The Dark Knight The Dark Knight makes Hollywood's 100 Favorite Films list

[Tacit Ronin]

I wonder if Travesty will be even more passive aggressively upset in thirty years time when TDK is nothing but exalted to an even higher status.

 

[Travesty]

I wonder if Travesty will be even more passive aggressively upset in thirty years time when TDK is nothing but exalted to an even higher status.

I don't think I'll have to be, because I don't think it'll stand the test of time(and by that, I mean the #1 spot), especially with the immense amount of CBMs, and new iterations of Batman. Like I've said before, I've seen this before with B89, when he was king and couldn't be touched, until TDKT came along. It's all cyclical.

But thanks for keeping me so close to your thoughts.

 

[BatLobster]

I think Batman 89 has stood the test of time though, despite some elements that date it like the Prince music. All the celebration for its 25th anniversary last year showed that fans do still fondly remember it. I don't think standing the test of time and holding the no. 1 spot are the same thing. If something comes along that's better, it'll take the spot. A lot of people already feel like Avengers took the no. 1 spot anyway. None of that diminishes TDK's legacy.

If anything, I would guess TDK and the trilogy will gain some "retro cool" points in the future, as the last hurrah of the era before all movie franchises became cinematic universes.

 

[The Joker]

There's no way that the consensus is that Avengers is #1 though. TDK still tops all the polls, including against Avengers. And it usually even isn't close. Even that recent Empire poll said it won the top spot by a long way with the public votes. That's why people start pitching it against non comic book movies like Citizen Kane on forums like this, because every other CBM loses to it every time. There's no real competition to it in the CBM genre. Not yet anyway.

 

[BatLobster]

I know it's not the consensus, but there are still a solid amount of people who feel that way (IE a lot of Marvel fans), that's all I'm saying.

But yes, especially in terms of CBMs that "transcend" the genre, nothing is even really attempting to knock it off that pedestal at the moment. Anything that eventually does come along and do what TDK was aiming for 'better', will likely have a lot to owe to TDK anyway.

 

[Travesty]

I don't think standing the test of time and holding the no. 1 spot are the same thing.

Yes, I know, but that's what I was responding to. Tacit was saying if I would be mad if it was looked at to an even higher standard than it is today.

 

[BatLobster]

I see. Also, nice use of that shredding emoji. \m/

 

[Tacit Ronin]

I feel the film to surpass TDK is chillingly close. That film is Apocalypse.

Singer already tread frighteningly close to TDK-quality with DOFP, which he came to after a vast decade of hiatus under the baggage of a continuity-broken franchise he was forced to fix.

Imagine what he can do free of those chains, and with a villain like Apocalypse? Singer is usually pedestrian, but with X-men his creative juices fire on all cylinders.

I feel that Apocalypse is going to be something. Singer in X-men mode is a force to be reckoned with.

 

[BatLobster]

Just my humble opinion, but while I liked DOFP, I don't think it even came close to scratching the surface of being in the same league as TDK.

One of the really impressive things about TDK was how singular it is. It works as the second act of a trilogy as well as it works as a standalone movie that you can watch and 'get' without seeing any other movie. DOFP, not so much. If I'm spending the majority of my time trying to explain things to my friends after a movie and how it affected continuity, putting our memory of all the previous movies to the test...that's not the mark of a great movie to me. I understand Singer inherited a lot of continuity baggage, but I do not think the movie transcended that. It felt like a clever sequelboot, but it still had a lot of consistency issues and unanswered questions even with all the housecleaning it was doing. I do think Apocalypse will be better now that Singer is free to go to town.

 

[shauner111]

I feel the film to surpass TDK is chillingly close. That film is Apocalypse.

Singer already tread frighteningly close to TDK-quality with DOFP, which he came to after a vast decade of hiatus under the baggage of a continuity-broken franchise he was forced to fix.

Imagine what he can do free of those chains, and with a villain like Apocalypse? Singer is usually pedestrian, but with X-men his creative juices fire on all cylinders.

I feel that Apocalypse is going to be something. Singer in X-men mode is a force to be reckoned with.

I enjoyed DoFP but it wasn't in the same league. It's Fox and X-Men's Dark Knight so far, but i dont think it's close. Apocalypse may achieve that spot. Future Past had way too many stupid points in the film where im wondering why Mystique is being such a stubborn idiot, why Bryan Singer is ripping off T2: Judgement Day so much (not to mention that Inception ending), and why they would decide to not use Quicksilver in the finale. It's entertaining but it feels to me, now that i've seen it a few times, that Singer only really made it to conveniently destroy the old continuity since Fox f'd it up too much in their lousy sequels. Now it's like a clean slate. So we'll see how Apocalypse delivers. They have a MUCH better villain going forward.

I feel like we're at a point now with the X-Men films where you can't watch a newbie as its own thing or casual viewer. It's as if you have to be a fan to understand every single thing. You must watch the multiple films in the franchise to get it.

 

[Snow Queen]

Speaking of Inception and DOFP, I haven't seen the latter in a few months so I may be wrong, but wasn't there a track in the score for it that was pretty much just Time?

 

[shauner111]

They used Time in a comic-con trailer for the movie. Then the end of the film had a very similar sound to Time and the way the scene played out, it was obviously the main influence.

I haven't heard the whole score though, i should check it out.

 

[DACrowe]

This is good to see. I also appreciate seeing plenty of great crowd pleasers that were given short shrift when they were released as being "popcorn" fare--Raiders of the Lost Ark, Back to the Future, Jurassic Park--on a deserving list with some of Hollywood's best. The Dark Knight is in that sort of company. Other superhero films? Not so much, though I wonder if a case can be made for Superman: The Movie, perhaps.

