Dark Knight - Post viewing discussion and review thread

[YankeePride1967]

In order for the discussion of the movie once we see the movie not getting lost in the other movie, I thought it would be a good idea to open a new thread solely for the purpose of discussion of the movie once seen. But while people should realize that this thread will have spoilers, I would suggest using spoiler tags anyway.

[TheDynasty26]

Ask and you shall receive Sam.

Talk about reviews, how awesome it was, when you saw it, etc. here. This way we can have a thread where it can be discussed and reviewed by people who saw it, while those you haven't can use the other thread for review/spoiler free dark knight info.

[TheDynasty26]

Just saw someone else did it.....delete please

[Sam18]

Merge time

[Sam18]

I agree about spoiler tags.

[YankeePride1967]

I agree about spoiler tags.

Especially the first week. I'm going after work tomorrow. Someone who works with a friend got to see it and said it was the best movie he saw since the Lord of the Ring movies.

[TheDynasty26]

Oh i see...so it gets merged to MY title...but YP1967 gets to keep the "thread start"

[THEBOSS84]

My friend saw it last night and gave it a 10/10

[Sam18]

Oh i see...so it gets merged to MY title...but YP1967 gets to keep the "thread start"

Soriambi can bring peace to the Middle East.

[Retire21]

Seeing the film in less than seven hours........ I can't believe it is finally time.

[trapper700]

10/10.
Heath Ledger was just awesome as the Joker and it's hard to imagine anyone else playing the role. Joker's "magic trick" was bad ass.

[S2]

Um... it was awesome. I have nothing else to add at this point as I cannot think thoughts now. Yeah, it was that kick ass.

[Evil Empire]

LOL awesome, just awesome. Sooo many twists.

[TheJobaRules]

It was so good, I felt my heart pounding through much of the movie.

It was so good, they shouldn't do another one. It would never live up to this gloriously schizo epic.

[groovitude]

I just walked in the door from a midnight showing, and OH. MY. GOD.

Heath Ledger should easily win an Oscar for his performance as the Joker. Everything was established right from the get-go -- the tone was so very perfectly set with his 'magic trick' (which, consequently, is my favorite line of the film). The performance was immaculate -- even down to the little twitch he had, with his constant licking. Easily the most horrifying and best played film villian since Hopkins made Hannibal Lecter what we think of him in Silence of the Lambs.

The plot was incredible; here I thought they were setting up Harvey Dent as Two-Face for the next film. (He still could be, but I don't think so.) The intertwining of the various stories was excellent; the Joker's schemes always had you going... (Personally, since they never revealed it, I'm still trying to figure out exactly which boat each detonator was rigged to -- I wouldn't put it past the Joker to have it control the same, or the other!)

I still can't get over how horrifying the Joker truly was -- the phone bomb in the guy's stomach... urgh.

I'm usually not much for seeing a movie multiple times in theatres. This one I'll happily see again. Holy crap.

Oh -- and bonus points for the Watchmen trailer. It looks maddeningly good. Speaking of spoilers -- word on the street from a friend of mine who's following the production of Watchmen carefully says that they changed part of one scene... In the prison riot, when Rorschach ties the guy's hands together to prevent Big Figure from getting into his cell, they don't cut his throat in the film like they do in the novel -- they cut his arms off with the arc welder... To say the least, I will be freaked out.

[groovitude]

It was so good, I felt my heart pounding through much of the movie.

It was so good, they shouldn't do another one. It would never live up to this gloriously schizo epic.

I was debating this point with my friend on the way back. I agree with you; there's no way they could possibly top this.

[TheGameEpisode2]

Greatest. Movie. Ever.

Heath Ledger....I don't have words. I'll probably edit this post tomorrow and give a review but...

Perfection.

[ManilaYankee]

Heath Ledger --- wherever you may be... I salute you. Perfect 10 acting.

May you rest in peace, Joker.

[flymick24]

absolutely epic... just the way a batman film should be

it's a shame that ledger passed away, but damn... what a way to go out

also, one thing i'm not quite sure of but i guess was left open-ended on purpose:

SPOILER ALERT!!!


































is harvey dent/two face dead or not?

[NewEraYanks2527]

Greatest. Movie. Ever.

Heath Ledger....I don't have words. I'll probably edit this post tomorrow and give a review but...

Perfection.

I could not agree more.

[Evil Empire]

absolutely epic... just the way a batman film should be

it's a shame that ledger passed away, but damn... what a way to go out

also, one thing i'm not quite sure of but i guess was left open-ended on purpose:

SPOILER ALERT!!!






is harvey dent/two face dead or not?

Add in [ spoiler ] [/ spoiler ] tags.

