The Dark Knight Rises Which of the 3 movies had the best cinematography?

[EliteF50]

We've briefly discussed this before in the general discussion thread, but I wanted to know exactly what people think. So, which of the three Nolan Batfilms do you think has the best cinematography?

Personally, I'm torn. They were all very impressive, but I'm a little disappointed TDKR didn't have any of those 360-degree spinning shots from TDK. Still, Batman was lit the best in TDKR, whereas he looked a little goofy in both BB and TDK at times.

 

[redfirebird2008]

TDK wins this one.

 

[jb007]

Batman Begins is breathtaking.

 

[Tacit Ronin]

Tdkr

tdk

bb

 

[HolyPurpleSocks]

It's very hard to rank overall cinematography for me...but all I know is that shot of Joker hanging his head out of the police car after he blew the MCU to pieces will ALWAYS stick with me. It's beautiful.

 

[Spuzz]

They all had REALLY great cinematography. BB's best shots were in the Bhutan scenes with Bruce scaling the mountains, etc. and training. TDK's best shots were the stark skyscraper views that in IMAX made me feel a bit nervous of the heights haha. Lots of good silhouetted Batman shots in TDK too. Best shot in TDK is probably Batman looking at the destroyed building Harvey was in and picking up the coin. TDKR had beautiful moody city shots and also Wayne manor looked beautiful. Best of all of course, were the drippy, dank labyrinthine sewer shots and the stuff in the pit prison (would have liked to see those cool staircases used more though). Also the final action scenes (specifically the Bat's aerial stunts during the HEMTT chase and the shots of Bane squaring off against Batman amongst the crowd of SO MANY people fighting) were really mind bogglingly good. So I say the camera work in all 3 is great but TDKR takes the cake for most variety.

 

[BuddhaWasABat]

I'm going with Rises for this one but TDK is pretty close. Begins has a really cool atmosphere, possibly the most atmospheric of all 3 but the best shots I think are in TDK and Rises.

 

[EliteF50]

I'd say TDKR too, but it's not clear cut. All three movies looked amazing. BB goes ahead of TDK, tho.

I just wish more of TDKR took place at night.

 

[DACrowe]

Part of me wants to say TDK because of shots like this:

Spoiler

....

 

[redfirebird2008]

Part of me wants to say TDK because of shots like this:

Spoiler

....

And this:

Spoiler

 

[CConn]

TDKR by a nose over TDK.

BB's doesn't even compare.

 

[aeioulul]

1. Tdk
2. Tdkr
3. Bb

 

[The Shape]

TDKR. I think the actual camera movement was better this time around and more unique. I love the twisting shot of Bane in the crowd when he spots Batman, with all of the people fighting around him. Also, the last chase was beautifully shot and surprisingly NOT cheesy looking with a flying vehicle taking center stage.

TDK is also quite beautiful but lost it in the final minutes with the ferries, SWAT, and Dent scenes.

BB is great, especially for the first half, but the fights are way too choppy and ****** looking. The latter portion of the film, which was heavily shot on sets, doesn't look too great either. The other two being shot mostly on location gives a great advantage to their cinematography.

 

[Brother Jack]

Probably TDK for the amount of striking imagery.

Rises was great as well, what they were able to do with the IMAX was fantastic.

Begins has its moments, especially with the shots of Batman. It has the best obligatory "Batman on a building" shot.

 

[CConn]

I had an amazingly good post on Wally Pfister's cinematography that I totally lost to the annals of Hype history, but suffice it to say, Pfister's cinematography improved dramatically between The Prestige and The Dark Knight.

It's honestly as if he changed his entire philosophy on how to shoot a film.

 

[Agent Orange]

And this:

Spoiler

And these:

Spoiler

Spoiler

 

[redfirebird2008]

And this:

Spoiler

 

[DACrowe]

....And then I remember shots in TDKR like this:

Spoiler

and tons of greater images I can't find until they put it on DVD...it has to be a tie. Especially as TDKR was shot more in IMAX.

 

[DACrowe]

And this:

Spoiler

My second pic, I believe.

 

[Agent Orange]

I can't wait for the Rises Blu-ray. I'm sure that a lot more images will become ingrained in my head.

 

[redfirebird2008]

My second pic, I believe.

No, your second pic is Batman flying over Hong Kong.

 

[CapedCrusader14]

Damn these films have such great cinematography. We're definitely blessed to get what we've been given with this trilogy.

I'd say TDK personally. BB has some very underappreciated shots and Rises has some great cinematography as well.

 

[EliteF50]

I still can't believe that Hong Kong scene was shot in daytime. They did a great job with the VFX.

 

[DoomsdayApex]

By no means was one film vastly superior in the cinematography department. The entire trilogy had stunning and breathtaking cinematography, but if I had to rank them, it'd look like this for me:

The Dark Knight Rises

Batman Begins

The Dark Knight

 

[CapedCrusader14]

The Batman/GCPD chase in Rises looked beautiful. Especially the truck ramp jump.