The Dark Knight The Dark Knight Anime Tie in DVD (Gotham Knight)

[Ibn]

The animation was STUNNING. The music was outstanding (they even had a little ode to shirley walkers BTAS theme which almost gave me a heart attack at 21). But the stories were kinda bland with the exception of a few. So I see where everybody is coming from now. Dave Goyer KILLED In Darkness Dwells. I wish to god they'd atleast consider making a series based off of that style. The Deadshot story was cool too. But stuff like the story with the Russian and Maroni beef barely had Batman in it, which sucked because he looked outstanding. Kevin Conroy was still the man though. In every one of the segments, he was the man. Even the girly looking bruce, he was perfect. Overall, for the sake that its a good product and we still don't know exactly what's on the DVD, I'm still buying.

 

[Cmill216]

I just saw the film. And while I've always been the type of guy who accepts any and all opinions, I honestly can't see how any real Batman fan can see Gotham Knight and not be blown completely away.

This is an amazing film. Everything about it works so unbelievably well. The animation is gorgeous, and I could spend an entire thread describing how breathtaking it is, but it's the storytelling packed here that sells the film. The six individual shorts work so incredibly well with one another, intertwining and transitioning within each other to tell one complete story.

And I don't understand how anyone can say this film doesn't serve as a bridge between the two live action Nolan films when you've got references and incidents involving Jonathan Crane, the mob wars, Batman's burgeoning relationship with the GCPD, Batman's impact on the culture of Gotham, Lucius Fox, etc etc etc.

It's going to take me another day to gather my thoughts in full, but suffice to say this blew my expectations out of the water. For anyone who calls themselves a Batman fan, it's a must see. Hell, it's not even a must see, it's a "stop watching re-runs of House, get the hell off your couch, and go get this frickin' movie" see.

10/10

 

[byte19]

epic win!!

 

[DARKxGOTHAMITE]

FTW.

ill be gettin it on the 8th fo sho

 

[Cmill216]

Okay, some more thoughts gathered. Here's a rundown of what I got out of the six individual stories:

"Have I Got A Story To Tell You..." looks at Batman's impact on the citizens of Gotham and how many of them perceive him. He's a mythological figure to many in the city. Sure, this has been done before. But within the context of this Batman saga, it needed to be re-imagined.

"Crossfire" highlights his impact on certain members of the GCPD, and how Gordan's relationship and trust in Batman has grown since the events of Begins.

"Field Test" analyzes the nuances of Bruce's relationship Lucius Fox and just how far Batman will go to protect himself in his cause.

"In Darkness Dwells" further strengthens the bond between Batman and Gordon while picking up on the Scarecrow story left off at the end of Begins.

"Working Through Pain" depicts just what the title suggests. How does Bruce himself deal with all of those cuts and bruises and injuries we see him deal with in the films? Well, this answers it.

And "Deadshot" brings together many of the story points from the earlier shorts, to showcase Batman fending off an incredible foe, making use of the very techniques and lessons that he learned throughout the rest of the series of shorts.

Again, what makes Gotham Knight successful is that the six films aren't just random standalone pieces. To genuinely get this experience, you must look at it as one film broken up into six unique parts. And it's not like it takes an effort on your part to do so, when so much of what happens in each film is re-examined in the subsequent stories.

 

[Halloween]

Can this be turned into a poll to have people vote on it?

 

[Dusty_Lane]

Don't get me wrong, I feel that a cartain part of it is linked with the Nolan series. Crossfire, Field Test, and In Darkness Dwells are clearly set in the Nolan Batman universe. However, I still stand by my statement that the continuity between Gotham Knight as a whole and Nolan's films are still just loosely.

To me Gotham Knight is really just a tribute to all things Batman with the unique art styles and storytelling. It's like combining BTAS, Nolan's Batman, Burton's Batman, the comic Batman, and new things we have never seen before. Each segment is almost like a comic book come to life in terms of length. If you ever read a stand alone comic story, it flows about as fast as the length of a Gotham Knight segment.

