The Dark Knight (2008) (1 Viewer)

[Brian Borst]

I've heard complaints about his voice as far back as the reviews of Batman Begins, and I'm still not bothered by it. He needs to alter his voice to be unrecognizable, but he can't whisper (like Keaton did) when he needs to be aggressive. Just saw the clip of the interrogation scene on YouTube, and I was really impressed by that voice, even more so than in the theater.
But some people always need to complain about something.

 

[EricW]

from hearing about Mann's HEAT being an influence on DK, the opening shot of the caravan sequence where they are transporting Dent at night, there's one long sustained note during a helecopter POV flyover, it's pure Heat - specifically for me, the opening shot of the crew taking over the mineral deposits (?) place where they used that huge drill

 

[Todd H]

I've seen it twice already. I'll probably see it one more time before I wait on the Blu-ray.

 

[Chuck Mayer]

I can't see anything past Ben's post (617 of 623). And the quick reply pane appears INSIDE of his post.

Funky.

 

[Kevin Grey]

Someone on another board mentioned that a special feature on the DVD said the same thing. However, I've also seen it mentioned that Bale uses the Batman voice out of costume a few times in TDK (I didn't notice it myself) so perhaps the filmmakers have moved away from that explanation? Personally, I like the idea that it's just something he does when he's "Batman" in the suit or not.

Which would explain why he talks that way to Fox at the end- Sure Fox knows who he is so no need to disguise the voice, but Wayne is just doing without thinking because he's in Batman mode.

 

[Ben Osborne]

Chuck, some garbage markup got into my post somehow. I've fixed it now. Sorry about that.

 

[JonZ]

Ive seen it 4.

 

[Edwin-S]

I've seen it twice. It is still good the second time around, but the holes in the hospital and Ferry scenes become more obvious. In that final scene where Batman is ranting at The Joker, I still couldn't help but picture a cartoon of a ham replacing Christian Bale.

 

[rich_d]

Like everyone else I thought that Heath Ledger take on The Joker was terrific. The scene with him blowing stuff up with a remote coming out of a hospital dressed as nurse is one for the ages.

But the film itself, it wasn't much. Naturally I'm aware that fanboys are going crazy about this film and general public likes it too so I'm definitely in the minority.

Yes I know it's just a comic book story. But I have no problem when a superhero or super villain can do some super stuff. However, some points:

The Joker as a mastermind that times his bank robbery (complete with how long his comrades take to do their work before they're killed) to the second before joining a school bus caravan made me want to throw up.

Who is the Joker? Someone with a master plan that requires a bunch of thugs in a bunch of different locations supporting him or the guy that (oops) kills thugs he could be using later in a bank robbery? I mean in the first hour he's pretty much a lone ranger type and the next hour he got as many men helping him as Goldfinger at Ft. Knox. WTF?

That whole Joker is caught, Joker is free while hostages are taken and a bombing of the jail area while the cops are shown to be clueless and/or on the take aided by other cops with relatives in hospitals story also made me want to throw up.

That whole Harvey Dent flips out seeing it The Joker's way ... because some crazy guy in a mask (the Joker) that killed his girlfriend convinced him is too stupid to comment on further.

I love Maggie Gyllenhaal as an actor but she is better at quirky roles than as the love interest and besides that the chemistry (sadly) between Bale and Eckhart was hotter than between Gyllenhaal/Bale or and Gyllenhaal/Eckhart.

 

[TonyD]

makes you want to throw up?
in context of everything else those parts aren't far from possible

 

[Tim Glover]

Bale's Batman voice works better on repeated viewings.

Yeah, it's not my favorite element but in light of the grand way the film develops, I can live with it.

And, 3 times for me. So far...

 

[Jeff Pounds]

Rich, you're certainly entitled to your opinion, but here are a few thoughts to ponder...


In the context of the film, I don't think it's that far-fetched. People often can go a little bit loopy after physical and/or psychological trauma... Harvey had both to the extreme. It's not such a huge stretch that he would go a little bit nuts.

 

[RobertR]

Here's something for you, Tim.

YouTube - The Dark Knight- Joker Interrogation Scene Spoof

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Three times now in 35mm, and I have tickets to see it in IMAX in a couple weeks. I've been wanting since I first saw it to make a proper post, jot down some thoughts, but my mind is still trying to sort it out--just first-rate, epic filmmaking with a great script, terrific acting, impressive production values... I'm sure if I watched the movie and dissected it frame by frame I could find faults with it, but as far as I'm concerned, this is about as close to perfect as a movie that's not called 2001: A Space Odyssey gets.

 

[Patrick Sun]

Seen it one in 35mm on opening night (midnight), and 2 more times on IMAX. May see it once more on IMAX in a few weeks if the movie slate is light.

 

[DeeF]

Yes, it's not my favorite film. It didn't sing to me. I know I'm alone in this, but I think the film is quite poorly made, technically. The editing, in particular, is very Filmschool 101. Cut to him, he speaks, cut to her, she speaks.

I watched The Paradine Case, broadcast on TCM, last night. One of Hitchcock's failures, but every frame is intense and compelling, almost hypnotic.

It isn't really fair to compare these films, but I did see them both in recent days.

I just didn't get what makes The Dark Knight good, though I'm not really surprised that it's making money.

I'll go to WALL-E again, when I get the chance.

 

[Brent M]

Yes, you are VERY alone in that assessment.

 

[DeeF]

Well, I'm not alone alone.

Movie review: "The Dark Knight" | Salon Arts & Entertainment

 

[Nick Martin]

I loved the post-interrogation scene with Joker and Holtz...I mean Stephens. (ANGEL fans know what I'm talking about.)

"I want...my phone call, I..want-I want it! I want my phone call."

"That's nice".

and later, after his very funny response to how many cops he killed:

"See... in their last moments, people show you who they really are. So in a way, I knew your friends better than you ever did. Would you like to know which of them were cowards?"

Stephens should have seen that coming, but was still baited anyway.
At least Joker got what he wanted - he got to make his phone call.

 

[GuruAskew]

I also found the Joker's resources and status to be unconvincing and unbelievable. Not every comic book movie needs to devote an hour to an origin story but I asked myself that same question: how is he getting all these "goons" when he's killing entire crews of people? It's not like that little tidbit of information wouldn't get around. Nolan's Joker is essentially a terrorist and he should have ran with that because there's really no way of convincingly putting a character that behaves the way his Joker behaves into his position. In a more stylized world you might get away with making him something of an untouchable character but there are plenty of times when he's prone or vulnerable and that's realistically handled. After the chase scene he's down on the ground and taken into custody. Batman also overpowers him physically later on in the movie. Why didn't this happen when he was surrounded by other criminals? Why don't they do what criminals do: use violence to eliminate obstacles and threats?

Of course, there's the line of dialogue about him utilizing the insane but it's obvious that he has real non-crazy criminals on his (unexplained) payroll.

Another massive flaw in the film is the fact that the entire Joker escape hinges on two things that are absolutely unbelievable: broken glass not being cleaned up in a room housing an extremely dangerous criminal and an out-of-shape police officer being locked into a cell with the Joker unattended with said broken glass, especially when the room was established in a previous scene as having safe observation areas.