The Dark Knight Steven Spielberg calls the Nolan Batman movies beautiful art films

[The Joker]

[YT]r69N56plrDE#t=256[/YT]

Go to 4:42 on the video. He says they're very successful well told stories, but also beautiful visual art films. I think that's really a great compliment coming from someone of Spielberg's status.

EDIT new link since the YT one seems to be down; https://tune.pk/video/4112521/in-co...-spielberg-and-stacey-snider-on-the-front-row

 

[Green Goblin]

I'd call TDK a art film, perhaps BB but certainly not TDKR. Great to see Comic Book Films getting praise even if it is Nolan again

 

[Senator Pleasury]

I agree with Steve.

 

[BatLobster]

Me too. He's talking about the ability for big blockbuster films to simultaneously be considered art, and the trilogy is probably one of the most striking examples of that in recent memory.

Great find Joker.

 

[The Joker]

http://news.moviefone.com/2013/08/27/the-dark-knight-voted-best-sequel/

I think this belongs in a thread like this. TDK being voted the greatest sequel of all time.

 

[BatLobster]

It's a tossup between TDK and Empire for me. Then again, Batman and Star Wars are like two of my favorite things in life. t:

 

[Victarion]

I give it to TDK. I can't forgive SW for being a rip-job worthy of Paolini (ironic, as I used to accuse Paolini's novels of being shameless thefts of Lucas's work).

 

[shauner111]

Never been a huge Star Wars fan. I dig it now, but that's due to the fact that I wasn't exposed to SW when I was a child. First time I saw Empire I was deep into high school, so it didn't quite have the same effect on me as others. I was too busy watching Scarface and Pulp Fiction to appreciate Chewbacca I guess .

So TDK tops Empire for me.

 

[Jokers_Wild]

I gotta give it to TDK from my personal experience of actually seeing it in the theater for the first time, and following along as all the hype built. It's the only film I got goosebumps from at the end watching Gordon's last speech, realizing that this was something special. I was born after Empire, so I never got to experience it that way. I loved those SW films as a kid, but I never knew them as new movies.

 

[BatLobster]

Yeah, I'm a huge SW fan but I was born after the Original Trilogy too. I always say that experience of seeing TDK for the first time with a sold out midnight crowd felt like the closest thing to Empire a person of my generation could experience. It was probably the greatest theater experience of my life, lived up to every ounce of hype I had been building in my head.

TDKR came damn close in terms of how much fun I was having, but the night got soured for me when I heard about Aurora only minutes after leaving the theater.

 

[shauner111]

I didnt hear of the shooting til the next day or so. But TDKR was the next best theater experience i had in terms of the type of crowd i was surrounded by. TDK was just insane. The reactions to Joker was so awesome. The pencil trick, the batpod coming out for the first time, etc.

But Rises was surreal too because i was probably more excited for that movie than any other film EVER. I was literally shaking when it started. Ahhhh such a Bat fanboy.

 

[BatLobster]

TDKR was so bittersweet for me too in general. As soon as the WB logo came up I was feeling so many emotions at once that I almost just went numb. I was sooo hyped, but also hyper-aware that this was the last time I'd be seeing a Nolan Batman film for the first time.

But yeah, the theater of experience of both movies was on a different level than anything else for me. TDK for all the obvious reasons you mentioned. TDKR, it was just insane to see the amount of grown men there were with tears in their eyes when the movie ended. Also, when Bane broke Batman's back, the theater erupted in applause which was kind of an odd moment for me, haha.

All in all, the whole experience of seeing these movies was pure adrenaline. Especially on IMAX. Damn I miss it.

 

[shauner111]

Oh!! When Bane broke his back. My God. I didnt cheer but i yelled HOLY ****! NOLAN BROKE HIS BACK! lmao

Begins was the polar opposite, as i went to see a "Batman" movie that i literally had no idea about. Didnt see a single trailer, didnt hear of the cast, didnt even hear there was a Batman movie until the day of and walking into it, i thought Bruce would only become Batman at the very end. So it was just a quiet, but total shock for me. I saw it in a regular theater on a rainy night (totally matched the mood of the film!)

 

[Visceral]

All three are really good even if you nitpick the ones that aren't TDK they are great films that deserve respect and honor the character.

 

[gdw]

Oh!! When Bane broke his back. My God. I didnt cheer but i yelled HOLY ****! NOLAN BROKE HIS BACK! lmao

Begins was the polar opposite, as i went to see a "Batman" movie that i literally had no idea about. Didnt see a single trailer, didnt hear of the cast, didnt even hear there was a Batman movie until the day of and walking into it, i thought Bruce would only become Batman at the very end. So it was just a quiet, but total shock for me. I saw it in a regular theater on a rainy night (totally matched the mood of the film!)

Man, I envy your experience with Begins. I can't imagine literally walking in off the streets to that movie, knowing nothing about it.

 

[shauner111]

It was truly awesome. I had no idea. My friends knew but never f'n told me! I was way too busy back then with music. Like obsessed. So i didnt see too many movies at the cinema.

We go in, and i see the posters/billboards and im like holy ****, it's a ****ing Batman movie and i know nothing about it. They're reinventing it? Or is this a prequel to Batman 89?? Seriously lol. I was clueless.

