448 reviews

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
Number Of Items: 3
Running Time: 152
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
Batteries Included: No
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 6.6 x 5.4 x 0.6

MPN: 1000026387
UPC: 085391176572
EAN: 0085391176572

Theatrical Release Date: 2008
Release Date: December 9, 2008 (New: Last 30 Days)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days

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Editorial Reviews:

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-Live?, 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 IMAX, 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)

Customer Reviews: Read 95 more reviews...

3 out of 5 stars

Where's Batman? January 6, 2009
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

I loved Batman Begins. It was fun, with wonderful characterization, cool Bat gadgets, and fun bad guys. A thrilling run from start to finish, and most certainly a movie I hope to someday own. So, needless to say, I couldn't wait to see The Dark Knight.

I quickly discovered that The Dark Knight does not have the same spirit as Batman Begins. It is not a fun movie; it is a dark, "heavy" movie. Heavy themes, heavy thoughts, enough depth to drown in, carried by excellent actors and sharp dialogue and deep ethical questions. That's great. I usually look forward to movies like this -- movies coupling art with entertainment, one of the highest callings entertainment can aspire to and one of the hardest to achieve.

That said, this is the only movie that I could not say simply, "I liked it" or "I hated it" after watching it. I simply felt drained after watching it, like I had just sprinted down a steep road for 2 1/2 hours and hit a wall face-first at the bottom. I thought that perhaps after a few days I'd figure out whether it was my thing or not. At the end, no. It's not my kind of movie. I must add one thought to this: I could also not say it's a bad movie by any means. In fact, in some ways, rating it below 5 stars is a crime.

There's great acting here by everyone, even secondary and tertiary characters. Batman does have some unintentionally humorous moments with his rasping, slurring "bat-voice" -- sometimes you can't tell what he says, and it borders on over-acting -- but overall, he does a fine job. The Joker is downright perfect (perhaps a little too perfect) -- a character you'll love to hate.

The characters are great, the plot is excellently crafted, and the dialogue is great. It's not just solid, it's a masterpiece.

But do not be fooled by the title of this movie. This is the Joker's film from beginning to end. In fact, that's my main complaint. Where's Batman? Why is everyone so powerless in Joker's schemes? Why is Batman such a failure? Joker is a psychic; everything goes according to his plans, and I mean everything. He foresees every movement, every feint, and every plot. After a while, this gets very, very silly. As another reviewer so aptly stated, when he DOES get proven wrong, it seems more contrived than anything else -- merely a way to end the movie. The Joker gets more screen time than anyone else; Batman and all the other champions of Gotham City fail time and time again before his onslaught.

Because of this constant struggle, with the "good side" never giving up and often so close to victory, the tension never drops for a second. Every moment the Joker is alive is a moment you can't relax. It's like a nightmare that never ends -- every time you think there will be a moment of brightness, the Joker backhands it and everything falls black again. It's tiresome. No, you can't stop watching it, but it's terribly draining and depressing.

Harvey Dent is another con for me. He is Two-Face for such a short time that he doesn't deserve the moniker. That wasn't Two-Face; that was just a scarred up guy who killed, what, two people? Not scary, not very impressive, not worth a "super villain" title.

Pacing is yet another con for me. As I stated before, it is constant, draining tension from start to finish. There's not a single moment of reprieve, not one -- false starts, sometimes, but never truly a moment to breathe. And there's almost never a positive moment to be had!

In the end, this isn't entertainment. This is an experience and an exploration of the natures of good and evil. What I wanted, and thought I was going to see, was a fun ride with an uplifting end; what I received was a riveting, dark thriller that essentially states that evil is all-pervasive and nigh insurmountable. Even with the Joker captured, one has the sensation that he has won anyway -- every second he is alive, he wins. Indeed, according to The Dark Knight, there is no good -- only different kinds and different "strengths" of evil.

In the end, The Dark Knight just not my kind of thing -- not for its lack of quality, and not because I deny the fact that "evil's" successes are more prevalent than "good's" -- but because I go to the movies to see evil smacked in the head at the end. I want to see something work for once. I want to see good triumph; I want to think there IS such a thing as good. I wanted Batman to win completely, without question.

