The Dark Knight Rises The Dark Knight Rises as Two Films

Excel

O-bama-ama-ama-ay-ay
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
19,523
Reaction score
6
Points
58
For a film with a cool plot & a running time of near 3 hours, it is amazing how much of it feels either rushed or underdeveloped. I think this story was the rare story which really could have benefited from being split into two films.

FILM ONE - roughly two hours long.

Pretty much as is, from the beginning of the film (plane sequence) through Bane's speech to Bruce in the prison. Nothing would "change", but things would be added.

1. Flashback scene of Bruce and Miranda together prior to recluse. Play it off like Bruce was afraid to get close to Miranda, and it was part of the reason for the recluse. The scene should be long and heavy, ala Blake talking to Wayne in Wayne Manor. Add a scene with Alfred following it, where Bruce tells him his gut instinct is to stay away. Alfred will say it's a result of his bad attitude.

Make Miranda STUNNED to see him at the masked ball, and have it end with a "it was good seeing you, Bruce".

2. More Bruce/Alfred. Alfred spent practically the entire movie preaching to Bruce. A scene of the two of them doing something other than arguing would have been pleasant.

3. Bit more time dedicated to Bane's background. Make Bane a well known mercenary/terrorist group leader.He is hired by Daggett to rampage the stock exchange.

4. More time into "Batman legend" stuff. Maybe add a scene detailing how the Batman is still a large urban legend ala big foot. Perhaps cite a controversy surrounding him, for his public defeat of the joker won him many fans. But make it clear the cops consider him EXTREMELY dangerous. Perhaps flash a most wanted list with Batman and Bane on it together.

4. Extend the action scenes. In this first film, there would be four major action scenes - each would be extended.

A) Plane scene. Remains is.

B) Occurs about 35 minutes into the movie. Selina Bar/Cop shoot out. They meet in a restaurant as usual where Selina leaves her purse, but they instead take Selina, by force, to a warehouse on the docks . Dialogue all the same, but the table exchange ends with "I am counting to 10" - she does not hand over the thumb print. Selina escapes, and is chased through the warehouse and docks by the man. She makes it back to the restaurant on foot - gets caught. Cell phone exchange. Police cop. more prolonged shoot out. Gordon goes into sewers, etc - everything else the same. Just about 10 more minutes of fighting with Selina. Ends around the 50 minute mark.

C) Stock Exchange Raid and Return Of The Batman: Occurs about 65 minutes into the film. Very climactic scene. After the car tunnel sequence, Batman is chased by the dozens and dozens of police cars. The chase is about 5 minutes longer, and involves gunfire and more outrunning by Batman on his bike. He flies away, and is pursued by Gotham air support. He loses them by flying into tight tunnels. Then Catwoman with Dagget, fight on rooftops, escape, etc. Stock exchange through dropping Selina off takes about 25 minutes, so we are the 90 minute mark.

D) Batman Vs. Bane, Round One. Occurs around the 120 minute mark. More build up. It's tougher for Batman and Catwoman to get down there. The fight lasts a little longer. It feels very, very climactic. The entire film has been building towards this fight. Batman gets his **** pushed in.

The films ends with Bruce waking up in the prison, with Bane taunting him, promising "big plans" for Gotham.




FILM 2

Opens with Selina trying to escape, caught by Blake. Basically everything from that point above, in order, with a few things expanded.

-Bruce is in the prison longer. He trains more while down there. More time between jumps. More emphasis on how bruce's spirit must "rise".

-Bane's speech is not a montage, rather we see them happen. We see the prison escape in more detail. We see the rich being tossed from their homes in more detail. We see the depths of a real, true occupation of Gotham.

-More emphasis on the legend of batman. people thinking it is no coincidence that just after he returned, Bane raises hell. Wonder where he is. This theme is played very heavily, emphasizing the symbol Batman is. When Bane reveals the truth about Harvey, people realize that Batman was the good guy.

-add in random scene of Army wrangling with bane's army. It only makes sense for banes army to be tested; for the sake adding action, bane's man and the tumblers have a scene where they pwn the army tanks planes, etc.

-slower, more detailed analysis of what happened in the pit with bane. went a little fast in the movie.

-more scenes of gordon and the rebels figuring out ways to stop bane.

-bruce calls Alfred to get back to gotham after escaping the pit; the two kind of make up.

