Anthony Michael Hall Movie:

		List Price: $35.99		Label: Warner Home Video Salesrank: 11 Released: December 9, 2008
		Our Price: $12.99
		Used Price: $9.99
		MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested) Media: Blu-ray

Editorial Review:
The follow-up to Batman Begins, The Dark Knight reunites director Christopher Nolan and star Christian Bale, who reprises the role of Batman/Bruce Wayne in his continuing war on crime. With the help of Lt. Jim Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent, Batman sets out to destroy organized crime in Gotham for good. The triumvirate proves effective, but soon find themselves prey to a rising criminal mastermind known as The Joker, who thrusts Gotham into anarchy and forces Batman closer to crossing the fine line between hero and vigilante. Heath Ledger stars as archvillain The Joker, and Aaron Eckhart plays Dent. Maggie Gyllenhaal joins the cast as Rachel Dawes. Returning from Batman Begins are Gary Oldman as Gordon, Michael Caine as Alfred and Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox.

Description of The Dark Knight (+ BD Live) [Blu-ray]:
The Dark Knight arrives with tremendous hype (best superhero movie ever? posthumous Oscar for Heath Ledger?), and incredibly, it lives up to all of it. But calling it the best superhero movie ever seems like faint praise, since part of what makes the movie great--in addition to pitch-perfect casting, outstanding writing, and a compelling vision--is that it bypasses the normal fantasy element of the superhero genre and makes it all terrifyingly real. Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) is Gotham City's new district attorney, charged with cleaning up the crime rings that have paralyzed the city. He enters an uneasy alliance with the young police lieutenant, Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman), and Batman (Christian Bale), the caped vigilante who seems to trust only Gordon--and whom only Gordon seems to trust. They make progress until a psychotic and deadly new player enters the game: the Joker (Heath Ledger), who offers the crime bosses a solution--kill the Batman. Further complicating matters is that Dent is now dating Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal, after Katie Holmes turned down the chance to reprise her role), the longtime love of Batman's alter ego, Bruce Wayne.

In his last completed role before his tragic death, Ledger is fantastic as the Joker, a volcanic, truly frightening force of evil. And he sets the tone of the movie: the world is a dark, dangerous place where there are no easy choices. Eckhart and Oldman also shine, but as good as Bale is, his character turns out rather bland in comparison (not uncommon for heroes facing more colorful villains). Director-cowriter Christopher Nolan (Memento) follows his critically acclaimed Batman Begins with an even better sequel that sets itself apart from notable superhero movies like Spider-Man 2 and Iron Man because of its sheer emotional impact and striking sense of realism--there are no suspension-of-disbelief superpowers here. At 152 minutes, it's a shade too long, and it's much too intense for kids. But for most movie fans--and not just superhero fans--The Dark Knight is a film for the ages. --David Horiuchi

On the Blu-ray disc
The Dark Knight on Blu-ray is a great home-theater showoff disc. The detail and colors are tremendous in both dark and bright scenes (the Gotham General scene is a great example of the latter), and the punishing Dolby TrueHD soundtrack makes the house rattle. (After giving us only Dolby 5.1 in a number of big Blu-ray releases this fall, Warner came through with Dolby TrueHD on this one.) One of the most interesting elements of The Dark Knight was how certain scenes were shot in IMAX, and if you saw the movie in an IMAX theater the film's aspect ratio would suddenly change from standard 2.40:1 to a thrilling 1.43:1 that filled the screen six stories high. For the Blu-ray disc, director Christopher Nolan has somewhat re-created this experience by shifting his film from 2.40:1 aspect ratio (through most of the film) to 1.78:1 in the IMAX scenes. While the effect isn't as dramatic as it was in theaters, it's still an eye-catching experience to be watching the film on a widescreen TV with black bars at the top and bottom, then seeing the 1.78:1 scenes completely fill the screen. The main bonus feature on disc 1 is "Gotham Uncovered: The Creation of a Scene," which is 81 minutes of behind-the-scenes footage about the IMAX scenes, the Bat suit, Gotham Central, and others. You can watch the film and access these featurettes when the icon pops up, or you can simply watch them from the main menu. A welcome and unusual feature is that in addition to English, French, and Spanish audio and subtitles, there's an audio-described option that allows the sight-impaired to experience the film as well.