As far as continuity to BB and TDK, I almost get the feeling that, "Have I Got A Story For You" is more or less a link onto BTAS. If you think about it (I know it's been mentioned), Batman really looks alot like the later design from BTAS/TNBA. Only difference, he looks older, slower, and alittle out of shape. I wouldn't be suprised if a quasi BTAS future is what they had in mind for that segment.

The "Deadshot" segment feels very much like a mid to late '90s' Batman comic (kinda from the Chck Dixon 'Tec era). It doesn't so much link to Nolan's Batman universe as it does to just the other segments in Gotham Knight.

So all in all, this is a tribute and strange mixture of many different Batman styles.

 

[Ryo Jin]

Don't get me wrong, I feel that a cartain part of it is linked with the Nolan series. Crossfire, Field Test, and In Darkness Dwells are clearly set in the Nolan Batman universe. However, I still stand by my statement that the continuity between Gotham Knight as a whole and Nolan's films are still just loosely.

To me Gotham Knight is really just a tribute to all things Batman with the unique art styles and storytelling. It's like combining BTAS, Nolan's Batman, Burton's Batman, the comic Batman, and new things we have never seen before. Each segment is almost like a comic book come to life in terms of length. If you ever read a stand alone comic story, it flows about as fast as the length of a Gotham Knight segment.

As far as continuity to BB and TDK, I almost get the feeling that, "Have I Got A Story For You" is more or less a link onto BTAS. If you think about it (I know it's been mentioned), Batman really looks alot like the later design from BTAS/TNBA. Only difference, he looks older, slower, and alittle out of shape. I wouldn't be suprised if a quasi BTAS future is what they had in mind for that segment.

The "Deadshot" segment feels very much like a mid to late '90s' Batman comic (kinda from the Chck Dixon 'Tec era). It doesn't so much link to Nolan's Batman universe as it does to just the other segments in Gotham Knight.

So all in all, this is a tribute and strange mixture of many different Batman styles.

Wasn't that the point? I thought everyone knew this since it was announced about a year ago or so?

 

[Cmill216]

Don't get me wrong, I feel that a cartain part of it is linked with the Nolan series. Crossfire, Field Test, and In Darkness Dwells are clearly set in the Nolan Batman universe. However, I still stand by my statement that the continuity between Gotham Knight as a whole and Nolan's films are still just loosely.

The "Deadshot" segment feels very much like a mid to late '90s' Batman comic (kinda from the Chck Dixon 'Tec era). It doesn't so much link to Nolan's Batman universe as it does to just the other segments in Gotham Knight.

The thing I don't get is where do you see Gotham Knight not linking up between Batman Begins and TDK? Where is the continuity out of place? Batman's relationship with Gordon is as it should be. Bruce's relationship with Lucius is as it should be. Crane is still on the loose. Bruce's age and look is on point.

So where's the lack of continuity? It seems to me you're solely basing this perception on the film's style alone. The film wasn't made to look exactly like Nolan's world. That was never the point. Visually, yes, the film is a tribute to all things Batman, but the story is as they promised it would be: it illustrates Batman's rise in Gotham post-origin (Batman Begins) and delves deeper into both his key relationships within Gotham but also his own motivations for fighting the good fight.

 

[Saint]

GK was really exceptional. I especially enjoyed In Darkness Dwells, Deadshot, and my personal favourite, Working Through Pain. Every segment looked incredible; great design and great animation all around. There were so many fantastic stylistic moments--I wish we could get this level of quality in an ongoing series.

A couple of segments even managed to explore some interesting ideas about Batman. Working Through Pain is my favourite, as it's about Bruce's inability to let go. Crossfire gave a really interesting look at the fallout from Batman Begins, both in terms of it's effect on Gotham and the reaction within the police department. I hope the idea of the Narrows island becoming 100% Asylum grounds is touched on in the movie; that's an incredible tool for portraying Gotham's transformation into an insane, freakish town. I also liked how in a segment about cops, Batman is portrayed as a supernatural, unknown force, and only speaks in the last seconds--and when he does, it's a very human voice and a very human line, serving to demonstrate his humanity specifically to the Allen.

Field Test was the weakest segment, in terms of story, but still interesting enough. I suppose I just didn't like the bullet deflector, and that Bruce didn't ask "What happens to the deflected bullets" before ever using it. The Batman design in this segment was fantastic, so that's a plus.

