The Dark Knight (2008)

When Batman, Gordon and Harvey Dent launch an assault on the mob, they let the clown out of the box, the Joker, bent on turning Gotham on itself and bringing any heroes down to his level.

Director:

Christopher Nolan

Writers:

Jonathan Nolan (screenplay), Christopher Nolan (screenplay),

Stars:

Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart

Top 250 #6 | Won 2 Oscars. Another 93 wins & 68 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Christian Bale	...	Bruce Wayne
Heath Ledger	...	Joker
Aaron Eckhart	...	Harvey Dent
Michael Caine	...	Alfred
Maggie Gyllenhaal	...	Rachel
Gary Oldman	...	Gordon
Morgan Freeman	...	Lucius Fox
Monique Gabriela Curnen	...	Ramirez
Ron Dean	...	Wuertz
Cillian Murphy	...	Scarecrow
Chin Han	...	Lau
Nestor Carbonell	...	Mayor
Eric Roberts	...	Maroni
Ritchie Coster	...	Chechen
Anthony Michael Hall	...	Mike Engel

Storyline

Batman raises the stakes in his war on crime. With the help of Lieutenant Jim Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent, Batman sets out to dismantle the remaining criminal organizations that plague the city streets. The partnership proves to be effective, but they soon find themselves prey to a reign of chaos unleashed by a rising criminal mastermind known to the terrified citizens of Gotham as The Joker.

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Plot Keywords:

gotham | joker | criminal | district attorney | criminal mastermind | 

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Taglines:

Welcome to a world without rules.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and some menace

Details

Official Sites:

Citizens for Batman City of Gotham Police Department

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English Mandarin

Release Date:

18 July 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

Batman Begins 2

Filming Locations:

2 International Finance Centre, Central, Hong Kong, China

Box Office

Budget:

$185,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£11,191,824 (UK) (25 July 2008)

Gross:

$533,316,061 (USA) (27 February 2009)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros, Legendary Pictures, Syncopy

Technical Specs

Runtime:

152 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS DTS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In their face to face confrontations, neither Batman nor Joker refer to one another by name.

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Goofs

In the opening bank heist scene, the Joker inserts a grenade to the mouth of the manager lying on the floor. A string from the pin of the grenade is attached to Joker's clothes, and once he leaves the bank by the bus, the pin of the grenade is seen to fall off to the floor, as expected. However the pin does not move after that, even though it is now attached to a bus that is speeding away from the location, suggesting that it should disappear from the screen rapidly.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Grumpy: [with Chuckles, picks up Bozo on the street] Three of a kind, let's do this!
Chuckles: Huh, that's it? Three guys?
Grumpy: Plus two guys on the roof. Every guy gets a share. Five shares is plenty.
Chuckles: *Six* shares. Don't forget the guy who planned the job.
Grumpy: He thinks he can sit it out and still take a slice? I know why they call him "The Joker".
Happy: [up on the roof, breaking open the alarm box with Dopey] So why do they call him "the Joker"?
Dopey: I hear he wears makeup.
Happy: Makeup?
Happy: Yeah, to scare people. You know, war ...
[...]

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Crazy Credits

The DC logo contains two comic-book images: a shot of the Riddler, and picture of Batman punching him out.

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Connections

Referenced in 5 Second Movies: The Batman Trilogy (2012)

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Soundtracks

"Scatterin' Monkey"
(1998)
Written by Masayuki Nakano and Michiyuki Kawashima
Performed by Boom Boom Satellites
Courtesy of Epic Records & Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc.
By Arrangement with Sony BMG Music Entertainment

User Reviews

A Batman Of Shakesperean Proportions

Dark, yes, complex, ambitious. Christopher Nolan and his co-writer Jonathan Nolan deserve a standing ovation. I don't usually go for loud movies filled with mindless gore and violence. "The Dark Knight" is certainly loud and violent but it's not mindless. It has depth and soul. Even the Joker, in an extraordinary creation by Heath Ledger, is deeply human. The natural petulance of Christian Bale makes his ego and alter ego the most fascinating and complex of all film superheroes. Part of the genius of this movie is that Batman himself, in screen time, is not really the lead. My attention was captivated by Heath Ledger and he determines and inspires the breathtaking atmosphere that envelopes Gotham as well as us. The aplomb of Christopher Nolan as a director is mind blowing and his secret, I believe, is his obvious respect for his audience. What he's done is to elevate a popular genre into Shakesperean proportions. Bravo!