I COULD be mistaken but from my understanding...Gordon and the Batman have faked Harvey's Death to leave him as the "White Knight" figure of Gotham, since they sort of put all of their eggs in his basket. Then they pin the deaths on Batman since he's the vigilante and put Two face in Arkham. Again, this is my speculation, I definitely need to see it again, I was just caught up in actually seeing it that I wasn't as vigilant over the plot as I could have been.

I LOVED The Gordon death fake out. I coulda sworn that the driver of the truck was going to be a clown, and boom they totally tricked the ................ out of me. I did, however, assume that Gordon wasn't actually dead at that point.

One point of discontinuity that I noticed was in Batman Begins, Gordon had one child and his wife was pregnant with another. Joker's speech to the mob bosses mentions that a year has gone by. Gordon's Kids are now much older. What gives? But thats not REALLY a big deal. It begs the question of whether or not his daughter will have a more important role in a future film.

What happened with Scarecrow? Was he on the boat of Inmates? (I think they gave him a closeup where Dr. Crane was panicking, but I could be mistaken?


And everyone's right, Heath Ledger was excellent.



There's more to talk about, but it'll have to wait.

[NewEraYanks2527]

I am not even sure what villains could possibly be in the third one if there is going to be a third one and if TDK makes as much money as I think it will, the studio will no doubt want a third one.

What I fould really great about the whole movie was that for as much as there were so many trailers and clips online that it seemed all of these things happened rather quickly in the movie and then we were left wondering "well hell what's going to happen now?

Also TDK just had such tension in it all the time, that was amazing.

[CanoForPresident]

I was expecting to be let down with all the hype surrounding the movie.


but NOPE! TDK was awesome!


Harvery Dent is NOT dead, bank on it


The trailer for The Watchmen ................ing blew me away too.

[Sam18]

I just got back. I haven't slept in forever bit I don't think I wanna. I keep playing the movie in my head but I can't remember most of it. There was just so many things happening. So many holy sh*t moments. Okay first, Heath Ledger/Nolan bros. Joker is the single scariest non paranormal bad guy I have EVER seen in a movie. Outside of horror movies the villains never scare me in a movie but I can honestly say in the scene with Gambol where Joker was giving his "my daddy" speech I was scared sh*tless. Nolan is one clever SOB. The way he made Joker's videos like the Al Queda execution videos made the Joker infinitely scarier.

There were just too many good scenes in this movie to list em all. I HAVE to see this again IN IMAX. The moment the first picture came on the entire theater just went "OH SH*T!". I know my jaw was on the floor for half the movie.

I know everyone is talking about Heath and his increadible performance but imo Gary Oldman's acting in the last 15 minutes was out of this world. him begging for his son's life and his speech about the Dark Knight in the end....wow

Sorry if I rambled a bit but I'm really tired right now. If you haven't seen this yet then SEE IT IN IMAX.



p.s. Josh's post just convinced me that Two Face is still alive

[groovitude]

I'm not sure whether Evil Empire's right about Two-Face's death or non-death, but it certainly makes sense. I'd have a hard time believing people wouldn't recognize Dent's 'good half' if Two-Face did break out of Arkham, but maybe that's part of the point.

And Sam's totally right -- I'm having a lot of trouble remembering everything simply because so much happened. I can't imagine most people having the creative capacity to have set up so many moments to keep Joker ahead of the curve; he had a horrifyingly incredible capacity for foresight. His breakout from the station was EPIC.

Furthermore, how many of you actually thought they killed Gordon, even for just a moment? At first, everyone I was with (including me) couldn't believe it -- we were all thinking "He's Commissioner Gordon! You can't kill him off! He's not even Commissioner yet!" but they played the scene with the officers giving his wife the news well, and kept him out of it sufficiently long that -- at least I did -- you thought they might've actually gone there. Very well done. And then, of course, when he makes his return, the audience burst into applause.

Speaking of those audience-unifying moments... you could hear the entire audience cringe for the pencil trick, the first "Why so serious?" moment, the phone bomb, and the shot of Joker in the interrogation room, with his face only lit by the lamp. And of course, wild laughter for Joker as the nurse talking to Dent, and the shot of him fiddling with the remote blowing up Gotham General.

[Retire21]

Thoughts on The Dark Knight: I am a BIG Batman fan and have posted as such in the other Dark Knight thread. I saw TDK last night at midnight and am still having difficulty processing/collecting my thoughts on the film.

I thought it was great and as a big fan of the characters, I thoroughly enjoyed it. But something seemed maybe a bit off. Perhaps it had to do with my following every little detail of the film's production, so a number of the plot points weren't surprises to me. Ultimately, I felt the pacing of the film was so fast that it might have failed where Batman Begins succeeded with calmer, more deliberate character-building scenes. Of course, The Dark Knight had the liberty of faster pacing because a lot of the backstory for Bruce Wayne/Batman was handled in Batman Begins; therefore, Nolan and Co. could jump right into TDK but by the end of TDK, I felt as though I had been on a 100 mph roller coaster ride that never really stopped to allow anyone to catch their breath. There's nothing wrong with that and I'm sure some of you enjoyed that part of it, but I would have liked some more subtle "Bruce Wayne" moments. By extension, I thought Alfred was underused in TDK, so maybe that contributed to that.

