The Dark Knight (+ Digital Copy and BD Live) [Blu-ray] | ![The Dark Knight (+ Digital Copy and BD Live) [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51HZyS6RP6L._SL75_.jpg)
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| Actors: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine
Studio: Warner Home Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $35.99
Buy Used: $20.32
You Save: $15.67 (44%)
New (31) Used (11) Collectible (4) from $20.32
Rating:  488 reviews
Sales Rank: 5
Format: Ac-3, Color, Dolby, Widescreen
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled)
Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: Blu-ray
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
Number Of Items: 3
Running Time: 152 Minutes
Batteries Included: No
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 6.6 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: 1000026387
UPC: 085391176572
EAN: 0085391176572
ASIN: B001GZ6QEC
Theatrical Release Date: 2008
Release Date: December 9, 2008 (New: Last 30 Days)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Prevously Owned Movie: Both case and movie in good condition
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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.
Amazon.com
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"). Last, there's a digital copy of the film compatible with iTunes and Windows Media (standard definition, 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. Blu-ray features: - Movie with Focus Points (picture in picture)
- Explore your favorite movies through BD-Livea , an interactive gateway to exclusive content
- 2.40:1 aspect ratio, with IMAX sequences in 1.78:1
- Gotham Uncovered: Creation of a Scene: Director Christopher Nolan and creative collaborators unmask the incredible detail and planning behind the film, including stunt staging, filming in IMAXA , and the new Bat-suit and Bat-pod.
- Batman Tech: The incredible gadgets and tools (in HD)
- Batman Unmasked: The Psychology of The Dark Knight: Delve into the psyche of Bruce Wayne and the world of Batman through real-world psychotherapy (in HD)
- Gotham Tonight: 6 episodes of Gotham Cable's premier news program
- The Galleries: The Joker cards, concept art, poster art, production stills, trailers and TV spots
- Digital Copy of the feature film
Stills from The Dark Knight (click for larger image)
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| Customer Reviews: Read 483 more reviews...
 Great Film - Buy the Single Disc Version! December 9, 2008
Victor Belagosi (Park City)
75 out of 85 found this review helpful
What has been said about the Dark Knight cannot be elaborated on - so I won't. The film is muscling its way into my #1 favorite comic movie adaptation of all time.
The reason for my review is in hopes of saving you some money. This double disc Special Edition doesn't deliver the price you pay for it. There isn't even deleted scenes!!! I would save your very hard earned dollars and buy the single disc version and wait for the inevitable ULTIMATE re-release that will come later on down the road.
But nonetheless, a great film - you will not be dissapointed; I just wish the studio would have given a better Special Edition release than what we have here. So enjoy!
The Dark Masterpiece Surpasses the Hype October 11, 2008
Justin Heath (Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada)
373 out of 442 found this review helpful
Christopher Nolan has a vision. And whether you agree with it or not, he undeniably completes it in "The Dark Knight"--a vicious, engrossing, overwhelming, intelligent event- film that re-defines 'comic-book-flicks'. In Nolan's grim, dark-depiction of Gotham-City (the crime-ridden hell protected by legendary superhero Batman), the director strives to make everything real (something he began in the well-received "Batman Begins"). He makes it plausible, possible. And yet there's more to it: just as 'Begins' was a dissection of myth, the nature of symbols and heroes, 'Knight' is the escalation of that notion. It's a biblical- confrontation of 'good-and-evil', yet as 'good-and-evil' really exist: a conflict of ideals, something that can't be purely-defined but that is relative to a viewpoint. In Nolan's world, the line of villainy and heroism isn't crossed... it's non-existent. The bad-guys don't see themselves as bad-guys, and as such something so unnervingly-real comes across it might fly past some people's minds (no insult to anybody, it's just common that people don't look deep into 'popcorn-flicks'): the battle is a complete ambiguity.
The film runs at nearly 2.5-hours, yet never ceases to lose interest or momentum. It doesn't waste a scene or moment; every event is utilized and necessary. 'The Dark Knight' tells a story worth telling and it takes the proper amount of time to tell it. Action-sequences are frantic, old-school, eye-grabbing stunts (vastly superior to 'Begins') and in their chaotic intensity we see that they serve purpose to the story, yet more interesting are not played for pure entertainment-value: we are meant to watch, petrified, simply hoping that the outcome will go the hero's way. Attention is never lost because we are immersed in a breathtaking, almost completely-unpredictable story (it packs many a shock), that makes us think and more importantly gains our emotional-investment. We come to care for the characters, because they are believable, developed, and personified fully.
