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 #7 | 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:

I Believe In Harvey Dent.

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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

This is the first Batman movie where Batman operates outside of Gotham.

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Goofs

During the bank heist, the manager's shotgun is single-shot, meaning he must cock the gun before each shot. He shoots at the Joker right after shouting "Hey!" However, before this shot, he is neither seen nor heard cocking the gun. Also, between the gunshot before this one and when he shouts, there is almost no time slot in which he could have cocked the gun.

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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

There is a dedication in the closing credits: "In memory of our friends Heath Ledger & Conway Wickliffe".

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Connections

Referenced in The Rotten Tomatoes Show: Inception/Predators/The Sorcerer's Apprentice (2010)
Brett says Inception is Nolan's first film since Dark Knight

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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

Batman at his best and beyond

Batman has always been my favourite superhero ever since the first time I heard about him because he his human with no powers, also he is much more questionable than any other superhero. The story of the film is about Batman, Lieutenant James Gordon, and new district attorney Harvey Dent beginning to succeed in rounding up the criminals that plague Gotham City. They are unexpectedly challenged when a mysterious criminal mastermind known as the Joker appears in Gotham. Batman's struggle against the Joker becomes deeply personal, forcing him to "confront everything he believes" and to improve his technology (which introduces the recreation of the Batcycle, known as the Batpod and the Batsuit was redesigned) to stop the madman's campaign of destruction. During the course of the film, a love triangle develops between Bruce Wayne, Dent and Rachel Dawes.

There are now six Batman films and I must say that The Dark Knight is the best out of all of them. The title is good because that is what Batman actually is. It has been 3 years for the adventure to continue from Batman Begins but that entire wait was worth it. Gotham city is very Gothic looking and is very haunting and visionary. The whole movie is charged with pulse-pounding suspense, ingenious special effects and riveting performances from a first-rate cast especially from Heath Ledger who gave an Oscar nomination performance for best supporting-actor. It is a shame that he can't see his terrific work on-screen. The cinematography is excellent which is made so dark & sinister that really did suit the mood for the film. Usually sequels don't turn out to be better than the original but The Dark Knight is one of those rare sequels that surpasses the original like The Godfather 2. I also really liked the poster where the building is on fire in a Bat symbol & Batman is standing in front of it. Christopher Nolan is a brilliant director and his film Memento is one of my most favourite films. He hasn't made 10 movies yet and 3 of them are already on the IMDb top 250. Overall The Dark Knight is the kind of movie that will make the audience cheer in the end instead of throwing fruit & vegetables on the screen.