This is certainly no feel good movie; it has most certainly raised the bar for super-hero movies. There are more philosophical and ethical questions to ponder here than in many of the dullest art movies. However, I do hope that in the inevitable sequel, there are a few more bright points and positively charged thrills... and more of the Batman himself.

2 out of 5 stars

So what do you get for your money? January 6, 2009
0 out of 1 found this review helpful

After buying this product, I could not shake off the feeling that times are tough for Warner Brothers. Why else would they release a rushed 2-Disc edition with barely any special features?

So then, what do you get for your money? Well, you get a brilliant film (probably the best in 2008). But you get barely anything else. So, if like me you are a fan who has already seen the film and is looking to get this DVD edition in order to satisfy your interest in how this film was written, cast, shot, you will be SORELY disappointed. Even ripped off. They did not even bother to include an audio commentary. Do not expect a complete and lovingly created collection of special features you may find on any DVD from, say, Pixar.

All that you do have here are some clips that focus on the difficulties of shooting action scenes using IMAX-cameras (misleadingly named as "Gotham Unmasked") and the useful but short episodes of Gotham Tonight. It's as if Christopher Nolan and the studio were dogged in their determination to deprive the DVD of anything that could shed the light on the following:
- how the script was written
- the story of the Joker
- how movie-versions of the Joker and Two-Face differ from the comics
- how characters were cast
- costume design
- how locations were scouted
- how the decision to make Dark Knight in the first place has come about
- how stunts and martial arts-scenes were created
- how Ledger's death affected the editing process

Save yourself some money and go for the single disc edition rather than this sarcastically named "Limited 2-Disc Edition". The simple fact that you can find out more about "The Dark Knight" by reading the corresponding Wikipedia page (or even Christian Bale's interview in GQ) than from this poor product should prevent you from repeating my mistake. If I could travel back in time, I wouldn't waste my time and money and I'd go for the single disc. Let's just hope that Nolan and the studio redeem themselves in the eyes of disappointed (and frankly, RIPPED OFF) fans and consumers by releasing an "Even More Limited" edition or Director's Cut somewhere down the line.

1 out of 5 stars

HORRIBLE January 5, 2009
2 out of 8 found this review helpful

Hands down, a horrible movie. I've been sifting through the reviews here on Amazon, and I'm truly amused by all the people who thought this movie was actually good. Since this movie got barely a good word after its theatrical release (with the exception of Ledger's role), I'm guessing I was reading a lot of bogus reviews put up by Warner Bros. Either that, or people have really low standards.

Heath Ledger was ok, at best. The rest of the cast was an embarrassment, and the script was pathetically complicated and long, packed with B-rated characters that just shouldn't have had speaking lines. Bruce Wayne's storyline about shutting down the Batman operation and handing the baton over to a new "White Knight" was just weak, and terribly untrue to the Batman character and his never ending lust to exert justice.

The movie is packed with dialog, dialog and more needless dialog! Batman's toys are weak, his character's inner struggle absent, and his eminence poorly challenged.

This movie was an injustice, unworthy of the Dark Knight title. I rarely voice that people should go invest their time in something else, but in this case I recommend for anyone who thought this was a Batman story to go read The Dark Knight, the definitive graphic novel by Frank Miller.

5 out of 5 stars

The Joker is Wild! January 5, 2009
2 out of 3 found this review helpful

This is a Great Movie. Heath Ledger does such an amazing job as the Joker that buying this movie just makes sense. Be warned that there are no extra's and unfortunately there are some movie previews before the main picture starts but the movie is action packed and well written. I was really happy that I purchased it instead of renting. I didn't think that Heath Ledger could do it but he does it in spades. Just Amazing. Watch a trailer online and I think you will be hooked.

Buy it today and enjoy!

1 out of 5 stars

Not what I Expected January 5, 2009
2 out of 13 found this review helpful

This is definitely not a family movie. PG-13 is a joke. The amount of violence is overbearing for younger audiences.

After watching Iron Man, the Dark Knight didn't compare. You'll be disappointed. Wait a while a looking for something better.

This movie doesn't do Batman justice. There have been so many better Batman movies that this one puts an arrow through your heart. Michael Caine must have needed to money to play in the movie.

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