Loved the trailer flip and how Batman pulled that off. I thought Aaron Eckhart was really solid as Harvey Dent- I was very impressed and hope his performance does not get lost amidst the Ledger talk. It's funny because I remember Val Kilmer saying in some press junket for Batman Forever in 1995 that acting in a Batman movie does not advance one's career. Well, guess what Val? Just about everyone who has been in these two Batman films has seen their career advanced, particularly Nolan, Bale, and hopefully Eckhart now too.

Back to TDK, I am seeing it again in IMAX next Thursday and am sure that a second viewing will bring more clarity to my thoughts as I left the theater last night happy but a bit dazed by the pacing of the film. I will be watching boxofficemojo closely hoping TDK breaks some records this weekend- $400 million seems reasonable to me for a total nationwide box office.

[Yankeesfan924]

I'm going tonight at 8:10. Can't wait.

[Retire21]

**** SPOILER QUESTION ********

If you have not seen the film, please do not look below if you do not want to be spoiled




















So why didn't the detonators go off at midnight? I don't remember Batman ever de-activating them. I thought maybe the Joker was just bluffing about the boats exploding at midnight to force either boat into a decision- but the Joker fully expected them to go off. I remember him saying something about how you just couldn't find good help these days, so are we to believe that his goons messed up when they rigged the boats?

[Sam18]

**** SPOILER QUESTION ********

If you have not seen the film, please do not look below if you do not want to be spoiled




















So why didn't the detonators go off at midnight? I don't remember Batman ever de-activating them. I thought maybe the Joker was just bluffing about the boats exploding at midnight to force either boat into a decision- but the Joker fully expected them to go off. I remember him saying something about how you just couldn't find good help these days, so are we to believe that his goons messed up when they rigged the boats?

joker had the detonator. they weren't timed bombs

[YanksFan1992]

Less than 9 hours until I get to see it.

[Retire21]

TDK did some record numbers last night, passing Star Wars: Episode III

http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.co...-sith-numbers/

[Evil Empire]

joker had the detonator. they weren't timed bombs

Correct, he totally expected that the lower class of criminals or the people who think they're more worthy than those inmates would blow each other up. He was about to do it himself, but the Batman stopped him

[YASS]

I've been careful not to look at any of the spoilers, since I probably won't get to see it until next week or so.

But I have a non-flick-related question: I'd heard there was going to be a Watchmen trailer shown before the flick. Was there? How's it look?

[Retire21]

^^^^ Okay, but........ (SPOILER!!! Do not look below if you don't want to be spoiled!)
























Remember how the Joker says, "And.... here....we.... go!" And then nothing happens. Then he says something like, "You just can't find good help these days." That led me to believe his goons messed up- but you're saying Batman stopped the detonation. This was why I was confused in the first place as I don't remember seeing him do that.

[Steve Dalkowski]

Mind using spoliler tags so those of us who haven't seen the movie can still scroll through the thread?

[YASS]

^^^^ Okay, but........ (SPOILER!!! Do not look below if you don't want to be spoiled!)


Remember how the Joker says, "And.... here....we.... go!" And then nothing happens. Then he says something like, "You just can't find good help these days." That led me to believe his goons messed up- but you're saying Batman stopped the detonation. This was why I was confused in the first place as I don't remember seeing him do that.

I put spoiler tags around your spoiler, even though I've been careful not to read what I just tagged.

Would everyone please enclose their spoilers in spoiler tags? There are people in this thread who really don't want to see them.

Just put a *spoiler* before the text you want to hide, and a */spoiler* after the end of the text, substituting [ (left square bracket) for the first *, and a ] (right square bracket) for the second *.

[Retire21]

Mind using spoliler tags so those of us who haven't seen the movie can still scroll through the thread?

I'm so sorry- I don't know how to use that function. I knew that would bother someone....... how do you use them?

[YASS]

I'm so sorry- I don't know how to use that function. I knew that would bother someone....... how do you use them?

At the beginning of the text you want to hide, put [ spoiler ] (without the spaces). At the end of the text, put [ /spoiler ] (again, without the spaces).

[Retire21]

YASS, The Watchmen trailer was with my print of TDK. I'm not familiar with it, but the people in the crowd seemed pumped. I'm sure it is online somewhere............. Youtube?

Thanks for the instructions on spoiler tags.

