The Dark Knight

[tucco]

Okay, it's been a couple of years now.....
Begs the question: How often do those of you who own the DVD pull it out and watch it?

I pull it out once in a while and find it to be exhausting to watch the whole thing most of the time.
How about you guys/gals?

[molly1216]

yes - it's awesome

[OperaGal]

I've not seen it yet - still debating on it...

[mkiker2089]

It's good movie. I don't find it exhausting at all.

Batman Begins is another story. I know most people here think I'm a philistine but I just don't really get the buzz around that one.

[fred kite]

It's about 30-45 minutes longer than I'd like it to be, but having said that I still put it on once in a while. I still think it's the best superhero movie ever made, but I have to be in the mood for all the moralizing and such that Nolan and Goyer crammed into it.

[Steve T Power]

I still think the screenplay is a tad too bloated... The Chinese businessman and the Shanghai roadtrip are totally unnecessary and could have easily been trimmed without missing a beat. The "big brother" metaphor with the cel phone sonar and Freeman's hissy fit about personal privacy also still stick out like a sore thumb in what was otherwise a damn awesome crime drama disguised as a superhero flick.

[mkiker2089]

I still think the screenplay is a tad too bloated... The Chinese businessman and the Shanghai roadtrip are totally unnecessary and could have easily been trimmed without missing a beat. The "big brother" metaphor with the cel phone sonar and Freeman's hissy fit about personal privacy also still stick out like a sore thumb in what was otherwise a damn awesome crime drama disguised as a superhero flick.

On that we agree. It wasn't even played well. How can you object to something on such strong grounds but "agree to use it just this once". That's just silly. Either you use it or you don't.

It felt like they wanted to tarnish batman a little. Perhaps to give him some of the "dark" that the movies name implied.

[Dan Mancini]

The Chinese businessman and the Shanghai roadtrip are totally unnecessary and could have easily been trimmed without missing a beat.

No, Steve, just no. The roadtrip a) establishes why the mob would hire the Joker (he knew what was going to happen before it did), b) is one of the key components in how Nolan conceptualizes Batman and Joker as opposite sides of the same coin: Both function outside of the law, both are dedicated to overturning the established order (the difference being that the established order Batman tilts at is the tacit agreement between cops, politicians, and organized crime to allow rampant corruption in Gotham), and c) reinforces the idea that, in operating outside the law, Bruce Wayne has put himself on a slippery slope. Plus, it's just a kickass sequence. And I like that, on the one hand, I was happy to see that smug money laundering sumbitch get what was coming to him; while on the other hand, I was disturbed that a police commissioner and district attorney teamed with a masked vigilante to blatantly violate international law -- that tension is intentional, I think.

So, the scene simultaneously advances the plot, buttresses the movie's themes, and delivers some enjoyable action. What more can you ask? It's sequences like the roadtrip that make The Dark Knight significantly better than nearly every other superhero flick ever made.

[Steve T Power]

The Chinese businessman and the Shanghai roadtrip are totally unnecessary and could have easily been trimmed without missing a beat.

No, Steve, just no. The roadtrip a) establishes why the mob would hire the Joker (he knew what was going to happen before it did), b) is one of the key components in how Nolan conceptualizes Batman and Joker as opposite sides of the same coin: Both function outside of the law, both are dedicated to overturning the established order (the difference being that the established order Batman tilts at is the tacit agreement between cops, politicians, and organized crime to allow rampant corruption in Gotham), and c) reinforces the idea that, in operating outside the law, Bruce Wayne has put himself on a slippery slope. Plus, it's just a kickass sequence. And I like that, on the one hand, I was happy to see that smug money laundering sumbitch get what was coming to him; while on the other hand, I was disturbed that a police commissioner and district attorney teamed with a masked vigilante to blatantly violate international law -- that tension is intentional, I think.

So, the scene simultaneously advances the plot, buttresses the movie's themes, and delivers some enjoyable action. What more can you ask? It's sequences like the roadtrip that make The Dark Knight significantly better than nearly every other superhero flick ever made.

All I got from it was that it was an excuse for a cool action sequence. It also breaks one of the cardinal rules: NEVER take Batman out of Gotham. For me it felt like a bloated detour. You could have accomplished the exact same criteria through 5 minutes of exposition or one or two brief beats.

[Dan Mancini]

All I got from it was that it was an excuse for a cool action sequence.

Then open your eyes, Power.

It also breaks one of the cardinal rules: NEVER take Batman out of Gotham.

Cardinal rules are made to be broken...especially ones as stupid as "NEVER take Batman out of Gotham"...especially when his leaving Gotham still has everything to do with his crusade in Gotham. It's not like it was a distraction from the main story; it was the main story. Plus, it was a cool little example of "Here's the kind of shite a billionaire vigilante who dresses up like a bat can do that cops can't." And if that wasn't enough, the money laundering guy was a smug douchebag, and it was enjoyable to see Batman invade his fortress-like office building, take out his crack security team, and drag his sorry ass away, despite the fact that every cop in Hong Kong was apparently on his payroll. The only thing more enjoyable, in fact, was watching Joker torch the guy on top of a giant stack of cash.

[Andrew Forbes]

Lucius Fox: It emits a high-frequency pulse for mapping an environment and records a response time.
Bruce Wayne: Sonar. Just like a...
Lucius Fox: Like a submarine, Mr. Wayne. Like a submarine.
Bruce Wayne: Submarines use sonar to detect objects in their surrounding environment.
Lucius Fox: That's correct, Mr. Wayne. The cell phone is going to emit sound waves, detect the rebounding vibrations, and create a three-dimensional map of the office building. That's correct. Like a submarine.
Bruce Wayne: Just like... like...
Lucius Fox: Like Daredevil, Mr. Wayne. That's right. Like in the motion picture Daredevil.
Bruce Wayne: And I'll be able to use the image to assess the situation in the building and then break into it. And it may become a critical element in the finale of this film.
Lucius Fox: That's correct, Mr. Wayne. That's correct.
Bruce Wayne: Thanks for helping me break international law and violate the sovereign authority of a foreign territory, Lucius. This can only be used for good.
Lucius Fox: I agree, Mr. Wayne. I have no qualms about this plan.
The Joker: Batman and I share many characteristics!

[Attrage]

It was one of those movies I HAD to own, but I have only actually watched it once since I bought it on the day it was released on DVD.

[the5thghostbuster]

All the Batman films get a play about once a year with me. Yes, even the crap fest known as BATMAN AND ROBIN. I just can't help it: I turn it on and just shake my head at how wrong it all went.

[yellow ledbetter]

The Dark Knight was one of those movies that I thought was absolutely awesome in the theaters, but is quite simply not as great at home. I agree the China subplot is a huge pace killer, I also think quite a few of the characters (namely the cops) are given the kind of bland trying to be dramatic dialogue you'd hear in a videogame. I also think it should have ended with Dent becoming Two Face and possibly set the kidnapping of Gordon's family as a cliffhanger. Making him do something so drastic so near the end also contributed to the bloated feeling of the movie in my opinion. It's still very well done and entertaning, it's just not nearly as perfect as some made it out to be (though Ledger and Eckhart were both damned great in their roles).

[OperaGal]

This movie is currently in my Netflix queue, but there are 200+ movies ahead of it now...

Anyhoo, I will be watching 'The Dark Knight' one of these days.