[99] A similar incident occurred during the filming in Chicago, when an abandoned Brach's candy factory (which was Gotham Hospital in the film) was demolished. 75 min [130] On February 29, 2008, I Believe in Harvey Dent was updated to enable fans to send their e-mail addresses and phone numbers. [214] The weekend per theater average of $36,283 stands as the fifth-largest of all time. Now, with the confidence of the studio, Nolan managed to make his movie about The Prestige, released in 2006, and after that he felt ready to dive into the Batman world once again.Nolan never knew if he would be making another Batman movie. Then read what Nolan said in a Dark Knight interview:"As we looked through the comics, there was this fascinating idea that Batman's presence in Gotham actually attracts criminals to Gotham, [it] attracts lunacy. | | The Dark Knight est une trilogie cinématographique américano - britannique basée sur le personnage Batman de DC Comics produite par Warner Bros. et composée des films suivants : Batman Begins (2005), The Dark Knight (2008) et The Dark Knight Rises (2012) . That's why we have to fight it. Gene Hackman, In the United Kingdom, the film had combined sales of 513,000 units on its first day of release, of which 107,730 (21%) were Blu-ray Discs, the highest number of first-day Blu-ray Discs sold. Christian Bale, When you look at a film like Pirates of the Caribbean—something like that, there's something about a very fanciful, very detailed visual effect, that I think is more powerful and less repulsive. And in 2008, Christian Bale's Batman found his in Heath Ledger's demented dervish, the Joker. Shipping and delivery schedules were also staggered and spot checks were carried out both domestically and overseas to ensure illegal copying of the film was not taking place in cinemas. 6,996 "[90] Production of The Dark Knight in Chicago generated $45 million in the city's economy and created thousands of jobs. Warner Bros. initially created a viral marketing campaign for The Dark Knight, developing promotional websites and trailers highlighting screenshots of Ledger as the Joker. | [4] Director: [69] Nolan acknowledged the title was not only a reference to Batman, but also the fallen "white knight" Harvey Dent. The tone was more realistic, in fact the whole proposal of the movie was to be as realistic as possible, explaining lots of things about the nature and resources of Batman. [241][242], In March 2011, Warner Bros. offered The Dark Knight for rent on Facebook, becoming the first film ever to be released via digital distribution on a social networking site. Gustav Fröhlich, Ronald Colman, Cecil B. DeMille From the beginning of the trilogy until it's very end, we witness the journey of a true man, who wants to make the difference, who wants to prove to everybody that everyone can be a hero. Bryan Cranston, But they still manages to give us their own and original point of view about the source material.The characters are great, the story is very well tied in and the decision to never treat these films like a "franchise" that gives always clues to a next chapter makes the whole difference.Instead of thinking about these films in a movie structure, I like to think about them as an opera being enacted to us. [88] While filming in Chicago, the film was given the false title Rory's First Kiss to lower the visibility of production, but the local media eventually uncovered the ruse. & Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Bat-Manga! I, particulary don't like them the way some people do, I just don't have any kind of love or nostalgic feeling for them, but truth is, Tim Burton films were the closest attempts to show Batman the closest way possible to the comics, but still, it has major flaws, both Burton films, that crippled any attempt of going on with that proposal.After that, there were lots of proposals to bring Batman back on the big screen, there was a sequel to Schumacher's movies called "Batman Triumphant" that, THANK GOD, never happened. [102] In response, letters sent to the city's residents promised that the sound level would approximate noise decibels made by buses. | The film champions the anti-war coalition's claim that, in having a war on terror, you create the conditions for more terror. | "[73], While scouting for shooting locations in October 2006, location manager Robin Higgs visited Liverpool, concentrating mainly along the city's waterfront. Passed [197] It had a nomination in Japan for the 2009 Seiun Awards under the Science Fiction category[198] with a Japan Academy Prize Award for Best Foreign Film. Jong-Sik Nam, Catwoman's suit, for example is a reference to Julie Newmar from the 1960's Catwoman in the comical Adam West series, and you can see the resemblance.And there's even books as inspirations, yes, classic stories, Nolan also spoke that most of the plot of the movie was inspired by the Charles Dickens novel A Tale of Two Cities, beautifully depicted in a 1935 movie, and when you get the book to read, you notice it right off the bat. [13] The depiction of Gotham City is less gritty than in Batman Begins. [253] Furthermore, in a tenth anniversary retrospective for Rotten Tomatoes, Erik Amaya credited Ledger's performance with providing a novel interpretation of the Joker