I do not think that list is actually the 100 Best Movies of all time (it is impossible to make that claim). But I've seen 98 of them, and they're all fantastic. The Dark Knight has earned its place in that company.

 

[DACrowe]

I don't think I'll have to be, because I don't think it'll stand the test of time(and by that, I mean the #1 spot), especially with the immense amount of CBMs, and new iterations of Batman. Like I've said before, I've seen this before with B89, when he was king and couldn't be touched, until TDKT came along. It's all cyclical.

But thanks for keeping me so close to your thoughts.

I agree that right around the time BVS comes out next year, fanboys will be foaming at the mouth with their hatred for TDK.

But there are two things:

1) It is a temporary "new shiny toy=better" fad that I've seen fade when the latest reboot is no longer new. For example, I recall how fans convinced themselves that B'89 is a bad movie in 2005, and even then, I didn't get why liking Batman Begins meant you had to hate the Tim Burton films if you enjoyed them before. Similarly, TASM2 for a few weeks ( ) had fanboys convinced it was the best Spider-Man movie ever and that it dethroned SM2. Or that Man of Steel in 2013 was considered better by many fans than Superman: The Movie

...all of that faded.

2) This list (THR) is not gauging fanboys opinions, but those of filmmakers, actors and studio executives. Now, their opinions obviously do not align 1:1 with the general public, but it is by and large a decent straw poll about people who love and remember movies (which hopefully includes the industry) think.

And for those who consider film more than just the new toys of that particular summer, TDK stands as a benchmark 7 years later of the genre. And for those kind of film buffs and movie lovers, comic book fidelity means very little. They are not comparing The Dark Knight to Frank Miller or Scott Snyder--or to what Zack Snyder or The Russo Brothers have up their sleeve every other summer. They are comparing it to the works of Alfred Hitchcock, Michael Curtiz, Steven Spielberg, Stanley Kubrick, David Lean, and Francis Ford Coppola's greatest works.

That says a lot.

 

[titansupes]

TDK still reigns for good reason.

 

[Filmfreak]

It's funny some of you mentioned the X-Men movies competing TDKT because in my mind the Singer ones along with FC are the only cbm that manage to even come close to this type of quality entertaiment, as well as the depth and character drama they deliver. They belong in the minority of cbm that manage to escape (for the most part) the studio influence and have the director's imprint all over them as well as being able to transcend the genre, a popular phrase now, that sometimes is being used in a negative way by people.

I know some don't like the notion of taking liberties and not being 100% comic book accurate and I also know it doesn't always work but for me it's a good thing to manage to make a movie that stands out and give the director more creative freedom to be able to make his own vision come to life. Even if that holds the risk of utter failure it gives the opportunity to escape from the generic "superhero movies" frame that we see so much these days and in their cases it has definitely worked out for me.

Apocalypse is my most anticipated cbm out of any other in the long list that studios have announced for the next few years and even though I don't expect it to surpass or even reach the Nolan filcks, I do believe that we'll probably end up having the second best trilogy in the genre so far. And I don't really see anything for my taste beating any of them in the near future.

 

[Co Ro]

I agree with the inclusion into the list. Good job.

 

[redfirebird2008]

Empire did a public vote recently for the greatest movies of all time, and TDK came in at #3: http://www.empireonline.com/301/list.asp?page=36

It's actually gone up in the popularity polls because last time Empire did a public poll like that back in 2008/9 it came in at #15. Just goes to show the staying power of it. It wasn't just a 2008 fad.

I've noticed Turner has been running it on their networks a lot lately. It's on TBS right now. Reminds me of how TNT used to run Shawshank all the time.

All of those Shawshank showings on TNT ended up helping it become a modern classic. TDK had a million times more exposure upfront (Shawshank was a failure in the theaters), but now it seems TDK is getting that second push from the networks too.

 

[Keehar]

I agree with the inclusion into the list. Good job.

Co-approved.

TDK is the greatest.

 

[Batmannerism]

Co-approved.

TDK is the greatest.

Yup, same page bro.

TDK is the best superhero film so far, and it would take something very special to dethrone it - can't see that coming in the current generation of film-makers.

DOFP was fun and entertaining, but it doesn't stay with you the way TDK does. When I'm watching DOFP it's cool, but afterwards I forget about it.
TDK is on a whole different level.
IMO even Apocalypse won't come close for a couple of reasons:

1) it's a team film, and those tend to lack character development or depth of characters ( I mean Avengers is fun, and Age of Ultron looks great, but those films don't do much for the characters). TDK was superb on these fronts. Hell, it was the Empire Strikes Back of Nolan's trilogy.

2) Bale and Ledger's performances are something special and the supporting cast were dynamite. While X-films have strong casts too (I'm thinking McKellen, Stewart, Fassbender and McAvoy here) I don't think you can get stronger than one that includes Oldman, Caine and Freeman. Hell, Aaron Eckhart, who's a decent actor really shone in that film because the rest of the cast were just so strong.

Sort of relates to point 1) but in DOFP Ellen Page does pretty much bugger all, and she's one of the greatest up and coming actresses of her generation. Jackman has a lot of charm, but even he can't carry the franchise. Halle Berry has an Oscar and in DOFP she does not a lot, except die.

This is because team films make it really tough for performers to shine, IMO. Although having said that, Nolan manages to give everyone a moment of glory in Inception - that film really launched Tom Hardy for mainstream Hollywood audiences.

Anyway, there might be a superhero film as good as TDK one day, but I don't think that day is coming soon.

Actually, on that note I'll say it's a great film, period. Just IMO of course.

 

[The Joker]

^ Excellent post

 

[Baramos]

Eh. This isn't like the AFI Top 100 or something.

 

[The Joker]

Probably because they haven't done one since 2007