Everyone has great-chemistry together. Maggie Gyllenhal is a more mature Rachel Dawes than Katie Holmes. Morgan Freeman provides his authoritative presence to the role of bad- gadget-inventor/Wayne-Enterprise CEO Lucius Fox, and under anyone else's portrayal, the part would be less-memorable. Gary Oldman underplays his world-wearied lawman with such honest-nobility, you never feel for a second any of its forced-acting. The irreplaceable Michael Caine makes a gentle, reassuring, father-like presence as Alfred, and the movie would surely fail without his strong-presence and interjected-moments of light-humor.
And while everyone (rightfully) pours the praise unto Bale and Ledger, I think most are glancing-over Knight's breakout-performance. As Harvey Dent, Aaron Eckhart does more than hold himself in the company of such a renowned-cast. He makes his presence known, whether he's playing on the easy-going charisma of Gotham's 'White-Knight' or the broken and damaged, twisted-soul of Two-Face. He achieves a full-impact with the tragedy that comes unto his character, and so closely connects with Dent, that he makes his pain tangible for us: we sympathize even as we become terrified. He captures both facets of each personality flawlessly.
Now, some people cite that 'Knight' has a potential fatal-flaw in the supposedly wooden- acting of Christian Bale. Admittedly, his development is not as grand as in 'Begins' (yet that film gave us such a good psychoanalysis of Wayne, we hardly need more), yet what Bale pulls off is admirable. Wayne is not an eccentric personality. He is a disillusioned man who can hardly find any joy in having no family, giving up his love-interest and spending his life fighting a battle that may never end. He's dark and conflicted, and Bale plays up on that brooding-mood by making Wayne look as though a thousand dark-things were on his mind. He's not wooden...he's a humorless, quiet individual. Even when Wayne is acting as a frivolous playboy for the public, every now and then Bale offers us a powerful glance that reminds us its all a facade; that deep down, something more disturbed irks him. Occasionally he offers a broken-smile when exchanging banter with Alfred, letting us know that beyond the dour depression of the Caped-Crusader lies a damaged human-being. It is only in the guise of a growling masked-man, that he can unleash his true, ferocious personality.
Finally, who could forget Heath Ledger. Now, when he was first-announced for the part, I was (along with many other people) asking myself: "Why?". Mr. Ledger had proved with 'Brokeback Mountain' he could deliver a potent performance. But he hadn't before. It is only, after seeing this film, that I know the answer to 'why?': I see the significance of his loss.
When Heath appears in this movie, he is completely unrecognizable. His voice is distinctly-altered; a near-whiny, pedophile-like tone that sends shivers down the spine. His face is completely splattered with makeup that renders him both freakishly-nightmarish and strangely-funny. And when you see him, you don't think it's him. In this, his final performance, Ledger proved he was a chameleon. His two iconic performances in this, and 'Brokeback', could not be more different. I am convinced he could have been anything in his career. He commits so intensely to character that the line of actor/portrayal dies. His every tick and gesture only further-enhances his character. Heath never hams the role up or goes for something cheap: he delivers a fully-immersed display of psychotic madness...or do we just label him that to feel safer? The movie writes the character brilliantly; blending terrifying truth into his every social-accusation, and making us question why we laugh at his sick-jokes.
'The Dark Knight' has had an incredible-amount of hype running for it, from the get-go, mounting ever-higher, until Heath Ledger's too-soon death. And the finished-product does more than exceed all of the near-impossible expectations placed on it. It becomes something much richer than a super-hero-franchise-saga. Christopher Nolan has opened a new door in cinema: allowing action-flicks to become more serious, capable of intelligence. He has transformed this into a piece of artwork, full of beauty, terror, moral-conundrums. This movie has changed things...forever.
