With the The Dark Knight Rises Blu-ray set to go on sale right in time for placement under a million Xmas trees, it’s about time to start rekindling that buzz, especially with the added motive Warner Brothers has to get it back on the awards radar. I doubt much will amount from the later endeavor, but they’re surely going to move some units.

Regardless of whether you loved, merely liked, or were flat-out dissatisfied with the conclusion of Nolan’s Bat-trilogy (I experienced a mix of all three), there’s no doubt many movie fans will enjoy the look the special features of the Blu will offer into the production of the film. No matter what, you can’t say Nolan and co. weren’t trying to do big things with the cool toys they had access to, and the glimpse below at the stuadium explosion is just one example.

What you’ll see here is the way in which Nolan and his team attempted to force some reality on even his largest scale digital stunt, by grounding it all in practical effects. Frankly, I think efforts like this might be a bit misguided as ultimately all the compositing means the elements are all covered and re-engineered in the computer anyway, but the spirit shines through. So while all those grass explosions ended up looking like the fakest part of the stunt (likely due to digital enhancements of the dust, etc.), the stunt work and effort to pull this off in the actual stadium are conveyed.

Check it out, and please consider pre-ordering the film from us so we can keep CHUD rolling past the new year!