The Dark Knight What makes TDK so special?

[batman1]

I love it! Everytime I watch it it never gets old. And it has universal appeal. What was the secret sauce in this movie? Everyone still rates this as the #1 comic movie of all time. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Tacit Ronin]

Above all, its startlingly topical and relatable themes that hit America like a wildstorm. I don't think it is an accident that TDK made so much more domestically than overseas (while Rises' broader struggles of clearer good and evil appealed to the international moviegoers). The film came out in 2008, seven years removed from the most harrowing, paradigm changing event in America, the September 11 terrorist attacks on NY. This single event can be traced back to for every major social, and diplomatic changes, & moral and existential musings in America since.

2001 A Space Odyssey, captured the optimism and curiosity of Americans in the 60's; Star Wars captured the 70's need for feel good escapism after Vietnam. Yet where was the populist film that would espouse this violent, confused zeitgeist? Spielberg's War of the Worlds came close, but its flowery ending and alien invasion premise undercut whatever post 9/11 anxiety it was attempting to challenge. Replace Aliens with the ironic glasgow smile of a violent terrorist, caked in all white make up, whose very gaze is like a razor cutting your skin deep, and you begin to feel the gradual unseating of all that you hold dear.

The Joker is nothing like the religious terrorists that conspired 9/11. His concerns are far more abstract, understandable only in the vocabulary of comic book diabolics. But where he mirrors those real life villains is his absolute conviction to not commit atrocities in the name of material gain. The Joker doesn't care about money. It is but a means to an end. He wants something more sacred. He wants your very soul. He wants you to smile like he does, an eternal smile, as he makes you realize that the morality you hold dear is nothing but a nimble stack of cards. All it takes is a little push and it will all come crashing down. And that should make you very afraid indeed.

The film is able to brilliantly mirror this fear with the fear that the entire nation of America felt as the towers went down. The film instills the same sense of anxiety the Bin Laden's post attack videos that saturated American media did when the Joker fashioned his own little videos. The film instilled the same sense of pervading paranoia you felt when you went outside, and looked at the man that went to the mosque every day and for the first time, wonder if he was more than he let on. The forces of good went to the brink and beyond their moral fiber to battle this demon. Some crossed over to the other side, never to return. Batman's elaborate construction to catch the Joker was not dissimilar to Bush's Patriot Act, where people were tasked to surrender their freedom for security.

It was only a few months into the film's theatrical run that the 2008 stock market crash happened. One wonders how much that boosted the film's lifespan as people were even more willing to wallow in darkness and cynicism and TDK provided a big medium, indeed the biggest medium to do so. The Dark Knight was the best film about America's place post 9/11, and it was a comic book, summer blockbuster movie.

 

[Victarion]

It got president Obama elected.

 

[BatLobster]

Above all, its startlingly topical and relatable themes that hit America like a wildstorm. I don't think it is an accident that TDK made so much more domestically than overseas (while Rises' broader struggles of clearer good and evil appealed to the international moviegoers). The film came out in 2008, seven years removed from the most harrowing, paradigm changing event in America, the September 11 terrorist attacks on NY. This single event can be traced back to for every major social, and diplomatic changes, & moral and existential musings in America since.

2001 A Space Odyssey, captured the optimism and curiosity of Americans in the 60's; Star Wars captured the 70's need for feel good escapism after Vietnam. Yet where was the populist film that would espouse this violent, confused zeitgeist? Spielberg's War of the Worlds came close, but its flowery ending and alien invasion premise undercut whatever post 9/11 anxiety it was attempting to challenge. Replace Aliens with the ironic glasgow smile of a violent terrorist, caked in all white make up, whose very gaze is like a razor cutting your skin deep, and you begin to feel the gradual unseating of all that you hold dear.

The Joker is nothing like the religious terrorists that conspired 9/11. His concerns are far more abstract, understandable only in the vocabulary of comic book diabolics. But where he mirrors those real life villains is his absolute conviction to not commit atrocities in the name of material gain. The Joker doesn't care about money. It is but a means to an end. He wants something more sacred. He wants your very soul. He wants you to smile like he does, an eternal smile, as he makes you realize that the morality you hold dear is nothing but a nimble stack of cards. All it takes is a little push and it will all come crashing down. And that should make you very afraid indeed.