Im watching the damn movie, i see Michael Caine im like holy ****. Even before that im like "I know this guy! Christian Bale from American Psycho, are you serious?" The tone is all serious and im just super intrigued but not expecting the Bat to show up til the end. The Joe Chill scene comes up and im like OK, i know this is grittier but now i know for sure it has nothing to do with Tim Burton.

Friggin Morgan Freeman shows up i go ape**** (in the most silent way possible). It's like a silent scream . I soon find out that Scarecrow is the villain and im just baffled at how different this is.

The entire first act made me speechless though. The end with the Joker scene? The tumbler chase in the theater?? I went back and saw 3 more times with a friend of mine mainly for those scenes.

I went back to being a Batman fan after the month of June 2005. After spending every year post-1999 not seeing or hearing anything about Batman. I just gave up as a kid after i saw Batman & Robin then read Knightfall soon after. I practically threw my hands up in the air like **** THIS, **** HOLLYWOOD, THEY DONT KNOW WHAT BATMAN IS!

 

[Black Narcissus]

Nolan makes $100 million art house films. t:

 

[shauner111]

To get back to Spielberg's quote. I think he's absolutely right about how a commercial blockbuster doesn't have to just be that. It's a rarity IMO to find a massive money making blockbuster that can be promoted as a popcorn movie and considered fun...that also has intelligence, good direction/cinematography/editing/whatever. But it can happen.

Nolan's Batman movies are like that. Even Inception is a movie i would put into that category.

I would say Neil Blomkamp is close. Im not quite sure since ive only seen District 9 once back in 2009, and Elysium once this summer. But i would say sure to those movies.

Gravity is a much better example though.

I think if Affleck writes/directs his own Batman movies, there's a good chance that they'll be added to that list as well. Seeing the types of scripts he likes to shoot. I have no doubt of the grittiness he would bring to Gotham, with a good cast and great performances, but i wouldnt call Affleck's films "visually artistic" as Spielberg likes to say.

 

[ThePhantasm]

I wonder if Spielberg would direct a DC comics film? Martian Manhunter, perhaps?

 

[James H]

Paul Thomas Anderson:

"I’ve never really been asked to do [big tentpole blockbusters]. You look at what Christopher Nolan did with Batman, that’s like the meeting of the highest level of artistic skill & a kind of commerciality and appeal to a wide range of people which is what anybody would want. It’s kind of unparalleled actually, and they don’t come to me with those. And that’s alright."

http://www.slashfilm.com/paul-thomas-anderson-admires-christopher-nolans-dark-knight-trilogy/

 

[redfirebird2008]

My experience with Begins was interesting. I had heard they were planning to make a new Batman movie but completely forgot about it at the time it came out. Randomly stumbled onto it at IMDB around a month after it was released.

The high IMDB rating intrigued me. I was thinking, "A Batman movie with such a high rating?" So I checked Rotten Tomatoes and sure enough the critics were giving it a lot of praise too. I said what the hell, I should check it out while it's still in theaters.

Obviously a month after the film came out, it wasn't a large crowd at the theater. But people seemed very excited when the Joker card was revealed at the end. I was pumped. Still the best superhero movie I've ever seen.

 

[BatLobster]

It's amazing to me how many people who are huge fans of the Nolan trilogy today were completely blindsided by Begins. I kind of envy that experience. I was following "Batman 5" since like 2000 via BOF so I remember the day Nolan was first announced as director, the day Bale was cast, etc. I had a pretty good feeling the movie was going to be something special by the time June 2005 rolled around.

I firmly believe that Batman Begins woke up a lot of "dormant" Batman fans though. I have a friend who attributes BB for getting him back into comics, and now he's the most hardcore comic reader I know. What's also interesting is I find that people who went into it somewhat blind are often the people who rate it as their favorite. Just something I've observed in my experience.

 

[redfirebird2008]

I firmly believe that Batman Begins woke up a lot of "dormant" Batman fans though. I have a friend who attributes BB for getting him back into comics, and now he's the most hardcore comic reader I know. What's also interesting is I find that people who went into it somewhat blind are often the people who rate it as their favorite. Just something I've observed in my experience.

Yes, that describes me (except the comic book part). I was a huge Batman fan as a kid thanks to B89, BR, and BTAS. Had all the toys, watched the movies and show religiously, and had numerous Batman-themed birthday parties.

The first time I ever experienced snow (I was about 4), I ran outside in my Batman costume and made the mistake of diving into it. LOL, not a good idea in thin spandex.

But after Batman & Robin, I just sort of lost touch with it. I still watched B89 and BR on DVD, but I wasn't that curious to find information about the character on the Internet. So yeah, Begins caught me completely by surprise. Even after seeing the level of praise that it was receiving from RT and IMDB, I was still very skeptical due to the quality of B&R.

 

[The Joker]

The two most surprising things about Begins after I saw it was Batman actually had some character development, and Gordon got a personality. Two things the older Batman movies never had.

 

[shauner111]

Yeah Gordon is one of my favorite characters, and super important. It's one thing i can never forgive the old Batman movies for, only using Gordon in a few scenes..and having him portayed as a one-dimensional buffoon.