The Dark Knight Rises What did you notice after multiple viewings that you didn't in the first?

[wampa1]

At best this is a little farfetched. At worst its downright ridiculous

Even if you don't necessarily agree with it, it's a valid reading.

 

[Mgneto]

Barsad gets gunned down as both he and Talia are getting into the camo Tumbler during the end battle.

This.

And also, (this may have been noted before, apologies if it has) Bane's looking at the fire batsignal and saying "Impossible!" is hard to figure out- Talia knows Bruce is back, and a few hours have passed since Selina extracted Fox. One would have to imagine that, as a mastermind of this whole plot, she may tell Bane.

 

[CapedCrusader14]

What matters is if it was symbolic to you. A lot of the stuff I see in movies connect to something that happened to me personally and I could relate closely with that. The scene acquires a symbolic meaning then, irrespective of the "narrative" that the director is telling. At the end of the day, what matters it the "narrative" that you make out of it. In a movie, especially a block-buster movie (especially a superhero block-buster movie that featured Lambos and RRs) I wouldn't put it past the filmmakers for their love of detail. It could've been just another car, and maybe it was, but if someone can make a connection to the themes and characters, than it's just as valid.

I completely understand that. That's what makes film so great. How one thing may speak to you on one level and speak for something else to another person.

What really pisses me off is when people present their opinion on symbolism as if it's utter fact and how it was intended, and how you're stupid for not thinking the same as them. That's what really irks me when it comes to symbolism.

 

[BatLobster]

This.

And also, (this may have been noted before, apologies if it has) Bane's looking at the fire batsignal and saying "Impossible!" is hard to figure out- Talia knows Bruce is back, and a few hours have passed since Selina extracted Fox. One would have to imagine that, as a mastermind of this whole plot, she may tell Bane.

This was definitely a bit confusing. The answer I came up for that one is that Bane is simply in denial. Talia could have told him Wayne returned, but Bane may still have believed that he broke Bruce's spirit to the point where he could never be Batman again. The burning bat-symbol is pretty much Batman's declaration of war, so I think that's something that still catches Bane off guard.

Obviously in the context of the film, it's blatantly misleading us into thinking that Bane has no idea Bruce has returned.

 

[Broseph44]

-There's a whole crowd of bystanders across the street when Bruce is leaving Wayne Enterprises (as his car is being towed) that looks like the crowd that had gathered to watch them filming the movie instead of just extras who were part of the scene.

-That after the stadium explosion, someone in the booth was able to compose himself enough to be able to get a perfect shot of Bane onto the Jumbotron while he's giving his speech.

-The guy from the boys' home warns Blake to be careful, because "they're hunting down cops like dogs" which I took to mean that not every Gotham City cop was trapped in the tunnels, a plot point which had been griped about a lot.

Too many pages to go through so I dunno if anyone else address this. But I don't look at it as someone composed themselves to do so. We see banes army up and down the aisles with guns. I presume what happened was they also made their way into the booth or wherever with their guns. Knowing Bane was going to make a speech so at gunpoint they forced a cameraman to film it. Or you could also look at it as 9/11 people were able to compose themselves to grab their cameras or phones to take videos and pictures of what was happening. It tends to happen I don't think it's really a fluke or anything.

 

[BestGirl]

This.

And also, (this may have been noted before, apologies if it has) Bane's looking at the fire batsignal and saying "Impossible!" is hard to figure out- Talia knows Bruce is back, and a few hours have passed since Selina extracted Fox. One would have to imagine that, as a mastermind of this whole plot, she may tell Bane.

I thought Selina took Bruce and Fox saying that "these prisoners belong to Bane". If Talia assumed that Catwoman and Bane were still working together she would've figured that she took them straight to him and he handled the problem.

 

[Nave 'Torment']

I completely understand that. That's what makes film so great. How one thing may speak to you on one level and speak for something else to another person.

What really pisses me off is when people present their opinion on symbolism as if it's utter fact and how it was intended, and how you're stupid for not thinking the same as them. That's what really irks me when it comes to symbolism.

True. What's more irksome is that most of the time any interpretation isn't meant to be universal at all.

