The Dark Knight Rises - seen thread *SPOILERS WITHIN* See Mod Warning in first post

Handsome Bob

The scene has often been described as "Bond-esque" and given Chris Nolan's love for James Bond, I think it's fair to say that the scene is all him rather than his brother.

Anyway, I can agree that it wasn't my favourite opening ever as it felt "tached on", it wasn't very Batman. That being said, it did establish Bane as a mirror to Bruce as it was reminiscent of Bruce's sky-hook trick in TDK.

Nervous Wreck

krudler wrote: »

I didnt really like how Batman basically learns nothing and wades back into Bane in a fistfight again, lets be honest he gets one lucky swipe in that severs the hose on Bane's mask, he was getting hammered again until that.

It's long since been established that the fights didn't come down to just brawling and were each won mentally long before the first punches were thrown.

Bruce: "You're afraid I'll lose."
Alfread: "No sir, I'm afraid you'll want to."

Bats went into the first fight looking to meet his end. The second fight, he wanted to win. And it wasn't a lucky swipe; he had basically been told in the pit to fuck up Bane's mask and he did just that.

Mark Hamill

Nervous Wreck wrote: »

And it wasn't a lucky swipe; he had basically been told in the pit to fuck up Bane's mask and he did just that.

Look at the first fight again, Batman punches Bane and Bane essentially blocks it with the front of his mask (before they go over the railings). In the second fight he was still getting battered (hence he was backing up the whole time) but caught Banes mask, while he was spinning, with a lucky swipe with his bat-gloves. The main difference in both fights was in the first one Batman got thrown off the catwalk and couldn't recover from the impact. The second one didn't have anywhere for Batman to fall off, but he was doing just as bad up to when he got the strike in.

I totally agree with the psychological aspect in this, but the actual choreography was ****e beyond belief and didn't correspond with the psychological stuff at all. Here Comes the Boom has far better fight choreography than TDKR.

Gamb!t

Nervous Wreck wrote: »

It's long since been established that the fights didn't come down to just brawling and were each won mentally long before the first punches were thrown.

Bruce: "You're afraid I'll lose."
Alfread: "No sir, I'm afraid you'll want to."

Bats went into the first fight looking to meet his end. The second fight, he wanted to win. And it wasn't a lucky swipe; he had basically been told in the pit to fuck up Bane's mask and he did just that.

Did he though ?
Why carry the emp device and blue flower potion ?

fruvai

Andy!! wrote: »

Cause Chris Nolan is a genius whereas his brother is a muppet

Neither is true
Chris Nolan and David Goyer came up with the story and Jonathan wrote it - he's basically told what to write (although I imagine he has a bit of leeway). The script probably would have gotten re-written a couple of times by Chris Nolan himself, and as the director he's ultimately repsonsible for the quality of the script.

ancapailldorcha

krudler wrote: »

I didnt really like how Batman basically learns nothing and wades back into Bane in a fistfight again, lets be honest he gets one lucky swipe in that severs the hose on Bane's mask, he was getting hammered again until that.

Didn't the prison doctor explain about Bane's injuries while Bruce was in the pit? Anyway, it's a bit naff that they resorted to Bats severing Bane's tubes to win.

krudler

Mark Hamill wrote: »

Look at the first fight again, Batman punches Bane and Bane essentially blocks it with the front of his mask (before they go over the railings). In the second fight he was still getting battered (hence he was backing up the whole time) but caught Banes mask, while he was spinning, with a lucky swipe with his bat-gloves. The main difference in both fights was in the first one Batman got thrown off the catwalk and couldn't recover from the impact. The second one didn't have anywhere for Batman to fall off, but he was doing just as bad up to when he got the strike in.

I totally agree with the psychological aspect in this, but the actual choreography was ****e beyond belief and didn't correspond with the psychological stuff at all. Here Comes the Boom has far better fight choreography than TDKR.

Agree, the fights suck tbh, the first one is ok but there's zero buildup to it, Batman walks into the room with the catwalk, Bane says two lines, Batman wades into him with some slow ass punches, I still think having the whole 8 year gap was a mistake, a year or two fine, but 8 years? There's so much more they could have done with Batman being a fugitive, you know the scene where he's being chased by dozens of cop cars after the Wall St scene? THAT should have been the opening of the movie, straight after TDK with him on the run and injured, going into hiding for a while, not buggering off because a chick he fancied a bit died.

Andy!!

fruvai wrote: »

Neither is true
Chris Nolan and David Goyer came up with the story and Jonathan wrote it - he's basically told what to write (although I imagine he has a bit of leeway). The script probably would have gotten re-written a couple of times by Chris Nolan himself, and as the director he's ultimately repsonsible for the quality of the script.

