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Topic: The Dark Knight

David Stambaugh
Film God

Posts: 4021
From: Eugene, Oregon
Registered: Jan 2002

posted 07-20-2008 06:01 PM

Today @ 11:50AM, Regal 15 in Eugene, #13, 35mm. Basically perfect presentation of a beautiful print. No lab splices. Very steady, crisp and detailed image. [beer]

Add Heath Ledger's "Joker" to the list of the best film villains of all time. A remarkable and memorable performance that makes this a standout movie. Everything about this movie is absolutely firstrate.

I give it 5 out of 5 stars, except when Ledger's "Joker" is onscreen it gets 6 out of 5 stars. No shit. [Big Grin]

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Edwin Graf Diemer
Film Handler

Posts: 47
From: Red Bank, NJ, USA
Registered: Jul 2000

posted 07-20-2008 09:59 PM

Absolutely fantastic, just like everybody said. I was at the 9:00 a.m. IMAX presentation at the United Artists King Of Prussia Theater, and if you have the opportunity to see it this way, grab it! The transitions between the IMAX segments and "regular" footage were not distracting at all-often they went into a dark scene, which covered it. Actually, the only problem I had is that this had to be the darkest IMAX presentation I've ever seen at this theater-the bulb was getting on in hours!

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Joe Redifer
You need a beating today

Posts: 12859
From: Denver, Colorado
Registered: May 99

posted 07-20-2008 10:55 PM

Heath Ledger was almost as good in this movie as he was in "The Patriot". I bet we see a surge in DVD sales of The Patriot due to this movie. And maybe First Knight as well or whatever it was called.

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John Hawkinson
Film God

Posts: 2273
From: Cambridge, MA, USA
Registered: Feb 2002

posted 07-21-2008 01:00 AM

In re Galen's comment from page 1, "wasn't Indy 4 supposedly done without a digital intermediate?"

Spielberg and Kaminski were attempting to replicate the "look" of the older Indiana Jones movies. In so doing they, err, failed to make the movie look as good as it could look, in the name of historical authenticity. That's not a good data point to use in your evaluation.

It's widely recognized that a direct film chain, even with 4 generations (original camera negative, interpositive, internegative, release print) looks better than digital intermediate. Whether the difference is "a lot" or "so small as to be insignificant" is a question many people disagree on, but I don't think anyone is going to say DI looks better. [famous last words]

--jhawk

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Brian Michael Weidemann
Expert cat molester

Posts: 944
From: Costa Mesa, CA United States
Registered: Feb 2004

posted 07-21-2008 02:39 AM

I've yet to hear any overall indifferent or negative comments from anyone. The response is incredibly positive all around.

The IMAX presentation is inspiring, or at least it should be! Audiences of IMAX DMR movies over the last five years have never seen anything like the full-screen IMAX sequences. Many quick aerial establishing shots were filmed this way, and it's rather eye-opening to be caught with such wide, crisp views to set up the action. The few whole sequences were well done, well edited. The beauty of 15/70 is in how much more lifelike the images are than any other projection presentation an audience has seen. This should be inspiring filmmakers to appreciate the capabilities that film still has over digital this or that.

This weekend, I've found myself just watching the IMAX bits over and over, just like I would do with any other "traditional" IMAX movie, because the detail is just so exquisite, there's always something new to find in the shot, and it's pretty much always beautiful.

Except when it's a close-up headshot of Morgan Freeman.

spoiler

The outside shot of the Joker setting off the Gotham General Hospital explosion was awesome. Although, I find it hard now not to see the building as an empty, life-size model of a building, which it is. The windows blow out, and there's not a single wall or anything on the inside. Cut to the aerial shot, and there aren't even any windows on the rear sides. A keen eye would pick up on that after a few viewings in any format, but the detail in the IMAX presentation of it, how it was filmed, made it apparent to me almost immediately. Great reaction by Ledger, though!

end spoiler

Heath rocked, agreed. With a great selection of decent dialog to work with, he had a fun time working with the character, I'm sure.

Like Batman Begins, this movie really showed the element of psychological development that "origin" movies need to have, but often don't, or fail to pull off. Gripping events and complex situations give a rich context to the feelings characters like Dent go through. You can't just tell backstory and have the audience follow along as read, you need to carry us through. These movies did it very effectively, I think.

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Darryl Spicer
Film God

Posts: 3250
From: Lexington, KY, USA
Registered: Dec 2000

posted 07-21-2008 02:55 AM

quote:
The outside shot of the Joker setting off the Gotham General Hospital explosion was awesome. Although, I find it hard now not to see the building as an empty, life-size model of a building, which it is. The windows blow out, and there's not a single wall or anything on the inside. Cut to the aerial shot, and there aren't even any windows on the rear sides. A keen eye would pick up on that after a few viewings in any format, but the detail in the IMAX presentation of it, how it was filmed, made it apparent to me almost immediately. Great reaction by Ledger, though!