[Retire21]

One other question I had:

When Batman saved Dent, I was confused because Batman said to Gordon that he was going after Rachel. Naturally then, I assumed Gordon was going after Dent. Did the Joker lie/deliberately switch Dent and Rachel's address whereabouts because he knew Batman would pick Rachel and the Joker wanted him to save Dent?

**EDIT ** Okay, got my answer at the Rotten Tomatoes board. Kind of confusing and I guess you need to read between the lines a bit, but my initial thoughts seem to be correct.

[Evil Empire]

^^^^ Okay, but........ (SPOILER!!! Do not look below if you don't want to be spoiled!)
























Remember how the Joker says, "And.... here....we.... go!" And then nothing happens. Then he says something like, "You just can't find good help these days." That led me to believe his goons messed up- but you're saying Batman stopped the detonation. This was why I was confused in the first place as I don't remember seeing him do that.

Ahh, perhaps you're right about the goons. One can't really be to sure, and I guess it's debatable.

---

I just remembered: I liked the possible foreshadowing when Bruce was talking about his new suit, asking if it'll protect against dogs, and the response was that it might provide some protection against...Cats.

[Retire21]

Ahh, perhaps you're right about the goons. One can't really be to sure, and I guess it's debatable.

---

I just remembered: I liked the possible foreshadowing when Bruce was talking about his new suit, asking if it'll protect against dogs, and the response was that it might provide some protection against...Cats.

Wow...... totally did not catch the nod there. Good call. I remember when Freeman said that, there was a minor reaction from the audience but I wasn't putting two and two together. Thanks!

[Evil Empire]

Wow...... totally did not catch the nod there. Good call. I remember when Freeman said that, there was a minor reaction from the audience but I wasn't putting two and two together. Thanks!

It leads to speculate about villains in the possible third film. Could/would the Nolans create a more realistic Catwoman? If Dent is still alive then perhaps we'll see a Two-Face, Scarecrow team up? Or will there be someone completely new...Edward Nygma, Talia al Ghul, or maybe Black Mask.

[Retire21]

It leads to speculate about villains in the possible third film. Could/would the Nolans create a more realistic Catwoman? If Dent is still alive then perhaps we'll see a Two-Face, Scarecrow team up? Or will there be someone completely new...Edward Nygma, Talia al Ghul, or maybe Black Mask.

If a third film is even made (I think it will be), would love to see Edward Nygma/Riddler and/or the Penguin. Catwoman would be okay, too. Nygma seems taylor-made for Nolan and all of his plot twists.

[Evil Empire]

If a third film is even made (I think it will be), would love to see Edward Nygma/Riddler and/or the Penguin. Catwoman would be okay, too. Nygma seems taylor-made for Nolan and all of his plot twists.

Nolan's rejected the idea of the Penguin as a villain basically for not being realistic enough in his version of Gotham. We'll see though, things can change.

http://www.cinematical.com/2006/10/1...o-the-penguin/

[Retire21]

Nolan's rejected the idea of the Penguin as a villain basically for not being realistic enough in his version of Gotham. We'll see though, things can change.

http://www.cinematical.com/2006/10/1...o-the-penguin/

Yes, I remember reading that and I just don't see where he's coming from. Oswald Cobblepot could easily slip into Nolan's world: a British arms dealer who moonlights at The Iceberg Lounge, where he conducts his business. His black market street name is The Penguin. He probably would only serve as a background villain, but it would be cool.

[TheGameEpisode2]

I've been careful not to look at any of the spoilers, since I probably won't get to see it until next week or so.

But I have a non-flick-related question: I'd heard there was going to be a Watchmen trailer shown before the flick. Was there? How's it look?

Watchmen looks AMAZING. The theater gave a loud ovation for it, one of many.

The biggest ovation came when Gordon revealed he wasn't dead, theater went crazy when he revealed himself.

Words just can't describe this movie. There are just so many things that Nolan and company did right, that it's hard to name them all. Whether it was the characters actually being believable, or the tension in between every scene, the movie hit it spot on.

Aaron Eckhart was absolutely fantastic. Seriously, he would have stole the show if...

...Heath Ledger didn't play The Joker. I swear, I must have wet my pants at a couple of scenes. The part where he had the knife to Rachel's face, telling him the story about his wife just freaked the hell out of me. After this movie, when people talk about The Joker, people are just going to say...

"Jack who? Ledger's the man!"

RIP Heath, and thanks for making us Batman fans happy.

[Retire21]

Ha Ha. Pete has a review of TDK on his blog. He loved it.

http://yankees.lhblogs.com/

[NewEraYanks2527]

Aaron Eckhart was absolutely fantastic. Seriously, he would have stole the show if...

It was nice to see a Two-Face that actually was driven by the outcome of the coin toss.

[jlw1980]

Wow, cool to see so many great reviews!