 

[Just_Human]

One I watched the movie for the 1st time ... in the 1st chase scene .... when Bane stops and turns around before disappearing (after Foley tells his men to blitz on the Batman)
I felt I had seen that before, but I didnt remember where


The 2nd time, it hit me


It was from "Under the Red Hood", when Batman is going after Jason; Jason stops, turns around and disappears

Same thing with Bane (plus he had the red helmet)

 

[TheBat812]

I noticed that I was wrong about there being more examples of the Dent act being oppressive, and that it does not influence Talia and Bane until they find the letter. However, the fact that Blake (whose moral standpoint we've been shown throughout the film) says the line about criminals being denied parole in such a disdainful and shameful way, as well as Gordon's silent reaction, does enforce my point that it was a measure that did extreme things in order to eliminate street crime, which IMO is an example of corruption, although not one that directly affected Bane and Talia's view of Gotham.

I also noticed that the pacing felt way better the second time around, and things that you may have struggled with the first time due to it being so quickly paced, no longer seem like an issue since you've already digested it. Still some huge leaps of faith (like how Bruce gets home from the pit, fixes his back, etc), but none are beyond the realm of possibility in this world. In a weird way it feels way more comic booky, while keeping so much great content within. Still my favorite of the three as a pure Batman experience. Bane is also incredibly badass, somehow forgot about that.

 

[Ecuanime]

I noticed how there's little to no swooping, soaring or flying through the air in the film. It just shows how Batman aged and how he's plagued with injuries. He compensates this with The Bat. But also learns a valuable lesson from Bane, that you don't need all the deception and theatricality to fight.

I also noticed the theme of fear applies to Bane. After Batman breaks the mask, he's punching faster and harder, although somewhat erratically, to stay alive.

 

[Ecuanime]

And one more thing, I believe the clean slate device he had in his hands and showed Selina also represents that he had everything prepared beforehand for his, and Selina's, escape. He tersely says to her "I know a way out..." So before the war began, I think he repaired the bat signal, his will/manifesto, wrote the coordinates for Blake, and created the symbol on the bridge. He's always prepared for something. One thing depicting it is that he even brought supplies out from the Pit before he climbed out.

And after seeing for the nth time, I also think there are two ways he could have ejected before the explosion: right after he blasted through the building or when the camera panned to Blake and the boys on the bus.

 

[CapedCrusader14]

True. What's more irksome is that most of the time any interpretation isn't meant to be universal at all.

Absolutely

 

[Riddle_Me_This]

What really pisses me off is when people present their opinion on symbolism as if it's utter fact and how it was intended, and how you're stupid for not thinking the same as them. That's what really irks me when it comes to symbolism.

I believe you are referring to my initial post. I didn't mean to be condescending while making my point. That being said, there is no reason to show the car at all unless it holds some significance. There is absolutely zero chance the Taurus was put in the shot haphazardly.

 

[BatLobster]

^^ I'd tend to agree. It's been the same crew working all these films, so I highly doubt the props department would lose sight of the fact that the exact Taurus was Rachel's car in Batman Begins.

The reason they put it in is up for debate: convenience, an inside joke, or extremely subtle symbolism...that is what's tough to determine, but it's still a cool little tidbit to have noticed regardless.

 

[CapedCrusader14]

I believe you are referring to my initial post. I didn't mean to be condescending while making my point. That being said, there is no reason to show the car at all unless it holds some significance. There is absolutely zero chance the Taurus was put in the shot haphazardly.

Oh not just you, but other people I've talked to about symbolism and interpretation. But it's all good

I just think the car is a great little Easter Egg that I never noticed till someone pointed it out.

 

[Just_Human]

- In Blake's apartment, next to Gordon, there is a some kind of helmet or bowling ball

The design looks like Nightwing's symbol (from the uniform)

- And also, Im not sure, but he seems to be wearing a jacket with the blue "V" style logo on it while entering the Batcave

 

[Victarion]

BB's color scheme was a dusky orange.
TDK had a blueish tint.
TDKR seemed to be a lot of light and shadows.

 

[Nave 'Torment']

Okay so here's what I got, and stop me if you've heard this one:

Remember the Bat-Garage/Warehouse that Bruce uses in TDK?

