The Dark Knight

[Race Car Driver]

Go see it.
That is all.
:T

[David Meek]

Oh. . . if I must. :B

[Hdale85]

Was thinking about it today but Diana wanted to do something else Hard to see a movie like this with 2 little ones too.

[Burke Strickland]

Go see it.
That is all.

Is that all? What is it about the film makes it worth our viewing time and the hassle of seeing it in a commercial theater? Was it the acting, direction, dialog, sound effects, sets, action scenes, character development, intriguing plot (without giving it all away), or a great IMAX image that had nothing to do with mountains or sharks :>) that you felt it special? Inquiring minds want to know... more info than just a thumbs up. please!

[wettou]

Forget commercial movie theater unless it is in IMAX then it is worth-it other wise keep your money and buy a blu ray

[june]

favorite film of the year so far. buying the bluay when available.

[Chris D]

I'm also hearing that it's a very good movie, even when you take away any thoughts of the Heath Ledger issue. (who reportedly REALLY put on a great performance)

[Gremal]

It's great. Bale/Nolan continue the lesson in morality and identity but dispense with most of the character development that was such a big part of the first film (except for Two-Face, who is as much a part of the story as the Joker). This frees TDK to move from action sequence to action sequence with incredible pacing and intensity. Some things didn't work for me, like the new Katie Holmes character. Bad casting choice. But TDK barrages you with tons of details. One of which is a two-headed coin that was taken from the Nolan/Bale powerhouse The Prestige.

[Ovation]

An outstanding film. If Ledger and the film don't get Oscar nominations, it will be beyond insulting. This isn't just a great "comic book" film--it's a great film, period.

I watched Batman Begins last night as a warm up. Taken together, they are, head and shoulders, above any other "comic based" film.

A few caveats--the look of the city is not consistent (l liked the look better in Begins) and the new "Rachel" didn't quite do it for me--not enough to be a serious concern, though.

Ledger, though, is phenomenal and it will be a long time before anyone else will want to attempt the role. Moreover, the Joker is better written in this film than in any comic I've read (and I've read A LOT of them).

[hawkfan]

This movie will be up for a few awards. It was brutal and dark. Almost too dark and serious. This is not a mindless action movie by any means though. The message about humanity and how we react to chaos was pretty heavy stuff for a comic book movie. This movie does not appear to be aimed at kids at all. I'm not a kid, so I really liked it and the audience liked it as well by some of the comments I heard on the way out of the theater. For some reason, I found the ending during Gordon's speech to his son to be somewhat moving. I concur with the comments about this being one of the best comic book movies ever. :T

[Race Car Driver]

Looks like the Dark Knight is a record breaker all the way around, opening day sales, opening weekend sales, i max sales, possible ticket sales....

Starwars, put that in your pipe and smoke it!

Man, what a great movie!

[ahcryky]

Looks like the Dark Knight is a record breaker all the way around, opening day sales, opening weekend sales, i max sales, possible ticket sales....

Starwars, put that in your pipe and smoke it!

Man, what a great movie!

Well, you can to to the All Time Box Office site with adjusted ticket price with inflation, since tickets were $1.00 - $2.00 bucks for Star Wars back in 77 and Star Wars grossed $1,225,462,800......... Don't think Batman is gonna reach that.

[George Bellefontaine]

But it did beat last year's Spiderman and that's a lot of moola, and will no doubt be a much better film than Spidey, well for me anyway.

[Ovation]

Well, you can to to the All Time Box Office site with adjusted ticket price with inflation, since tickets were $1.00 - $2.00 bucks for Star Wars back in 77 and Star Wars grossed $1,225,462,800......... Don't think Batman is gonna reach that.

Given the nature of the movie business today vs 30 years ago, you're probably right. To do a fair comparison, though, you have to count rental/sales figures for a span of time equal to the time Star Wars spent at the theatre. I'm not saying Star Wars would not remain "the king", but rather the numbers would be closer. Also, opening weekend numbers should, even allowing for inflation, be HEAVILY in favour of The Dark Knight--again because the system is skewed much more to "opening big" (if opening weekend numbers had been as important in 1977, Star Wars would have been a minor blip on the screen rather than the phenomenon it became).

[ahcryky]

Given the nature of the movie business today vs 30 years ago, you're probably right. To do a fair comparison, though, you have to count rental/sales figures for a span of time equal to the time Star Wars spent at the theatre. I'm not saying Star Wars would not remain "the king", but rather the numbers would be closer. Also, opening weekend numbers should, even allowing for inflation, be HEAVILY in favour of The Dark Knight--again because the system is skewed much more to "opening big" (if opening weekend numbers had been as important in 1977, Star Wars would have been a minor blip on the screen rather than the phenomenon it became).

