The Dark Knight Do You Prefer TDK's Gotham or BB's Gotham

[K.B.]

Let me first start with this: Gotham city is just as much a character in the Batman mythos as Gordon, Joker and the hero himself and many people seem to forget this aspect.


TDK Gotham is actually leaps and bounds better and closer to the comics Gotham then BB as buildings and structures seemed more closed in with each other.

The thing I noticed about everyone who comments about BB's Gotham being like L.A. from "Balde Runner" is that I doubt they've ever actually SEEN "Blade Runner". The idea of L.A. is that things were never torn down but instead, new buildings and structers were just built on top of existing ones. (Gotham in B89 shares this same mentality and thats why so far, its been the best Gotham to date, but thats a different topic.)

The Gotham in BB lacks both the idea and look of a clostraphoic city and looks much more like Superman's Metroplois. Nothing seemes cobbled together and honestly, just looks like Chicago which dosent help the idea that this is supposed to be it's own city. The colour pallete of yellows and browns is also a terrible idea as it honestly just looks like s**t smeered on a screen.

TDK wisely got rid of things that honestly don't work (like the narrows) and gives us a city that, while not "perfect" per sey, IS pretty damn close to what Gotham should look like.

While yes the same citys were used, I don't know if its just the way Nolan shot it, but like I said, everything just seemed a little bit more closed in and a little bit more clostrophobic and better expressed the ideas that this is a bad place to live. (The choice to change the palette is just genius as well btw)

 

[danb26]

Yeah, there is something slightly different and that's why I edged towards BB as well for some reason, it's grittier and that Bladerunner comparsion is a good nod!

 

[danb26]

The thing I noticed about everyone who comments about BB's Gotham being like L.A. from "Balde Runner" is that I doubt they've ever actually SEEN "Blade Runner".

I haven't seen Balde Runner, but I have seen Blade Runner



Why would someone say it looks like something if they've not seen it? That's quite an assumption to make!

I do understand the differences, but I don't agree with your comments on the colour looking like 's***'

If anything, that's just crude.

 

[SuperSarah!]

In BB there was a lighter tone. the story was dark and Gotham was corrupt but there was a sense of warmth in places like Wayne manor. There was nothing like that in TDK. Everything was cold, hard glass and steel. this definitly enhanced the realism for me, and enforced the idea of solitude and despair. It became an ongoing attempt to create a moral society but in result, falling apart because of anarchy and chaos. metophorically as well as physically, Gotham transformed from a run down, sloppy city, to a cold harsh place where no one was safe.

In conclusion: I loved it!

 

[Eggyman]

In BB there was a lighter tone. the story was dark and Gotham was corrupt but there was a sense of warmth in places like Wayne manor. There was nothing like that in TDK. Everything was cold, hard glass and steel. this definitly enhanced the realism for me, and enforced the idea of solitude and despair. It became an ongoing attempt to create a moral society but in result, falling apart because of anarchy and chaos. metophorically as well as physically, Gotham transformed from a run down, sloppy city, to a cold harsh place where no one was safe.

In conclusion: I loved it!

Nice! I like that way of looking at it

 

[SuperSarah!]

i loved the blue tint to some scenes in the dark knight, especially the hong kong scene although it's not gotham. i always compare the yellowish/orange color of BB's posters to the blue of TDK posters. i love the blue.

I noticed that too. in fact I was a little bit uncomfortable with it, but looking back on BB I think I like the blue tint more

 

[SheldonLevene]

The blue tint of the film honestly didn't look that natural to me. Like when Gordon and Loeb are in the office. Outside is blue and it looks fake kind of. Idk maybe just me.

 

[Gotham22]

TDK

It looked darker and not too realistic as BB was.

 

[The Sage]

The Dark Knight's. I thought the Begins's Gotham was too bright.

 

[DoctorJones]

In BB there was a lighter tone. the story was dark and Gotham was corrupt but there was a sense of warmth in places like Wayne manor. There was nothing like that in TDK. Everything was cold, hard glass and steel. this definitly enhanced the realism for me, and enforced the idea of solitude and despair. It became an ongoing attempt to create a moral society but in result, falling apart because of anarchy and chaos. metophorically as well as physically, Gotham transformed from a run down, sloppy city, to a cold harsh place where no one was safe.

In conclusion: I loved it!

Definitely agree. I like the earthier tones of BB, but it served the story just as the coldness of the skyscrapers in TDK serve its own tone. Nolan went out of his way to make a sequel that wouldn't feel like a cash-in on the original.

 

[I Am The Knight]

Every scene in The Narrows was so atmospheric, so I'm going with BB.

 

[Girl_Wonder]

It's a tough choice for me...but I voted TDK. Mainly because I felt for the first time a true sense of a city, if that makes sense. I just don't feel i saw as much of the city in BB as I did in TDK. I dunno...I liked both really.

 

[The Senator]

I personally don't care one way or the other. Most of Batman Begins was set in a different part of Gotham, the Narrows, which was essentially the ass hole of Gotham City. Most of the Dark Knight appeared to be set in downtown Gotham City, which obviously looked cleaner and a lot like most major metropolitan cities.

If I had to pick, I would say that I prefer TDK's Gotham a little bit more. I always thought that the architecture in previous Batman films (BB included) was beautiful but distracting. With this film, I wasn't focused on the scenery and the atmosphere. I was focused on whichever characters were on screen at the time.

 

[DACrowe]

Let me first start with this: Gotham city is just as much a character in the Batman mythos as Gordon, Joker and the hero himself and many people seem to forget this aspect.


TDK Gotham is actually leaps and bounds better and closer to the comics Gotham then BB as buildings and structures seemed more closed in with each other.

The thing I noticed about everyone who comments about BB's Gotham being like L.A. from "Balde Runner" is that I doubt they've ever actually SEEN "Blade Runner". The idea of L.A. is that things were never torn down but instead, new buildings and structers were just built on top of existing ones. (Gotham in B89 shares this same mentality and thats why so far, its been the best Gotham to date, but thats a different topic.)

The Gotham in BB lacks both the idea and look of a clostraphoic city and looks much more like Superman's Metroplois. Nothing seemes cobbled together and honestly, just looks like Chicago which dosent help the idea that this is supposed to be it's own city. The colour pallete of yellows and browns is also a terrible idea as it honestly just looks like s**t smeered on a screen.

TDK wisely got rid of things that honestly don't work (like the narrows) and gives us a city that, while not "perfect" per sey, IS pretty damn close to what Gotham should look like.

While yes the same citys were used, I don't know if its just the way Nolan shot it, but like I said, everything just seemed a little bit more closed in and a little bit more clostrophobic and better expressed the ideas that this is a bad place to live. (The choice to change the palette is just genius as well btw)

Really? I'd say Gotham is much bigger and grander in TDK. The streets are wide and large in scope. They are epic in their visceral impact and much more sprawling. I thought Gotham was much more closed in and claustrophobic in BB. It also might be the city looked really run down and grungy in BB while it looked like a beautiful city in TDK, especially in the daylight which was used heavily to vveil the corruption underneath.

 

[StylishHokie21]

Aren't they the same? I'm lost.