Official "The Dark Knight" SPOILER Thread

[Ven]

I like it. it makes sense..

 

[Amir]

The reason I think Heath licks his lips alot in the film is that in the script and in the movie Joker is very much described as a "mad dog", "a dog chasing cars" and at least my perception based off some short interviews I heard him talking about the character the licking of the chops represents to me the Joker's hunger for blood and destruction ... like a hungry dog. Plus the scars on his mouth give them an almost jowel like appearance like a pitbull or something. And as we know he refers to himself as a dog quite often. Heath talked about "what the look of raw meat does to your mouth" with the character of the Joker, and IDK about you but when I see that bright red meat as a man my mouth waters and you have to lick your lips. So the Joker views destruction and death as that red meat, thus his mouth is watering. Also, that scene where he's hanging out the cop car, he acts like a dog riding in a car. He even shakes his head and hair just like how dogs do when the air hits them at high speeds in a car.

that's what I read and it makes total sense, he can't get enough to satisfy his hunger for total chaos.

 

[plasmid303]

I found some lines were hurt by the voice, but overall I'm fine with it.

I could barely understand what Batman was saying after he hung Joker from the skyscraper near the end of the movie. He was out of breath, and after each few words he needed to pause. A bit annoying, but it was only one of the very few instances where I was aware of the Bat voice.

 

[MaulFan]

For those interested in knowing what parts of the TDK score go with scenes in the films, I'm starting to compile a strong list with breakdowns of each track.

I'm Not A Hero ( MINUTES : SECONDS )

0:00 - 1:40 - Picks up from the Joker's bus driving away from the bank robbery up to the meeting with Crane in the Garage.

1:40 - 2:55 - This portion plays as Bruce is laying the groundwork for his trip to Hong Kong including talking to Alfred and being on his boat and picked up.

2:55 - END - This is the music as Bruce is on the Hong Kong roof top right through the plane picking him and Lau up.

 

[jungle jom]

Monday Movie Buzz: Bale's Batman voice too much?
Sunday August 3 1:44 PM ET

Though "The Dark Knight" has been a bona fide cultural event, boasting rave reviews and boffo box office, it hasn't been immune to criticism. Some have quibbled with its political undercurrents, and others have criticized a muddled theme.

But here's the critique most widely held: Why does Batman talk like the offspring of Clint Eastwood and a grizzly bear?

Donning the costume for the second time, Christian Bale has delved deeper into the lower registers. As Bruce Wayne, his voice is as smooth as his finely pressed suits. But once he puts the cape on, the transformation of his vocal chords is just as dramatic as his costume change.

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Particularly when his rage boils over, Bale's Batman growls in an almost beastly fashion, reflecting how close he teeters between do-gooder and vengeance-crazed crusader.

"The Dark Knight" hauled in $43.8 million to rank as Hollywood's top movie for the third straight weekend, fending off "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" which opened a close second with $42.5 million. It has earned $394.9 million in just 17 days, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Though much of the voice effect is Bale's own doing, under the guidance of director Christopher Nolan and supervising sound editor Richard King, the frequency of his Batman voice was modulated to exaggerate the effect.

Critics and fans have noticed.

"His Batman rasps his lines in a voice that's deeper and hammier than ever," said NPR's David Edelstein.

The New Yorker's David Denby praised the urgency of Bale's Batman, but lamented that he "delivers his lines in a hoarse voice with an unvarying inflection."

Reviewing the film for MSNBC, Alonso Duralde wrote that Bale's Batman in "Batman Begins" "sounded absurdly deep, like a 10-year-old putting on an `adult' voice to make prank phone calls. This time, Bale affects an eerie rasp, somewhat akin to Brenda Vaccaro doing a Miles Davis impression."

Before the similes run too far afield, it's worth considering where the concept of a throaty Batman comes from.

In his portrayal on the `60s "Batman" TV series, Adam West didn't alter his voice between Bruce Wayne and Batman. Decades later when Tim Burton brought "Batman" to the big screen in a much darker incarnation, Michael Keaton's inflection was notably but not considerably different from one to the other.

But it was a lesser-known actor who, a few years after Burton's film, made perhaps the most distinct imprint on Batman's voice. Kevin Conroy, as the voice of the animated Batman in various projects from 1992's "Batman: The Animated Series" right up until this year's "Batman: Gotham Knight," brought a darker, raspier vocalization to Batman.