-the saving of gordon is more elaborate and cool; the bat symbol on bridge is more emphasized as pumping up the troops for the assault on bane.

-FINALLY: The final fight between Batman and Bane is longer. Batman swoops into a clearing in the middle of the final fight, and everybody watches briefly. Batmans victory pumps up the crowd.

everything else the same. should be about two and a half hours.

i think that would have been a better way to do it. Thoughts?
 
For a film with a cool plot & a running time of near 3 hours, it is amazing how much of it feels either rushed or underdeveloped. I think this story was the rare story which really could have benefited from being split into two films.

FILM ONE - roughly two hours long.

Pretty much as is, from the beginning of the film (plane sequence) through Bane's speech to Bruce in the prison. Nothing would "change", but things would be added.

1. Flashback scene of Bruce and Miranda together prior to recluse. Play it off like Bruce was afraid to get close to Miranda, and it was part of the reason for the recluse. The scene should be long and heavy, ala Blake talking to Wayne in Wayne Manor. Add a scene with Alfred following it, where Bruce tells him his gut instinct is to stay away. Alfred will say it's a result of his bad attitude.

Make Miranda STUNNED to see him at the masked ball, and have it end with a "it was good seeing you, Bruce".

2. More Bruce/Alfred. Alfred spent practically the entire movie preaching to Bruce. A scene of the two of them doing something other than arguing would have been pleasant.

3. Bit more time dedicated to Bane's background. Make Bane a well known mercenary/terrorist group leader.He is hired by Daggett to rampage the stock exchange.

4. More time into "Batman legend" stuff. Maybe add a scene detailing how the Batman is still a large urban legend ala big foot. Perhaps cite a controversy surrounding him, for his public defeat of the joker won him many fans. But make it clear the cops consider him EXTREMELY dangerous. Perhaps flash a most wanted list with Batman and Bane on it together.

4. Extend the action scenes. In this first film, there would be four major action scenes - each would be extended.

A) Plane scene. Remains is.

B) Occurs about 35 minutes into the movie. Selina Bar/Cop shoot out. They meet in a restaurant as usual where Selina leaves her purse, but they instead take Selina, by force, to a warehouse on the docks . Dialogue all the same, but the table exchange ends with "I am counting to 10" - she does not hand over the thumb print. Selina escapes, and is chased through the warehouse and docks by the man. She makes it back to the restaurant on foot - gets caught. Cell phone exchange. Police cop. more prolonged shoot out. Gordon goes into sewers, etc - everything else the same. Just about 10 more minutes of fighting with Selina. Ends around the 50 minute mark.

C) Stock Exchange Raid and Return Of The Batman: Occurs about 65 minutes into the film. Very climactic scene. After the car tunnel sequence, Batman is chased by the dozens and dozens of police cars. The chase is about 5 minutes longer, and involves gunfire and more outrunning by Batman on his bike. He flies away, and is pursued by Gotham air support. He loses them by flying into tight tunnels. Then Catwoman with Dagget, fight on rooftops, escape, etc. Stock exchange through dropping Selina off takes about 25 minutes, so we are the 90 minute mark.

D) Batman Vs. Bane, Round One. Occurs around the 120 minute mark. More build up. It's tougher for Batman and Catwoman to get down there. The fight lasts a little longer. It feels very, very climactic. The entire film has been building towards this fight. Batman gets his **** pushed in.

The films ends with Bruce waking up in the prison, with Bane taunting him, promising "big plans" for Gotham.




FILM 2

Opens with Selina trying to escape, caught by Blake. Basically everything from that point above, in order, with a few things expanded.

-Bruce is in the prison longer. He trains more while down there. More time between jumps. More emphasis on how bruce's spirit must "rise".

-Bane's speech is not a montage, rather we see them happen. We see the prison escape in more detail. We see the rich being tossed from their homes in more detail. We see the depths of a real, true occupation of Gotham.

-More emphasis on the legend of batman. people thinking it is no coincidence that just after he returned, Bane raises hell. Wonder where he is. This theme is played very heavily, emphasizing the symbol Batman is. When Bane reveals the truth about Harvey, people realize that Batman was the good guy.

-add in random scene of Army wrangling with bane's army. It only makes sense for banes army to be tested; for the sake adding action, bane's man and the tumblers have a scene where they pwn the army tanks planes, etc.

