The Dark Knight: Dec. 9th - Page 4

The TV I just gave my parents (after buying my new TV from a dying Circuit City ) was a 4:3 HD set. It's several years old (no HDMI!) and I think was manufactured before widescreen sets had really taken hold as the future of HD. It's a 36" CRT, so the bastard is a monster, weighs about 225 lbs.

I believe it clocks in at 1080i, but the image is actually rather beautiful. Because it's projection rather than digital stretching, standard def signals look FAR better than they would on a plasma or LCD HD set. The blacks are also rather beautiful, due to the projection. Overall, I've gotten a more pristine look out of that set than most flat-screens I see, though the difference becomes clear when you see a properly hooked-up 1080p LCD or Plasma.

I remember back when HDTVs were still kinda new, there was this CRT HDTV at Best Buy that had an absolutely gorgeous picture. It wasn't flat and it wasn't all that big, but I didn't care. I stood in front of that thing more than any of the other TVs there.

There's so many threads on this movie I don't know where to post it, but here's my mom's hilarious verdict on this movie:

"I didn't like it! Too many problems!"

Acting or story or what?

"No the city had so many problems it was awful!"

LOLOLOL, that's AWESOME. Confused old biddies are the best!

Don't let her watch Quantum of Solace though. 007 goes up against some villains who refuse to provide Bolivia with even the most basic facilities! She will be shattered!

We watched the Bonds in order and when we got to Live and Let Die she exclaimed "Finally, one where I was on the edge of my seat!"

I cannot stop laughing right now. She was upset by the city's problems? Don't let her watch CNN!

You know, I've seen some friends of mine react to movies like that. It's like they have TOO much empathy for the people suffering on screen and don't like that the movie's working like gangbusters on them.

I saw The Departed in a theater full of old biddies. At first i was pissed but as character after character got axed the oldsters would wail "NNNNNOOOOO" "AH MY GAAAD" "NO No NO " .

It was hilarious!

Dark Knight played a hell of a lot better on DVD than it did in the theater. The film moves so smoothly and the resolution was just fine. There was a lot of noise/distortion in the soundtrack though.

Awesome. Much like my mom's verdict on Die Hard while Bruce Willis is walking across broken glass.

[hands covering mouth]
"Oh, my gosh! Oh, my gosh! I really don't like his hair there!"

Just watched this last night through Xbox Live. It looked good, but it can't possibly match Imax. I'm personally against Blu-ray and physical media, so it is what it is. The picture looked fine (great sometimes?) to me, but the Imax portions of the film didn't fill the screen.

My girlfriend saw it with me on Imax in the movie's first run. She was puzzled as to the necessity of fake-killing Gordon. I was so happy to see Gordon alive that I shrugged her concerns off, saying that it was to save his family, which he says as much, because important Gothamites were being targeted.

After seeing it a second time, faking Gordon's death seems completely unnecessary. Other than a cool moment when Batman and Gordon tag team the Joker, what was the point of it? It's never made evident that Gordon is in danger, or at least in no more danger than any other visible Gothamite. Indeed, if they should've faked anyone's death, it should've been Dent's!

I found myself nit-picking the movie much more this time, and less willing to forget some of it's flaws. I still think it's the definitive Batman movie, although I still have a soft-spot for the madness of Batman '89. The scene at the museum in Batman '89, and the car chase that ensues with the Batmobile reveal, is still one of my favorite set pieces, Keaton-pits and all. Although the Hong Kong set piece in TDK is really, really fantastic as well. The sky-hook is really badass.

Between theatrical viewings and showing it to various people who haven't seen it yet, I've seen it four times now. And Gordon faking his death just gets more pointless. It feels more like a way to snooker the audience than anything else. The scene ending after Batman rescues Rachel, leaving the Joker loose at the party, is even worse after multiple viewings.

As unnecessary as it was, I do feel that Gordon's fake-out wasn't exactly pointless. I mean, Gordon thwarted Joker's attempt to assassinate the mayor. Being a high ranking police chief, and local hero (For saving the mayor) he would have been pretty high on the Joker's hit list.

So instead of buckling down and doing their jobs, every prominent member of Gotham's justice system should fake their own deaths and go into hiding every time there's a major threat? How heroic.

And the Begins batsuit used at the start of the movie, when Batman confronts Scarecrow... More like fatsuit... amirite?! Did Bale look like that in Batman Begins? Jesus.

I really enjoyed the Bat-staples that weren't used in previous Batman movies, like the Joker interrogation scene, when Batman suddenly disappears as he's talking with Gordon at the bank, Batman on top of the Sears Tower, or the rooftop meeting between Gordon, Dent and Batman. Those scenes were pitch perfect. I also think the second batsuit is quite the improvement. Bale looks ferocious in the interrogation scene; you can barely see the white of his eyes, making Batman more animalistic and surreal (as he should be).

As I was watching it, though, I think I came to the realization that, no matter how hard you try, the exercise of a serious Batman movie is pointless due to the outlandishness of the basic premise: a man, dressed up as a bat, fighting crime. Don't get me wrong, I prefer Nolan's interpretation of the character to Miller's or Schumacher's (sp?), but there's only so much mileage you can get from a serious movie about costumed heroes fighting crime. The seriousness of TDK just rang a little hollow after seeing Synecdoche a couple of days ago.

Watching it again recently it dawned on me that if Dent had been in on it it would have worked better from a POV of plot and character motivation. Batman, Gordon and Dent would be the biggest targets for the Joker since Maroni's dirty cops would be aware of their partnership to take down the mob. With Gordon dead and Dent proclaiming himself to be Batman then Dent would have been the sole focus for the Joker. But Dent doesn't know. Nor does anyone else it would seem. So what could have been seen as a somewhat logical plan by Gordon and Dent to convince the Joker that the threats of Batman as an outside force and Gordon as the stabilizing factor inside a corrupt and ineffective police force had both been neutralized guaranteeing a brazen attack on the police convoy just seems to come down to Gordon relying on the most random of circumstances to work out exactly as he needs them to. But most of the characters appear to be relying on random circumstance as if it was meticulously planned out beforehand. But that's a major weakness that is seen time and again in a script that seems to have been written using the rules of effective misdirection by a stage magician that Nolan had earlier laid out in The Prestige. Just keep your eyes on the surface of the film and it's good (and it is good. Damn good entertainment), but pay no mind that a good majority of it makes little sense. Ta-daaa!

Gordon driving the van with a ski mask on is what really gets to me. Everybody knows that the mob has bought off cops, but they're going to let this one guy with a mask on drive the van? Nobody gave out assignments or checked on who was doing what? And why, if Gordon is trying to protect is family, did he feel it necessary to risk his cover by being the one to drive? The whole thing is retarded.

Probably didn't trust anyone else. Although, one wonders why Nicky Katt is next to him then. Of all the few supposedly clean cops that's who you have riding shotgun?

I just saw this yesterday as I rented the HDTV version from Time Warner Cable. This was my first viewing but It really looked wonderful on my Samsung 40" TV.

Half way through the movie I couldn't understand the love for Health Ledger as the Joker was barely in the movie.. it wasn't until the second half that the Joker really took stage and he really looks great. The scene with the joker sitting in the cage wearing his vest is just the best image of the joker I've ever seen on screen. That and being dressed up like a nurse walking out of the hospital.

Those images alone make me want to buy a blu-ray player.

Anyone watch the Gotham Tonight special features? It's good to see Eric Roberts having fun.