In Darkness Dwells was a cool follow up to Begins; great action and a neat little story about Scarecrow and Croc. I especially enjoyed Batman's upside-down conversation with Gordon, and I love the fight where he cuts down the length of the pole with his gauntlet to death.

Deadshot was a fairly light comic-style story, and a lot of fun. The look, as I'm sure many agree, is perhaps the best of the bunch. I especially enjoyed Batman clipping Deadshot's head off the tunnel, shreding his mask.

Over all, great, great stuff. I really wish we could see some comparable in the ongoing cartoon realm. Depressing that WB would rather go with the unimpressive-looking Brave and the Bold.

 

[Mister J]

Batman: Gotham Knight is a damn fine piece of work. Visually, it's stunning, as the animation is crisp and very fluid. The beautiful background renderings of Gotham City are something that still get a 'wow' out of me, long after watching the film. I was indifferent to some of the character designs, but nothing worthy of truly crowing over.

In terms of story, my only real gripe was with Have I Got a Story For You. I understand the underlying point to the tale, but I've seen it done better in other forms that I'm sure most of us are privy to. Thankfully, they got it out of the way first and the piece picked up from there.

Crossfire is my favorite offering. I like the pairing between Ramirez/'not-Montoya' and Allen as a story vehicle; the Gotham City 'outsider', distrustful of the masked vigilante and the DC native, who finally sees some promise, led by the Bat, in a city long corrupted. It's certainly not anything groundbreaking, but an issue, seemingly ever-present when dealing with Batman, that need be addressed; certainly in this timeline, where he's a still a rather new entity. The scenes in the fire and presentation of the Narrows were great, as was the conclusion and parting shot.

Field Test touches on the arsenal that Batman employs. The redesigned Batmobile really caught my interest; sort of a Tumbler/traditional comics hybrid. The 'compromise' that Batman offers near the end spoke to his handling the city and how he still acknowledges the system despite his operating outside the law. The message communicated in Bruce's end feelings on the new gadget gets at one of Batman's tenets, highlighted by the great line we heard in the trailer.

The way In Darkness Dwells incorporated its material made it seem longer than its relatively short run time would indicate. I found myself wanting more of the fight with Croc, though it was understandably brief. I loved the obvious nod to Begins regarding Scarecrow and the escaped Arkham inmates and, most notably, the exchanges between Gordon and Batman.

I didn't fully take to Working Through Pain at first and had to queue it up again to get some true resonance out of it. The message was clear enough, but on the first viewing, I missed some of the subtleties because I had my mind made up that something different was coming. All in all, it's a nice parable of how deep Bruce's pain runs and the varied forms it takes.

Deadshot was a real treat that, as mentioned by several others, I could have gone for an extended take of. Hell, this easily could have gone for the entire length of a DTV and still been entertaining if done in the right format. Knowing Bruce's abhorrence of guns, it was insightful to see that he has an understanding of their allure. It's a natural fit to tell that story in the context of battling a noted assassin, who relies heavily on firearms.

At the end of the day, this project didn't disappoint me. Kevin Conroy's voice was a familiar and welcomed inclusion to a different presentation of Batman. In an extended sense, the same held true for me regarding Corey Burton, George Newbern, Will Friedle and Kevin Michael Richardson. The film does well to illustrate the versatility and depth of the character. Another 25-30 minutes, properly done, could have really sent this thing into the mesosphere, but I rarely find myself not wanting more of the DTVs that I enjoy. It's the nature of the beast that they be limited around 70 minutes or so.

Batman: Gotham Knight is a great addition to the ol' superhero media library.

 

[Cmill216]

I'm not sure if this has been mentioned yet or not, but the Burton Batmobile makes a brief appearance at the end of "Working Through Pain". Very nice touch.

 

[CaptainClown]

Ya that was the first thing I noticed

 

[Dusty_Lane]

The thing I don't get is where do you see Gotham Knight not linking up between Batman Begins and TDK? Where is the continuity out of place? Batman's relationship with Gordon is as it should be. Bruce's relationship with Lucius is as it should be. Crane is still on the loose. Bruce's age and look is on point.