for the general public, one that proved to be a template for later cinematic portrayals. [202][203] Before the re-release, the film's gross remained at $997 million,[204] but following the re-release, the film crossed the $1 billion mark in February 2009. This film had many posters to promote this film, of many [140] Online, ticketing services sold enormous numbers of tickets for approximately 3,000 midnight showtimes as well as unusually early showtimes for the film's opening day. Worldwide, it became the fourth-highest-grossing film, the highest-grossing film of 2008, and the fourth film in history to gross more than $1 billion. Adjusted for ticket-price inflation though, it ranks 28th. Scott Menville, No one could resurrect this awful train wreck. PG-13 So Nolan was thinking next in making a movie about Howard Hughes, but Scorcese stepped in first and released The Aviator. Shôjirô Nishimi, It played at the AMC IMAX theaters in Universal CityWalk, Lincoln Square, Manhattan, and Metreon, as well as the Ontario Place Cinesphere. Dent shoots Batman, spares himself, and threatens to kill Gordon's son, claiming that Gordon's negligence is responsible for Rachel's death. Cute, huh?The movie had six sequences filmed on IMAX, a format that Christopher Nolan came to master in his next projects.  It was then distributed to 4,366 cinemas, in the U.S and Canada, breaking the previous record held by … After training with his mentor, Batman begins his fight to free crime-ridden Gotham City from corruption. A pair of lookalikes, one a former French aristocrat and the other an alcoholic English lawyer, fall in love with the same woman amongst the turmoil of the French Revolution. The new Batman movie would be a complete reboot of the old franchise, ignoring everything that happened from the 1989 Burton movie until the last and disastrous Schumacker movie. [76] For its release in IMAX theaters, Nolan shot four major sequences in that format, including the Joker's opening bank robbery and the car chase midway through the film, which marked the first time that a feature film had been even partially shot in the format. "[252] Composer Blake Neely's music for the TV show Arrow likewise drew upon Hans Zimmer's score for The Dark Knight. That's what makes the character so dark, because he expresses a vengeful desire." The series is an adaptation of the Mark Billingham novels, Time of Death and In The Dark. [72], During rehearsals, Nolan and cast members were mesmerised by Heath Ledger's interpretation of the Joker. He took a small scale villain like Bane, which was created in a rush, with the only purpose to break Batman in half, to cause commotion and then disappear in thin air on the next sagas and stories, and turned him into someone really frightening and scary, a memorable adversary.There's lots of other sources as well. You leave this film, wanting to become Batman, wanting to be an inspiration to other people. Update 12/1/12: Read the full review! [143][144] On aggregating review website Rotten Tomatoes, The Dark Knight has an approval rating of 94%, based on 341 reviews, with an average score of 8.6/10. Rutger Hauer, Anyway, this beautiful inspiration becomes even more evident in a "certain part" of The Dark Knight Rises, when there's a letter written by "someone" with a passage from the book, and it's just beautiful! Colin McFarlane, Though, there's a Robin reference in the movie, as there was a Henri Ducard reference in Batman Begins. [67] Nolan decided to avoid divulging an in-depth origin story for the Joker, and instead portray his rise to power so as to not diminish the threat he poses, explaining to MTV News, "the Joker we meet in The Dark Knight is fully formed ... To me, the Joker is an absolute. BitTorrent search engine The Pirate Bay taunted the movie industry over its ability to provide the movie free, replacing its logo with a taunting message. Marlon Brando, Votes: Batman was debuting on the big screen in the form of a movie serial, which was a very common thing these days, once that nobody used to have TV in their houses. For this one specifically, Nolan decided to take elements from the first Batman stories published in the Detective Comics magazine in the year of 1939 all written by Bob Kane and Bill Finger, the comics from the 70's, like the story "Daughter of the Demon" (by Denny O'Neal) that introduces the character Ra's Al Ghul as well as 80's classics, like the stories "Batman: Year One", PG-13 [254][255] According to Charles Bramesco of The Guardian, many of the movies in the DC Extended Universe—such as Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad, and Justice League—"affected a joylessness bastardized from Nolan's well-founded solemnity. | [55] Matt Skiba, co-lead vocalist and guitarist of the bands Alkaline Trio and Blink-182, made a small appearance in the film. Kevin Conroy, [115] Their nine-minute suite for the Joker, "Why So Serious? Melinda McGraw appears as Barbara Gordon, Gordon's wife, while Nathan Gamble appears as James Gordon Jr., Gordon's ten-year-old son. But first, a brief history of Batman on the big screen.THE DARK PASTEverything started in 1943. and some even say that "The Crow" was also a source of inspiration, something that we can take for granted, considering the Joker's make up