The Dark Knight Intensity of Fight sequences in TDK!

[Fenrir]

The fight scene between Bourne and Desh in The Bourne Ultimatum is the PERFECT way to film the fight scenes. It's a great example of how to mix quick cuts, handheld camera and cool choreography to really give the audience a more personal perspective - you actually FEEL like you're in the fight, getting a sense of the speed and power behind each strike, furiously moving and dodging around, and even occasionally getting disoriented a little bit in the chaos. It's easily THE best fight scene in the entire Bourne Trilogy, besting even Identity's, which in retrospective, now seems less intense and more choreographed compared to Ultimatum's raw savagery combined with instinctual improvisation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCsQ-4UQDXA

 

[weezerspider]

^ Yeah, I think Bourne style fights would fit well in TDK

 

[jsf]

i wanna see some jet li ish

 

[TromaFreak64]

jsf i hope that was a joke.... but the general conscensus is the camera just needs to be pulled back

 

[metalhead971]

That fight scene was TNT!

 

[Joe-ker]

Perhaps part of the issue with the fight-filming was the same issue that we've all talked about in B89... The suit looks a little cumbersome and maybe with a wide-angled shot, the fighting follows suit. Perhaps with a new, more streamlined and flexible suit, we'll see some better fight action.

 

[Lobster Charlie]

Batman's fliexibilty wasn't the issue in Begins--not for me, at least. He moved just fine, but I'd agree that at times it's a bit difficult to track. I just don't think they were completely incoherent.

Check out the insane back roundhouse kick he does to one of the ninjas as an example of flexibility.

 

[Joe-ker]

Check out the insane back roundhouse kick he does to one of the ninjas as an example of flexibility.

I shall... indeed...

 

[Visionary]

I said fighting STYLE. The way Batman was fighting was good, it was the camera work that wasn't ideal, it was too close.

I couldn't see the fighting style, because I couldn't see the fighting.

 

[GoogleMe94]

Amen.It should never feel like the criminals have the "oh, it's Batman" attitude that was so prevelant in the Burton/Shumacher films..They need to constantly be pissing their pants evry time he hunts 'em down.

that would be lame though. i want batman to fight someone who is not so afraid of him, like a bane type guy who feels he can beat anyone. haveing everyone be scared of batman all the time would get old fast. in B89 and BB, the whole "wetting criminals pants" thing worked because he was just starting out, and an urban legend. once he became well known and more of a super hero, the criminals start becoming not so scared, since its well established that hes not an actual creature and is a man, but scary to face nonetheless. now that there is a batsignal and all that, criminals prolly wont be so scared of bats anymore, they'll be more eager to take him down, but are still very cautious about dealing with him since hes so powerful. that would make more sense to me then haveing every supervillian be scared of him. he needs a challenge, not fraidy-cats.

 

[GoogleMe94]

I couldn't see the fighting style, because I couldn't see the fighting.

same here. after i heard all about the fighting style, i was eager to see the fights, but....JUST COULDNT!!

 

[Fenrir]

that would be lame though. i want batman to fight someone who is not so afraid of him, like a bane type guy who feels he can beat anyone. haveing everyone be scared of batman all the time would get old fast. in B89 and BB, the whole "wetting criminals pants" thing worked because he was just starting out, and an urban legend. once he became well known and more of a super hero, the criminals start becoming not so scared, since its well established that hes not an actual creature and is a man, but scary to face nonetheless. now that there is a batsignal and all that, criminals prolly wont be so scared of bats anymore, they'll be more eager to take him down, but are still very cautious about dealing with him since hes so powerful. that would make more sense to me then haveing every supervillian be scared of him. he needs a challenge, not fraidy-cats.

Thing is, bub, there aren't really that many people who are skilled enough to be a challenge for Batman. The common thugs and hired muscle will still be scared of him nonetheless, most probably because of what he has done to their buddies before - you know, broken bones, ribs, limbs, a gunshot or two in the joints (like he did in Arkham in BB)...the kind of stuff that got those goons hospitalized. Sure, even if they do think of him as a man, they're terrified of what he can do to them, especially when they still don't have a clue as to how Batman can suddenly "fly" and "disappear".

And I can't believe you actually want those petty criminals to even be able to stand up to Bats, let alone pose any kind of threat to him. It completely defeats the purpose of the bat costume. Now of course, you'd say that sooner or later someone would figure out that it's an outfit, but that's never what I thought of it. The whole cowl and massive cape silhouette alone gives quite a frightening visage. Combine that with the element of surprise that Batman always has on his hands and you can understand why criminals fear him so. Not to mention what Ra's had said about terror clouding the senses of people...and it's quite true. When you're , you begin imagining seeing and hearing things that simply aren't there. It's this fear that both distorts and amplifies the criminals' perception of Batman.

 

[TromaFreak64]

that would be lame though. i want batman to fight someone who is not so afraid of him, like a bane type guy who feels he can beat anyone. haveing everyone be scared of batman all the time would get old fast. in B89 and BB, the whole "wetting criminals pants" thing worked because he was just starting out, and an urban legend. once he became well known and more of a super hero, the criminals start becoming not so scared, since its well established that hes not an actual creature and is a man, but scary to face nonetheless. now that there is a batsignal and all that, criminals prolly wont be so scared of bats anymore, they'll be more eager to take him down, but are still very cautious about dealing with him since hes so powerful. that would make more sense to me then haveing every supervillian be scared of him. he needs a challenge, not fraidy-cats.