The film is able to brilliantly mirror this fear with the fear that the entire nation of America felt as the towers went down. The film instills the same sense of anxiety the Bin Laden's post attack videos that saturated American media did when the Joker fashioned his own little videos. The film instilled the same sense of pervading paranoia you felt when you went outside, and looked at the man that went to the mosque every day and for the first time, wonder if he was more than he let on. The forces of good went to the brink and beyond their moral fiber to battle this demon. Some crossed over to the other side, never to return. Batman's elaborate construction to catch the Joker was not dissimilar to Bush's Patriot Act, where people were tasked to surrender their freedom for security.

It was only a few months into the film's theatrical run that the 2008 stock market crash happened. One wonders how much that boosted the film's lifespan as people were even more willing to wallow in darkness and cynicism and TDK provided a big medium, indeed the biggest medium to do so. The Dark Knight was the best film about America's place post 9/11, and it was a comic book, summer blockbuster movie.

This post actually gave me goosebumps. I'm not even kidding.

 

[B:TAS]

Above all, its startlingly topical and relatable themes that hit America like a wildstorm. I don't think it is an accident that TDK made so much more domestically than overseas (while Rises' broader struggles of clearer good and evil appealed to the international moviegoers). The film came out in 2008, seven years removed from the most harrowing, paradigm changing event in America, the September 11 terrorist attacks on NY. This single event can be traced back to for every major social, and diplomatic changes, & moral and existential musings in America since.

2001 A Space Odyssey, captured the optimism and curiosity of Americans in the 60's; Star Wars captured the 70's need for feel good escapism after Vietnam. Yet where was the populist film that would espouse this violent, confused zeitgeist? Spielberg's War of the Worlds came close, but its flowery ending and alien invasion premise undercut whatever post 9/11 anxiety it was attempting to challenge. Replace Aliens with the ironic glasgow smile of a violent terrorist, caked in all white make up, whose very gaze is like a razor cutting your skin deep, and you begin to feel the gradual unseating of all that you hold dear.

The Joker is nothing like the religious terrorists that conspired 9/11. His concerns are far more abstract, understandable only in the vocabulary of comic book diabolics. But where he mirrors those real life villains is his absolute conviction to not commit atrocities in the name of material gain. The Joker doesn't care about money. It is but a means to an end. He wants something more sacred. He wants your very soul. He wants you to smile like he does, an eternal smile, as he makes you realize that the morality you hold dear is nothing but a nimble stack of cards. All it takes is a little push and it will all come crashing down. And that should make you very afraid indeed.

The film is able to brilliantly mirror this fear with the fear that the entire nation of America felt as the towers went down. The film instills the same sense of anxiety the Bin Laden's post attack videos that saturated American media did when the Joker fashioned his own little videos. The film instilled the same sense of pervading paranoia you felt when you went outside, and looked at the man that went to the mosque every day and for the first time, wonder if he was more than he let on. The forces of good went to the brink and beyond their moral fiber to battle this demon. Some crossed over to the other side, never to return. Batman's elaborate construction to catch the Joker was not dissimilar to Bush's Patriot Act, where people were tasked to surrender their freedom for security.

It was only a few months into the film's theatrical run that the 2008 stock market crash happened. One wonders how much that boosted the film's lifespan as people were even more willing to wallow in darkness and cynicism and TDK provided a big medium, indeed the biggest medium to do so. The Dark Knight was the best film about America's place post 9/11, and it was a comic book, summer blockbuster movie.

This. Plus Heath Ledger gave one hell of a performance.

 

[Spiderine]

Above all, its startlingly topical and relatable themes that hit America like a wildstorm. I don't think it is an accident that TDK made so much more domestically than overseas (while Rises' broader struggles of clearer good and evil appealed to the international moviegoers). The film came out in 2008, seven years removed from the most harrowing, paradigm changing event in America, the September 11 terrorist attacks on NY. This single event can be traced back to for every major social, and diplomatic changes, & moral and existential musings in America since.