-slower, more detailed analysis of what happened in the pit with bane. went a little fast in the movie.

-more scenes of gordon and the rebels figuring out ways to stop bane.

-bruce calls Alfred to get back to gotham after escaping the pit; the two kind of make up.

-the saving of gordon is more elaborate and cool; the bat symbol on bridge is more emphasized as pumping up the troops for the assault on bane.

-FINALLY: The final fight between Batman and Bane is longer. Batman swoops into a clearing in the middle of the final fight, and everybody watches briefly. Batmans victory pumps up the crowd.

everything else the same. should be about two and a half hours.

i think that would have been a better way to do it. Thoughts?

Agreed. Been saying it since I saw it. This is a great film which could e been a masterpiece of epic proportions. I am Predicting somewhere down the line we will find some weird things happened to this movie. Maybe an extended cut will be released. The original script was 400 pages. It adds up. None of banes rallying the homeless/disenfranchised was explored. None of the effect of a 5 month martial law was explored.. Bruce's struggle in the pit could've really really been expanded an really torn at our hearts. It's frustrating... It just needed a little more room. Tate should've been developed waaaay more.. To really feel the emotional impact of her turn. Bane was great but the horror of his plan was only implied.. Which took away the feel of it.
 
I liked it way it was, it was heavily edited in parts. If had been extended to 3 hours that would have been fine by me. I can't stand when studios break up movies just to make more money.
 
Agreed. Been saying it since I saw it. This is a great film which could e been a masterpiece of epic proportions. I am Predicting somewhere down the line we will find some weird things happened to this movie. Maybe an extended cut will be released. The original script was 400 pages. It adds up. None of banes rallying the homeless/disenfranchised was explored. None of the effect of a 5 month martial law was explored.. Bruce's struggle in the pit could've really really been expanded an really torn at our hearts. It's frustrating... It just needed a little more room. Tate should've been developed waaaay more.. To really feel the emotional impact of her turn. Bane was great but the horror of his plan was only implied.. Which took away the feel of it.
I agree with every single thing you just said.
 
:wow: what where did you hear this?

I would link to it but I'm in my phone. An article from coming soon.net in said in an interview with Nolan that his brothers original script was 400 pages.. I don't say this about many movies.. But I think this one needed to include most of whatever those 400 pages were. If it needed two movies like you say, so be it.
 
Agreed. Been saying it since I saw it. This is a great film which could e been a masterpiece of epic proportions. I am Predicting somewhere down the line we will find some weird things happened to this movie. Maybe an extended cut will be released. The original script was 400 pages. It adds up. None of banes rallying the homeless/disenfranchised was explored. None of the effect of a 5 month martial law was explored.. Bruce's struggle in the pit could've really really been expanded an really torn at our hearts. It's frustrating... It just needed a little more room. Tate should've been developed waaaay more.. To really feel the emotional impact of her turn. Bane was great but the horror of his plan was only implied.. Which took away the feel of it.

:up: :up: :up:

There's a masterpiece in their but so much felt lost. Absolute shame.
 
Once again, to reiterate, I love TDKR (I place it higher than TDK) but I agree. So much was left out of the final cut. Nolan himself can deny it, but there's no way he didn't cut, at least, 30 minutes out of the final draft.

Call it a conspiracy theory if you want but I'd just say you're in denial if you believe that Nolan happened to land on 2hrs and 45mins (IMAX limitation) as he finished wrapping up in post-production.

I mean the trailers and spy videos only reinforce the arguement that Nolan probably had a 3:30 to a 4 hour epic.

The Nolans, in my opinion, should have split the finale into two parts.
 
Couldn't agree more. TDKR would have been better as a 2 part treatment given the amount of plot/subplots to get through.

It is what is though. I can still live with TDKR being the end of Nolan's series.
 
Do any of you really think the film should have been more than 3 hours though? To really establish all of that you would need a good 3hrs 30m. That is way to long for a superhero film.
 
Many problems this movie has stem from the run time cut short, I said this a few months ago, that this was a huge script and it needed to be split into two parts, like Harry Potter's final book adaptation.

So many plot points, so many characters needed more time. Oh well.
 
