The Dark Knight (2008)

When the menace known as the Joker wreaks havoc and chaos on the people of Gotham, Batman must accept one of the greatest psychological and physical tests of his ability to fight injustice.

Director:

Christopher Nolan

Writers:

Jonathan Nolan (screenplay), Christopher Nolan (screenplay)

Stars:

Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart

Top Rated Movies #4 | Won 2 Oscars. Another 153 wins & 159 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

Set within a year after the events of Batman Begins (2005), Batman, Lieutenant James Gordon, and new District Attorney Harvey Dent successfully begin to round up the criminals that plague Gotham City, until a mysterious and sadistic criminal mastermind known only as "The Joker" appears in Gotham, creating a new wave of chaos. Batman's struggle against The Joker becomes deeply personal, forcing him to "confront everything he believes" and improve his technology to stop him. A love triangle develops between Bruce Wayne, Dent, and Rachel Dawes.

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Plot Keywords:

dc comics | joker | psychopath | clown | 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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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Joker's primary handgun/sidearm is a Glock 17-two tone converted to full-auto, with a stainless slide and a Glock 18 standard thirty-three-round magazine, which has been converted to full-auto as the gun lacks the Glock's 18's firing selector switch on the side of the slide.

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Goofs

(at around 1h 45 mins) The set designers created the hospital Emergency Room entrance with no means of rolling a gurney in. Also, the "Emergency" sign should be red, not blue.

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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: That's it? Three guys?
Grumpy: 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?
Dopey: [up on the roof] I know why they call him "The Joker".
Happy: [breaking open the alarm box with Dopey] So why do they call him "the Joker"?
Dopey: I hear he wears makeup.
Happy: Makeup?
[...]

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Crazy Credits

Christian Bale is credited with playing "Bruce Wayne" but not "Batman" in the closing credits.

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Alternate Versions

The Blu-ray version of the movie has several of the big action scenes and high altitude photography scenes in ordinary 16:9 (1.78:1) widescreen ratio while the rest of the movie preserves the "scope" format (2.39:1). This is because these scenes were filmed in IMAX, whose format is 1.43:1, thus attempting to recreate the effect witnessed in IMAX theaters, as well as preserving as much of these shots as possible.

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Connections

Version of Batman (1989)

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Soundtracks

Andante from String Quartet in a minor D. 804, 'Rosamunde'
(1824) (uncredited)
Written by Franz Schubert

User Reviews

Heath Ledger's Dark and Brilliant Swan Song

I couldn't believe "The Dark knight" could live up to the hype. That's perhaps the biggest surprise. The secret, I believe, is a stunning, mature, intelligent script. That makes it the best superhero movie ever made. As if that wasn't enough, Heath Ledger. He, the newest of the tragic modern icons present us with a preview of something we'll never see. A fearless, extraordinary actor capable to fill up with humanity even the most grotesque of villains. His performance is a master class. Fortunately, Christian Bale's Batman is almost a supporting character. Bale is good but there is something around his mouth that stops him from being great. "The Dark Knight" is visually stunning, powerful and moving. What else could anyone want.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Why So Serious

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English Mandarin

Release Date:

18 July 2008 (Canada)

Also Known As:

Le chevalier noir

Filming Locations:

Times Square, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

Box Office

Budget:

$185,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$158,411,483, 20 July 2008

Gross USA:

$535,234,033

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,099,094,480

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., Legendary Entertainment, Syncopy

Technical Specs

Runtime:

152 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS DTS IMAX 6-Track

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1