The Dark Knight Capes and Cowls - New Batsuit Discussion Thread

[joke]

The holes seem so small that Bale wouldn't be able to move his eyes at all, he'd have to stare straight forward all the time.

 

[lujho]

The holes seem so small that Bale wouldn't be able to move his eyes at all, he'd have to stare straight forward all the time.

Yeah, maybe not quite that small. I still contend it's only important for the actor to be able to see well enough to be able to ACT like he can see perfectly well, and not actually need to be able to be able to see perfectly well.

In the Star Wars movies, there was a Darth Vader stunt helmet that actuall had the cheek parts made out of transparent material so that he could actually see well enough to sword fight. But you'd never know from the film, and you'd never even stop to think that the vader helmet would make it difficult to see well. You just buy it.

Anyway, I only brought it up because there was talk a while ago about lenses and eye socket sizes etc, and it was interesting to find that there actually sort of WAS a version of the Begins/TDK cowl that had smaller eye holes.

Oh, and another thing I thought of - a way to do lenses without even modifying the cowl - a very thin domino mask type thing with lenses in it that would just fit under an existing cowl.

 

[joke]

Yeah, maybe not quite that small. I still contend it's only important for the actor to be able to senn well enough to be able to ACT like he can see perfectly well, and not actually need to be able to be able to see perfectly well.

I completely agree. I've said it multiple times and I'll say it again, the quest for realism has gotten out of hand. I'm half expecting someone to say Batman's suit in the next movie actually has to be made out of kevlar and able to stop a bullet to be viable and.. "realistic".

The eye holes in Batman's cowl should be exactly as big as the actor's eyes, though to be fair, that is never going to be possible as long as the cowls are made so thick.

 

[lujho]

I'm half expecting someone to say Batman's suit in the next movie actually has to be made out of kevlar and able to stop a bullet to be viable and.. "realistic".

I'd love to see the costume tests for that one. Just don't try it on Bale till you've got it right!

 

[millennium movies]

I always hated the big eye holes that were so distant from the actual eye. I still say that cowl in the above picture plus the Begins suit with the TDK neck would be a perfect match. As for the troll above i think you know who you are...give it a damn rest.

 

[joke]

Who's the troll?

 

[The Caped Knight]

The TDK cowl is smaller than the Begins cowl, though not by much.

Indeed it is .

 

[Thot]

Looking at the great Begins suit pictures here really makes me miss it! There were elements of the TDK suit that I liked, but overall it just didn't scream "Batman" to me. Too industrial. The Begins suit looked more organic and feral, and therefore more intimidating. I'm probably in the minority but still prefer a more traditional look. A combination Batman '89/Forever/Begins suit would be perfect!

 

[Landfill]

i thought that i would have a problem with the new suit, how the neck is slimmer, but i didnt even notice it all throuhout the whole film. the reason why i thought i would have a problem was because in the first pictures that came out it didnt look that great.

 

[TH3D4RKKN1GH7]

I like both suits just about even, but the cowl in Begins was better in my opinion. The nose on the new one is too big. I also preferred the animal like nature of the first suit quite a bit.

 

[The Chris]

I see why would say the Begins cowl is better, but I'm gonna go with the TDK one because of the smaller mouth area. It makes him look even less recognizable, and sometimes more sinister.

 

[DaRkVeNgeanCe]

After seeing TDK again today for a fourth time, I still like the BB suit and TDK suit equally.

 

[-Arya-]

After seeing TDK again today for a fourth time, I still like the BB suit and TDK suit equally.

Im right there with ya. They are the best suits IMO. Very versatile, useful, and yet faithful in some way to the original source material. Gotta love it

 

[DaRkVeNgeanCe]

^
Glad you agree Arya!

 

[SheldonLevene]

The BB suit is just far more 'Batman.' TDK's suit looks more practical and useful, but doesn't appear overtly 'Batman' with the exception of the ears and cape.

 

[nameless_hero]

As much as I liked the movement that was gained from the Dark Knight suit, I still would've loved to see the Begins suit altered in the same ways. It was more menacing, sleeker and had the overall "hey that's a sweet batsuit" appeal.

Had the Begins suit been segmented, just as the DK suit, it would've allowed for mobility as well. Think of the Iron Man suit, several peices layered over one another, great mobility without seperated plates.

My concept is to keep the Begins suit, but seperate the major pivot areas and have them independant of eachother. Also, take the idea behind the DK cowl only maintain the panther like neck, just slim it down and have a two peice construction for the cowl.

If these colored areas were independant of eachother the suit would allowed for more mobility without the wrinkling or "puff."

The arms and stomach would be mounted to the undersuit, while the rib plated would attached over this, allowing for the stomach to bend, and the chest would secure over the rib plating. All would be seperated just enough to allow them to move over and behind one another for better movement. the idea came to me while looking at my Movie Masters Begins figure and seeing the segmented areas that allow the figure to move.

 

[metalhead_dave]

The Begins cowl is bigger, not smaller, than the TDK suit. Well, they're more or less exactly the same size except for the slimmed down jaw on the TDK.

You sure? I mean when I see Bale in that cowl, it looks like the top part of his head is bigger than his jaw. It doesn't seem as even looking as it did in Begins.

 

[Pfeiffer-Pfan]

The only thing that I missed about TDK suit is how the cape no longer envelopes Batman, to give him that demonic appearance he originally wanted.

I dunno... but the suit was great and I never thought thats not Batman.

 

[The Caped Knight]

The only thing that I missed about TDK suit is how the cape no longer envelopes Batman, to give him that demonic appearance he originally wanted.

I dunno... but the suit was great and I never thought thats not Batman.

To be fair we didn't have a scene where Batman was just standing around in the New suit . I'm sure if we had a scene with him standing, The cape would've enveloped him .

Although this sequence was incredible

I love the Gilder Cape attachment .

 

[hatebox]

I was very impressed with the new suit on film. Light years ahead of the BB one, and the cowl, much to surprise, didn't look egg-shaped in any frame.

Kudos Nolan & Lynda Hemming.

 

[lujho]

You sure? I mean when I see Bale in that cowl, it looks like the top part of his head is bigger than his jaw. It doesn't seem as even looking as it did in Begins.

The top part of anyone's head is bigger than their jaw, surely?

Anyway, maybe it's the smaller mouth-hole that makes the rest of the cowl look bigger to you? As in there's a greater ratio of cowl to uncovered face?

I'm pretty certain that from the nose up the sculpts of each cowl are close to identical. I certainly don't think any one is thicker than the other or adds any more bulk to the head - apart from the jaw area on the Begins cowl.

 

[hatebox]

There's something about the cowl that made batman look very... thoughtful. Which I appreciated.

 

[The Caped Knight]

BATMAN BEGINS Cowl

As you can see The nose is very pointy in The Begins suit . Some of you were complaining that the nose in TDK is flat . When in reality it the same as the Begins cowl. The only thing is that certain camera angles changes the appearence of the nose piece . (Example : When Batman grabs Manori in the nightclub at the end of scene the close up shot show the nose to be very pointy . But in the close up shot of Batman in the Interagation Room with The Joker the nose shot is flat .)

 

[TheDarkKnight08]

To be fair we didn't have a scene where Batman was just standing around in the New suit . I'm sure if we had a scene with him standing, The cape would've enveloped him .

Although this sequence was incredible

I love the Gilder Cape attachment .

That shot is iconic.

 

[SheldonLevene]

BATMAN BEGINS Cowl

God I love that suit.