Comments on: Why Does Everyone Love 'The Dark Knight'?

By: himynameiskayla

himynameiskayla — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 01:40:43 +0000

growing up with a brother just barely older than me probably shaped my mine in some way. his favorite character was batman and that pretty much meant he was mine. we watched the old shows from like the 50's in black n white and we still have some on vhs. we watched the tim burton films and when i was old enough to read i was so interested in batman that my uncle gave me a shit load of comic books. i read and read and read.
batman was a very important person to me. and out of every villian there were to that i loved more than any other.
the joker
and the riddler.
tim burton's version of batman was cute. it was something i could watch and enjoy. but the dark knight is something else. it is the closest i've ever seen a movie coming to a comic.
that im afraid is only half the reason this means so much to me.
i also had an older sister. although she is five years older.
her favorite movie was 10 things i hate about you.
i must've seen that movie 100 times. and it sparked my interest in heath ledger. i have seen practically every movie he has ever been in. from the four feathers to candy to im not there. so for me to see the dark knight was amazing.
it brought two of my completely favorite things together.
the joker
and heath ledger.
its one of the best films i have ever seen.
that is why i've seen it more than once. and why i am going to see it again in imax for the first time.
yes you can say the movie has things that annoy you or that aren't right but its okay.
every movie has something.
and every movie always will.

By: Thinking Skull

Thinking Skull — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 20:38:06 +0000

"I don't believe anyone predicted this kind of support."

We did, actually. Twice.

In an article titled "The Formula: Predicting 'The Dark Knight'" (http://moviecrypt.com/?p=1990) posted on July 17th, 2008, we announced that a three-day opening of $150+ million was fully expected by us based on sheer buzz alone. We were within just a few million.

To be fair, however, we're still trying to fathom how better-than-expected "Speed Racer" did SO poorly and how "The Happening" made any money at all after opening weekend.

By: ranman14

ranman14 — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 20:24:02 +0000

I have only seen the dark knight once…. and thats all i need till the dvd comes out. I like the darkness of it and how crazy the joker is in this film. I also think this is a money grabber because its Heath Ledger's last full movie :( .

By: Schofizzy

Schofizzy — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 16:44:21 +0000

For me, what Nolan has done for the Batman legacy is so perfect, it has made the batman fan in me extremely happy. Let's face it, Nolan has done the first 2/3rds of batman's story. He has nailed every aspect he has put on screen and it shows especially with The Dark Knight. Sure there are things to nit-pic, there are in every movie! What The Dark Knight is, is a little bit of everything for all film goers. It has suspense, it has a rich love story that is also a triangle (nice work there Nolan), it has amazing action, great dialogue, phenominal performances by everyone in it (not just Ledger, Eckhart and Oldman were fantastic, as was Bale), it has deception, it has true human in emotion, and it is all wrapped together in a really tight package!

People have compared Thae Dark Knight to "Godfather II" and "Heat." Sure the film takes from other movies, but again, most do! How else are directors inspired to become film makers? They see something on screen that inspires them and pushes them to think I can do that, and maybe even better! I remember seeing The Explorers as a kid with Ethan Hawke and River Pheonix and said to myself, I can do that. I have never had enough fortitude to push myself and actually try, but instead I have found my nitch in reviewing and covering the film industry. Oh by the way check out my site too! Schofizzy Movie Review & Entertainment News

Something has to be said for the marketing of The Dark Knight as well! WB has pushed The Dark Knight hard, for over a year with viral marketing. Then came Ledger's untimely death back in January or Feburary, this sent huge waves of promotion to the film! WB brass feared it may be negative press, but in fact it definately helped the film. People wanted to see Ledger in one more film. After the intial reviews came pouring out in positive favor, word of mouth would be a final push of why for 4 straight weeks, The Dark Knight held it #1 spot!

By the way, if Bruce Wanye didn't talk in a different tone, wouldn't people recgonize his voice? It is like no one ever realized, "Hey Superman and Clark Kent sure do sound alike?" I felt, that Nolan did a amazing job of making all of batman's gagdets realistic and practical!

By: flerk

flerk — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 15:58:57 +0000

It's a good question and difficult to answer. Why is this the second highest grosser of all time? The main reason I believe is hype and quality. Hype and a damn near perfect marketing campaign. Yes it is an excellent film and Heath Ledger is amazing. But it was the marketers at WB that managed to build up the hype to fever frenzy. The viral marketing got people interested. Batman Begins was by many fans and critics called the best superhero film ever. The critics loved it. Heath Ledger was getting rave reviews and Oscar talk started several months before the release. The Joker was returning! The most popular comic villain ever and as I read somewhere, the match up between Batman and Joker is like Ali v. Frazier. It is the biggest rivalry in comic history.

Besides all that you have quality. Chris Nolan proved with Batman Begins that Batman is more then nipples and corky stories. He grounded it into realism (as realistic as superhero stories can get) and went dark. As dark as the psyche of a man who saw his parents killed, as dark as Batman should be.

And quality also oozed with the choices of actors. Even small parts were filled with good actors. Combining quality of Batman Begins and the prospect of a film just as good, or even better with The Joker in the story and a great marketing had not only sent geeks into an anticipation frenzy but also regular non comic book fans. And then came Ledger’s tragic death. Historically, the death of a main actor always pushes a film more into media. Just look at The Crow. And with rumors like Heath couldn’t handle portraying Joker and that playing Joker did weird things to him just increased the awareness of this film and increased the frenzy.

So I believe the reason The Dark Knight is going to be second film ever to pass $500 million is Heath Ledger as Joker, Chris Nolan’s handle of the subject material and brilliant marketers at WB. And it is all deserved. This is a fantastic film and without doubt the best superhero film and one of the best action film ever made.

By: ShaneM

ShaneM — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 08:17:57 +0000

Personally, I'm getting fed up with the Batman voice thing. People seem to forget that his voice is altered through a mic/speaker system in his suite.

See… how stuff works says so:

http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/batsuit2.htm