No not this one, the one from the film. Here's the original concept art-work by Jamie

Well... I think Nolan just might've slipped us a very clever (and subtle) reference to his favourite film. Note the visual/aesthetic similarity:

In Stanley Kubrick (one of Nolan's self-confessed inspiration)'s film 2001: A Space Odyssey, the central human figure, Dave, wakes up at the climax of the film in a room that has a strange floor of tiled white lighting. It's bright, iridescent, and illuminates the entire chamber. The room is perhaps one of the most important -- let alone memorable -- scenes in the entire film.

In The Dark Knight , the Bat-Cave is replaced by a chamber/garage/warehouse that is aesthetically similar, at least on its edges.

Whereas in Space Odyssey the tiled/white lights make up the FLOORING, in Bruce's garage, it occupies the CEILING, but the design is curiously the same.

The warehouse is said to replace the Batcave and therefore stores all of Batman's most memorable gear, including his vehicles such as the Bat-pod, the Bat-mobile, the bat-computer, and of course, that sexy (red?) bike.

In A Space Odyssey, Dave sees in the chamber, among other things, the vehicle he uses to transport across space:

But there's more...

 

[Nave 'Torment']

The room in Space Odyssey is supposed to be a glaring contrast between the cold, lifeless illumination coming from the floor and the stark and ornate (Victorian?) interior decor of the room itself. Of course this isn't used in the Garage/Batcave, but considering the fact that Nolan flips the floor for the ceiling, and that conceptually the Batcave is located beneath Wayne Manor (though of course not in this incarnation but still) we have a visual consistency. The layer above the "layer of illumination" is still conceptually ornate (and Victorian), Wayne Manor in concept:

Making this world beneath the illuminated chamber the Batcave, "naturally" having this "floor of illumination" occupying not the floor but the ceiling.

So what happened to the most important object in the room itself from Space Odyssey? The black monolith that apparently transforms or "changes" Bruce Wayne into Batman?

Nolan doesn't forget that, he can't (or atleast I can't). The Monolith is still in Bat-Lore just as potent a symbol / device / entity of transformation and change, Bruce uses it/encounters it every time:

It's the Bat-suit, the container that emerges from an even deeper and subterranean (or outer) place from this layered world. It's abysmal, dark, mystical and transformative, promising Bruce's birth into something truly supernatural and monstrous.

The monolith transforms Dave into the Star-Child, the most enigmatic symbol of Kubrick's film. The container transforms Bruce into the Dark Knight, the most profound symbol of terror and hope in Nolan's trilogy.

Stretching it too far? It still makes sense. Nolan's inside-joke is ours.

 

[CapedCrusader14]

That's a great thing to notice Nave. I can definetely see the correspondence between the two. It's hard to overlook the lit-up floor/ceiling and the similarity between the Monolith and the Bat-Suit container.

 

[Anita18]

Barsad hands Bane all his toys. What was Bane gonna do once Barsad was shot dead?

Also, Batman whacking the henchman at City Hall "guarding" "Miranda" with his own shotgun will never not be funny/awesome.

 

[ThePhantasm]

Nice catches with the 2001: Space Odyssey parallels.

 

[VenomShock]

I'll just stick this here.

I've noticed just NOW actually the similarties between the end themes of both TDK/TDKR and "Eptesicus" on the Batman Begins soundtrack. I think they're potentially works off each other. I know the big banging of the drums at the very end is on the Begins soundtrack, which I'd never known before.

 

[kvz5]

Fox' guilt over Bruce/Batman's "death". I already noticed it during the first viewing with his "I just needed to know if we could've done something" (or something similar) line in the final montage but I didn't notice that he shrugged off the autopilot idea when he and Bruce took out the EMP from the Bat. Bruce said something like the Bat working fine except for the autopilot and Fox said something like "Autopilot? That's what you're there for.".

 

[Mister J]

During the stock exchange robbery, one of the SWAT officers is named Allen. It brought to mind Crispus Allen, particularly since he was black and had a goatee (IIRC).

I didn't fully appreciate some of the subtleties of Talia's words echoing her father's until later. She makes one remark about balance that brought to mind Ra's ideal for the League of Shadows' function. Later, she tells Bruce to do what is necessary, bringing to mind Ra's view on how evil must be confronted and that final confrontation on the monorail in Begins.