Conroy has inhabit the role longer than anyone else and though animated voice-over work doesn't have the same cachet as feature film acting, there are quarters where Conroy is viewed as the best Batman of them all certainly superior to Val Kilmer or George Clooney.

The animated series are notable because they drew on the DC Comics of Batman as envisioned by Frank Miller, whose work heavily informs "Batman Begins" and "The Dark Knight." (Bale and Nolan were unavailable to comment for this story.)

As Batman has gotten darker, his voice has gotten deeper. As some critics suggest, Bale and "The Dark Knight" may have reached a threshold, at least audibly.

If you look closely at his costume it appears that he has built in speakers (around his collar bone) . I think he had a voice modulator built into his suit to alter his voice.

So the "Batman Voice" didn't bother me in the least.

Check out his costume!

 

[adambadadam]

"If you look closely at his costume it appears that he has built in speakers (around his collar bone) . I think he had a voice modulator built into his suit to alter his voice.

So the "Batman Voice" didn't bother me in the least.

Check out his costume!"

So if that's the case, wouldn't it make more sense in a realistic kinda way. If you had tiny mics and bull-horn type amplifiers built in, you could disguise a voice with a simple pitch bender. Go overboard, it becomes a gimmick and a cheat. Use the effect subtley, and critics don't think it's intimidating enough. I think it's right where it ought to be. I mean, the audience knows Bruce is Batman and vice versa. Its just that the filmmakers have to make it plausible that the world they create can't simply figure out who Batman is, which to some degree begins to unravel some storywise.

 

[The Mike]

I just got my hands on this novelty prop. I can't wait to get it in the email!

 

[CelticPredator]

Speaking of Two Face...."want to see my mask?"

Im going to cast it, and make a latex mold from it, and glue it on to my friends face...whom I making it for.

 

[Buttmunch]

I just got my hands on this novelty prop. I can't wait to get it in the email!

WHERE!?

Saw one on ebay, but is isn't worth $40!

 

[The Mike]

THE RPF. There is a waiting list about six pages long....read about it. Worth every penny. That's why I got two.

 

[scubasteve]

I just got my hands on this novelty prop. I can't wait to get it in the email!

I've got a couple novelty props coming my way, as well!

 

[The Mike]

I just bought a couple of coin protectors and display easels for them too! I can't wait for this. One for my desk at home and one for my desk at work.

 

[scubasteve]

I plan on using the second novelty prop in every day life. It will become a part of the wardrobe, since the only morality in a cruel world is chance. Unbiased. Unprejudiced. Fair.

 

[CelticPredator]

No one likes my Two Face mask?

 

[Estel]

Love those two-face coins! I'll see if I can get my hands on some of those sometime soon.

Anyway, here's my take on the film.


Waking up this morning after finally seeing the film, I think I'm starting to get it. The moment I walked out of the theatre, I felt confused, a bit shaken if you will, I had seen something terribly exciting, fresh, but the whole package didn't strike me as a film just yet. Now that I look back on my viewing, I realize the Dark Knight is not merely a film, it's much more, it's an experience.
This film shocked, thrilled and amused me at the same time. All of that must be of some meaning as I'm a hard guy to please when it comes to film.

Nolan took a big risk giving Batman a smaller part in the whole story and it worked out. This isn't merely the continuation of Bruce's story, let's 'face' it, the real star of the show is Harvey Dent. He's the earth to Gotham's orbit, the focus of all things, the classic flawed archetype, played to perfection by Aaron Eckhart. Make no mistake, Harvey Dent is far from a being a White Knight. Even before his transformation he shows signs of inner-conflict; the coin flipping, his brutal threatening of the schizo-cop. This man has a rage within him, waiting to be unleashed, it only took the little 'push' to determine whether he would unleash it on the noble or the scum, and the Joker made full use of it. I was glad to see that when Two-Face finally showed up, it wasn't a split-personality, it was the same man, the white knight, fully knowledgeable of his actions.