There's no going back. 10/10
Batman has no limits October 9, 2008
E. A Solinas (MD USA)
102 out of 138 found this review helpful
In "Batman Begins," Christopher Nolan managed to do what few directors could do -- create a dark, gritty atmosphere around an all-too-human Batman, who fights for the oppressed with quiet intensity.
That moody murk is only intensified in the breathtaking, harrowing "Dark Knight," which fills itself with blasts of action, psychological twists and a shocking tragedy. Nolan pulls no punches for our dark knight or his ever-endangered Gotham City, but brilliant acting of the hero and villains is what truly elevates the second of Nolan's Batman movies to a work of cinematic art.
Bruce Wayne/Batman (Christian Bale) is continuing to fight the good fight for Gotham, even when he gets hurt in a fight against Scarecrow and some Batman impersonators.
So unsurprisingly, he's is feeling fairly in his crimefighting abilities, especially since the new DA Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) is a morally-upright good-guy. But Batman isn't prepared for the Joker (Heath Ledger) a mad clownish psychopath who has hired himself out to the mob to destroy their worst enemy, the Dark Knight. He starts blackmailing Batman by killing Gotham citizens, and saying he won't stop until Batman turns himself in.
But even when captured, the Joker has an ace up his sleep -- Dent and Rachel Dawes' (Maggie Gyllenhaal) lives. And after a devastating loss, Batman finds himself dealing with the Joker taking all of Gotham hostage, and the maddened and disfigured Dent bringing vigilante justice to all those whom he thinks have wronged him. Only Batman has a chance of stopping even one of them -- let alone both -- but doing so may tarnish the Dark Knight forever.
Most directors would have given this movie a distinctly comic-book, slick pop-culture feel. But no matter how hard you search, there's not a single hint in "The Dark Knight" that anything kitschy or campy came before it, or that it was originally a comic book. Instead Christopher Nolan creates a movie as dark, tightly-wound and intense as Batman himself.
And Nolan's skills are even more polished this time around -- lots of kinetic action, vicious dogs and car chases, including the rather silly-looking Batpod and the tanklike Batmobile. The dialogue is drizzled with dry humor ("That isn't exactly what I had in mind when I said I wanted to inspire people"," Batman says, looking at a bunch of impersonators), mostly to temper the overhanging sense of horror and apprehension.
This is especially true whenever the Joker's corrosive presence is onscreen, since he's all too happy to stick pointy objects in people -- he's creepier than a thousand boogeymen. And Nolan is not afraid to further darken the storyline by inflicting yet another personal tragedy on Batman. His direction is painfully delicate as he explores Wayne's sorrow and guilt.
But the most striking aspect of "The Dark Knight" is Nolan's delvings into morality -- The Joker has none and Dent's becomes horribly perverted, but we're reminded that there are some who will not be corrupted even if they lose what is most precious. It's almost a doom'n'gloom movie, but the faint hints of optimism and hope keep it from being TOO overwhelmingly dark.
Christian Bale is simply perfection as Bruce Wayne/Batman, using his handsomely chiseled face and piercing eyes to best advantage -- even in the most tragic scenes, where you can practically see Wayne's soul bleeding. And he has a difficult character to wrangle with -- not only does he have to expose Batman's pain and struggles, but also his inner incorruptibility.
On the flipside, the late Heath Ledger is blindingly brilliant as the sadistic, creepy, gleefully malign Joker, and he chews the scenery as few actors could. He's pretty spine-chilling, actually -- the Joker is a true "agent of chaos," whose intent is to seize Gotham, and corrupt Batman's soul along the way. There's also a solid (and underrated) supporting cast -- Eckhart is outstanding as an upstanding DA whose morality becomes horribly perverted (along with his handsome face), Gyllenhaal has a solid role that she plays well, and Michael Caine is a quiet, steady flame as the ever-faithful, dryly sardonic Alfred.
The two-disc special edition isn't quite as special as I had hoped (deleted scenes?), but it has a serviceable bunch of extras anyway, including a digital copy of the selfsame movie, galleries for pictures, IMAX renderings of certain scenes, a bunch of mocked-up news programs from "Gotham Tonight" and a documentary about the making of the film. I smell double-dipping in this movie's future, especially since the blu-ray is reportedly far better endowed with extras.
