The Dark Knight (Widescreen Single-Disc Edition)

4 Comments

1. Woopak

   September 29, 2010 at 8:56 am

   Review by Woopak for The Dark Knight (Widescreen Single-Disc Edition)
   Rating:
   Rarely has a film left me speechless, much less a comic book inspired film. Christopher Nolan’s rendition of the DC comic character has. “THE DARK KNIGHT” may well be the best comic book film I have ever seen. Christopher Nolan, along with Jonathan Nolan has crafted a screenplay of nearly unbelievable proportions. The duo has taken the “Batman” mythos and has turned it into their own; what results is a film that captures the essence of the comic book and combines it to a truly gripping and engaging psychological crime drama-action-adventure. You heard that right, a psychological crime drama and an adventure.

   I’ll get right to the point, you don’t need to read any reviews, (including this one) just watch this film. It stomps Burton’s rendition of the caped crusader to the ground and MAY well eat “Batman Begins” for breakfast, lunch and dinner; all the more evolving the concept of Gotham City’s “Dark Knight”.

   Still here, no trust? Ok then, here we go…

   Gotham City is the battle ground. The mysterious “Batman” has the crime element by its ear. Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) is an incorruptible force in court and Lt. James Gordon (Gary Oldman) has his special unit to combat crime. Seems like a good time to be in Gotham, doesn’t it? Wrong.
   
   A mysterious “Joker” (Heath Ledger) has surfaced and seemed poised to take Gotham’s soul by creating mass hysteria and chaos. Gotham’s population is at the mercy of this madman–and what does he want? To prove a point.

   Christopher Nolan has impressed me before, with his films; “The Prestige” and “Memento”. But never as much this time around. The director has abandoned the idea that “Batman” has to have a comic book feel. The film goes for the comic book’s soul. Nolan is armed with a near flawless script that exudes the spirit of Gotham City as well as its Dark Angel. If there are any holes in it then I cannot see it. The movie is unstoppable, the direction it went is awe-inspiring that it nearly gave me goose bumps. The movie not only portrays the usual Batman vs. Joker main event, it also defines the meaning of the word “hero” as well as the morality that surrounds the idea.

   “The Dark Knight” has a lot of characters and the film develops each one. No one is a plot device, everyone has a purpose in the screenplay. Heath Ledger gives the performance of his career (Rest in Peace, Heath) and trumps Nicholson’s portrayal. Ledger’s “Joker” is very reminiscent of the Joker in the comic book “The Killing Joke”. The maniac is not after money, he has no grand scheme but he wants to prove a point. This Joker isn’t joking around, this villain is frighteningly twisted, maniacal and homicidal. Ledger performs as if he saw the adage: “Crazy people don’t know they’re crazy” and brings all to bear. There’s no “origin” as to where he came from, although his past is suggested by his quippy remarks. The Joker will remain an enigma in this film, and I think it’s a very smart move to do so. Christian Bale is still a great Bruce Wayne and as his cowled alter-go. Bale changes his voice to a raspy one when he is Batman. Aaron Eckhart is an intriguing Harvey Dent, the district attorney is charismatic, heroic and the embodiment of Gotham’s hope, until he–well, has a very bad day. Yes, Two-Face makes an appearance and not to worry, the character won’t be one-dimensional.

   The film’s success is that the plot has attained a life of its own. The characters can breathe and everything has a purpose. The film’s main premise is not limited to our two nemeses. Even Gotham City itself has become a character in the movie as well as its inhabitants. Gotham is portrayed as a melting pot of chaos and disorder and one nudge towards the wrong direction may unbalance the city’s moral fiber. Yes, the film has its bit of morality in it and explores the decency of everyday folk. Before, in “Batman Begins” James Gordon and Bruce’s lost love Rachel (played this time by Maggie Gyllenhaal) embodied this idea, but the concept is more widely expressed this time around. The Joker’s target is the soul of Gotham and never more has the stakes been this high. The Mantle of the Bat is by itself a separate entity from Bruce and the concept is even given more depth, just what it means and what it is.

