The Dark Knight [2008] - DVD Releases Review

The Dark Knight (2 Discs) [2008]

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-12-08
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Arabic, English, Italian, Hebrew, Icelandic, Greek
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 152 minutes

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
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 paralysed 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/co-writer 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

Special Features

• Gotham Uncovered – how Christopher Nolan and his team developed the new Bat-suit and Bat-pod and composer Hans Zimmer musically characterized The Joker’s reign of chaos.
• The Dark Knight IMAX® scenes: view these 6 action-packed sequences
• Gotham Tonight - 6 episodes of Gotham Cable’s premier news programme
• The Galleries: poster art and production stills

Synopsis
Director Christopher Nolan (The Prestige) returns to Gotham City with this sequel to the critically-acclaimed fan favourite, Batman Begins. In The Dark Knight, Batman (Christian Bale, – American Psycho) squares off against a new, completely psychotic foe: the Joker (Heath Ledger, Brokeback Mountain). However, the Dark Knight finds himself fighting a battle on two fronts when he learns that a prominent political figure named Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart, Thank You For Smoking) is concealing a dastardly alter-ego known as Two Face.

Stills from The Dark Knight

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Customer Reviews

Great!
Just great. seen it twice now. I love this movie! the joker electrifies the screen, and i am not saying this because of heath, the joker is just amazing and the best! But batman is also brilliant.

Great shots, great acting, very very well made movie. The film of 2008. If you have a high movie standered, love any other comic books (i never like batman but loved this!), love action, suspense, thrillers. this is for you!!!

2.5 hours go very quickly!

Fantastic!!!!
There is no one on amazon who loves movies than me, i have got a 200inch cinema in my bedroom to watch them and this movie is one of the finest comic hero movies i have seen, just foget about other dvds- i thought ironman was good but this is more better, Heath Ledger(rip God bless him) died a legend- his performance was outstanding- the film was around 230mins long,but i was so hooked it made the film 130mins!!!

Just for once .... believe the hype!
Usually when I hear how great a film is, when I eventually see the movie it sometimes may be good, but very rarely does it live up to the hype. However, this exceptional film exceeds the hype.

This latest Batman film is better than anything else before it, even the brilliant 'Batman Begins'. This is certainly better than the Tim Burton franchise of Batman from the 80's and 90's. This is Batman for adults and gone is all the cheasyness of the first set of films from over a decade ago.

The main villian is obviously 'The Joker' and this new darker and more sinister version of Batman's nemises is more menacing and believable. Gone is the stupid plastic grin, from Jack Nicolson's version, and this new Joker from Keith Ledger is much more of an enjoyable villain. Keith Ledger's role is truely exceptional. Also, what I liked about this film is that they dont try to tell Joker's back-story and this adds to the mistique of the character. Keith Ledger's joker is much more believable and therefore much more disturbing and threatening. The most important thing this franchise does right, is that they dont kill off the Joker after one film. This was a major problem with Tim Burton's version of the franchise. You dont kill off a character as important as the Joker.

Im almost certain in saying this is by far the most enjoyable comic-to-film adaptation to date. The film is obviously aimed at the right people ... ie. comic book fans that have grown up. This isnt a mere chick-film like the dreadful 'Superman Returns' or the first two 'Spiderman' movies. This isnt a film overly reliant on CGI, nor is it a chease-fest like appaulling 'Ghost Rider'. This is how these sorts of film should be made.

I really havnt a bad word to say about this film ... best film of the year.

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