I think Nolan was right when he described The Joker as a force of nature. Where the crowd in my theatre was a bit loud during some of the earlier scenes, they immediately silenced the moment the clown showed up on screen to display his macabre magic tricks. Heath Ledger deserves every bit of praise he has been getting for the role, it truly is one of the best and most nuanced pieces of acting I have seen in quite a while. The character of the Joker also presents us with an insight in the brilliant character-work by the Nolan brothers. The Joker is far from being a madman; he is cunning, smart, sophisticated and that's exactly what makes him so frightening in addition to his maniacal antics. He knows his trade, he knows the fear he imposes with his actions and appearance, and he uses it to full extent. The Joker is the Batman, he knows that by hiding behind his thick layers of make-up (mask), he becomes something else, a terrifying symbol. A normal person could be touched and degraded, but not a symbol (just think about what Ducard said). Where a villain such as the Joker might have had a back-story in any other film, the omission of his background is a stroke of genius. His motives are never fully explained, nor understood. He simply can't be touched and he knows it. He's got nothing to lose, he enjoys the attention, the momentum, and I have no doubt that's what he lives for. This man truly wants to 'watch the world burn'.

As for Batman, the film present what is probably the best continuation of the character you could have wished for. Batman Begins was child play for Bruce compared to this film, he knows now his 'task' cannot go without true sacrifice and that endurance is the only answer. It's not hard to see that Bruce still hasn't overcome his past, Batman is still the answer to his own inner problems. Like Rachel said; it's not about the day Gotham no longer needs Batman, it's whether the day would come Bruce would no longer need Batman. This film, the character realizes that Batman has become more than just an answer to his own problems, he has become a symbol of hope, a symbol of standing up against those who make our world a terrible place. In that sense the film feels very topical, a modern day 'Death Wish', about the prevalence of good and bad sides that linger within all of us.

As for a third film, I don't think redemption is in place. Batman is now more of an outcast than he ever was before, and it could work in his advantage. He's alone now, unloved and therefore probably more untouchable than ever before. He has become a myth, a place of fear, a legend. He has shown that he's willing to sacrifice what is necessary to stop evil, whether it damages his reputation or not. He has truly become a hero and it's probably not in his interest to know if other share that opinion.

The Dark Knight isn't a perfect film, it's a great film, a fantastic film. It works on a great many levels and fails on some. I was pleasantly surprised by the excellent portrayal of Eric Roberts as Sal Maroni, not to mention Maggie Gyllenhaal who doesn't make you feel like you are watching a different character at any point in the film. Michael Caine is always a pleasure to watch. The action scenes are excellent, if not somewhat over-the-top from time to time, but the real strength of the film obviously lies within the character-work and the dialogue that create the real moments of tension. The Two-Face ending and the warehouse scenes are real gems, and the hospital scene is a classic.

Like I said, the film is not perfect. I feel the film had a bit to slow of start, but it really kicked up the adrenaline after the first hour. Furthermore I thought the character of Lau gave to much of a wooden 'eyebrow-acting' performance, that was overshadowed on all levels by the rest of the cast. Other than that, I wasn't really flattered by some of the high-tec stuff, I didn't mind the airplane pick-up (a bit maybe), but Batman's sonar vision gave me flashbacks of Schumacher's Gotham. And I really wished I hadn't watched the trailer as it totally ruined the 'killing' of Gordon for me, but I can't really blame the movie for that, now can I?

In short, go see this movie. It's a real gem, it easily surpasses it's label of popcorn-entertainment and instead presents us with a dark, brooding piece of cinema that easily surpasses any on-screen incarnation of Batman we have seen before. In fact, this isn't a Batman-film, it's nuanced piece of character work, sometimes flawed and overshadowed by trying to upper the scale, but always engaging and smart.

9,2/10

 

[Shropt]

Just throwing a plug in here. I have a few of the 1:1 Joker knives available. These are the exact duplicate of the one Joker uses. PM me if interested.

 

[The Mike]

Really tempted to get one of those 1:1 Joker Knives.....display options though are hindering me....hmmm...

 

[CelticPredator]

I want them for my costume...but since they're illegal here....meh.

 

[Shropt]

I want them for my costume...but since they're illegal here....meh.

Yeah, the illegality of the knives finally got to me. I've returned all my extras to the original seller.

I'm surprised we haven't seen anyone make a replica of the knife yet for Halloween.

 

[Agent0028]

Why are they illegal?