And to add......... Star Wars is number two on the list behind Gone with the Wind at $1,390,067,000.......... you can check it out on boxofficemojo.com

[audioqueso]

So... get a baby-sitter so I can go watch this movie.

What to hear something amusing? The Dark Knight broke the record for opening weekend, right? $66 million at a little under 22 million tickets right? You guys heard of Hayao Miyazaki? Japanese director that wrote "Spirited Away". Cartoon movie from Japan called "Sen to Chihiro". I think it was released in the states through Disney. Well, his new movie called Ponyo, was just released here on Friday. Friday alone... it sold 30,400,000,000 Yen in tickets. Equivilant to $300 million dollars. Even by ticket current ticket prices here, it's 25 million tickets. Crazy isn't it?? In just one day.

[Race Car Driver]

Well, you can to to the All Time Box Office site with adjusted ticket price with inflation, since tickets were $1.00 - $2.00 bucks for Star Wars back in 77 and Star Wars grossed $1,225,462,800......... Don't think Batman is gonna reach that.

http://www.imdb.com/boxoffice/alltimegross

Average ticket price in 77 was about $2.23.

The first "Star Wars" opened in 1977 in 43 theaters and generated $1.55 million in ticket sales in its first weekend, according to Exhibitor Relations. In its first run in the United States and Canada, the film brought in $221.3 million. With re-releases, it has grossed $798 million worldwide.

The serial continued in 1980 with "The Empire Strikes Back," with ticket sales of $538

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4188/is_20050521/ai_n14636553

Anyone can argue what they like, a record is a record. How are you going to factor in inflation over 30 years? You would need to factor in inflation for tickets sold per year, every year from 77 on.

Anyways, The Dark Knight is a great movie :T I hope to see it take Titanic off the list. Who knows.

http://www.movieweb.com/movies/boxoffice/alltime.php?page=1&

[chrisn]

I saw this opening night, in imax. I got there 2.5 hours early to get decent seats, which worked out well. I wasn't prepared for the type of viewers it attracted, I felt quite out of place. It didn't matter, it was a great movie. I didn't feel there were any slow or un-needed scenes. This is, imo, the best "batman" movie, followed by Batman Begins. I like the part when the joker makes the pencil dissappear

Heath Ledger did a great job, they all did. Look out for the joker with his makeup off, it is very briefly shown.

Note to those who haven't seen it yet: There is nothing at the end of the credits. The theater was mostly filled afterwards waiting for something, to no avail.

This movie is a solid A, 5 stars, whatever your top rating is. I think the few less than positive reviews are being given by critics seeking attention.

[George Bellefontaine]

Another way of determining boxoffice performance would be to go by number of tickets ( seats ) sold. Wonder if The Dark Knight would be a record breaker that way ?

[Race Car Driver]

They dont know for sure just yet to seas sold, early guestimates were 21.94 million seats sold, comparted to Spidermans3s 21.96 sold.

I have a feeling it will beat Spidey as they said usually movies drop 20% from sat to sunday in tickets, however Dark Knight barely dropped 9% on Sunday.

Its also been said this movie may break the Pirates record for a weeks worth of Rev. It may shoot past 220 mill mark? who knows.

[John Holmes]

I saw it yesterday. This is IMO an extremly well done film. Solid acting across the board. Fantastic writing. Well directed. And the scope of it's scenes on the IMAX screen was awing.

This is without question, the best comic book to live action film to date. With respect to the also well done "Iron Man" (which was an incredible technical achievment and was very entertaining) and "Batman Begins", this film delivers in spades exactly what the title descibes...The Dark Knight!

It shows the the intellect and brutalness of the Joker on a scale never before seen. It also tackles several moral & political issues that we deal with everyday in one way or another. The days of "The Bat" being for children under 10 or so are gone!

[Chris D]

What, no end credit scene in this one, tying Batman to Superman, cousin of Spidey, roommate of Dark Helmet, and best friend of the Greatest American Hero?

[Ovation]

No, but this phenomenon is evidently becoming an expectation--a lot more people than usual stayed through to the end of credits (I've been staying to the end for twenty or more years--I like to look for little details and, often, enjoy the music that plays over them) AND out in the lobby, I overheard a group chiding one of its members who'd left before they were over (nature called, perhaps? It's a longish movie :lol: ) and told him he'd missed a "surprise revelation of great importance". He was annoyed and said something about having to watch it again just for that--until his friends started laughing.

