Christian Bale | Nolans The Dark Knight Trilogy (2005-2010) Roger Ebert said it, alongside Iron Man, had redefined the potential of superhero films by combining comic-book tropes with real world events. [202][207], The film had grossed $997 million worldwide by January 2009. The United States Library of Congress selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2020. [219], Several publications called The Dark Knight the best comic-book hero adaptation ever made. The improved Batsuit design let him show more of Bale's Keysi-fighting method training. [81][98], Filming took place in the lobby of One Illinois Center, which served as Wayne's penthouse apartment; bookcases were built to hide the elevators. [121] Filming in England concluded at the end of October with a variety of green-screen shots for the truck-chase sequence, and shots of Rachel being thrown from a window were filmed on a set at Cardington. [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". Goyer developed an outline for two sequels, but Christopher remained unsure how to continue the Batman Begins narrative while keeping it consistent and relevant, though he was interested in utilizing the Joker in Begins's grounded, realistic style. [az] Boscaljon wrote the residents and criminals believe in a form of order and rules that must be obeyed; the Joker deliberately upends this belief because he has no rules or limitations. The Dark Knight has been analyzed for its themes of terrorism and the limitations of morality and ethics. [310][318] Eckhart described Dent as someone who loves the law but feels constrained by it and his inability to do what he believes is right because the rules he must follow do not allow it. In their desperation, Dent and Batman are forced to question their own limitations. The Joker interrupts the meeting and offers to kill Batman for half of the fortune their accountant, Lau, concealed before fleeing to Hong Kong to avoid extradition. [34][148][149] The outfit consists of a purple coat, a green vest, an antique shirt, and a thin, 1960s-style tie that Ledger suggested. [as] At the 13th Satellite Awards, The Dark Knight received one award for Sound Editing or Mixing (Richard King, Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo). You'll seeI'll show you when the chips are down, these civilized people they'll eat each other. [310], The Dark Knight is considered an influential and often-imitated work that redefined the superhero/comic-book film genre, and filmmaking in general. [bk], The Dark Knight remains popular with entertainment industry professionals, including directors, actors, critics, and stunt actors, being ranked 57th on The Hollywood Reporter's poll of the best films ever made,[357] 18th on Time Out's list of the best action films,[388] and 96th on the BBC's list of the 100 Greatest American Films. But before he became the Batman, Affleck played a Marvel character, Matt Murdock a.k.a. Bruce Wayne (Dark Knight trilogy) - Wikipedia Film Scholarship and the Cultural Politics of the Dark Knight Franchise", Return to the Batcave: The Misadventures of Adam and Burt, Scooby-Doo! At the end of the day, I couldn't move. [261][262][263] Ledger won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, making him only the second performer to win an award posthumously (after Peter Finch in 1977), and The Dark Knight the first comic book adaptation to win an Academy acting award. [ax] A novelization written by Dennis O'Neil was released in 2008. [114][142][143] The Gotham General Hospital explosion was not in the script but added during filming because Corbould believed it could be done. [35][41] Jonathan found the "poignant" ending the script's most interesting aspect; it had always depicted Batman fleeing from police but was changed from him leaping across rooftops to escaping on the Batpod, his motorcycle-like vehicle. [89], Principal photography began on April 18, 2007, in Chicago on a $185million 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. [294] A 4K resolution remaster, which was overseen by Christopher, was released in December 2017 as a set containing a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray disc, and digital download, as well as special features from earlier releases. [310][319] Dent represents the fulfillment of American idealism, a noble person who can work within the confines of the law and allow Batman to retire, but the fear and chaos embodied by the Joker taints that idealism and corrupts Dent absolutely. Joker (The Dark Knight [172][173], Compared to 2007's $9.7billion box-office take, in 2008, lower revenues were expected due to the large number of comedies competing against each other and the release of films with dark tones, such as The Dark Knight, during a period of rising living costs and election fatigue in the U.S. [359][360] In 2012, Total Film named it the sixth-most-accomplished film of the preceding fifteen years, and a 2020 article by Empire named The Dark Knight as one of the films that defined the previous three decades. 