This is your best post to date....

 

[Naite22]

Practically all reviews????

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/batman_begins/

Go there and read those reviews -- even the ones who don't like the movie seem to have nothing to do with the fight scenes... that's right there are 245 reviews and only about 9 of them mention "fight scenes" as any type of issue at all...

That's hardly "majority"... in fact that is like 3.6% or something....

Maybe you were trying to say something different like "people's opinions" but those aren't really "reviews" in the sense of the word as everyone else here knows it... so maybe you should be more clear or not deliberatly decieve people (if you were aware of this fact).

I could believe a majority of people say the fights were the problem, but professional critics... that's stretching it, but go to any message board and it seems to the one critique you see over and over is the fight scenes... so I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that is what you are saying.

I don't have a whole lot of data or sources to back that up (and as everyone knows I love sources) but just making a quick glance through BB thread and TDK threads at a general public site like IMDB there are currently over 20 threads in the 10 most recent pages of each addressing the issue... so I'd say that is a pretty good indication. Just be careful what you say.

Ok, you got me there... I just remember so incredibly many talking about the fights beeing too much in close up. And that has become so trendy today, and it's NOT cool!

I love the fighting-style in BB, I just hope they pan out the camera for the sequel. Too many were complaining about it when BB was first released, this I remember clearly though. Somebody, back me up on this!

 

[El Payaso]

Thing is, bub, there aren't really that many people who are skilled enough to be a challenge for Batman. The common thugs and hired muscle will still be scared of him nonetheless, most probably because of what he has done to their buddies before - you know, broken bones, ribs, limbs, a gunshot or two in the joints (like he did in Arkham in BB)...the kind of stuff that got those goons hospitalized. Sure, even if they do think of him as a man, they're terrified of what he can do to them, especially when they still don't have a clue as to how Batman can suddenly "fly" and "disappear".

And I can't believe you actually want those petty criminals to even be able to stand up to Bats, let alone pose any kind of threat to him. It completely defeats the purpose of the bat costume. Now of course, you'd say that sooner or later someone would figure out that it's an outfit, but that's never what I thought of it. The whole cowl and massive cape silhouette alone gives quite a frightening visage. Combine that with the element of surprise that Batman always has on his hands and you can understand why criminals fear him so. Not to mention what Ra's had said about terror clouding the senses of people...and it's quite true. When you're , you begin imagining seeing and hearing things that simply aren't there. It's this fear that both distorts and amplifies the criminals' perception of Batman.

Then we need writers that can create someone who is able to top Batman at fighting or he wouldn't be facing a real challenge and thus would make the fights boring for yet another reason.

 

[Fenrir]

Then we need writers that can create someone who is able to top Batman at fighting or he wouldn't be facing a real challenge and thus would make the fights boring for yet another reason.

Unfortunately Ra's and his League of Ninjas fit that bill perfectly but now that opportunity is lost so...

Besides, I pity anyone who thinks just because few can physically stand up to Batman in a fight there can't be any good fighting sequences. It's sad to see there are people who are limited even in their imagination.

 

[El Payaso]

Unfortunately Ra's and his League of Ninjas fit that bill perfectly but now that opportunity is lost so...

Besides, I pity anyone who thinks just because few can physically stand up to Batman in a fight there can't be any good fighting sequences. It's sad to see there are people who are limited even in their imagination.

I agree. Nevertheless I'll give Nolan a second chance about the fight sequences.

 

[Carnotaur3]

Ok, you got me there... I just remember so incredibly many talking about the fights beeing too much in close up. And that has become so trendy today, and it's NOT cool!

I love the fighting-style in BB, I just hope they pan out the camera for the sequel. Too many were complaining about it when BB was first released, this I remember clearly though. Somebody, back me up on this!

The close ups weren't really the problem, it was the editing. They cut away too fast from each shot to the next to the point where you're trying to decipher what you saw. I like most of the fight scenes and it does help bring out the brutality of the fight, but it was toward the end where we really needed to see Batman fighting.

 

[RKO]

The people who couldn't see the fighting in BB must be blind.

 

[El Payaso]

The people who couldn't see the fighting in BB must be blind.

And what an odd blindness it must be since we seem to have seen the rest of the movie, go figure.

 

[Crook]

Unfortunately Ra's and his League of Ninjas fit that bill perfectly but now that opportunity is lost so...

Agreed.

Ironically enough, the fast editing prolly would have suited TDK, more than BB. Chances are it'll be a one-sided fight with the thugs, so I'm not expecting some awesome fight choreography here.

Ra's and his ninjas will likely be the only ones in this franchise that can stand toe-to-toe with Bruce, and that ship has sailed already.

And what an odd blindness it must be since we seem to have seen the rest of the movie, go figure.

Well played.

 

[RKO]

And what an odd blindness it must be since we seem to have seen the rest of the movie, go figure.

That's what amazes me.

 

[El Payaso]

And what proves your theory wrong.

 

[Milu]

The fight scenes should be as intense as those of Walker Texas Ranger.

 

[Joe-ker]

The fight scenes should be as intense as those of Walker Texas Ranger.

And perhaps Chuck Norris should appear in all of them... with no explanation necessary.