[Race Car Driver]

The Dark Knight just topped 200 mill, and its only been 5 days!!!

The Dark Knight.
5 day total rev.
$203,773,518

Previous 5 day record
The Pirates Dead Mans Chest
$169,506,744

No movie has ever broke 200 mill in the first week, Batman did that in 5 days. It took Pirates 8 days.

The Dark Knight has the record for
-midnight showing
-opening day
-opening weekend
-opening week
-most gross on a Friday, Sunday, (weds thurs to follow?)
-biggest PG-13 weekend, July weekend,

The fastest to 400 mill is Shrek 2 with 43 days... Who wants to think The dark Knight does it in under half?

Thats just amazing... The movie is a monster!

[audioqueso]

...in the US.

Regardless, I can't wait to see it though!

[Nolan B]

I just cant believe how stupid some peoeple are. There was a couple sitting behind me who brought their 5 and 6 (apx) year old boys to this movie. This is not a kids flick and I am surprised how little some people care about what their kids watch at that age....not to mention they had no idea what was going on which caused them to start talking. I had to turn around 2 times and not just give "the look" but actually say please keep quite.

Actually I am pretty surpised the theater let them in. Rules should be put in place to not let kids into movies even if they have their parents. I hate the theaters and this was the only movie this year I couldnt wait to come to BD, but again I was reminded again how many ass clowns there are, and how much I hate the theater.

[Gremal]

That's nothing. I saw a young mother bring her infant and 4 or 5 yr old kid to Black Hawk Down when I saw it in the theater. TDK was G-rated compared to that.

[Ovation]

There is a "movie for mommies" (never mind that there are stay at home dads too--I'm one of them) showing for this at one of the local theatres. :E Now, they do turn the volume down quite a bit for those screenings (usually around 10am) and a six month old won't care about what's on screen. However, too many 3-6 year olds are brought along to such screenings. The problem is the PG-13 rating. It makes people think it's okay to bring a 5 year old as long as they're there too.

[impala454]

I saw this last night and it was every bit as good as the hype. I hate going to the movie theater but figured I needed to see this one. Didn't have a single problem with noisy people or anything. Great movie!

[Burke Strickland]

“The Dark Knight” is an impressive cinematic achievement. If they spent $100,000,000 on special effects, they got their money’s worth (wish I had sold them all the plate glass that shatters on screen) -- very impressive in IMAX, where I felt I got my $13.50 worth. The video quality was excellent and the sound was impressive throughout. The director , Christopher Nolen, did a great job putting all this together and keeping a good balance between exciting action and more serious exposition. Although “things get blowed up real good”, and there are a lot of hair-raising vehicle chases, this is not a brainless summer popcorn action flick. There are a lot of sequences that provoke thought but do not get too wordy.

“The Dark Knight” pretty much raises the bar for a major motion picture balancing both omigawd special effects and reasonably believable character development. It has something for everyone except impressionable young children. (PG-13 needs to be taken seriously.) However, lest the squeamish decide to pass on this, the violence is mostly suggested rather than shown in excruciatingly gory detail. Even more over the top and yet more subtle than, say, “Fight Club”.

The actors pull this off with aplomb. Seems no one is talking about Christian Bale (with regard to this movie), but he did a phenomenal job, channeling Clint Eastwood mixed with Darth Vader when in the Batman rig, and acting like a younger Cary Grant when in the Bruce Wayne mode. His performance pulled the whole thing together, letting many others have a turn in the spotlight as plot circumstances dictated.

Michael Caine steals his scenes at the butler with understated class, and Maggie Gyllenhaal is ravishing as the love interest of both Bruce Wayne and Gotham City DA Harvey Dent (played convincingly by Aaron Eckhart). Morgan Freeman does a masterful job in a small but pivotal role as a key executive in Wayne enterprises. Gary Oldman is amazingly low-key and therefore exquisitely effective as a police lieutenant. (This performance makes it harder to remember how over the top this same dude was as Zorg in The Fifth Element.)

But, of course, the most incredible, noteworthy, memorable character is The Joker, played with devilish mastery by the late Heath Ledger. He owns this movie. His portrayal is at once astonishingly repulsive and yet totally entertaining. Makes all the other Batman movie Jokers look like, well, cartoon characters. This one is a credible psychopath, with an engaging insouciance toward cruelty that makes us stop and wonder – his musings on society and normal behavior are quite challenging (although his conclusions must ultimately be rejected to stay sane and civilized). One must wonder what other amazing performances Heath would have been capable of, and it is beyond sad that he died so young before he could show us more of them.