This was a real building that was blown up for this movie.

This is the old Brach's Candy building in Chicago being blown up by the film crew of Batman - The Dark Knight. In the movie the building will be Gotham City Hospital.

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Joe Redifer
You need a beating today

Posts: 12859
From: Denver, Colorado
Registered: May 99

posted 07-21-2008 05:18 AM

It looked like a parking garage to me when I saw the movie.

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Mike Schindler
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1039
From: Oak Park, IL, USA
Registered: Jun 2002

posted 07-21-2008 06:40 AM

Actually, it was a parking garage. I'm not sure why they didn't just blow up the huge abandoned, much more hospital-looking candy factory next door, but I'm assuming it had to do with economics and safety.

quote: John Hawkinson
Whether the difference is "a lot" or "so small as to be insignificant" is a question many people disagree on, but I don't think anyone is going to say DI looks better. [famous last words]

If I recall, Roger Deakins said that in the American Cinematographer article on INTOLERABLE CRUELTY. Lucas has said it too (no surprise). And when it comes to Super 35, I don't think anyone would say that DI doesn't look better.

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Lyle Romer
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1400
From: Davie, FL, USA
Registered: May 2002

posted 07-21-2008 07:39 AM

There's not much to say that other people haven't already said. I don't think you could make a better superhero movie. The plot was great, the script was very good. All the actors did a very good job. Heath Ledger was phenominal. It's sad that we won't be able to see that character again in a sequel.

The stunts and action sequences were superb. Whatever CGI was used was used was not obvious at all. In fact, the only thing that you could tell was obviously not a real stunt was the
******SPOILER*************
part where Batman and the chinese guy were attached to the airplane
*****END SPOILER**********

I saw this in IMAX and the IMAX filmed scenes were breathtaking. Even the DMR'd material looked very good but nothing like the IMAX sourced stuff.

The director of photography and Christopher Nolan must have had a heck of a time composing shots. The IMAX shots look great in IMAX but they had to be composed so that a 2.39:1 crop would also look good. The regular scope shots had to be composed to look good on the IMAX DMR. Those scenes certainly looked more narrow than 2.39:1. I'm not sure what aspect they used.

5 out of 5 stars

Scenes with Heath Ledger 6 out of 5 stars
Scenes filmed in IMAX 6 out of 5 stars
Scenes filmed in IMAX with Leger in them 7 out of 5 stars

[ 07-21-2008, 05:44 PM: Message edited by: Lyle Romer ]

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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 07-21-2008 08:43 AM

quote: Galen Murphy-Falgren
wasn't Indy 4 supposedly done without a digital intermediate?

Indy 4 did use a digital intermediate in post production. EFilm did the digital intermediate work. Yvan Lucas was the colorist on the project. There is no word on the EFilm website whether Indy 4 was rendered in 2K or 4K.

[ 07-21-2008, 01:18 PM: Message edited by: Bobby Henderson ]

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Brian Michael Weidemann
Expert cat molester

Posts: 944
From: Costa Mesa, CA United States
Registered: Feb 2004

posted 07-21-2008 02:38 PM

Okay, it looked like a model because it was a parking structure with windows laced on two sides. That explains how easy it was to rig it to blow so the levels collapsed precisely for the most dramatic effect. Watching that Youtube video after seeing the IMAX sequence was quite an experience. The sound mix left a little to be desired, though. [Razz]

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Anslem Rayburn
Master Film Handler

Posts: 476
From: Yuma, AZ, USA
Registered: May 2002

posted 07-21-2008 09:01 PM

removed

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Tim Reed
Better Projection Pays

Posts: 5246
From: Northampton, PA
Registered: Sep 1999

posted 07-22-2008 12:14 PM

Okay, here's the deviation. I'm not a fan of "dark" Batman. I don't care what the comic books were, or are supposed to be. To me, Adam West will always be Batman... in great high-key, colorful lighting and production design.

First of all, the Batman in this movie was very annoying how he tried to talk two registers beneath his normal voice. That really grated. The effect of coolness and scariness was lost on me. Secondly, Batman is not supposed to fly... he always uses his Batrope for Batclimbs. Finally, from the moment I saw the trailer, I thought the guy playing the Joker was doing a Nicholson impersonation. When I saw him in the picture, it was confirmed.

The False Face guy, however, was very handsome and carried the movie.

[Razz]

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Lyle Romer
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1400
From: Davie, FL, USA
Registered: May 2002

posted 07-22-2008 01:57 PM

quote: Tim Reed
Secondly, Batman is not supposed to fly... he always uses his Batrope for Batclimbs.

He doesn't fly, he uses his "memory fabric" cape to base jump and glide. It's not as clear in this movie but it is well covered in Batman Begins when his Bat Suit is developed.

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Chris Slycord
Film God

Posts: 2986
From: 청주시, 경북도, South Korea
Registered: Mar 2007

posted 07-22-2008 02:06 PM

Methinks you missed the [Razz]

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