   The movie still has the tank-like Batmobile and a newer version of a Bat-cycle or in this case, a “Bat-Pod”. The mantle of the Bat has undergone some updates to make it lighter but for me, it looked bulkier. Tim Burton’s rendition of the Bat-suit may have the edge over this one but none are more accurate than the Bat suit in the fan film: `Batman Dead End”. If the film had a fault, is that the fight sequences need some smoothening up. They’re not bad, it’s just that it’s not as hard-hitting as I would’ve liked and the camera work needs to hang back a little bit so the audience can see the fight a little more. The action sequences itself are exciting, the movie does have some very cool car chases which are intense and adrenaline-pumping; further complemented by Hans Zimmer’s very powerful soundtrack. The proceedings have that somber but intimidating “dark” feel that the film’s cinematographer needs to be commended. The visuals are great, the CGI doesn’t look they’re CGI at all.

   There are cleverly placed bits of humor that help the film’s pace. Alfred (Michael Caine) supplies the sarcasm that is reminiscent of his character. The sarcastic exchanges between him and Wayne give a lot of depth to their relationship. Morgan Freeman reprises his role as Lucius Fox and his character has a humorous exchange in sarcasm with a Wayne Enterprises employee. Fox also serves a significant role as a man who serves as Bruce’s conscience almost as much as Alfred. Even “The Joker” adds some twisted bits of black humor–“I have a magic trick..”, boy, what a way to add an exclamation point to his character. The bits of humor help the film balance its darkness towards its gripping build-up to its end game.

   BATMAN is a dark character and he is arguably the most interesting character in DC’s line of comic books. The man is an enigma and very mysterious. Obsessed? Crazy? a Genius? This man is an urban legend and Nolan and company has successfully represented all these factors. Ledger’s performance may have taken the spotlight since this is his last film and he does somewhat steal the show from Bale–from Bale not the character itself.

   I’m not exactly sure how Christopher Nolan will be able to top this film. The promise of things to come and its climax has such an impact the way everything was structured through its storytelling. Comic book fans have a reason to rejoice, the director has taken the Batman myth to new heights. “The Dark Knight” is epic, deliciously exciting, unforgettable, groundbreaking, scary and manages to put the audience in the middle of the struggle between Gotham’s Dark Knight and his arch-nemesis; The Joker. The film is very sincere and precise in its execution.

   HIGHEST POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATION! [5-Stars]

   This review is Dedicated to the Memory of Heath Ledger.

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2. Leif Fellague

   September 29, 2010 at 7:44 am

   Review by Leif Fellague for The Dark Knight (Widescreen Single-Disc Edition)
   Rating:
   There is nothing more to be said about this movie – probably the best superhero film ever made, with a mesmerizing performance by Heath Ledger as the embodiment of chaotic evil – this is a 5-star DVD if ever there was one. But there is a LOT to be said about this awful, feature-free, completely inadequate 2-disc set.

   On Disc 1, the movie itself provides no alternative soundtracks, no director/cast/technician commentary, no “music only” version, no alternate versions, no deleted scenes, nothing. You may as well watch it on Amazon Unbox given the utter absence of extra features.

   On Disc 2, things get much, much worse. There are exactly two mini-documentaries – one on the design and implementation of the new Bat-suit and the quasi-motorcycle Bat-pod, one on the evolution of the Joker’s “theme sound” for the movie soundtrack. Both are interesting as far as they go, but in the immortal words of another Warner Brothers hero, “That’s all, folks!” Everything else on the disc is worthless. I’ll list here and you can decide for yourself:

   – A gallery of movie posters, production stills, and trailers. The posters and stills are not even presented full-screen – pathetic.

   – IMAX scenes – The major action set pieces for The Dark Knight were filmed in IMAX, which I had the opportunity to see for myself at an IMAX theater. The effect in the theater was interesting – when the action took off, the somewhat over-sized widescreen image suddenly exploded into full IMAX. But what exactly is the point of this feature on DVD? It’s NOT IMAX, obviously, so all we’re really seeing is how these scenes looked in their original IMAX-style framing (which is, um, pretty close to 3:4 “full TV screen”, kids) before being trimmed down to the “widescreen” format of standard movie screens and newer televisions. I guess this “feature” might be of interest to fanatics who worry about what they missed at the top and bottom of the screen during those scenes, but to the rest of us, this is a complete snooze-fest (unless you just like the idea of watching all the action scenes back-to-back).

