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Author Topic: The Dark Knight Rises Aaron Garman Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1470 From: Toledo, OH USA Registered: Mar 2003 posted 07-20-2012 03:13 AM                     I seriously hope that the Dark Knight Rises is not our final look at real, true, filmmaking. What Nolan has managed to do is avoid all the contemporary use of poor story telling, over abundant and pointless CGI, and low resolution equipment. Instead, he gives us a film that is a technical marvel, tells an amazing tale of chaos and sacrifice, and allows us to get completely caught up within this universe. I seriously forgot where I was during this film. All I knew was that Gotham was under siege and I was part of it. That's what good filmmaking can do. I had almost forgotten after all the crap Hollywood has churned out over the past decade or two. Take note. This is what can save this business. Nolan is the hero Hollywood not only deserves, but desperately needs. I can't wait to see this thing in 15/70 IMAX. The film was fantastic. The trilogy itself is a game changer. AJG  |  IP: Logged Stu Jamieson Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 524 From: Buccan, Qld, Australia Registered: Jan 2008 posted 07-20-2012 08:15 PM                     After producing what is probably the greatest comic book adaptation of all time in The Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan returns with the final chapter in his Batman trilogy and the result is, well, slightly disappointing. The Dark Knight Rises sees Ra's al Ghul's League of Shadows try yet again to wipe Gotham City off the map with yet another device developed by Wayne Enterprises. The problem is, we've been here before. The films plot amounts to a rehash of ideas from Batman Begins, even the leader of the bad guys is (again) not who he appears to be. While the "Ra's al Ghul" storyline was an interesting one in the context of Batman's origin, it made for a relatively weak finale to Batman Begins and Nolan seeks to take this finale and reimagine it as the entire plot of The Dark Knight Rises. Sure it nicely brings the story full circle and it smartly references contemporary themes of terrorism, economic decline and the destruction of capitalism, but the story is no more interesting the second time around. The simple fact is that Ra's al Ghul is not as interesting a character as, say, the Scarecrow or the Joker or even Harvey Dent, so it does the film no favours to re-introduce him albeit in another guise. The film is neither aided by the fact that much of the dialogue is indecipherable. Bane, in particular, is a problem, his voice being muffled by his mask, but any time an action set-piece is underway it's difficult to hear the dialogue above the din. It is difficult to say, admittedly, if this is a product of the audio mix or the acoustics of my local cinema but it poses a significant problem in following the plots finer points. Thankfully, the strength of all Nolan's Batman films have been the quality of his characters and The Dark knight Rises is no exception. Indeed, it is the characterisations and the performances of the cast which maintains the superior status of The Dark Knight Rises above the previous (non-Nolan) Batman movies. Anne Hathaway is a very welcome addition as the unuttered Catwoman, all slinky and beautiful and devious; is there a better looking and more talented actress in Hollywood at the moment? And Joseph Gordon Levitt is also excellent as Commissioner Gordon's understudy. Even if his character arc is a tad predictable, we warm to him for the same reasons we warmed to Bruce Wayne. The usual suspects - Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman - deliver brilliant performances so predictably they barely rate a mention anymore. The weak link is, of course, Bane (Tom Hardy); not because Hardy isn't any good but because his character is uninteresting and one dimensional. He looks, sounds and has the emotional depth of Humungus from Mad Max 2. The Dark Knight Rises is directed by Christopher Nolan so naturally it's an extremely competent effort that is entertaining if a little overlong; it's just a pity that all this brilliantly orchestrated action and engaging character development isn't taking place within the context of a more engaging, original story. 7.5 out of 10.  |  IP: Logged Sam Graham AKA: "The Evil Sam Graham". Wackiness ensues. Posts: 1431 From: Waukee, IA Registered: Dec 2004 posted 07-21-2012 01:05 AM                        CINEMA: Valle Drive-In, Newton, IA AUDITORIUM: 1 PRESENTATION: 35mm/FM Stereo sound PRESENTATION PROBLEMS: It took like a full trailer of focus adjustments to get a clear picture RATING: Two stars (out of four) THE PLOT: Gotham's in trouble. Again. Wackiness ensues. The movie is pretty good for the last twenty minutes. It's the first two hours and twenty five minutes that's the problem. If you can overlook that, you'll probably like this. Bane is this big guy with an an in-car drive-in speaker attached to his face. He has an amplified voice that sounds like Jeffrey Lebowski. I kept expecting him to try and sell somebody a Hyundai. The two hand-to-hand fight scenes between Batman (sorry...'the dark knight') and Bane looked like simple stunt man school practice fights. They were HORRIBLE. Catwoman's in this. Not sure why. The dialogue and psychological level of the script are SERIOUSLY lacking here versus the previous two. I would have thought they would have spent a significant chunk of the runtime getting Wayne to bring Batman out of an eight-year sabbatical, but nope. Didn't take much at all. This was not only disappointing, it was Spider-Man 3 disappointing. And I'm not even that big a fan of these movies in the first place.  |  IP: Logged Jonathan Goeldner Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1360 From: Washington, District of Columbia Registered: Jun 2008 posted 07-21-2012 04:35 PM                     quote: Sam Graham This was not only disappointing, it was Spider-Man 3 disappointing. ouch... really? because that film was a cluster**** of a film, that had way too many ideas and scenes all edited together into one major mess.  |  IP: Logged Aaron Garman Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1470 From: Toledo, OH USA Registered: Mar 2003 posted 07-21-2012 04:38 PM                     I ended up seeing it again in 15/70 at the IMAX at the Indiana State Museum in Indianapolis. It was a fantastic experience, and one of the best IMAX's I've ever been in. The image was bright, focussed, and perfect in every way. Sound was absolutely perfect in every way imaginable. The establishment itself was also very clean, orderly, and a friendly staff. They also serve beer and wine after 5PM! The soft pretzel and the popcorn, however, were delicious. Truly, film done right. Digital has NOTHING on this one. AJG  |  IP: Logged Geoff Jones Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 579 From: Broomfield, CO, USA Registered: Feb 2006 posted 07-21-2012 10:33 PM                        Saw it at 9am today at the Colorado Blvd Imax in Denver. The 15/70MM presentation was outstanding. It switched to full frame so often I eventually stopped noticing. Afterwards, I thanked a manager for showing it in 70MM and asked him to please try to get film in the future. He said it's all up to the studios: whatever they want to show. I mentioned that I came down from Broomfield (30+ minute drive). I told him I wouldn't make the trip down for digital. I liked the film but didn't love it. I didn't come out of it wanting to see it again. I found TDK, despite its flaws, to be more entertaining, largely thanks to the Joker & Batman repeatedly one-upping each other, and Ledger's charismatic performance. Bane's "make 'em suffer" plan was too convoluted, and his performance was hampered by the facewear. Batman's hero role felt like it was either straight up fisticuffs or big scale military vehicle, and never anything in-between. I missed that middle ground from 1 & 2. I did enjoy the surprise plot twists along the way.  |  IP: Logged Chad Souder Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 962 From: Waterloo, IA, USA Registered: Feb 2000 posted 07-24-2012 09:04 AM                     Spoiler Alert - Click to Toggle Why couldn't he have just climbed the rope to get out of the prison? Or had the shirtless beefcake hoist him up since there was a pully somewhere? Or had a second person climb up and jump off his shoulders to the second ledge? I didn't care for that scene - the rest of the movie was fantastic  |  IP: Logged Mark J. Marshall Film God Posts: 3188 From: New Castle, DE, USA Registered: Aug 2002 posted 07-24-2012 04:00 PM                    This is probably my second favorite in the series behind the Dark Knight. The Joker is just a much more fun villain than Bane I think. Between that and the return of the League of Shadows stuff, I just thought the last one was better. Not that this one wasn't good. It was, and I liked it a lot. But it's really hard to top Dark Knight.  |  IP: Logged Jonathan Goeldner Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1360 From: Washington, District of Columbia Registered: Jun 2008 posted 07-24-2012 09:26 PM                     Johnson IMAX Theater / Smithsonian Museum of Natural History: 15/70; 4:45pm even though the character of Bane has that mask over his mouth - there's no excuse why ADR'ing the character to the point where he sounds like he's talking with a bowl of marbles in his mouth comes out intelligible - I also thought the soundmix was highly inconsistent - it was too loud, bombastic and just came across as sloppy. the 15/70 photography though was spectacular.  |  IP: Logged Dennis Benjamin Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1445 From: Denton, MD Registered: Feb 2002 posted 07-25-2012 08:35 AM                        This was a good film. It went around a long bend before it got to it's point - but it was worth it. I'd watch it again.  |  IP: Logged Paul Rousseas Film Handler Posts: 7 From: Athens, Attiki, Greece Registered: Jun 2012 posted 07-25-2012 11:04 AM                        The previous film had created very high expectations which the latter failed to meet: The main villain was far bellow Joker's level, both in terms of acting but also in looks, as the mask he was wearing did not allow the illustration of his face movements, resulting in a caricature. Additionally, his motivation to destroy Gotham City did not convince me completely. I also thought that the total presence and acting of Marion Cotillard was indifferent ... On the positive side however, Anne Hathaway "filled" the shots that she appeared and gave a charming essence in Cat Woman. The filming and photography, too, where of high quality and managed to transfer me to Gotham City! The comparison, however, with the previous film, makes the later seem "little"... [6/10] I saw the film at Auditorium 5 of Village Cinemas at the Mall Athens, in 35mm and Dolby Digital sound. I don't know whether it was the auditorium or not, but I found that the picture was a little on the soft side.  |  IP: Logged Ross Oba Expert Film Handler Posts: 181 From: Kailua Kona, HI Registered: Oct 2005 posted 07-25-2012 08:22 PM                     quote: Paul Rousseas I don't know whether it was the auditorium or not, but I found that the picture was a little on the soft side. I would have to agree. It is quite difficult trying to focus on the non-IMAX filmed scenes since the IMAX scenes are sharp and then the 35mm scenes look a little soft. The same problem was with Inception. Although that wasn't filmed with IMAX cameras, it still looked a little soft. It makes me wish the entire movie was filmed with IMAX.  |  IP: Logged Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 07-25-2012 09:27 PM                        I really enjoyed the movie. Spoiler Alert - Click to Toggle Where was that giant hole prison? In some other country? I don't recall that ever being explained The Dark Knight (unrisen version) is still the best Batman movie, though. Can't wait to get this on Blu-ray. The presentation will be much better than the 15/70 IMAX I saw.  |  IP: Logged Jonathan Goeldner Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1360 From: Washington, District of Columbia Registered: Jun 2008 posted 07-26-2012 09:00 AM                     Ross: even with the fact that Nolan had shot key scenes in 'Inception' in 65mm - you would have hardly guessed with what I saw or noted in the 15/70 IMAX version I saw. Nolan SHOULD have shot 'The Dark Knight Rises' with IMAX cameras AND 65mm film stock to get some sort of consistency.  |  IP: Logged Jonathan Althaus Master Film Handler Posts: 435 From: Bedford, TX Registered: Dec 2008 posted 07-26-2012 10:48 AM                     If everything is special, then nothing is. I thought it was a good idea to switch between the 2 and show how much more superior the full frame IMAX scenes were. I've seen it at 2 separate 15/70 locations, both equally flawless presentations. Perfect sound and picture, to my relatively untrained eyes and ears  |  IP: Logged

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