The Dark Knight Nolan=Miller

[Doctor Baywatch]

I don't see much "Frank Miller" in Nolan and the Burton movies.

Burton's style is quite the opposite to Frank Miller's.
Nolan's Batman is far more tame in more like the 70s Batman mixed with Loeb's creations.

 

[Riven]

Frank Miller writes Batman as a psychotic fascist who, despite grim and gritty demeanor, takes immense pleasure in breaking bones and busting heads. To Miller's Batman revenge is everything and justice is something he's lost all belief in. Not just in DKR and DKSA is this evident, the same could be said for Year One and his latest turn in Batman:Confidential, all of which Miller himself considers part of the same interpretation / canon.

Nolan goes for anything but that interpretation. Neither did Burton, really, apart from taking some darker cues from Miller's Batman universe. Burton's Batman killed and was mentally very unbalanced, but he clearly never took any joy in his actions as the Dark Knight and craved nothing more than to end his war and attempt to lead a normal life as Bruce Wayne. For Miller, there is only the Batman and no desire at all to lead any kind of life in regular society.

 

[gdw]

The connections between Miller's Y1 and Begins are apparent, but as it has been said many times, TDK will draw heavily from TLH.

 

[Street Vendor]

There are some elements of Miller in Nolan's work, but he seems to get most of his inspiration from LONG HALLOWEEN, along with the early stories(1939-40), and quite a bit of Denny O'Neill/Neal Adams. The relationship Batman has with Gordon is right out of a seventies comic book.

 

[BubbaGump]

This thread is old...and Catman STILL doesn't make sense.

 

[BubbaGump]

There are some elements of Miller in Nolan's work, but he seems to get most of his inspiration from LONG HALLOWEEN, along with the early stories(1939-40), and quite a bit of Denny O'Neill/Neal Adams. The relationship Batman has with Gordon is right out of a seventies comic book.

Batman's relationship with Gordon is straight from Year One.

 

[Street Vendor]

Batman's relationship with Gordon is straight from Year One.

Which was inspired by O'Neill and Adams work in the seventies. Miller didn't invent these characters out of whole cloth, he built on what came before.

Gordon and Batman talking on the roof with the Batsignal shining in the sky? Pure O'Neill/Adams.

 

[BubbaGump]

Let's Ronz this thread UP!

Give me the O'Neil and Adams comics over that anyday. They may be outdated but that was Batman at his best.

QFT...

Yep. Miller isn't the same Batman writer like he was when he did TDKR & Year One anymore. I really dislike how he treat Batman like in All-Star Batman & Robin. Especially with Batman asking if Dick Grayson is ****** or dense before he said the infamous line some fans love for some reason.

You love it too.

I don't see much "Frank Miller" in Nolan and the Burton movies.

Burton's style is quite the opposite to Frank Miller's.
Nolan's Batman is far more tame in more like the 70s Batman mixed with Loeb's creations.

These are the comic book influences I see in Nolan's films:

Year One: The brownish tinge, grounded realism, the bats flying into the cops, a somewhat updated Bat-glider.

DKR: Just the Batmobile influence maybe?

TLH/DV/Haunted Knight: The interrogation sequences, "Twists" and plot turns, etc.

70's: Bruce Wayne's journey, Ra's. For TDK it would be the skinnier Batsuit and the penthouse apartment.

Frank Miller writes Batman as a psychotic fascist who, despite grim and gritty demeanor, takes immense pleasure in breaking bones and busting heads. To Miller's Batman revenge is everything and justice is something he's lost all belief in. Not just in DKR and DKSA is this evident, the same could be said for Year One and his latest turn in Batman:Confidential, all of which Miller himself considers part of the same interpretation / canon.

All Star, not BC.

Which was inspired by O'Neill and Adams work in the seventies. Miller didn't invent these characters out of whole cloth, he built on what came before.

Gordon and Batman talking on the roof with the Batsignal shining in the sky? Pure O'Neill/Adams.

QFT, in a sense.

 

[Nightwing1977]

You love it too.

Nyet.

 

[Christmas]

id say that a certain tone from TDKR can be felt in the trailer and prologue for TDK. the urban decay and insanity element is in both, for example in the prologue theres a chilling shot of a burning fire truck abandoned in the middle of an empty city street. thats the kind of stuff i think miller brought to the mythos. IMO

look at it this way---- re-read TDKR with the music from the prologue and or the trailer playing in the background, and the music will help set the tone for that imagery moreso than the elfman or TAS music.

 

[jimmy]

Christmas! You're late! It's already January!

 

[metropolitanpsy]

miller's batman is awesome

if batman was real he would be a pissed off tough guy who is brutal!

miller really gets batman plus the all star comic is totally class!