in the movie.With a box office that huge and all the recognition Nolan earned from the excellent critics and opinions by public and media, it's more than obvious that it would generated a next Batman flick. [169][170], In 2012, Total Film ranked The Dark Knight as the sixth most accomplished film of the past 15 years, writing that "Christopher Nolan's psycho-operatic crime drama was its decade's most exciting blockbuster—and its most challenging. [152] Travers praised all the cast, saying each brings his or her "'A' game" to the film. Michael Caine, "[158][159], In 2018, Bilge Ebiri of The Village Voice wrote, "Its politics have been discussed ad infinitum. [156] Levy and Peter Travers conclude that the film is "haunting and visionary,"[152][156] while Levy goes on to say that The Dark Knight is "nothing short of brilliant. Animation, Action, Adventure. A nicely done "rise from the ashes" by a great superhero, specially considering it was the biggest box office of a Batman movie ever released to that time. In the end of the movie Nolan turns and says to his team "I want something like this movie for Batman". Well, it's been a long 7 years run, since it started again the whole Batman franchise. The movie even inspired a WB/DC animation of small films in the anime format, very much in the lines of what the first Matrix did, to connect and expand the new Batman mithology on the movies.But Christopher Nolan was just wiping out the dust and putting things in order again, as the line "why do we fall?" Alfred Abel, Then it came Adam West and Burt Ward, Batman, the comical TV series. [101] Officials expressed concern over possible noise pollution and traffic. [138] Leading up to The Dark Knight's commercial release, the film had drawn "overwhelmingly positive early reviews and buzz on Heath Ledger's turn as the Joker". He said the film's mood is one of "constant climax," and that it feels rushed and far too long. Elizabeth Allan, A gang of criminals robs a Gotham City mob bank, murdering each other for a higher share until only the Joker remains; he escapes with the money. Ariel Winter, $206.85M. Murphy also auditioned for the role of Batman in the films, though Christian Bale ultimately received the role. [135] An unlicensed copy was released on the web about 38 hours after the film's release. Alonso Duralde at MSNBC, however, referred to Bale's voice in The Dark Knight as an "eerie rasp," as opposed to the voice used in the Batman Begins, which according to Duralde "sounded absurdly deep, like a 10-year-old putting on an 'adult' voice to make prank phone calls. Act III (Furioso) - The Dark Knight RisesIn fact, when the plot of the very first movie decided to replace The Mark of Zorro in the origin story with an Opera in the evening, it just gave us all the clues about what was the approach of these movies.And it really delivers. Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth, Chapter 2. Klavan claims that, "at some level" The Dark Knight is "a paean of praise to the fortitude and moral courage that has been shown by George W. Bush in this time of terror and war". Klavan supports this reading of the film by comparing Batman—like Bush, Klavan argues—"sometimes has to push the boundaries of civil rights to deal with an emergency, certain that he will re-establish those boundaries when the emergency is past. Michael Caine, Votes: Loud Distribution The Dark Knight Rises-Catwoman Head Women's T-Shirt White X-Large: Free UK Shipping on Orders Over £20 and Free 30-Day Returns, on … Framestore also integrated shots of Bale and Eckhart into that of the exploding building where Dent is burned. It vanished that bitter taste that the last movies has left us and started fresh from scratch.Batman Begins came in a time of desperation and controversy for DC/Warner and for the Batman fans that were very displeased with the path the old series took in the last movies. | : The Secret History of Batman in Japan, List of Batman television series cast members, Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Action Movie, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Saturn Award for Best Action or Adventure Film, Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Dark_Knight_(film)&oldid=994644680, Films about organized crime in the United States, Films featuring a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award-winning performance, Films featuring a Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe winning performance, Films that won the Best Sound Editing Academy Award, Films with screenplays by Christopher Nolan, United States National Film Registry films, Articles with dead external links from March 2018, Articles with permanently dead external links, Articles with dead external links from September 2017, Wikipedia indefinitely semi-protected pages, Wikipedia indefinitely move-protected pages, Short description is different from Wikidata, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Official website different in Wikidata and Wikipedia, Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WorldCat-VIAF identifiers, Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Characters appearing in comic books published, This page was last edited on 16 December 2020, at 19:59. Bruce decides to reveal his secret identity. The defunct Van Buren Street post office doubles as Gotham National Bank for the opening bank robbery. "[15], The film introduces the Batpod, which is a recreation of the Batcycle. 