In summary, was "The Dark Knight" (as an acquaintance has asserted for himself) the best movie I’ve ever seen? No. Anyone who says that hasn’t seen enough movies. Is it the best movie of the year? Perhaps. (I haven’t seen all of them.) Is it the best of any movie based on comic books, er “graphic novels"? It’s right up there. Although that covers a wide swath which includes not just “X-Men”, and “Superman””, and the Spidey series, but also “Road to Perdition”, hardly a lightweight contender. “The Dark Knight” holds its own even in this company.

Highly recommended.

PS -- I went to a 9:30 AM IMAX presentation. About 50 people in the theater, all of whom apparently wanted to watch the movie. Not a single cell phone rang during the movie, no talking on cell phones or among people in theater, no kids running around (of course, no kids under 13 in the place), no people going to and from concession stand during feature, seatback not kicked even once. Seeing the crowd lined up for the following show when I left, I strongly recommend an early screening.

[NMG]

I saw it last night as well and really enjoyed it. Honestly though, if it wasn't for Heath Ledger's performance, I'm not sure if I would've enjoyed it quite as much. He definitely "owned" the movie IMHO and his performance alone was worth the price of admisssion. It was that good. Overall a really great movie, but still in the #2 spot for comic based movies IMHO (behind Spiderman #1).

I should caveat this by saying that I was always a Spidey guy growing up and to me it (Spidey #1) is still "the standard" for this genre. While Spidey didn't have a performance in it like The Joker, other big name actors that did great jobs like in The Dark Night, it did have a more "complete" feel to me and to me at least, it just "felt" more like a visual comic book than The Dark Night.

Regardless of how they all rank, this was still a great movie. I'll be picking it up on BR when it comes out for sure.

[Nolan B]

Overall a really great movie, but still in the #2 spot for comic based movies IMHO (behind Spiderman #1).

Seriously??

I rate Spiderman in a distant 7th

Batman Begins
Dark Knight
Superman Returns
The Incredible Hulk
Xmen
Blade
Spiderman 1

And then a Spiderman 2 and 3 take the last two possible spots of worst comic movies ever made along with catwoman which I never saw but didnt need to...spiderman 3 might actually be one of the worst movies ever made period.

[audioqueso]

You haven't seen Ironman yet, have you Vancouver?

[Race Car Driver]

Ironman was great, but IMO The Dark Knight tops them all, I need to see this on the Imax.

BTW. what is it, like 315 mill domestic in 10 days? :lol:

[NMG]

Seriously??

I rate Spiderman in a distant 7th

Batman Begins
Dark Knight
Superman Returns
The Incredible Hulk
Xmen
Blade
Spiderman 1

And then a Spiderman 2 and 3 take the last two possible spots of worst comic movies ever made along with catwoman which I never saw but didnt need to...spiderman 3 might actually be one of the worst movies ever made period.

Absolutely! Like I said, I'm a Spidey nut though I thought Spidey 2 was okay. Spidey 3 shouldn't have even been made IMHO.

[audioqueso]

Ironman was great, but IMO The Dark Knight tops them all, I need to see this on the Imax.

BTW. what is it, like 315 mill domestic in 10 days? :lol:

What I meant is that in his top 7, Ironman was not included. That's why I said he must have not seen Ironman.

[impala454]

“The Dark Knight” is an impressive cinematic achievement. If they spent $100,000,000 on special effects, they got their money’s worth (wish I had sold them all the plate glass that shatters on screen) -- very impressive in IMAX, where I felt I got my $13.50 worth. The video quality was excellent and the sound was impressive throughout. The director , Christopher Nolen, did a great job putting all this together and keeping a good balance between exciting action and more serious exposition. Although “things get blowed up real good”, and there are a lot of hair-raising vehicle chases, this is not a brainless summer popcorn action flick. There are a lot of sequences that provoke thought but do not get too wordy.

“The Dark Knight” pretty much raises the bar for a major motion picture balancing both omigawd special effects and reasonably believable character development. It has something for everyone except impressionable young children. (PG-13 needs to be taken seriously.) However, lest the squeamish decide to pass on this, the violence is mostly suggested rather than shown in excruciatingly gory detail. Even more over the top and yet more subtle than, say, “Fight Club”.

The actors pull this off with aplomb. Seems no one is talking about Christian Bale (with regard to this movie), but he did a phenomenal job, channeling Clint Eastwood mixed with Darth Vader when in the Batman rig, and acting like a younger Cary Grant when in the Bruce Wayne mode. His performance pulled the whole thing together, letting many others have a turn in the spotlight as plot circumstances dictated.