So where's the lack of continuity? It seems to me you're solely basing this perception on the film's style alone. The film wasn't made to look exactly like Nolan's world. That was never the point. Visually, yes, the film is a tribute to all things Batman, but the story is as they promised it would be: it illustrates Batman's rise in Gotham post-origin (Batman Begins) and delves deeper into both his key relationships within Gotham but also his own motivations for fighting the good fight.

Listen dude, I know what I'm talking about. Plus I never said that there wasn't link to the Nolan films. Obviously Crossfire, Field Test, and In Darkness Dwells are set between BB and TDK. However, does "Have I Got A Story For You", feel even remotely connected to those other segments. No. As I said that feels almost like it's set in a quasi BTAS future (speculation). Also the Deadshot segment features backgrounds that look alittle like Wayne Manor and the Batcave, but yet wasn't the manor burned to the ground in BB. Nor does the actual "Batcave" even exist. Think about it.

 

[DAMU RYDER]

just got done watching it. it was kind of mediocre too me. If all the stories were on the same level as the deadshot story then the movie would of been a lot better.

 

[DorkyFresh]

just watched it for the second time. i like it for the most part, but i had a problem with the quality of some of the sequences. maybe it's my eye for art, but some of the shots (especially in the first half of Dead Shot) were painfully obvious as outsourced animations. i was also kinda let down by Kevin Conroy, because he rarely sounded Batman-ish when he was Batman. small gripe though.

other than the lack of the quality of some shots, i really like Gotham Knight because it gives a lot of insight into Batman and Bruce's past, struggles, and journeys. i can only wish we could get an animated series of this caliber.

 

[AndrewGilkison]

I pre-ordered this thing back in April and it shipped yesterday so I hope I like it.

 

[The_Joker7895]

Just in case no one knew this, Best Buy is selling a steelbook edition of Gotham Knight that comes with $3 towards concessions when you go see TDK. Hell, between that and the $7.50 voucher with the Batman Begins gift set, going to see TDK will be cheaper than expected. t:

 

[Gotham]

Just saw Batman: Gotham Knight. It's a strong piece of animation, and I loved Field Test. Other than that, it's a solid piece of work and was everything I expected it to be.

 

[ray243]

just watched it for the second time. i like it for the most part, but i had a problem with the quality of some of the sequences. maybe it's my eye for art, but some of the shots (especially in the first half of Dead Shot) were painfully obvious as outsourced animations. i was also kinda let down by Kevin Conroy, because he rarely sounded Batman-ish when he was Batman. small gripe though.

other than the lack of the quality of some shots, i really like Gotham Knight because it gives a lot of insight into Batman and Bruce's past, struggles, and journeys. i can only wish we could get an animated series of this caliber.

I thought the whole thing is meant to be outsourced from the START???

 

[Venom 1988]

I thought the whole thing is meant to be outsourced from the START???

No your misunderstanding him. From how I read it, he means how it shows normal animations, then all of a sudden you see computer generated cars driving around or 3D batarangs. This was a pet peeve of mine as well.

 

[Superman4ever]

I'm not sure if this has been mentioned yet or not, but the Burton Batmobile makes a brief appearance at the end of "Working Through Pain". Very nice touch.

Yup. I thought that was a nice touch!

Visually GK was beautiful. Overall for me its a 6 or 7.

 

[Iron_Stark]

9/10 for me. It was great but a lil short, or at least it felt short to me because the the stories weren't that long.

My favorite was the Deadshot segment and for some reason I really loved the suit from the Field Test segment.

Tim Burton Batmobile is my favorite, glad it made a brief appearance.

Kevin Conroy is still the best voice of Batman, IMO.

 

[DaRkVeNgeanCe]

I watched Gotham Knight last night, and I thought it was pretty damn good with the exception of the first part of the skateboarding kids talking about all their encounters with Batman, I absolutely hated that part with a passion, very very annoying. Other than that I thought it was quite entertaining.

 

[kyuubijavi1]

The movie is 100 times better on dvd than it was in the bootleg and that Scarecrow segment is the best period then comes Dead shot the others fall into place some where along the way