64 min Isn't It Obvious? [133] Mattel produced toys and games for The Dark Knight, action figures, role-play costumes, board games, puzzles, and a special-edition UNO card game, which began commercial distribution in June 2008. As of December 19, 2008, the DVD release is the top-selling film in the Australian DVD charts[239] and was expected to break the Australian sales record set by Finding Nemo. Rochelle Davis, [88][95] The Marina City towers also appear in the background throughout the movie. A group of professional bank robbers start to feel the heat from police when they unknowingly leave a clue at their latest heist. [137], Warner Bros. held the world premiere for The Dark Knight in New York City on July 14, 2008, screening in an IMAX theater with the film's composers James Newton Howard and Hans Zimmer playing a part of the film score live. 8 years later, Gotham was still dealing with what happened in the last movie and it was in a state of peace time, provided by the lie formed between Gordon and Batman in the end of The Dark Knight. 688,463 He says that he will blow them both up by midnight, but will let one live if its passengers (who have been supplied the detonator to the other boat's explosives) blow up the other. Sideshow and Hot Toys have revealed a new 1:6 scale DX Series Batman figure which is based on the appearance of Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne in The Dark Knight Rises, along with a … The Joker gives Dent a gun and convinces him to seek revenge for Rachel's death, then destroys the hospital and escapes with a busload of hostages. As much as he introduced villains in his movie that never appeared on the big screen (Ra's Al Ghul and Scarecrow), he was eager to fix the messy stuff that the Burton/Schumacker franchise did with the old ones. [226], The Dark Knight is the highest-grossing film of 2008, the second-highest-grossing superhero film, the second-highest-grossing film based on comics, and the fourth-highest-grossing North American film of all time. 571,676 As the police launch a manhunt for Batman, Gordon destroys the Bat-signal, Fox watches as the sonar device self-destructs, and Alfred Pennyworth burns a letter from Rachel saying she planned to marry Dent. [62], After much research, Nolan's brother and co-writer, Jonathan Nolan, suggested the Joker's first two appearances, published in the first issue of Batman (1940), as the crucial influences. Considered one of the best films of its decade and one of the best superhero films of all time, the film received critical praise for its screenplay, visual effects, musical score, themes, performances (particularly Ledger), cinematography, action sequences and direction. Gary Oldman, Votes: The clues combined to reveal a new photograph of the Joker and an audio clip of him from the film saying "And tonight, you're gonna break your one rule." A time when fan-made culture started to spread and fan-films started to be considered countless times better than the official movies itself. Jay Oliva All IMAX theaters showing The Dark Knight were sold out for the opening weekend. A collection of key events mark Bruce Wayne's life as he journeys from beginner to Dark Knight. We have also nice elements from the classic Alan Moore interpretation "The Killing Joke" and even clearly noted elements from a Brian Azarello recent comic book simply titled "Joker".In movies and series, we have the Two-Face story told in the animated series from 1992, R [104] The shoot hired helicopters and C-130 aircraft. Michael Jai White portrays Gambol, an African American mafia boss in charge of illegal gambling and extortion for the mob. Yûichirô Hayashi It leaves us with a very high note and makes us want to be part of the life of those characters.I don't want to spoil the end of the story for those who will still watch it, but the sequences of the ending are very rewarding. For no one could imagine it would become even better in a near future. $1.24M. The Dark Knight's biggest territory was Australia, where it grossed $13.7 million over the weekend, setting a record for the largest superhero film opening. [180] In 2020, Empire magazine ranked it the third-best film of the 21st century. Lauren Sanchez, He would remap the Joker. Why So Serious? In the future, a sadistic gang leader is imprisoned and volunteers for a conduct-aversion experiment, but it doesn't go as planned. Stars: Mob bosses Sal Maroni, Gambol, and the Chechen hold a videoconference with their corrupt accountant, Lau, who has taken their funds for safekeeping and fled to Hong Kong. That's part of the whole fabric of how a city is bound together. [111] Crowley built a prototype in Nolan's garage, before six months of safety tests were conducted. [109] The cowl is equipped to show white lenses over the eyes when the character turns on his sonar detection, which gives Batman the white-eyed look from the comics and animation. "[182] Klavan's article has received criticism on the Internet and in mainstream media outlets, such as in The New Republic's "The Plank". ", "Why So Seriously Good? [224][228], Overseas, The Dark