 

[Batmans Spirit]

i get u,ive been thinking this a while now,batman begins had plenty of scenes and ideas altered or completly riped from year one and dark knight returns

Nolan and the writers were just paying homage to the comics to show they are being faithful - or ideas they thought would work and get fans happy: "Hey cool that is similar (or from) Year One".

I also noticed the "I believe in Harvey Dent" was from Long Halloween; and was very happy with them bringing that line to the movies. It works and shows they are turning to the comics for inspiration, which is always good.

But i dont think for a minute they are looking towards the comics as a story or the backbone of a live action motion picture.

 

[Voyeur]

I think it was very smart of Nolan to use the Denny O'Neil era as inspiration.

 

[sad lieutenant]

id say that a certain tone from TDKR can be felt in the trailer and prologue for TDK. the urban decay and insanity element is in both, for example in the prologue theres a chilling shot of a burning fire truck abandoned in the middle of an empty city street. thats the kind of stuff i think miller brought to the mythos. IMO

look at it this way---- re-read TDKR with the music from the prologue and or the trailer playing in the background, and the music will help set the tone for that imagery moreso than the elfman or TAS music.

????? To suggest that the "urban decay and insanity element" (which I think begs some explanation) is the sole province of TDKR is silly. Insanity is everywhere in the Batman franchise; the "urban decay" in TDKR is that of a hyper-stylized eschatology. The latter is rather unique to Miller's vision, and no trace of it is found in Nolan's films at all.

 

[Doctor Baywatch]

Insanity is everywhere in the Batman franchise;

Batman is not insane

 

[sad lieutenant]

Insanity is everywhere in the Batman franchise.

Batman is not insane

I was thinking more of Arkham. And all the crazy bad guys that one comes across in every single Batman comic. And, actually, Batman is pretty much totally fawking insane.

 

[Doctor Baywatch]

I was thinking more of Arkham. And all the crazy bad guys that one comes across in every single Batman comic. And, actually, Batman is pretty much totally fawking insane.

No he is not. To call him insane is just cynical.

 

[sad lieutenant]

No he is not. To call him insane is just cynical.

Cynical? Cynical is making fun of Schopenhauer for playing the flute.

If I was dating some girl and after things started to get serious, she told me that since her parents were killed in a violent, random mugging she feels compelled to dress up as a giant bat and mete out brutality amongst her cities underworld, then I would have two reactions: 1)Awesome!, and 2) You're totally fawking insane. And I would be right on both accounts.

 

[Doctor Baywatch]

Cynical? Cynical is making fun of Schopenhauer for playing the flute.

If I was dating some girl and after things started to get serious, she told me that since her parents were killed in a violent, random mugging she feels compelled to dress up as a giant bat and mete out brutality amongst her cities underworld, then I would have two reactions: 1)Awesome!, and 2) You're totally fawking insane. And I would be right on both accounts.

No. Batman just gives his life a meaning and helps people. To call that insane is cynical. Before the rise of the internet few people suggested that Batman was insane. He was just a superhero like so many other. You look a simple character with eyes that are too mature.

 

[sad lieutenant]

No. Batman just gives his life a meaning and helps people. To call that insane is cynical. Before the rise of the internet few people suggested that Batman was insane. He was just a superhero like so many other. You look a simple character with eyes that are too mature.

The humorlessness of this forum is astounding. I make a Nietzsche/Schopenhauer reference in a freaking Batman forum and I don't even get a chuckle! I'm heading over to the Punisher boards... There's a "Self and The Other in Eugene O'Neill's late works" thread in the spoiler section that looks pretty lively.

 

[zarana]

Mentioning Miller gives me the chills in the bad way because his Batman vision and characterization is so mess up for me. Totally unrelatable unlike Nolan whose man is not perfect but overall he's a role model to me.

 

[Secret_Riddle]

TDKR?? Has Batman aged 20 years? Has Harvey Dent already been two-face? Is the joker already a long time "friend" of Batman?

I don't really see it.

 

[BubbaGump]

TDKR?? Has Batman aged 20 years? Has Harvey Dent already been two-face? Is the joker already a long time "friend" of Batman?

I don't really see it.

There's also this little book called Year One...

 

[gdw]

I wouldn't say silly. He's just a little 1D. IMO he's at his best when he's doing non Superhero books and making up his own characters.

When he's doing characters that have been around for 50 years and making them into something their not, it seems like he's doing it for shock value. Year One was great and easily one of my favorite Batman books but the other stuff is just garbage IMO. He makes Batman some loose cannon and kind of a jerk. Not the complex character that we've all come to know and love.

Give me the O'Neil and Adams comics over that anyday. They may be outdated but that was Batman at his best.

Um, Miller is responsible for making Batman the complex character we've all come to know and love.