It was an exhausting process. [aq] Stephen Hunter said the Dent character was underwritten and that Eckhart was incapable of portraying the role as intended. To the Joker's disbelief, the passengers refuse to kill one another. [42], Dent's corruption suggests he is a proxy for those looking for hope because he is as fallible and susceptible to darkness as anyone else. When it was released in July, The Dark Knight received acclaim for its mature tone and themes, visual style, and performancesparticularly that of Ledger, who received many posthumous awards including Academy, BAFTA, and Golden Globe awards for Best Supporting Actor, making The Dark Knight the first comic-book film to receive major industry awards. [68][69] Maggie Gyllenhaal replaced Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes, as Holmes chose to star in the crime comedy Mad Money (2008) instead. [g], Comic-book influences included writer Frank Miller's 1980s works, which portray characters in a serious tone, and the limited series Batman: The Long Halloween (19961997), which explores the relationship between Batman, Dent, and Gordon. is among the film's most famous and oft-quoted pieces of dialog,[bo] alongside "everyone loses their minds," and Dent's line "you either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain", as well as Pennyworth's line "some men just want to watch the world burn". [ae] The Dark Knight was available in sixty-two countries by the end of August, although Warner Bros. decided not to release it in China, blaming "a number of pre-release conditions as well as cultural sensitivities to some elements of the film". [323] The character can be considered an example of Friedrich Nietzsche's "Superman", who exists outside definitions such as good and evil, and follows his own indomitable will. [66] Dent's desire to work outside the law is seen in his support of Batman's vigilantism to accomplish what he cannot. [35] They wanted to explore the theme of escalation and the idea that Batman's extraordinary efforts to combat common crimes would lead to an opposing escalation by criminals, attracting the Joker, who uses terrorism as a weapon. [ab] The film benefited from repeat viewings by younger audiences and had broad appeal, with 52% of the audience being male and an equal number of those under 25 years old, and those of 25 or older. In 2008, Ebert wrote; "[The Dark Knight], and to a lesser degree Iron Man, redefine the possibilities of the 'comic-book movie'". [275][333] The genre became a focus of annual studio strategies rather than a relatively niche project, and a surge of comic-book adaptations followed, in part because of their broad franchising potential. [99] A Randolph Street parking garage is where Batman captures Scarecrow and Batman impersonators. [101] 330 North Wabash served as offices used by Dent, mayor Garcia, and commissioner Loeb; and its thirteenth floor appears as Wayne Enterprises' boardroom; Pfister enhanced its large, panoramic windows and natural light with an 80-foot (24m) glass table and reflective bulbs. The production team considered placing it in the penthouse basement but believed it was too unrealistic a solution. Christian Bale plays Batman in The Dark Knight Rises SEAC For our money, Christian Bale remains the greatest Batman on the silver screen. The actor, who had previously rocked other demanding body changes for roles in Warrior and Bronson, had beefed up significantly to play Batman's arch-nemesis in the third installment of Christopher Nolan's trilogy.. Nezha got his hooks into Batman when Black [310][311], The Dark Knight focuses on the moral and ethical battles faced by the central characters, and the compromises they make to defeat the Joker under extraordinary circumstances. [311] Adlakha wrote Dent is framed as a religious icon, his campaign slogan being "I believe in Harvey Dent", and his eventual death leaves his arms spread wide like Jesus on the Cross. Unbiased. Almost 10 years later, Hardy's [400] Entertainment Weekly wrote there had not been another villain as interesting or "perversely entertaining" as Joker, and Ledger's performance was considered so defining that future interpretations would be compared against it. [132][133][134], Alongside lead editor Lee Smith, Christopher took an "aggressive editorial approach" to editing The Dark Knight to achieve its 152-minute running time. Bruce Wayne (Dark Knight trilogy) - Wikipedia Played It allowed for more broadly popular but "respected" films to be nominated, including District 9, The Blind Side, Avatar, and Up, the first animated film to be nominated in two decades. [156] It took several months to achieve Zimmer's desired result. [217] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+-to-F scale. Warner Bros. By Damion Damaske / Feb. 10, 2023 9:40 am EST. [310][311][318] Dent is motivated to do good because he identifies himself as good, not through trauma like Batman, and has faith in the legal system. [ad], The Dark Knight was released in Australia and Taiwan on Wednesday, July 16, 2008, and opened in twenty markets by the weekend. [305][306] The Dark Knight Coaster, an indoor roller coaster, opened in May 2008 at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson Township, New Jersey. [117][118], After returning to England in the middle of September, scenes were filmed for the ferry, hospital, and Gotham Prewitt building interiors. [177], On July 18, 2008, The Dark Knight was widely released in the U.S. and Canada in a record 4,366 theaters on an estimated 9,200 screens. [184][275][285], Retrospective analysis has focused on the way studios, eager to replicate its performance, released tonally dark, gritty, and realistic films, or reboots of existing franchises, many of which failed critically or commercially. [101][106] The entire sequence was filmed in one day and involved 800 extras, who were moved through makeup and clothing departments in shifts. The Dark Knight actors - IMDb Corbould's team built the Batpod, which is based on a prototype Crowley and Christopher built by combining different commercial model components. ", "Huge Bat-Signals Projected Over NYC + Chicago", "Warner Bros. Moves Against Web Copies Of, "For Movies, A Summer That's Shy On Sequels", "Top Single Day Grosses By Day of the Week", "Top Single Day Non-opening Grosses By Day of the Week (Tuesday)", "Top Single Day Non-opening