Had this been a true adaption of KNIGHTFALL or NO MAN'S LAND, this might be warranted, but since they were given nods at best, I don't think there needed to be two films. The movie needed 15-30 more minutes and better execution in general, not a whole other film.
 
Do any of you really think the film should have been more than 3 hours though? To really establish all of that you would need a good 3hrs 30m. That is way to long for a superhero film.

I can live the theatrical cut. I still adored it (TDKR is the greatest CBM ever made, to me) but I wouldn't mind to see a 3.5 hour epic on Blu-Ray.
 
definately needed 2 films. it hit it too hard and fast. didnt have the motion of the ocean
 
Had this been a true adaption of KNIGHTFALL or NO MAN'S LAND, this might be warranted, but since they were given nods at best, I don't think there needed to be two films. The movie needed 15-30 more minutes and better execution in general, not a whole other film.

I disagree. The execution was there but the character development and pacing suffered from the cut. There was just too much material for one film handle -- similar to Watchmen.
 
I find it humerous I came out of TDK thinking it was too long and out of Rises thinking it was too short.
 
:wow: what where did you hear this?

Nolan said in an interview that it was "...400 pages or something." Due to the "or something" he easily could have been exaggerating. It was BIG is all that matters. But he was referring to Jonah's original draft. It changed a lot since its first draft like all scripts do. Could have shrunk or grown who knows. 400 is not an official, confirmed number of pages for the script by any means.
 
I would love to see a little bit more, but TDKR was pretty much perfection the way it was. I mean, some scenes should have been longer and I feel that we should've been given more time with Bruce in the prison and more time of Bane as the tyrant.
 
It was 400 pages. A lot was deleted. I think the Riddler may have been part of what was deleted. But, I don't think it negatively impacted the film. And there might be one or two deleted scenes with Talia, but I don't see much being deleted beyond that since that's the only area that really seemed rushed. The shooting script was NOT 400 pages, the rough draft was. Betting the final script of this was more 170/180 pages.
 
The hospital scene between Bruce and Gordon felt rushed. Other parts just felt like it needed more, not necessarily rushed.
 
2 part film would have been epic, but i think at least another 15-20 additional min would have been good.
 
I would link to it but I'm in my phone. An article from coming soon.net in said in an interview with Nolan that his brothers original script was 400 pages.. I don't say this about many movies.. But I think this one needed to include most of whatever those 400 pages were. If it needed two movies like you say, so be it.

i dont see how that is right... scripts on average are a page a minute nobody in their right mind would right a 400 page script... most run from 100-130.. i do have copies of both BB and TDK and they both run a little longer than the norm but 400 would of been almost 3 times as long as BB which was 150 and TDK was 167 for reference
 
the problem is if you write 400 pages you KNOW you need to delete 200 pages to be realistic and what happens when you do that is something that made sense in the original 400 pages loses its value or explanation and then you need to go in and make that right..

it is best to ut as little as possible from the script so writing 400 pages just to tell the story seems drastic and almost wasteful
 
i dont see how that is right... scripts on average are a page a minute nobody in their right mind would right a 400 page script... most run from 100-130.. i do have copies of both BB and TDK and they both run a little longer than the norm but 400 would of been almost 3 times as long as BB which was 150 and TDK was 167 for reference

Well, unless Nolan is flat out lying, the rough draft was 400 pages. Which means, as we could see, this was an extremely ambitious story. We heard on more than one occasion they were going all out and going out big. I think as I said earlier we r gonna find out something strange happened and this was cut down more than it shouldve been. My guess is it's due to the IMAX limitations and wb wanting a shorter time. Hell Gil was here yesterday saying he was hearing some strange things about the movie. I'm fascinated. I can't get the movie out of my mind. It's beautiful yet lacking if that makes sense. It's missing that extra 20-30 minutes to really flesh things out IMO.
 
I'm just wondering if Nolan is thinking and or realizing everything we have been talking about the last few days.

He has to... I can't think that he saw the same film we saw and not have these same thoughts. I'm sure by now word has reached his camp about all of the "feedback".

God, please let Nolan break rank and give us the movie that he intended to give us in an extended directors cut for the BD/DVD.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Staff online

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
201,128
Messages
21,904,036
Members
45,702
Latest member
Nsl1354
Back
Top
monitoring_string = "afb8e5d7348ab9e99f73cba908f10802"