   – “Gotham Tonight” – the most inexplicable feature of all is this collection of 6 episodes of the fictional “Gotham Tonight” show featured throughout the movie as background and/or commentary on the action from the perspective of local TV news. Not sure where these came from, or why they were produced, but whatever value they might have had as “deep background” (if that is indeed why they were made), in this context they’re just DVD shovelware.

   Folks, THAT IS *IT*. The above is *everything* on Disc 2. Not even a *mention* of the late Heath Ledger, much less the sort of documentary a lot of us would love to see, perhaps featuring recollections of cast and crew about how he created the character that made it onto the screen. Given this, the fact that the picture used to label Disc 2 is a close-up of the Joker’s face just adds insult to injury.

   I share the opinion of many other customer reviewers I’ve read here – this is clearly a holiday season rip-off, a quick-and-dirty scheme to rake in a few extra bucks from unsuspecting clods like me who expected WB to release a package worthy of this great movie. Instead, what we have is an insult to the fans and the film makers. Save your money and get the single disc if you must, but better still wait for the proper “deluxe edition” that’s sure to come next year. As it stands, the current “special edition” is really, really sad.

   UPDATE: I hope we ARE getting a true deluxe edition of this movie on DVD, but you might want to take a look at the product description of the Blu-ray disc. Apparently, WB has decided (at least so far) to save all the decent supplemental material for Blu-ray customers. There’s no technical reason for this – a 2-disc DVD set has all the capacity needed to carry the extra documentaries, etc., included on the Blu-ray edition.

   Blu-ray and its flaky BD+ anti-piracy technology have given many of us pause. 1080p’s nice, but not if it doesn’t work, and until I’m convinced that the dust has settled on the stability and compatibility problems, I’m sticking with DVDs (assuming I still have a choice). If WB’s handling of “The Dark Knight” is a harbinger of things to come, if the studios are going to try to force us to buy Blu-ray by needlessly withholding material from DVD editions, the most significant effect may just be to kill the “deluxe” DVD business. I know that from now on I will wait to read some detailed reviews to see if “special edition” DVDs are worth the premium before buying – no more pre-orders!

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3. Justin Heath

   September 29, 2010 at 7:03 am

   Review by Justin Heath for The Dark Knight (Widescreen Single-Disc Edition)
   Rating:
   Christopher Nolan has a vision. And whether you agree with it or not, he undeniably completes it in “The Dark Knight”–a vicious, engrossing, overwhelming, intelligent event- film that re-defines ‘comic-book-flicks’. In Nolan’s grim, dark-depiction of Gotham-City (the crime-ridden hell protected by legendary superhero Batman), the director strives to make everything real (something he began in the well-received “Batman Begins”). He makes it plausible, possible. And yet there’s more to it: just as ‘Begins’ was a dissection of myth, the nature of symbols and heroes, ‘Knight’ is the escalation of that notion. It’s a biblical- confrontation of ‘good-and-evil’, yet as ‘good-and-evil’ really exist: a conflict of ideals, something that can’t be purely-defined but that is relative to a viewpoint. In Nolan’s world, the line of villainy and heroism isn’t crossed… it’s non-existent. The bad-guys don’t see themselves as bad-guys, and as such something so unnervingly-real comes across it might fly past some people’s minds (no insult to anybody, it’s just common that people don’t look deep into ‘popcorn-flicks’): the battle is a complete ambiguity.

   The film runs at nearly 2.5-hours, yet never ceases to lose interest or momentum. It doesn’t waste a scene or moment; every event is utilized and necessary. ‘The Dark Knight’ tells a story worth telling and it takes the proper amount of time to tell it. Action-sequences are frantic, old-school, eye-grabbing stunts (vastly superior to ‘Begins’) and in their chaotic intensity we see that they serve purpose to the story, yet more interesting are not played for pure entertainment-value: we are meant to watch, petrified, simply hoping that the outcome will go the hero’s way. Attention is never lost because we are immersed in a breathtaking, almost completely-unpredictable story (it packs many a shock), that makes us think and more importantly gains our emotional-investment. We come to care for the characters, because they are believable, developed, and personified fully.