Disc 2 has two 45-minute documentaries on Bat-gadgets and on the psychology of Batman, both in high definition. They combine movie clips, talking heads, and comic-book panels, but aren't the kind of thing one needs to watch twice. More engaging are six eight-minute segments of Gotham Central, a faux-news program that gives some background to events in the movie, plus a variety of trailers, poster art, and more. The BD-Live component on disc 1 is more interesting than on some earlier Blu-ray discs, which could be simply a matter of the content starting to catch up with the technology. There are three new picture-in-picture commentaries, by Jerry Robinson (creator of the Joker), DC Comics president Paul Levitz, and Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.--he's a Batman fan who's made some movie and TV cameos), plus you can record your own commentary and upload it for others to watch. There are also three new featurettes ("Sound of the Batpod," "Harvey Dent's Theme," and "Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard") and two motion comics ("Mad Love," featuring Harley Quinn, and "The Shadow of Ra's Al Ghul"). No longer available is the digital copy of the film (compatible with iTunes and Windows Media, standard definition, download code expires 12/9/09). --David Horiuchi

Product description
The follow-up to Batman Begins, The Dark Knight reunites director Christopher Nolan and star Christian Bale, who reprises the role of Batman/Bruce Wayne in his continuing war on crime. With the help of Lt. Jim Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent, Batman sets out to destroy organized crime in Gotham for good. The triumvirate proves effective, but soon find themselves prey to a rising criminal mastermind known as The Joker, who thrusts Gotham into anarchy and forces Batman closer to crossing the fine line between hero and vigilante. Heath Ledger stars as archvillain The Joker, and Aaron Eckhart plays Dent. Maggie Gyllenhaal joins the cast as Rachel Dawes. Returning from Batman Begins are Gary Oldman as Gordon, Michael Caine as Alfred and Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox.

The Dark Knight (+ BD Live) [Blu-ray] Reviews:
Total Awesomeness
2009-11-27 - In a nutshell this product was great! Not only was the Acadamy Award winning movie filled with breathtaking action scenes and increcible acting, but the story was like nothing I've ever seen. I was actually a little shaken when I first saw Heathe Ledger's performance as Joker; I didn't expect him to take his character that far. Absolutely Amazing!

The dvds and the case looked like I had just purchased them from the store, and worked just as well. I'm very happy with what I bought and look forward to buying more from amazon!

The Greatest Superhero Film Of Our Time.
2009-11-25 - When is a movie more than a movie? When it can transcend the very genre it's in and becomes an event, something that can cause people to think, to talk, to debate, to embrace it so much you feel you need to see it again and again because you feel you missed something the other ten times you saw it.
"Gone with the Wind", "The Wizard of Oz", "Star Wars", "The Lord of the Rings" films....all great event films. Add Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight" to this list.
As a lifelong fan of comic book superheroes, there are quite a few that i've taken to my heart: Superman, Spiderman, The Fantastic Four, X-Men,the Hulk, etc, etc. I've always loved Batman. Even through the numerous comics, which i still read to this day, the cartoons, even the campy 60s tv series, as well Tim Burton's great, dark reimagining of the mythos in the late 80s, Batman remains one of my all-time favorites.
What Nolan has created with "The Dark Knight" cant truly be put into a few, simple sentences. Impossible. This film is one of the few true definitions of a masterpiece. It's intelligent, cold, unrelenting, extremely dark and at times disturbing and it's these adjectives that, for me, make it perfect.
In the brilliant "Batman Begins", Nolan dissected and broke down the origin of The DC Comics vigilante, giving us a glimpse of the very twisted, emotional elements that drove one man to assume the identity of a creature of the night. He presented this as a character study of a man, seemingly normal on the outside, with wealth, power, and influence, yet tortured, driven, disturbed, trying to find a way to unleash his demons upon those who live to choose to break the law and destroy the moral fabric of "society".
In "The Dark Knight", we go a few levels further....into the very bowels of HELL. This time, Batman struggles not just with the questionable choices he has made to protect Gotham City, with many people divided over how they feel about his presence, he also must face a new criminal who spreads anarchy and uncontrolled chaos all over town, the Joker.
Now, we all know much has been written and said about the late Heath Ledger's portrayal of the Joker....BUT HE'S SOOOO GODDAMN BRILLIANT!!!! This is the Joker the way he should be portrayed. As much as i loved Jack Nicholson's Joker from Burton's '89 film, hes a punk compared to what Ledger created. Ledger's Joker is cold, calculating evil in its purest form....a man so unfeeling, so depraved, so demonic...he doesnt commit crimes for reward, notoriety, or what we'd consider intimate pleasure; he does because he simply wants to, plain and simple. He sees the world as a place to be broken and manipulated, consequences be damned. Scary, aint it? Think of the killers of Columbine, or V-Tech, even the Unabomber. Even Satan. No conscience. Evil for evil. Ledger won a very deserved posthumous Oscar for his work.
The great Christian Bale is the ultimate Batman for our time. Driven, dark, cold-blooded but not without a sense of honor. He digs deeper into the psychology of Bruce Wayne, creating a portrait of someone fighting a war he might never win, a war that creates more demons and more pain than he can stop, yet doesnt give in to the monsters he opposes. Bale and Ledger are magnificent together.
As great as they are, its the supporting performances that help them shine. Overall, theres not a bad performance from anyone, AT ALL. Only the best caliber of actors dominate this film. Gary Oldman's Detective James Gordon is a picture of powerful moral conviction and simple passion as he stands by Batman in the fight against crime; Michael Caine's Alfred is the deep, fatherly, yet caring voice of no-nonsense reason to Wayne/Batman; Maggie Gyllenhall makes a more intense Rachel Dawes than Katie Holmes; Morgan Freeman is dignity personified as Lucius Fox. Special mention should be made, though, for Aaron Eckhart, who plays D.A. Harvey Dent/Two Face. Like Batman and Gordon, he wants to wipe out crime in Gotham City, yet he suffers from a fatal flaw: he's idealistic. Its this flaw that the Joker will exploit and twist and ultimately damage, and it leads to Dent becoming Two Face, a scarred, deranged, hopeless man broken and twisted almost as much the Joker himself.
There are no easy answers in this film, with its nihilistic view of good and evil and how sometimes, even good men can be pushed to their moral limits. Thats what i loved about this film. Nothing is simple, nothing is easy, and isnt that the way life is? Films about superheroes are a mixed breed: some are great, some not. I love the original Superman w/Christopher Reeve, and Spiderman, and Bryan Singer's X-Men, yet "Dark Knight" is, to me, the epic for our troubled times. Intelligent, huge, well written and acted. It's a film that in my opinion as a movie-goer, has a 70s style aesthetic that will remind you of the great crime epics of that period like Serpico, Godfather 1 and 2, and even modern ones like Goodfellas and The Departed. Director Christopher Nolan takes his place among the newest generation of filmmakers who dont treat their audiences like simple-minded children. A powerful film from a powerful visionary.