Eh no. Screenwriters are ultimately responsible for the script/screenplay. Chris might have less to do with it than most people would imagine. Simply out of lack of interest. I attribute this to why TDK was so weak; his mind was on Inception, a personal project. I believe he grew bored of Batman a fair while ago.

Bullseye1

This looks and sounds spectacular on blu ray. Just a pity there is no Directors commentary.

cloud493

The HMV steelbook is lovely

johnny_ultimate

I picked it up earlier, shall give it a gander tomorrow night. Looking forward to those full screen IMAX shots.

I'm not sure if I can ever enjoy the film properly again, though, knowing that we'll never know how Bruce got back to Gotham

krudler

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

I picked it up earlier, shall give it a gander tomorrow night. Looking forward to those full screen IMAX shots.

I'm not sure if I can ever enjoy the film properly again, though, knowing that we'll never know how Bruce got back to Gotham

There's a lot more of the IMAX stuff in this compared to TDK, some of it is really jarring though , there are some scenes which are completely IMAX like the Wall St heist and chase, and others which go between the full frame and wide frame stuff a few times every few seconds and it does stick out, it does look absolutely lovely though. The colours in the football stadium scene pop off the screen.

MilanPan!c

I saw this finally.. must say I found it to be a disappointment... not as bad as Prometheus (what is...?), but...

Chris Nolan does nothing for me though; I find his films to be pretty consistently over-rated...

Memento - meh, gimmick - and a dopey one at that...
Insomnia - ok-ish, but a remake - and Pacino hams his way through it..
The Prestige - pretty good, but WAY too long, for no good reason
Batman Begins - Boring and dour
Dark Night - Saved by the villan - nice to look at, but doesn't bear repeat viewings
Inception - So dull and drawn out I couldn't make it through it - despite several attempts
TDNR - Way too long, mindlessly negative, boring action, and one of the lamest "twist" endings ever...

Highly over-rated. Kinda like if Michael Bay was trying to pretend he was David Fincher... and David Fincher is pretty hit and miss himself so...

splashthecash

MilanPan!c wrote: »

I saw this finally.. must say I found it to be a disappointment... not as bad as Prometheus (what is...?), but...

Chris Nolan does nothing for me though; I find his films to be pretty consistently over-rated...

Memento - meh, gimmick - and a dopey one at that...
Insomnia - ok-ish, but a remake - and Pacino hams his way through it..
The Prestige - pretty good, but WAY too long, for no good reason
Batman Begins - Boring and dour
Dark Night - Saved by the villan - nice to look at, but doesn't bear repeat viewings
Inception - So dull and drawn out I couldn't make it through it - despite several attempts
TDNR - Way too long, mindlessly negative, boring action, and one of the lamest "twist" endings ever...

Highly over-rated. Kinda like if Michael Bay was trying to pretend he was David Fincher... and David Fincher is pretty hit and miss himself so...

Well there you have it folks...Nolan is ****e so we might as well close down the thread



From my point of view, I like all of his films, hourse for courses...noticed a box set of all the above yesterday in HMV and seeing all his work in one collection really impressed.

splashthecash

Bullseye1 wrote: »

This looks and sounds spectacular on blu ray. Just a pity there is no Directors commentary.

It'll probably be on the super-duper-fantastic-ultimate edition released next year.

I've asked Santa to get me the trilogy in bluray...looking forward to getting through all three over Christmas

efb

My blu ray trilogy arrived on my sisters desk in Cardiff today!

Penn

I know people had several criticisms of the film, but I still think it's just an incredibly enjoyable film. Great ending to the trilogy. Hardy's Bane just gets better every time I watch it.

krudler

Penn wrote: »

I know people had several criticisms of the film, but I still think it's just an incredibly enjoyable film. Great ending to the trilogy. Hardy's Bane just gets better every time I watch it.

He has all the best lines, its a frustrating film in that there's so much to like about it, and parts that just don't work at all, the first half is stronger for me then once Bane's plan comes to fruition on the football field it kinda descends into overblown blockbuster fare, its size of scale is the biggest downfall of the second half. For all the stuff blowing up and battles between cops and mercs its the smaller scale stuff thats more memorable.

Mickeroo

MilanPan!c wrote: »

I saw this finally.. must say I found it to be a disappointment... not as bad as Prometheus (what is...?), but...

Chris Nolan does nothing for me though; I find his films to be pretty consistently over-rated...