Knight is the highest-grossing 2008 film[229] and the fourth-highest-grossing superhero film. And together with the Batman No Man's Land and Knightfall saga and the Charles Dickens book it clearly formed the central idea for the plot of the movie. He says Bale is "electrifying", evoking Al Pacino in The Godfather Part II, that Eckhart's portrayal of Harvey Dent is "scarily moving," and that Oldman "is so skilled that he makes virtue exciting as Jim Gordon. Anthony Michael Hall, The characters would have real deth and the tone would be serious and epic, with some occasional humor, but not enough to rip the serious tone. "The Dark Knight Legend"Act I (Prelude) - Batman Begins The movie follows a feel of anarchy and fear, it's tense, suspenseful, but also exciting.The acting is brilliant! These are men who had the city divided up. Stars: Fritz Lang 2,282,127 The "Dark Knight" nickname was first applied to Batman in Batman #1 (1940), in a story written by Bill Finger. [59] Goyer, who penned the first draft of the film, cited the DC Comics 13-issue comic book limited series Batman: The Long Halloween as the major influence on his storyline. [240], The film also sold Blu-ray copies worth 370 million yen (US$4.1 million) in Japan, placing it 3rd out of 10 in the top 10 overall Blu-ray category. A few shots of the skullcap were kept in the film. Animation, Action, Crime. [97] The film is dedicated to both Ledger and Wickliffe. He is one of only five actors to appear in all three films. [3] Production and global distribution was handled by BBC Studios. Michael Mann [89] Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times commented on the absurdity of the technique, "Is there a Bat-fan in the world that doesn't know Rory's First Kiss is actually The Dark Knight, which has been filming in Chicago for weeks? [91] For the film's prologue involving the Joker, the crew shot in Chicago from April 18, 2007 to April 24, 2007. He bursts in just as he did in the comics. [24] Christopher had Jonathan watch Fritz Lang's 1933 crime film The Testament of Dr. Mabuse prior to writing the Joker,[63][64] with the Joker resembling Mabuse's characteristics. Director: tagline with the launch of a website featuring the fictional political campaign of Harvey Dent, with the caption, "I Believe in Harvey Dent". In a futuristic city sharply divided between the working class and the city planners, the son of the city's mastermind falls in love with a working class prophet who predicts the coming of a savior to mediate their differences. Action, Adventure. | On the other hand, The Dark Knight Returns could continue Snyder's DCEU story, while also providing a fresh start away from the "Justice League" tag. Nolan's inspiration for the film was the Joker's comic book debut in 1940, the 1988 graphic novel The Killing Joke, and the 1996 series The Long Halloween, which retold Harvey Dent's origin. Directors: Futoshi Higashide, Got it?Jonathan Nolan, Chris' brother, is a huge Batman fan. Nolan is not a "driven by sequels and franchises" kind of director. Toshiyuki Kubooka, Brandon Lee, | The Dark Knight is perhaps the most powerful exploration of guilt the modern American blockbuster has given us. 136 min He praised the performances, direction, and writing, saying the film "redefine[s] the possibilities of the comic-book movie. ", "50 Greatest Superhero Movie Performances of All Time", "Revenge of the Movie: 15 Sequels That Are Way Better Than The Originals", "American Cinematographer Poll Names Amélie Best-Shot Film of 1998–2008", "Barry Norman's 100 Greatest Films of All Time", "50 Best Movies of Total Film Magazine's Lifetime", "New Zealand's favourite film is The Shawshank Redemption", "The 100 Greatest Movies Of The 21st Century: 10 - 1", "The Dark Knight â€“ the Sunday Times review", "Assessing the Themes of The Dark Knight", "The 81st Academy Awards (2009) Nominees and Winners", "Session Timeout â€“ Academy Awards Database â€“ AMPAS", "The week in geek: The Dark Knight's Oscars snub is a disgrace", "Why So Serious? Those who sent photos were mailed a copy of a fictional newspaper called The Gotham Times, whose electronic version led to the discovery of numerous other websites. And thankfully it put Batman again in the pantheon of the great superheroes from the movies. 128 min redirects here. [245] Darren Franrich of Entertainment Weekly wrote that the film "cemented a new way of talking about superhero movies," specifically one that acknowledged them as serious vehicles for political commentary and artistic achievement. [102] Cinematographer Wally Pfister found the Chinese government officials —who wanted to limit helicopter activity over the city— a "nightmare", and ultimately Nolan had to create Batman's jump from a skyscraper digitally. "[156] On the other hand, David Denby of The New Yorker said that the story is not coherent enough to properly flesh out the disparities. Directors: "[258], The film was added to the Library of Congress' National Film Registry in 2020 as a "culturally, historically or aesthetically” significant work. They also made a fake news paper that you could read online. [4][5] The Dark Knight was filmed primarily in Chicago, as well as in several other locations in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Hong Kong.