"The Dark Knight" is suffused with darkness and some truly ghastly villains, but the magnificent acting and dryly witty script are what really make this a masterpiece. Utterly astounding -- and promises better yet to come.
Batman Unmasked: The Psychology of the Dark Knight *A Review of the Documentary* December 17, 2008
Juan Blanco (Miami, Florida United States)
7 out of 9 found this review helpful
Review for the Blu Ray second disk featurette:
This film is truly awesome and since there are just about 300 reviews on here describing how amazing this film is I wanted to stray away from reviewing the movie and write a little bit about the special feature: "Batman Unmasked" and how great and interesting this short documentary was. I know the special features on the blu ray are very lacking but it doesn't take away from this special feature.
If you are as interested in the villains Batman has as much as I am, you will know they are a central part of how successful The Dark Knight has become since his creation over 70 years ago.
In "Batman Unmasked: The Psychology of the Dark Knight" different former editors and writers for DC Comics as well as several psychologists and private investigators link the connection between Batman's most famous villains and real life criminals such as Jeffrey Dahmer, the Una bomber, and many more. The Joker and The Riddler are some of the most interesting villains they discuss. Heath Ledger's absolutely amazing performance as The Joker reminds us how amazingly cynical the character is. This kind of behavior is connected to some other horrible criminals in real life history and how their behavior is similar to the Joker's, who has no remorse for wrongdoings.
Batman is very interestingly compared to Theodore Roosevelt who had a similar life style to that of Bruce Wayne. Roosevelt's wife and mother both died on the same day and shortly after he went out in the streets as what the documentary stated as sort of a night patrol. His father was also a very caring man and is compared to Thomas Wayne.
I was really blown away by this special feature so I went ahead and reviewed it so nobody would overlook it and leave it to the side. It's got the same feel to it as a well done History or Discovery Channel documentary! Don't miss it! :)
A new standard December 9, 2008
B. Martin
16 out of 22 found this review helpful
When I first saw The Dark Knight last summer, I couldn't take it all in. This was one dark, violent, scary, intense and emotionally draining experience. Obviously I had to see it again to absorb it all. Such is the nature of Christopher Nolan's follow up to 2005's Batman Begins. This is no mere comic book/superhero flick. The film is as layered and complex as it is tense and entertaining.
Much of the praise the film has received has been centered around the posthumous performance of Heath Ledger, and rightfully so. This is Ledger's greatest performance in a career that was cut tragically short. His portrayal of the Joker is one for the ages. With his smeared clown makeup, greasy hair and scarred smile, the Joker dominates this film like few other villians have ever done. Ledger loses himself deep within the skin of this character. So convincing is his performance that you may find yourself wondering if it really is Ledger giving this performance. What makes the Joker so memorable is his lack of motive. With no backstory or psychological profile to give the audience any idea of who he is, he shows up in Gotham and starts wrecking havoc. His only motivation seems to be the sheer anarchist kick he gets out of his actions. As Michael Caine's Alfred puts it at one point, he just likes to watch the world burn. Even more disturbing about the Joker is that he realizes that Batman is his counterpoint, the yin to his yang. At one point he declares to the Caped Crusader that "you complete me". It's funny....for about a second until you realize that the Joker is completely serious. He needs Batman to challenge him and push him to new levels of depravity. It's almost as if the Dark Knight is his muse.
I could go on and on about the brillance of Ledger's performance, but the movie has a lot more going for it as well. Nolan's direction is flawless. He balances explosive action sequences and deeply emotional moments with the greatest of ease. The screenplay grounds the film in realism and lends it an incredible amount of moral ambiguity and complexity. The performances are stellar from the entire cast. Christian Bale actually has the thankless task of keeping the hero from being completely marginalized by the film's fascinating villian, and he does a fine job. There is also strong work from Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Aaron Eckhart, Gary Oldman and Maggie Gylenhall.
When it is all said and done, Nolan and company have rewritten the rules for superhero films and Hollywood blockbusters in general. This film proves that big budget films can be challenging, dark, disturbing and leave the audience with no easy answers. And they can do this while being amazingly entertaining. The Joker might have longed to give Gotham a better class of villian, but Christopher Nolan and company have given us a better class of commercial of filmmaking.
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