The Dark Knight I can't believe WB let Nolan...(spoilers!)

[Anita18]

We all know that TDK shattered the superhero movie formula, but I'm still surprised at some things that Nolan was able to get away with, considering this was WB's summer tentpole blockbuster.

My list:

• Pencil trick. Nolan and Co. weren't even sure they could get away with a PG-13 rating at first, but they obviously found a way.
• The villain rigs it so [blackout]the hero cannot save the love interest.[/blackout]
• Ordinary citizens save themselves, not knowing if the hero will come to their rescue.
• No suiting-up, coming-to-the-rescue scene.
• Someone holding a gun to a kid's head.
• The villain not having a lair where he muses about his devious plans.
• Villain has no backstory.

I might come up with more later.

 

[Apollo]

good list t:

 

[Arsh]

We all know that TDK shattered the superhero movie formula, but I'm still surprised at some things that Nolan was able to get away with, considering this was WB's summer tentpole blockbuster.

My list:

• Pencil trick. Nolan and Co. weren't even sure they could get away with a PG-13 rating at first, but they obviously found a way.
• The villain rigs it so [blackout]the hero cannot save the love interest.[/blackout]
• Ordinary citizens save themselves, not knowing if the hero will come to their rescue.
• No suiting-up, coming-to-the-rescue scene.
• Someone holding a gun to a kid's head.
• The villain not having a lair where he muses about his devious plans.
• Villain has no backstory.

I might come up with more later.

Well, technically... the movie had all this stuff, but it didn't have any nudity, explicit violence/blood/gore, sex, or swearing which would cause it to get an R.

Nolan's a genius.

 

[Shane Diesel]

From the studio's standpoint I think nowadays comic book films translated directly from their source material have proven their worth as money makers so there's less studio interference than in the days of Superman and Batman 89 where studios seemed to be a lot more skittish.

Also the bottom line is what matters to studios. They would have let Burton continue with his idiosyncrasies to Batman 3 had BR made more money and the product tie in companies didn't give the studio grief. In DK the risk the studio took in giving Nolan free license paid off bigtime.

 

[Beanjuice]

"Well Boo-frickidy-hoo!!"

 

[eledoremassis02]

Guess they learned from Batman Returns - Batman And Robin....to let the directer do what he see's....well that and what happened with Spiderman 3

 

[baerrtt]

From the studio's standpoint I think nowadays comic book films translated directly from their source material have proven their worth as money makers so there's less studio interference than in the days of Superman and Batman 89 where studios seemed to be a lot more skittish.

Also the bottom line is what matters to studios. They would have let Burton continue with his idiosyncrasies to Batman 3 had BR made more money and the product tie in companies didn't give the studio grief. In DK the risk the studio took in giving Nolan free license paid off bigtime.

Also despite Ang Lee's HULK most studios are hiring idiosyncratic directors to do mainstream movies in their own style. The people running the studios now are different from the ones 15 years ago who thought all comic book films (all action movies period) be dumb whereas now there is the realisation that, tentpole or not, you can interpret the genre in any fashion.

 

[magicangel1989]

One of Barrie (my hometown)'s local movie theater sites, The Dark Knight was rated 14A!

 

[TheDarkVictory]

yeah rachel's fate and the magic trick are both things i would think WB probably had their reservations about, but clearly they made the right decisions. i can't believe WB let them get away with the themes they were dealing with in what was to be their big superhero tentpole flick, i mean...there's some dark stuff going on in this flick, especially towards the end.

honestly i think the most shocking thing is that the movie ends with the hero essentially not saving the day, and instead becoming somewhat of a "villain"...if i'm not mistaken, i can't think of another superhero film where it ends with the hero on the run and the main villain essentially winning (though not truly winning, because batman is taking the fall for harvey, but the first half of joker's plan [corrupt harvey dent] worked pretty well)

 

[DACrowe]

SPOILERS

I think the biggest ones were:

-Allowing the love interest to be killed off. And the hero be forced in a situation where he cannot save her at that.
-The villain "win" at the end. So that the hero has to cover up the truth.
-The hero end the movie hated while one of the villains dies a hero.
-Said dead villain was in fact an extremely sympathetic character who had an injury worthy of an R-rating.
-All the violence the JOker did.
-Making it completely suspenseful.

