. He creates the plan to use the irradiated bills in order to identify the mob banks. During Loeb's memorial as he leaves he tells Alfred, "I have four possibles." and then instructs him to find the apartment overlooking the street that would be most likely to hide a sniper which leads to him finding the kidnapped cops. The film didn't waste too much screen time showing every little thing he did, but there are plenty of drops that indicate his detecting.

Yeah I guess there was a lot of detecting in this movie after all.

I still think he relied too much on gadgets and technology though. The Batman of the comics (at least the ones I read as a kid) didn't need technology to do every little thing; most of the time he would swing around the city on a simple rope, wait on rooftops, and use his own, more attuned senses to find and stop criminals. Only rarely would he need to pull something out of his utility belt.

He was also almost completely self-sufficient, where in Nolan's movies it's basically a team made up of Bruce, Alfred, and Fox that makes the whole thing work. There might be something to that thematically (and of course the actors are a lot of fun to watch in the movie), but I still prefer the loner Batman of the comics who relies almost completely on his own wits and skills to get the job done.
 
I like the idea of a loner Batman--and, emotionally, Bale's version of the character fits that bill--but, realistically (and this series, despite many fantastical elements, does try to ground itself in realism), there's no way Batman (especially this Batman) could be the product of just one man.

Although, perhaps, a third film might preoccupy itself with that idea, depending on how Fox and Alfred deal with Batman's "murders."
 
...it looks like with the destruction of the Tumbler we might be getting a new Batmobile in the next movie. :techman:

In BB, Fox says that they were built as bridging vehicles; Two of these would tow cables...these babies work just fine.

There is at least one more.

To be fair, The Tumbler was never called The Batmobile. ;)

Dick Grayson is the one that comes up with the dandy names for Batman's stuff.

Or maybe, since he's on the run now, he'll just stick with the batpod for awhile. It does seem like a more efficient way to get around the city, and doesn't attract NEARLY as much attention as a big, giant car.
I concur on this sentiment. While I like The Tumbler more than most (other than the stupid shooting position), I much prefer the The Batpod.

Scope creep from the government contract maybe? Agreed, the firing position was unnecessary.

Anyways - on another note - Bats' costume - especially his helmet was awful! Maybe that humongous helmet protected him when he fell (multiple times in the movie) but it almost always took me out of the movie whenever they had a closeup of Bats talking to various people.

Yeah when we finally got a good look at the cowl in the light of the interrogation room, I was struck by how... odd the shape was.

Nolan definitely needs to get a better art designer for the next movie.

Hopefully he'll drop the armor altogether.
 
See.... the armor never bothered me, although I am no authority nor a dyed-in-the-wool fan of the Batman franchise. Even so, the armor seemed a logical addition to the Batsuit, simply because of whast he does and that he is human.

Not that I am trying to be contentious, but what is it about the armor that is so bothersome? Is it the particular style in this film? Is it the fact that ti's there at all?
 
Someone asked about Batman the Detective - we see Bruce do the ballistics testing and recover the fingerprint. He creates the plan to use the irradiated bills in order to identify the mob banks. During Loeb's memorial as he leaves he tells Alfred, "I have four possibles." and then instructs him to find the apartment overlooking the street that would be most likely to hide a sniper which leads to him finding the kidnapped cops. The film didn't waste too much screen time showing every little thing he did, but there are plenty of drops that indicate his detecting.

Yeah I guess there was a lot of detecting in this movie after all.

I still think he relied too much on gadgets and technology though. The Batman of the comics (at least the ones I read as a kid) didn't need technology to do every little thing; most of the time he would swing around the city on a simple rope, wait on rooftops, and use his own, more attuned senses to find and stop criminals. Only rarely would he need to pull something out of his utility belt.

He was also almost completely self-sufficient, where in Nolan's movies it's basically a team made up of Bruce, Alfred, and Fox that makes the whole thing work. There might be something to that thematically (and of course the actors are a lot of fun to watch in the movie), but I still prefer the loner Batman of the comics who relies almost completely on his own wits and skills to get the job done.

Yo can't write that in a movie where you have no narration boxes to tell the audience what's going on in the main character's mind.

A lot of the "team" exists so Batman can have conversations and the audience can follow what's happening.

And I'm not sure the loner of Batman of the comics was really around as much as you might think. Jim Gordon was in Detective Comics #27, debuting right alongside Batman. Robin was introduced less than a year after Batman premiered (specifically so Batman would have someone to talk to to explain his thought processes). In 1967 Batgirl joined the team. By the modern era, Alfred was an ex-spy (or ex-actor, or ex-military pilot), who was pretty active in the solving of cases. Nowadays, there's Robin, Nightwing, Alfred, Batgirl, Oracle, and Jim Gordon.

Batman acting as a loner actually doesn't happen very often at all. There's a few stories, but they are pretty rare.

Tyberius said:
Agreed, the firing position was unnecessary.

The firing position was shown in TDK to protect him in the case of catastrophic damage, and allow him to eject on the Batpod.
 
Tyberius said:
Agreed, the firing position was unnecessary.
The firing position was shown in TDK to protect him in the case of catastrophic damage, and allow him to eject on the Batpod.
True, it works for The Dark Knight, but for the purposes of Batman Begins, it's ludicrous. There's one point where Batman goes down into the firing position for about 20 seconds and then returns back to the normal sitting position for no reason at all.
 
See.... the armor never bothered me, although I am no authority nor a dyed-in-the-wool fan of the Batman franchise. Even so, the armor seemed a logical addition to the Batsuit, simply because of whast he does and that he is human.

Not that I am trying to be contentious, but what is it about the armor that is so bothersome? Is it the particular style in this film? Is it the fact that ti's there at all?

I don't disagree with the use of armor for particular missions. In the comics armor was used in very specific missions for very specific purposes (I can remember armor being used, by Bruce Wayne's Batman, twice). But the general use of armor removes the need for fighting intelligence and just makes Batman a thug. Without the armor, Batman must rely on careful planning (days - weeks of planning) and more intelligent fighting (or escape).

Tyberius said:
Agreed, the firing position was unnecessary.
The firing position was shown in TDK to protect him in the case of catastrophic damage, and allow him to eject on the Batpod.

OK, I'll buy that. Was there two escape pods then?
 
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