Michael Caine steals his scenes at the butler with understated class, and Maggie Gyllenhaal is ravishing as the love interest of both Bruce Wayne and Gotham City DA Harvey Dent (played convincingly by Aaron Eckhart). Morgan Freeman does a masterful job in a small but pivotal role as a key executive in Wayne enterprises. Gary Oldman is amazingly low-key and therefore exquisitely effective as a police lieutenant. (This performance makes it harder to remember how over the top this same dude was as Zorg in The Fifth Element.)

But, of course, the most incredible, noteworthy, memorable character is The Joker, played with devilish mastery by the late Heath Ledger. He owns this movie. His portrayal is at once astonishingly repulsive and yet totally entertaining. Makes all the other Batman movie Jokers look like, well, cartoon characters. This one is a credible psychopath, with an engaging insouciance toward cruelty that makes us stop and wonder – his musings on society and normal behavior are quite challenging (although his conclusions must ultimately be rejected to stay sane and civilized). One must wonder what other amazing performances Heath would have been capable of, and it is beyond sad that he died so young before he could show us more of them.

In summary, was "The Dark Knight" (as an acquaintance has asserted for himself) the best movie I’ve ever seen? No. Anyone who says that hasn’t seen enough movies. Is it the best movie of the year? Perhaps. (I haven’t seen all of them.) Is it the best of any movie based on comic books, er “graphic novels"? It’s right up there. Although that covers a wide swath which includes not just “X-Men”, and “Superman””, and the Spidey series, but also “Road to Perdition”, hardly a lightweight contender. “The Dark Knight” holds its own even in this company.

Highly recommended.

PS -- I went to a 9:30 AM IMAX presentation. About 50 people in the theater, all of whom apparently wanted to watch the movie. Not a single cell phone rang during the movie, no talking on cell phones or among people in theater, no kids running around (of course, no kids under 13 in the place), no people going to and from concession stand during feature, seatback not kicked even once. Seeing the crowd lined up for the following show when I left, I strongly recommend an early screening.

I see you're from Houston, which IMAX theater did you go to?

[Burke Strickland]

Santikos Tomball Parkway (249)

[Race Car Driver]

What I meant is that in his top 7, Ironman was not included. That's why I said he must have not seen Ironman.

Oh I know, i picked that up and thought the same thing.

[tylerdurden]

I am dieing to go but I am going to wait until it's on BR. I am a huge Ledger (from long before his death) and Bale fan. There was no doubt in my mind, when they started filming this, that it was going to be great.

[Ovation]

I am dieing to go but I am going to wait until it's on BR. I am a huge Ledger (from long before his death) and Bale fan. There was no doubt in my mind, when they started filming this, that it was going to be great.

If you live anywhere near an IMAX theatre that is showing this, you owe it to yourself to NOT wait.

[tylerdurden]

If you live anywhere near an IMAX theatre that is showing this, you owe it to yourself to NOT wait.

Yep! After reading this thread and posting, I looked for schedules for the Imax in Seattle. My wife and I are going Saturday. :B

[Ovation]

You will NOT regret it.

[Nolan B]

What I meant is that in his top 7, Ironman was not included. That's why I said he must have not seen Ironman.

I havent yet you are right...Im sure it would rank high based on reviews I have heard, but again as much as I love watching movies (almost everyday) I refuse to go to the theater....Dark Night was the only acception and will be the only one for the year.

[Ovation]

Went to see it again last night in IMAX. I'll have to do it again. Whoever was operating the projector was an idiot. The first 40 minutes were "washed out" (looked like a 10 year old plasma with no blacks) because the lamp was on too bright AND whatever shielding they use to prevent light "spill" from the camera was improperly adjusted. Movement on the screen was "tracked" like a hologram from the 70s. When they finally got things right, it looked spectacular. But I was under the impression that IMAX projectionists were supposed to be above average in competence. It was the late show (10:30 pm), surprisingly packed (though a good audience--no little kids, no cell phones, very little talking) but by the time it was over, only the janitorial staff remained available--no managers to which I could complain. So for those who want the IMAX version (and, even with the flaws, it was worth it--only because they fixed it relatively early on), it is spectacular. But beware of incompetent projectionists.

Quick question--does anyone think there'll be an IMAX cut on the super-deluxe BD of this?

Edit: According to an article I found since posing this question, Nolan says he plans to have the IMAX sections appear in 16x9 (which is not quite IMAX ratio, but quite close) on the Blu-ray (no word if it will be on the SD DVD) so expect the BD to have changing aspect ratios like the IMAX presentation. :T