And the number one reason:

-First PG-13 superhero movie since BR NOT meant for kids to see or enjoy. WB could've hesitated given how that worked out last time.

 

[ultimatefan]

Spoiler

The hero taking the blame for crimes he did not commit and being chased by the police

is certainly not anything I ever seen in the genre, or any movie that comes to memory right now.

I was certainly wondering how Nolan got away with all this, cuz the movie just keeps getting heavier and heavier and pulls no punches, you really lose that "comfort zone" you have in most blockbusters where you´re pretty sure you know how it ends up.

 

[DarkKnight245]

It's not called the Dark Knight for nothing.

 

[ultimatefan]

I remember Nolan saying how he grew up with the classic blockbusters like Raiders and Empire and how he wanted to get back to that, where those movies still hadn´t been bottled up into a neat formula and were just well-crafted cinematic works that happened to appeal to a large audience.

 

[DARKxGOTHAMITE]

this WHOLE thread is why TDK has done so well...it broke the tradition like Anita said...

its changed things...forever...

its set the EPIC standard and a new standard in which SUPERHERO movies can be depicted.

nolan ftw

 

[Nivek]

-First PG-13 superhero movie since BR NOT meant for kids to see or enjoy. WB could've hesitated given how that worked out last time.

The fact that from what I'm understanding is even little kids ( around 7-9 yrs old are aware that this is a good movie, not just a good comic book movie. I know I could have only dreamed back in 1989 when I was 15 that a Batman film can have this level of quality and true film craftsmanship to it.

 

[JediFeaz87]

All of the above mentioned reasons are just added notes as to why this film has finally brought credibility to the comicbook/superhero genre.

 

[DesertBat86]

so what your saying is, TDK is nearly cliche free

WB has to sign Nolan up for 3

 

[Bond]

I remember Nolan saying how he grew up with the classic blockbusters like Raiders and Empire and how he wanted to get back to that, where those movies still hadn´t been bottled up into a neat formula and were just well-crafted cinematic works that happened to appeal to a large audience.

I remember him saying that too. And your sig is awesome.

 

[Harrygucha]

GUYS!! GIRLS!!! Grab your friends, family, pets, etc. AND GO SEE TDK TONIGHT!!!! According to Box Office Estimates, TDK just barely edged out The Mummy. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/ See TDK tonight with a bunch of people to secure the win! "I'm counting on it."

 

[ultimatefan]

I remember him saying that too. And your sig is awesome.

Oh thanks, we try!

 

[Sundancer]

With studios pressuing MPAA for PG-13 ratings, They've been able to get away with mroe nowadays then before, or so it seems. We're seeing a more action movies rated PG-13 that probably would have been R movies in the 80's (Live Free or Die Hard, any movie with the Rock etc.)


I'm not surprised. Makes me wonder what Nolan would do with an R rated TDK.

 

[Malone]

We all know that TDK shattered the superhero movie formula, but I'm still surprised at some things that Nolan was able to get away with, considering this was WB's summer tentpole blockbuster.

My list:

• Pencil trick. Nolan and Co. weren't even sure they could get away with a PG-13 rating at first, but they obviously found a way.
• The villain rigs it so [blackout]the hero cannot save the love interest.[/blackout]
• Ordinary citizens save themselves, not knowing if the hero will come to their rescue.
• No suiting-up, coming-to-the-rescue scene.
• Someone holding a gun to a kid's head.
• The villain not having a lair where he muses about his devious plans.
• Villain has no backstory.

I might come up with more later.

Reading your list makes me love the movie even more!

 

[[A]]

We all know that TDK shattered the superhero movie formula, but I'm still surprised at some things that Nolan was able to get away with, considering this was WB's summer tentpole blockbuster(...)

Excellent list! You're absolutely right. Nolan's the man.

 

[Dr. Crane]

with the success of "Dark Knight"... just try to imagine what they will let him get away with in the next one....

 

[Batman137]

IF he does one