When the menace known as the Joker emerges from his mysterious past, he wreaks havoc and chaos on the people of Gotham. The Dark Knight must accept one of the greatest psychological and physical tests of his ability to fight injustice.
It's tough to picture anyone other than Christian Bale as Batman in Christopher Nolan's trilogy, but plenty of other actors were considered. See who they were.
Eight years after the Joker's reign of anarchy, Batman, with the help of the enigmatic Catwoman, is forced from his exile to save Gotham City, now on the edge of total annihilation, from the brutal guerrilla terrorist Bane.
A meek Hobbit from the Shire and eight companions set out on a journey to destroy the powerful One Ring and save Middle-earth from the Dark Lord Sauron.
While Frodo and Sam edge closer to Mordor with the help of the shifty Gollum, the divided fellowship makes a stand against Sauron's new ally, Saruman, and his hordes of Isengard.
Set within a year after the events of Batman Begins, Batman, Lieutenant James Gordon, and new district attorney Harvey Dent successfully begin to round up the criminals that plague Gotham City until a mysterious and sadistic criminal mastermind known only as the Joker appears in Gotham, creating a new wave of chaos. Batman's struggle against the Joker becomes deeply personal, forcing him to "confront everything he believes" and improve his technology to stop him. A love triangle develops between Bruce Wayne, Dent and Rachel Dawes.Written by
Leon Lombardi
Eight hundred extras worked on the ferry scene, which was shot in only one day. With so many extras on the boats, they had to use a precise schedule to get everyone in costume on time. See more »
Goofs
(at around 9 mins) When Batman grabs onto Scarecrow's van, just before he cuts into the metal, you can see a small indented outline of where he's going to cut. See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
Grumpy:
[with Chuckles, picks up Bozo on the street]
Three of a kind, let's do this!
Chuckles:
Huh, that's it? Three guys?
Grumpy:
Plus two guys on the roof. Every guy gets a share. Five shares is plenty.
Chuckles:
*Six* shares. Don't forget the guy who planned the job.
Grumpy:
He thinks he can sit it out and still take a slice? I know why they call him "The Joker".
Happy:
[up on the roof, breaking open the alarm box with Dopey]
So why do they call him "the Joker"?
Dopey:
I hear he wears makeup.
Happy:
Makeup?
Happy:
Yeah, to scare people. You know, war ...
[...] See more »
Crazy Credits
Christian Bale is credited with playing "Bruce Wayne" but not "Batman" in the closing credits. See more »
Alternate Versions
The Blu-ray version of the movie has several of the big action scenes and high altitude photography scenes in ordinary 16:9 (1.78:1) widescreen ratio while the rest of the movie preserves the "scope" format (2.39:1). This is because these scenes were filmed in IMAX, whose format is 1.44:1, thus attempting to recreate the effect witnessed in IMAX theatres, as well as preserving as much of these shots as possible. See more »
We've been subjected to enormous amounts of hype and marketing for the Dark Knight. We've seen Joker scavenger hunts and one of the largest viral campaigns in advertising history and it culminates with the actual release of the movie.
Everything that's been said is pretty much spot on. This is the first time I can remember where a summer blockbuster film far surpasses the hype.
For as much action as there is in this movie, it's the acting that makes it a great piece of work. Between all the punches, explosions and stunt-work is some great dialog work. All the actors have their moments.
Bale's Batman is the definitive Batman because we see everything in this character finally on film. Martial arts skills, cunning, great tactical thinking, forensic application, technological genius to advance or improve Luscious Fox's inventions/technological breakthroughs, intimidating personality, and even a little swashbuckling.
As for Heath, yes he gets credit for his performance as the Joker. But you have to also recognize Jonathan and Chris Nolan for the writing and treatment of the character. It's not just the fact that Ledger makes the Joker so menacing, but the Nolans have given the character this great manifesto that drives its actions. The Joker's stance on chaos, order, anarchy, the morality of the average modern human being make the character so interesting psychologically. The Nolans drafted a complex character and only a perfect performance could've pulled something like this off. That's how difficult of a role this was, and that's why Ledger's performance is so great.
This isn't an action movie. It's a film that explores literary themes of the hero and villain, as well as order and anarchy. Yes, listen to the dialog because it's all in there.
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We've been subjected to enormous amounts of hype and marketing for the Dark Knight. We've seen Joker scavenger hunts and one of the largest viral campaigns in advertising history and it culminates with the actual release of the movie.
Everything that's been said is pretty much spot on. This is the first time I can remember where a summer blockbuster film far surpasses the hype.
For as much action as there is in this movie, it's the acting that makes it a great piece of work. Between all the punches, explosions and stunt-work is some great dialog work. All the actors have their moments.
Bale's Batman is the definitive Batman because we see everything in this character finally on film. Martial arts skills, cunning, great tactical thinking, forensic application, technological genius to advance or improve Luscious Fox's inventions/technological breakthroughs, intimidating personality, and even a little swashbuckling.
As for Heath, yes he gets credit for his performance as the Joker. But you have to also recognize Jonathan and Chris Nolan for the writing and treatment of the character. It's not just the fact that Ledger makes the Joker so menacing, but the Nolans have given the character this great manifesto that drives its actions. The Joker's stance on chaos, order, anarchy, the morality of the average modern human being make the character so interesting psychologically. The Nolans drafted a complex character and only a perfect performance could've pulled something like this off. That's how difficult of a role this was, and that's why Ledger's performance is so great.
This isn't an action movie. It's a film that explores literary themes of the hero and villain, as well as order and anarchy. Yes, listen to the dialog because it's all in there.