Grosses By Day of the Week (Wednesday)", "Warner Bros. Entertainment Wraps Record-Breaking Year", "Review: Heath Ledger's Joker Inflames A Despairing, "The Best Films Of 2008 And There Were A Lot Of Them", "Film Critics' Top 10 Lists All Over The Map", "Editor's Picks: The Ten Best Movies Of 2008", "Harry's Picks for the Top Ten Films Of 2008!!! Industry professionals considered the campaign innovative and successful. WebReal name: Unknown Aliases: Jen Alignment: Neutral Affiliation: Selina Kyle (friend) Portrayed by: Juno Temple Appearances: The Dark Knight Rises "Jen" was the friend and roommate of Selina Kyle. [123][124] The 127-day shoot concluded on November 15, on time and under budget. In the film, Batman is forced out of his self-imposed retirement following the events of The Dark Knight; he allies with Selina Kyle / Catwoman to take on Bane, a physically imposing revolutionary allied with the League of Shadows that is featured in Batman Begins. : The Secret History of Batman in Japan, List of Batman television series cast members, Yearly highest-grossing films in the United States, Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace, Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, List of highest-grossing films in the United States and Canada, Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Action Movie, Mainichi Film Award for Foreign Film Best One Award, 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&oldid=1142591448, Films about kidnapping in the United States, 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, Wikipedia indefinitely semi-protected pages, Wikipedia indefinitely move-protected pages, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Pages using multiple image with auto scaled images, Official website different in Wikidata and Wikipedia, Pages using Sister project links with wikidata mismatch, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Characters appearing in comic books published, This page was last edited on 3 March 2023, at 07:57. [101][112] A scene of Batman surveying the city from a rooftop edge was filmed atop Willis Tower, Chicago's tallest building. Their efforts are derailed by the Joker, an anarchistic mastermind who seeks to test how far Batman will go to save the city from chaos. [k] Ledger's casting in August 2006 was criticized by some industry professionals and members of the public who considered him inappropriate for the role; executive producer Charles Roven said Ledger was the only person seriously considered, and that Batman Begins's positive reception would help alleviate any concerns. 42 Entertainment's initial plan to throw the bills from a balcony was canceled due to safety concerns, so the bills were covertly distributed to attendees. [ba] In 2020, the United States Library of Congress selected The Dark Knight to be preserved in the National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". The Batman: Everyone Who Played The Dark Knight On The Big Screen, Ranked. According to English professor Daniel Boscaljon, Dent is not broken; he believes in a different form of justice in a seemingly unjust world, flipping a coin because it is "Unbiased. The bosses accept the Joker's offer, and he kills high-profile targets involved in the trial, including the judge and police commissioner. [307][308], A central theme of The Dark Knight is escalation, particularly the rise of the Joker in response to Batman's vigilantism. [375] In 2020, Empire magazine named it third-best, behind The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) and Mad Max: Fury Road (2015). The Dark Knight is a 2008 superhero film directed by Christopher Nolan from a screenplay he co-wrote with his brother Jonathan. The crew was described as excited as this scene depicted the first meeting between Batman and the Joker. [at] Genre films such as those based on comic books were also generally ignored by Academy voters. WebThe Dark Knight Rises With their appearances in this movie, Christian Bale, Sir Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Cillian Murphy, and Gary Oldman have each appeared in three Batman movies. [70][71] Gyllenhaal approached Rachel as a new character and did not reference Holmes's previous performance. [34][152][153], Composers James Newton Howard and Hans Zimmer, who had also worked on Batman Begins, scored The Dark Knight because Christopher believed it was important to bridge the musical-narrative gap between the films. The very first live-action version of the Dark Knight came in the 1943 film serial and he was portrayed by Lewis Wilson. [r] Warner Bros. was reluctant to endorse the use of the technology because the cameras were large and unwieldy, and purchasing and processing the film stock cost up to four times as much as typical 35mm film. [bi] It is also considered among the best films of the 2000s,[bj] and in a 2010 poll of thirty-seven critics by Metacritic regarding the decade's top films, The Dark Knight received the eighth most mentions, appearing on 7 lists. But before he became the Batman, Affleck played a Marvel character, Matt Murdock a.k.a. [311] According to professor Martin Fradley, among others, Batman's "noble lie" and Gordon's support of it is a cynical endorsement of deception and totalitarianism. [311][328] McGowan considered the act heroic because Batman's sacrifice will leave him hunted and despised without recognition, indicating he has learned from the Joker the established norms must sometimes be broken. [202][207], The film had grossed $997 million worldwide by January 2009. [101][109] Filming in Chicago concluded on September 1, ending with scenes of Wayne driving and crashing his car, before the production returned to England. Murray went through designs that were "too real and more horrifying" before settling on a more "fanciful" and detailed but less-repulsive version. He developed the character's voice by mixing a high-pitch and low-pitch, which was inspired by ventriloquist performances. You thought we could be decent men in an indecent time. [95] The Joker's homemade videos were filmed and mainly directed by Ledger. The city mourns Dent as a hero, and the police launch a manhunt for Batman. They are able to be grounded or fantastic, able to be prestigious or pure blockbuster entertainment, to be dark and gritty or light, to be character-driven or action-packed, or any variation in-between.