2001 A Space Odyssey, captured the optimism and curiosity of Americans in the 60's; Star Wars captured the 70's need for feel good escapism after Vietnam. Yet where was the populist film that would espouse this violent, confused zeitgeist? Spielberg's War of the Worlds came close, but its flowery ending and alien invasion premise undercut whatever post 9/11 anxiety it was attempting to challenge. Replace Aliens with the ironic glasgow smile of a violent terrorist, caked in all white make up, whose very gaze is like a razor cutting your skin deep, and you begin to feel the gradual unseating of all that you hold dear.

The Joker is nothing like the religious terrorists that conspired 9/11. His concerns are far more abstract, understandable only in the vocabulary of comic book diabolics. But where he mirrors those real life villains is his absolute conviction to not commit atrocities in the name of material gain. The Joker doesn't care about money. It is but a means to an end. He wants something more sacred. He wants your very soul. He wants you to smile like he does, an eternal smile, as he makes you realize that the morality you hold dear is nothing but a nimble stack of cards. All it takes is a little push and it will all come crashing down. And that should make you very afraid indeed.

The film is able to brilliantly mirror this fear with the fear that the entire nation of America felt as the towers went down. The film instills the same sense of anxiety the Bin Laden's post attack videos that saturated American media did when the Joker fashioned his own little videos. The film instilled the same sense of pervading paranoia you felt when you went outside, and looked at the man that went to the mosque every day and for the first time, wonder if he was more than he let on. The forces of good went to the brink and beyond their moral fiber to battle this demon. Some crossed over to the other side, never to return. Batman's elaborate construction to catch the Joker was not dissimilar to Bush's Patriot Act, where people were tasked to surrender their freedom for security.

It was only a few months into the film's theatrical run that the 2008 stock market crash happened. One wonders how much that boosted the film's lifespan as people were even more willing to wallow in darkness and cynicism and TDK provided a big medium, indeed the biggest medium to do so. The Dark Knight was the best film about America's place post 9/11, and it was a comic book, summer blockbuster movie.

Wow....that's deep man. Excellent post!

 

[Steamteck]

I literally have no idea why its so special after all the analysis and explanations. I simply do not see what others see in this film. The only thing its provided for me is understanding when people don't see things in MOS I saw. I 've tried watching it several times waiting about 6 months to a year between times and while I didn't care for it before it always seems worse than I remember.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

Heath Ledger.

 

[The Joker]

There's a lot of things that make it special. The terrific story, the great acting, the comic book influences etc. It's just one of those movies where the stars are in alignment.

The best comic book movie, and my personal favorite.

Above all, its startlingly topical and relatable themes that hit America like a wildstorm. I don't think it is an accident that TDK made so much more domestically than overseas (while Rises' broader struggles of clearer good and evil appealed to the international moviegoers). The film came out in 2008, seven years removed from the most harrowing, paradigm changing event in America, the September 11 terrorist attacks on NY. This single event can be traced back to for every major social, and diplomatic changes, & moral and existential musings in America since.

2001 A Space Odyssey, captured the optimism and curiosity of Americans in the 60's; Star Wars captured the 70's need for feel good escapism after Vietnam. Yet where was the populist film that would espouse this violent, confused zeitgeist? Spielberg's War of the Worlds came close, but its flowery ending and alien invasion premise undercut whatever post 9/11 anxiety it was attempting to challenge. Replace Aliens with the ironic glasgow smile of a violent terrorist, caked in all white make up, whose very gaze is like a razor cutting your skin deep, and you begin to feel the gradual unseating of all that you hold dear.

The Joker is nothing like the religious terrorists that conspired 9/11. His concerns are far more abstract, understandable only in the vocabulary of comic book diabolics. But where he mirrors those real life villains is his absolute conviction to not commit atrocities in the name of material gain. The Joker doesn't care about money. It is but a means to an end. He wants something more sacred. He wants your very soul. He wants you to smile like he does, an eternal smile, as he makes you realize that the morality you hold dear is nothing but a nimble stack of cards. All it takes is a little push and it will all come crashing down. And that should make you very afraid indeed.