Brilliance
2009-11-23 - I cannot say enough about the latest Batman movie, The Dark Knight directed by Christopher Nolan. The combination of the acting, mise-en-scen, and cinematography all amalgamate to provide the viewer with spectacular artistic images, excellent portrayals of characteristic ideologies, and as well as a thrilling psychological plot.
The acting led by Christian Bale and Heath Ledger is only to be followed by an outstanding all star cast including Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, and Aaron Eckhart. Bale continues his role as Bruce Wayne and his alter ego Batman for the second time after his initial success in Batman Begins. No matter how great of a performance Christian Bale put out there for the audience, his acting will forever be overshadowed by that of Heath Ledger who died shortly after the making of the film, and thus this movie will forever be known as "the role that killed Heath." Christopher Nolan and Heath worked tremendously together capturing the essence of the half serial killer, half chaotic sociopath adding tremendous depth and complexity to the Joker not seen in the original comics. The only weak point in this cast in my opinion was Maggie Gyllenhaal who replaced Katie Holmes from the previous film. She looked old and out of touch with the whole Bruce Wayne and Rachael Dawes typical comic love affair, but simply their chemistry on stage did not coincide.
The Mise-en-scen of The Dark Knight refers to everything on stage (the props, sets, costumes, and acting), and was mainly the brainchild of Nolan's brilliant thinking. Combined with the cinematography or how the movie was filmed (lighting, camera angles, camera movement, etc.) Nolan creates stunning visuals for the two and a half hour saga of good against evil. The film itself contains many long shots and astonishing background and inversion camera clippings creating stunning visuals on the big screen. The set seems to be jammed packed with props and intricate details that the viewer can really appreciate. Many resent the fact that it is over one hundred and fifty minutes long, but actually on the contrary I believe it adds to the overall suspense and to be frank any shorter of the movie would undoubtedly fail to do justice to the actors and plot of the film.
In conclusion the viewer should buy this movie for the action scenes, excellent examples of great directing, an all -star cast, not to mention the fact that it was Heath Ledger's last film ever.