Memento - meh, gimmick - and a dopey one at that...
Insomnia - ok-ish, but a remake - and Pacino hams his way through it..
The Prestige - pretty good, but WAY too long, for no good reason
Batman Begins - Boring and dour
Dark Night - Saved by the villan - nice to look at, but doesn't bear repeat viewings
Inception - So dull and drawn out I couldn't make it through it - despite several attempts
TDNR - Way too long, mindlessly negative, boring action, and one of the lamest "twist" endings ever...

Highly over-rated. Kinda like if Michael Bay was trying to pretend he was David Fincher... and David Fincher is pretty hit and miss himself so...

Disappointing my arse! You didn't like a single film in the series, much less any other film by the director. Sounds like it lived up to expectations for you tbh

MilanPan!c

Mickeroo wrote: »

Disappointing my arse! You didn't like a single film in the series, much less any other film by the director. Sounds like it lived up to expectations for you tbh

ha...



I just found it way too long, joyless, humourless and way too serious... considering.

I also found it to contain some VERY hammy acting... and the twist at the end... after all that serious nonsense... but then wait... actually he's fine... and living with cat woman... in France... so... hurray?

Bleugh.

Way too self-important... way too slow... not exciting or engaging...

Another Chris Nolan film basically.

At least Prestige had a bit of a spark to it...

Theboinkmaster

krudler wrote: »

He has all the best lines, its a frustrating film in that there's so much to like about it, and parts that just don't work at all, the first half is stronger for me then once Bane's plan comes to fruition on the football field it kinda descends into overblown blockbuster fare, its size of scale is the biggest downfall of the second half. For all the stuff blowing up and battles between cops and mercs its the smaller scale stuff thats more memorable.

I agree, but I just love the last 10seconds or so - the familiar dun dun music and scene in Florence and the shot of robin in the cave. Couldn't have ended it more perfect IMO (glad they didn't leave it ambiguous) and what a perfect ending to an amazing trilogy.

IncognitoMan

Watching the batmobile feature now. Its amazing the amount of work that has gone into each batmobile

krudler

Theboinkmaster wrote: »

I agree, but I just love the last 10seconds or so - the familiar dun dun music and scene in Florence and the shot of robin in the cave. Couldn't have ended it more perfect IMO (glad they didn't leave it ambiguous) and what a perfect ending to an amazing trilogy.

I love the ending, bar the shot showing Bruce and Selina, I thought it was enough to just show Alfred but I guess it could have been taken as ambigious without seeing them.

MilanPan!c

Now if you want a good Michael Caine Sci fi Action movie, watch children of Men - superior to all the Batman movies....

Bullseye1

Ended up watching this twice last night. I had to laugh at Marion's death scene which was terrible acting for such a great actress.

Penn

krudler wrote: »

I love the ending, bar the shot showing Bruce and Selina, I thought it was enough to just show Alfred but I guess it could have been taken as ambigious without seeing them.

I think for the ending of a film, you wouldn't need to show Bruce in the cafe. But for the ending of a trilogy, you kinda do. It's not just the ending of the film, but of the trilogy and series. Bruce's whole story is over. The shot of him in the cafe is kinda necessary to close it

Handsome Bob

People moan about the dourness of this trilogy yet also moan about the fact that Bruce got a happy ending. Sometimes, you just can't win.

e_e

All these accusations of humorlessness on Nolan's part don't really make sense at all, as if they want the series to revert back into Joel Schumacher territory. Even The Dark Knight has great moments of black humor throughout.

johnny_ultimate

Just finished the second viewing, and definitely held up. The first half is one of the most bizarrely paced pieces of cinema I've seen - there's some annoyances (that first scene is undeniably ridiculous, although does have some epically good shots), some great scenes (love how carefully Nolan plants a lot of the film's grand thematic resonances early on - the ball sequence particularly) and overall there is a sense the film is waiting to burst into life. When it does - just around the halfway mark, although occasionally before that - it's pure, visceral and exciting blockbuster filmmaking. It's brilliantly involving, packed full of energy, intelligence and good old fashioned thrills. Heck, I even warmed to The Bat a little more on this viewing (although the ticking time bomb McGuffin isn't exactly elegant no matter how forgiving we choose to be). One thing that really stood out was the score - I was a tad indifferent to it first time around, but I loved how tightly woven it was with the images this time. Indeed, all in all this is a more tightly put together than we might give it credit for during the loosely paced opening hour or so - every character and every subplot serves the story's themes and momentum. For a near three hour long film, there's surprisingly little wasted screen time.

The Blu-Ray is grand. The jump between IMAX and 2.4:1 is undoubtedly jarring, but the quality of the former makes it worth it. Let us dream that someday someone will give Chris Nolan the money to shoot his whole film on glorious high quality film.

krudler

The IMAX stuff looks fecking gorgeous, and yeah hopefull we'll see an entire feature lenght film shot that way sometime.