The film is able to brilliantly mirror this fear with the fear that the entire nation of America felt as the towers went down. The film instills the same sense of anxiety the Bin Laden's post attack videos that saturated American media did when the Joker fashioned his own little videos. The film instilled the same sense of pervading paranoia you felt when you went outside, and looked at the man that went to the mosque every day and for the first time, wonder if he was more than he let on. The forces of good went to the brink and beyond their moral fiber to battle this demon. Some crossed over to the other side, never to return. Batman's elaborate construction to catch the Joker was not dissimilar to Bush's Patriot Act, where people were tasked to surrender their freedom for security.

It was only a few months into the film's theatrical run that the 2008 stock market crash happened. One wonders how much that boosted the film's lifespan as people were even more willing to wallow in darkness and cynicism and TDK provided a big medium, indeed the biggest medium to do so. The Dark Knight was the best film about America's place post 9/11, and it was a comic book, summer blockbuster movie.

Wow. Amazing post. Just fantastic.

Well said

 

[BatLobster]

Possibly one of the best posts I've ever read on the Bat-boards. It's not just what he said (similar sentiments have been expressed all over the place), but how clearly he articulated it.

Tacit Ronin, get in here and take a bow.

 

[Green Goblin]

Because everything is great about it.

 

[batman1]

Above all, its startlingly topical and relatable themes that hit America like a wildstorm. I don't think it is an accident that TDK made so much more domestically than overseas (while Rises' broader struggles of clearer good and evil appealed to the international moviegoers). The film came out in 2008, seven years removed from the most harrowing, paradigm changing event in America, the September 11 terrorist attacks on NY. This single event can be traced back to for every major social, and diplomatic changes, & moral and existential musings in America since.

2001 A Space Odyssey, captured the optimism and curiosity of Americans in the 60's; Star Wars captured the 70's need for feel good escapism after Vietnam. Yet where was the populist film that would espouse this violent, confused zeitgeist? Spielberg's War of the Worlds came close, but its flowery ending and alien invasion premise undercut whatever post 9/11 anxiety it was attempting to challenge. Replace Aliens with the ironic glasgow smile of a violent terrorist, caked in all white make up, whose very gaze is like a razor cutting your skin deep, and you begin to feel the gradual unseating of all that you hold dear.

The Joker is nothing like the religious terrorists that conspired 9/11. His concerns are far more abstract, understandable only in the vocabulary of comic book diabolics. But where he mirrors those real life villains is his absolute conviction to not commit atrocities in the name of material gain. The Joker doesn't care about money. It is but a means to an end. He wants something more sacred. He wants your very soul. He wants you to smile like he does, an eternal smile, as he makes you realize that the morality you hold dear is nothing but a nimble stack of cards. All it takes is a little push and it will all come crashing down. And that should make you very afraid indeed.

The film is able to brilliantly mirror this fear with the fear that the entire nation of America felt as the towers went down. The film instills the same sense of anxiety the Bin Laden's post attack videos that saturated American media did when the Joker fashioned his own little videos. The film instilled the same sense of pervading paranoia you felt when you went outside, and looked at the man that went to the mosque every day and for the first time, wonder if he was more than he let on. The forces of good went to the brink and beyond their moral fiber to battle this demon. Some crossed over to the other side, never to return. Batman's elaborate construction to catch the Joker was not dissimilar to Bush's Patriot Act, where people were tasked to surrender their freedom for security.

It was only a few months into the film's theatrical run that the 2008 stock market crash happened. One wonders how much that boosted the film's lifespan as people were even more willing to wallow in darkness and cynicism and TDK provided a big medium, indeed the biggest medium to do so. The Dark Knight was the best film about America's place post 9/11, and it was a comic book, summer blockbuster movie.

Wow!! Mr. Nolan knows what to do!

 

[Two-Face]

TDK gets better and better every time I see it. What makes TDK so special? Having great cast as well as the story.

 

[DA_Champion]

Heath Ledger.

Harvey Dent had the most important character arc in the film.