Beyond what I expected
2009-11-21 - Knowning all the hype that was put out about this movie had me very very concerned. Due to, from past experience, the lack of substance that a movie will have once completed and in theaters. More times than not a movie with such over hype usually is just a way for studios to try to gain money from the audeince who doesn't know any better and once it is seen it falls away into oblivian. That was my concern about this movie. That it would suck so bad that it completely destory Batman as a comic book character that has been around since the early 20th century. Just because studios think that the masses are just dumb sheep who will make a hit out of a movie just because of a lot of advertising was put behind it.

However, I was pleasantly proven wrong about this movie. What Christpher Nolan did with Batman Begins he built upon in this one. We see a city still in dispair to the point of breaking. Yet there is hope on the streets and fear starting emerge in the hearts of criminals, all because of Batman. Along comes the Joker. He is a sucidal maniac who wants to prove to the world that it sits on a thin thread between chaos and order. Thinking that most of society, at its heart, is chaotic is oout to take down the only thing standing between him and complete anarchy, Batman. To take down the Joker and his diabolical plans Batman, LT. Gordon, and newly appointed D.A. Harvey Dent team up. Although, the heroes of this story try to take down the Joker through moral ways he makes it very difficult for them to make the right decision and become a symbol of hope for the city of Gotham.

In the end the movie blew me away and then some. The script was well written. The movie was well acted by everyone included. And the moral choices that the characters had to make pushed comic book heroes into the real life that everyone can identify with.

Bats in the belfry
2009-11-21 -
A botched ending ruins an otherwise fine film that was shaping up to be even better than Batman Begins and one of the best action films of recent years. So how come 2 and not 4 stars? Unfortunately the botch-up hits the movie like an iceberg to the Titanic and substantially undoes all the brilliant build-up work that precedes it.

The movie is filled with the good guys making one tough choice after another, in the face of a terrifying new evil, as one excellent set-piece and set-up follows another in a complex, logical and satisfying manner. The movies length is more than justified by the unfolding of the whole complex series of moral dilemmas and their interesting resolutions. All that is, until the extremely clumsy and laughable resolution at the very end. The grand climax, the big payola is an execrable damp squib. If the people of Gotham, and even her criminals, can pass their moral tests on the boats, how come Gordon and Batman make such a ham's fist of something so simple as telling the people the truth? The Joker's has been captured, but sadly Dent was sent over the edge by the Joker's mad schemes. Surely the truth was the best fortification for Gotham's soul against future attacks by the Joker? What on earth are Gordon and Batman thinking when they hastily arrange a cover-up? Is Dent's reputation more important than the truth that he cracked under the demented pressure of the Joker?

This is not a minor mis-step, a 'dark', 'bad' or 'mistaken' choice by Batman and Gordon. It is an absolute howler by the scriptwriters. After 150 minutes of brilliant mayhem Gotham has the Joker by the balls. Gordon and Batman simply have to the pull the trigger. Instead they contrive to lie to the public, magnify the Joker's evil persona and make a complete mockery of all the brilliant moral posturing that has preceded them. A potentially great film, has been reduced to a pile of dreary and incoherent mush, by a few moments of madness. Listening to Gordon spew great wads of philosophical drivel to try to justify the botched ending is a minor masterpiece-of-disaster in itself.

Comics are never heavy on philosophy, although they are usually heavy on the posturing. What was so giddyingly exciting about this movie was that it threatened to raise the level of intelligence and wit of a comic-book adaptation several notches higher than most adaptations, not on the stylistic front, where thay nearly all score heavily, but on the thinking front, in this case with a brilliant series of moral dilemma traps set by the nutty Joker for his protagonists to solve and resolve. Dent fails, the people win, Caine and Freeman ain't playing so they can afford to look on knowingly, Dent's girl gets at least a pass for her efforts, so how come the two most important guys are so completely let-down by the script?

Make no mistake - this is not a 'dark' ending, it is an extremely poor one, one that completely flattens the whole point of the exercise. Which is extremely sad and horribly anti-climactic, because nearly everything else is zingingly on-point. Bale, Caine, Eckhart, of course Ledger - everyone does a fine job, the plot is both intricate and interesting, the action is just fine and once again, director Nolan does a grand job of bringing the comic-book Batman to life on the big-screen.

I think everyone was so desperate for this to be a great film, that they have allowed themselves to get all confused about the meaning and motive of the characters, plot and details, and so have contributed to the excessive hype - nearly all of it justified with respect to the first two hours of the movie, nearly all of it coompletely missing the point with respect to the ending and resolution of the movie. It is a sad day, when bamboozled by media hype and enormously loud special effects, the majority of the public are no longer able to accurately judge what does and does not constitue a great film.