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[2], The cast also features Joshua Harto as Wayne Enterprises employee Coleman Reese,[23] Anthony Michael Hall as news reporter Mike Engel,[24][25] Nstor Carbonell as mayor Anthony Garcia, William Fichtner as a bank manager, Nydia Rodriguez Terracina as Judge Surrillo,[2] Tom "Tiny" Lister Jr. as a prisoner, Beatrice Rosen as Wayne's Russian ballerina date, and David Dastmalchian as the Joker's paranoid schizophrenic henchman Thomas Schiff. [h] He considered Dent as having a duality similar to Batman's, providing interesting dramatic potential. The campaign concluded in July with displays of the Bat-Signal in Chicago and New York City that were eventually defaced by the Joker. [af][ag] Rereleases have further raised its box-office take to $1.006billion. The Dark Knight Rises (2012) - Full Cast & Crew - IMDb Batman Nico Sy on Instagram: 15th anniversary of The Dark Knight (2008 ", "Ledger's Oscar Bid From Beyond The Grave", "Posthumous Oscar for Heath Ledger's Joker Performance? [47], Describing how his character had evolved from Batman Begins, Christian Bale said Wayne had changed from a young, naive, and angry man seeking purpose to a hero who is burdened by the realization his war against crime is seemingly endless. [ad], The Dark Knight was released in Australia and Taiwan on Wednesday, July 16, 2008, and opened in twenty markets by the weekend. We Ranked Them All, From The Dark Knight to the Batman", "Batman Movies Ranked From Worst To Best", "50 Best Movies Of Total Film Magazine's Lifetime", "The 30 Films That Define the Last 30 Years", "Empire's 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time", "The 100 Greatest Characters of the Last 20 Years: Here's Our Full List! [138] Chris Corbould, the film's special effects supervisor,[139] oversaw the 700 effect shots Double Negative and Framestore produced; there were relatively few effects compared to equivalent films because Christopher only used computer-generated imaging where practical effects would not suffice. [206] The Dark Knight earned about $469.7million outside the U.S. and Canada, its highest grosses coming from the United Kingdom ($89.1million), Australia ($39.9million), Germany ($29.7million), France ($27.5million), Mexico ($25million), South Korea ($24.7million), and Brazil ($20.2million). [412] Readers of Empire have alternatively voted it the fifteenth (2008),[413] third (2014),[414] and the fourth-greatest film ever made (2020). Ledger died from an accidental drug overdose in January 2008, leading to widespread interest from the press and public regarding his performance. [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. The Batman: Everyone Who Played The Dark Knight On The Big Screen, Ranked. A rumor his commitment to his performance as the Joker had affected his mental state circulated, but this was later refuted. [156][157] Howard wrote about ten minutes of music for Dent, wanting to portray him as an American who represents hope, but undergoes an emotional extreme and moral corruption. [175][176] The Dark Knight's premiere took place on July 14, in IMAX in New York City. Batman [310], In The Dark Knight's final act, Batman employs an invasive surveillance network by co-opting the phones of Gotham's citizens to locate the Joker, violating their privacy. This Time, It's Different", "Internet Meme: "Everyone Loses Their Minds" Meme (The Joker; The Dark Knight)", "Everyone Loses Their Minds The Joker Meme", "Empire's 500 Greatest Movies of All Time", "Readers' Poll: The 15 Greatest Superhero Movies", "The Flip Side Of Justice: The Two-faced Spirit Of The Dark Knight", "What Do You Believe In? [am] Dargis, among others, described Ledger as realizing the Joker so convincingly, intensely, and viscerally it made the audience forget about the actor behind the makeup. [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. [128], Editing was underway in January 2008 when Ledger, aged 28, died from an accidental overdose of a prescription drug. I couldn't talk. He targets Dent at a fundraising dinner and throws Rachel out of a window, but Batman rescues her. Is the WebBatman Portrayed by: Aaron Eckhart Appearances: The Dark Knight The Dark Knight Rises (archive footage and picture only) "It's not about what I want, it's about what's fair! It was an exhausting process. [52] Josh Lucas, Ryan Phillippe, and Mark Ruffalo were considered, as well as Matt Damon, who could not commit due to scheduling conflicts. The Hollywood Reporter said Ledger received several ovations, and that during the after-party, Warner Bros. executives struggled to maintain a balance between celebrating the successful response and commemorating Ledger. Once Dent experiences a significant traumatic event in the loss of Rachel and his own disfigurement, he quickly abandons his noble former self to seek his own form of justice. [201][208] Its reissue in the run-up to the Oscars enabled the film to exceed $1billion in February,[209] and it ultimately earned $1.003billion. There was also a perceived limit on financial success for Batman films; the 1989 installment remained the franchise's highest-grossing release. During the interrogation scene, Ledger asked Bale to actually hit him, and although he declined, Ledger cracked and dented the walls by throwing himself around. [154][157][158] He attempted to develop original sounds with synthesizers, trying to create an "offputting" result by instructing musicians to start with a single note and gradually shift to the second over a three-minute period; the musicians found this difficult because it was the opposite of their training. [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. [252] Ledger won the film's only awards at the 15th Screen Actors Guild Awards, 62nd British Academy Film Awards, and 66th Golden Globe Awards, for Best Supporting Actor. Gotham Knight presents six vignettes, each of which are animated in a different artistic style, set between the events of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. For other uses, see, Zimmer based Joker's theme around two notes that would become increasingly "agitated as the track progressed. [61][127] Christopher disputed a report that said a scene of Batman leaping into Victoria Harbour was canceled because of pollution concerns, saying it was a script decision. They felt the threat of cinematic villains such as Hannibal Lecter and Darth Vader had been undermined by subsequent films depicting their origins. Talented in pickpocketing, she often help her friend in her operations as "the