 

[CountOrlok]

It was mainly Heath Ledger that made this such a huge success. Batman Begins, when adjusted for inflation, was the worst performing Batman movie in the US (after Batman & Robin and Mask of the Phantasm). It ranks at #6 out of all the theatrical Batman movies (from 1989). http://boxofficemojo.com/franchises/chart/?id=batman.htm

 

[DA_Champion]

It was mainly Heath Ledger that made this such a huge success. Batman Begins, when adjusted for inflation, was the worst performing Batman movie in the US (after Batman & Robin and Mask of the Phantasm). It ranks at #6 out of all the theatrical Batman movies (from 1989). http://boxofficemojo.com/franchises/chart/?id=batman.htm

Total BS analysis.

1) BB did badly because of Batman and Robin, the franchise was dead and Batman Begins restored it, you can find further evidence in its phenomenal DVD sales that surprised everybody, or the fact the movie had legs.

2) The notion that TDK had nothing going for it other than Ledger has been debunked ... thousands of times.

 

[The Joker]

Total BS analysis.

1) BB did badly because of Batman and Robin, the franchise was dead and Batman Begins restored it, you can find further evidence in its phenomenal DVD sales that surprised everybody, or the fact the movie had legs.

2) The notion that TDK had nothing going for it other than Ledger has been debunked ... thousands of times.

Plus TDK had the most amazing worldwide marketing campaign;

[YT]VpuC7HhCPWA[/YT]


Not to mention TDKR made even more, and it was a Ledger free zone. Also BB did not do badly. It was a financial success. It just didn't make as much as it's successors. And it's been an inspiration for so many reboot/origin movies.

 

[batman1]

Watched it again last night on cable. It's nearly perfectly presented in every way!

 

[Human Torch]

Frankly,I don't know the answer to the thread question.I found it a very enjoyable film,but I don't really get the insane amount of adulation it receives.

 

[Doctor Octopus]

Total BS analysis.

1) BB did badly because of Batman and Robin, the franchise was dead and Batman Begins restored it, you can find further evidence in its phenomenal DVD sales that surprised everybody, or the fact the movie had legs.

Batman Begins was one of the top ten selling DVDs of 2005 http://forums.superherohype.com/showthread.php?t=223739

Which is really impressive when you think it didn't come out until late October of 2005.

 

[Blitzkrieg Bop]

Joker, you are the undisputed purveyor of multi-quote debates. From the Kingdom of Blitzkrieg, I knight thee. Rise, clown-faced warrior, and go forth.

 

[shauner111]

When it comes to multiple quote debates, Joker IS the king. I've had some with him in the past, and he's a difficult gentleman to overcome, ill tell you that! Nowadays i sit back and enjoy Joker slay each dragon. No offense CountOrlok but i have to side with Joker on this discussion.

 

[BatLobster]

Hehe, yup I'm happy just sitting back and watching a master at work.

In short though, TDK was a perfect storm. Yes, Heath Ledger had a LOT to do with it, but if you inserted Heath's performance in a crappy movie that had nothing else going for it, I HIGHLY doubt it would have been the same type of phenomenon.

And even if one wants to say Ledger should get most of the credit, it was still Nolan who had the foresight and vision to cast him in the role when the whole world was going "WHAT? NOOOO!". And it was Nolan's Batman Begins that even attracted Ledger to the project in the first place (previously he said he hated superhero movies and had declined them in the past, including Begins). So regardless of whether one wants to interpret Begins as a success or not (it obviously was), it was still a key factor in getting Heath Ledger in the clown shoes. It was he that approached Nolan, not vice-versa. So it's all a part of the perfect storm that was ultimately The Dark Knight Trilogy, and the eye of that storm was TDK.

 

[Green Goblin]

When it comes to multiple quote debates, Joker IS the king. I've had some with him in the past, and he's a difficult gentleman to overcome, ill tell you that! Nowadays i sit back and enjoy Joker slay each dragon. No offense CountOrlok but i have to side with Joker on this discussion.

Yea I just get a sore head looking at them

 

[Shikamaru]

There's plenty of reasons, but I think there's a big one that many often miss: the film is the epitome of the Batman/Joker dynamic. I'd even consider a study of that dynamic in the same way BB is a study of Bruce Wayne.

How does that exactly make it special? Well, the Batman/Joker dynamic is arguably the greatest dynamic in all of comics, and one of the best in overall fiction.