   Everyone has great-chemistry together. Maggie Gyllenhal is a more mature Rachel Dawes than Katie Holmes. Morgan Freeman provides his authoritative presence to the role of bad- gadget-inventor/Wayne-Enterprise CEO Lucius Fox, and under anyone else’s portrayal, the part would be less-memorable. Gary Oldman underplays his world-wearied lawman with such honest-nobility, you never feel for a second any of its forced-acting. The irreplaceable Michael Caine makes a gentle, reassuring, father-like presence as Alfred, and the movie would surely fail without his strong-presence and interjected-moments of light-humor.

   And while everyone (rightfully) pours the praise unto Bale and Ledger, I think most are glancing-over Knight’s breakout-performance. As Harvey Dent, Aaron Eckhart does more than hold himself in the company of such a renowned-cast. He makes his presence known, whether he’s playing on the easy-going charisma of Gotham’s ‘White-Knight’ or the broken and damaged, twisted-soul of Two-Face. He achieves a full-impact with the tragedy that comes unto his character, and so closely connects with Dent, that he makes his pain tangible for us: we sympathize even as we become terrified. He captures both facets of each personality flawlessly.

   Now, some people cite that ‘Knight’ has a potential fatal-flaw in the supposedly wooden- acting of Christian Bale. Admittedly, his development is not as grand as in ‘Begins’ (yet that film gave us such a good psychoanalysis of Wayne, we hardly need more), yet what Bale pulls off is admirable. Wayne is not an eccentric personality. He is a disillusioned man who can hardly find any joy in having no family, giving up his love-interest and spending his life fighting a battle that may never end. He’s dark and conflicted, and Bale plays up on that brooding-mood by making Wayne look as though a thousand dark-things were on his mind. He’s not wooden…he’s a humorless, quiet individual. Even when Wayne is acting as a frivolous playboy for the public, every now and then Bale offers us a powerful glance that reminds us its all a façade; that deep down, something more disturbed irks him. Occasionally he offers a broken-smile when exchanging banter with Alfred, letting us know that beyond the dour depression of the Caped-Crusader lies a damaged human-being. It is only in the guise of a growling masked-man, that he can unleash his true, ferocious personality.

   Finally, who could forget Heath Ledger. Now, when he was first-announced for the part, I was (along with many other people) asking myself: “Why?”. Mr. Ledger had proved with ‘Brokeback Mountain’ he could deliver a potent performance. But he hadn’t before. It is only, after seeing this film, that I know the answer to ‘why?’: I see the significance of his loss.

   When Heath appears in this movie, he is completely unrecognizable. His voice is distinctly-altered; a near-whiny, pedophile-like tone that sends shivers down the spine. His face is completely splattered with makeup that renders him both freakishly-nightmarish and strangely-funny. And when you see him, you don’t think it’s him. In this, his final performance, Ledger proved he was a chameleon. His two iconic performances in this, and ‘Brokeback’, could not be more different. I am convinced he could have been anything in his career. He commits so intensely to character that the line of actor/portrayal dies. His every tick and gesture only further-enhances his character. Heath never hams the role up or goes for something cheap: he delivers a fully-immersed display of psychotic madness…or do we just label him that to feel safer? The movie writes the character brilliantly; blending terrifying truth into his every social-accusation, and making us question why we laugh at his sick-jokes.

   ‘The Dark Knight’ has had an incredible-amount of hype running for it, from the get-go, mounting ever-higher, until Heath Ledger’s too-soon death. And the finished-product does more than exceed all of the near-impossible expectations placed on it. It becomes something much richer than a super-hero-franchise-saga. Christopher Nolan has opened a new door in cinema: allowing action-flicks to become more serious, capable of intelligence. He has transformed this into a piece of artwork, full of beauty, terror, moral-conundrums. This movie has changed things…forever.

   There’s no going back. 10/10

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4. Victor Belagosi

   September 29, 2010 at 6:42 am

   Review by Victor Belagosi for The Dark Knight (Widescreen Single-Disc Edition)
   Rating:
   What has been said about the Dark Knight cannot be elaborated on – so I won’t. The film is muscling its way into my #1 favorite comic movie adaptation of all time.

   The reason for my review is in hopes of saving you some money. This double disc Special Edition doesn’t deliver the price you pay for it. There isn’t even deleted scenes!!! I would save your very hard earned dollars and buy the single disc version and wait for the inevitable ULTIMATE re-release that will come later on down the road.

   But nonetheless, a great film – you will not be dissapointed; I just wish the studio would have given a better Special Edition release than what we have here. So enjoy!

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