Cat". [34][35][39] The Joker was written as a purely evil psychopath and anarchist who lacks reason, logic, and fear, and could test the moral and ethical limits of Batman, Dent, and Gordon. [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. "[342] Joker's appearance became a popular Halloween costume and also influenced the 2009 Barack Obama "Joker" poster. [107] Exterior footage of the Gotham Prewitt Building, the site of Batman's and the Joker's final confrontation, was filmed at the in-construction Trump International Hotel and Tower. ", "The 50 Greatest Movie Villains Of All Time, Ranked", "50 Greatest Superhero Movie Performances of All Time", "The 15 Best Movie Villains of the 21St Century, Ranked", "50 Best Superhero Movie Performances of the Last 50 Years, From Ben Affleck To Zendaya", "The Secret to the Joker's Pencil Trick Is That There Is No Pencil", "11 Things You Never Knew About The Dark Knight", "Top Movie Movements: #95 "Why so serious? The Village Voice wrote the performance would have made Ledger a legend even if he had lived. The crew was described as excited as this scene depicted the first meeting between Batman and the Joker. To the Joker's disbelief, the passengers refuse to kill one another. Film studies professor Todd McGowan said Batman asserts authority over these copycats, telling them to stop because they do not have the same defensive equipment as himself, reaffirming his self-given authority to act as a vigilante. Caine said he forgot his lines during a scene involving one video because of Ledger's "stunning" performance. The Dark Knight - Wikipedia Warner Bros. was concerned public knowledge of Dent's character was poor; the campaign included signs, stickers, and "Dentmobiles" visiting U.S. cities to raise his profile. [n] Ledger spent a further four months creating a "Joker diary" containing images and elements he believed would resonate with his character, such as finding the disease AIDS humorous. In 2008, Ebert wrote; "[The Dark Knight], and to a lesser degree Iron Man, redefine the possibilities of the 'comic-book movie'". [bp], The Dark Knight remains popular with audiences in publicly voted rankings. Before the police arrest the Joker, he says although Batman proved incorruptible, his plan to corrupt Dent has succeeded. [10][66] Eckhart's performance was influenced by the Kennedy family, particularly Robert F. Kennedy, who fought organized crime with a similarly idealistic view of the law. The 160-foot (49m) tall hangar was unsuitable for suspending the bunker roof, and an encompassing gantry was built to hold it and the lighting. It was so [233], Bale's reception was mixed; his performance was considered to be alternately "captivating" or serviceable, but ultimately uninteresting and undermined by portraying an immovable and generally unchanged character who delivers Batman's dialog in a hoarse, unvarying tone. [35][77] Chicagoan authorities had been supportive during filming of Batman Begins, allowing the production to shut stretches of roads, freeways, and bridges. He lacks any identity or origin, representing the uncertainty, unknowability, and fear of terrorism, although he does not follow any political ideology. His testimony enables Dent to apprehend the crime families. [174], The Dark Knight was expected to sell well based on high audience anticipation, positive pre-release reviews, and a record $3.5million in IMAX pre-sales. Christian Bale Batman Begins (2005), The Dark Knight (2008), The Dark Knight Rises (2012) Of this group, West is the only one to have also played Batman in [273][274][275] The backlash was such that, for the 82nd Academy Awards awards in 2010, the Academy increased the limit for Best Picture nominees from five to ten, a change known as "The Dark Knight Rule". Burn is an actor, known for Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (2022), The Dark Knight Rises From April to November 2007, filming took place with a $185million budget in Chicago and Hong Kong, and on sets in England. The ensemble cast includes Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Heath Ledger, Gary Oldman, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Morgan Freeman. [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". "[57] In a November 2007 interview, Ledger said when committing himself to any role, he had difficulty sleeping because he could not relax his mind, and often slept only two hours a night during filming. [97] Pfister described it as a week of patience and learning because of the four-day wait for the IMAX footage to be processed. Batman Dark Knight ", "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!!! Based on the DC Comics supervillain of the same name, the Joker is depicted as a psychopathic criminal mastermind with a warped, sadistic sense of humor. [267][268][269] Even so, Ledger was considered a favorite to earn the award based on praise from critic groups and his posthumous Golden Globe award. [101][110], The Dark Knight includes Chicago locations such as Lake Michigan, which doubled as the Caribbean Sea where Wayne boards a seaplane;[107] Richard J. Daley Center (Wayne Enterprises exteriors and a courtroom);[101][111] The Berghoff restaurant (GCPD arresting mobsters);[101] Twin Anchors restaurant; the Sound Bar; McCormick Place (Wayne Enterprises interiors); and Chicago Theatre. [115][116], Many interior locations for The Dark Knight were filmed on sets at Pinewood Studios, Buckinghamshire, and Cardington Airfield, Bedfordshire; these locations include the Bat Bunker, which took six weeks to build in a Cardington hangar. [310] The Joker meets Dent in a hospital to explain how expected atrocities, such as the deaths of several soldiers, and societal failings are tolerated but when norms are unexpectedly disrupted, people panic and descend into chaos.