As someone who’s not from Chicago, I can confirm that I too noticed a great difference in Gotham City, especially throughout TDK and TDKR. I want to thank you for finally being someone who has mentioned this as it has always been something somewhat annoying in the back of my mind when I watch this incredible trilogy.
What a titan of an essay. Crosses all Batman, a collection of films that use Chicago, and passes through City of God and dips a toe in Lawrence of Arabia. Just, bravo.
For me Batman Begins looks like Gotham. Dirty, alleys, docks, Monorail, Nerrows and Wayne Manor. In TDK & TDKR it's city just empty, and from Batman Begins city here's only Low Wacker tunnel, and Bank Builing in Center (which was Wayne Tower in Batman Begins), well, and Parking Garage.
Batman Begins was my favorite Gotham in the trilogy hands down. It was the perfect blend of gritty realism mixed with surreal/ otherworldly. I enjoyed the city's portrayal in the sequels, but I've just never felt like Batman blends as seamlessly into his environment in those films. He sorta sticks out like sore thumb, especially in the police chase sequence in TDKR
Sao Paulo is like Gotham: A gigantic skyscraper sprawl that continues out of the picture frame with massive inequality , it's the center of everything but at the same time it's a crime ridden city on the verge of collapse and anarchy.
It always struck me as purposeful on multiple levels that Nolan had Gordon read from "A Tale of Two Cities" at the end of DKR. Perhaps it was a little meta tongue in cheek.
This is a brilliant video essay, as it combines facts with methods and analysis to culminate in interpretation. I particularly love the transfer from and examplification of "City of God" to support your main theory. Excellently structured, argued and supplemented with video edits. Fantastic!
Wonderful work! I haven’t had a cinema experience that even comes close to seeing The Dark Knight in IMAX at Navy Pier in 2008 having no idea that the finale was going to take place there.
Great video, one of the best articulations of what I think many people miss about TDKT. It’s a character study of Bruce Wayne first and foremost, so every narrative and aesthetic choice is rooted in that. The choice of villains, of theme, even the vehicles Batman uses. And the shifts in genre for each film are based in the stages of life Bruce is in, as you pointed out.
I’m gonna respectfully disagree a bit there. Tim Burton’s Batman is a little too stylized and while I think Danny Elfman has great scores (especially for the Simpsons), his Batman score is way to whimsical and clashes with the darkness of Burton’s Gotham
The irony of all of this is that Gotham City was originally NYC. My favorite version of Gotham was the TV show called Gotham which WAS in NYC but they dressed it to look a little like 70s NYC which was their intention. When they blew up the bridges on the East River in TDKR, my heart dropped. Lol
BRILLIANT!! Thank you so much for making this video. It answered so many questions I have about the switch from Chicago to NYC and Pittsburgh. Through your analysis you added so much value to my viewing of these films. Now they make a little more sense and bring some much-needed cohesion to the trilogy and its wildly different tones. I really enjoyed the Gotham history lesson, as well as the recommendation for City of God-I’ll be checking that out. You really did your research, and it shows. Way to go!
Great video dude! I couldn't put a finger on why TDKR felt so strange to me after the first two. Can't believe I didn't even think it could be the setting.
I didn't really care for Nolan's version of Gotham city, i thought it looked way to much like an ordinary American city. I prefer Tim Burton's version of Gotham city and i also liked the Gotham city from the Arkham video game series...
Hey man awesome video! Never seen a video tackle gotham like this before always thought it would be fun if someone did. Im planning on doing a video essay myself, j wrote the script, but im having trouble capturing footage from a movie for the video. May i ask, how do you capture footage from films for use in your videos?
10/10 you were spot on. Wish your channel had more views. A question, Which do you prefer? Chicago or New York. Just asking because I'm a country boy looking to move to the big city and am undecided because I love both.
I was born and raised in Chicago, so it will always be my home. I went to college in NY, and while I will always love the time I spent there I ultimately realized it wasn’t for me. The pace always kept me on edge, and I found it difficult to be happy. But your mileage will undoubtedly vary.
Hey, Rick, first of all, congratulations, great video! I'm currently working on an essay for my channel (in Portuguese) about how the changes in Gotham tell part of the story arc in the Dark Knight trilogy. During the research for writing the script, I've stumbled into your video, which is really good, again, congratulations. I was wondering if it would be okay for me to possibly quote you in my video (of course, naming you while doing it) I'm still writing, so I don't know exactly if and what I would use, but wanted to ask nonetheless. Even if the answer is no, I'll still be sharing your video in my sources and additional material. Keep up the good work!
@@rachelxkendra Thanks, I'll definetely take a look at them! And I'll definetely credit and link back :) I'll send it to you, but I'll send the translated script as well (by Google translate and I'll make minor changes, would take too much time otherwise haha)
People say that Nolan's Gotham City has no personality, but in the first film, I actually think it has one. The director tries to give the city a dirty look, something that I feel disappears as the sequels progress, where the city gradually becomes more like Chicago.
Unless you really are into the comics and really examine every detail, when you watch the movies they just seem to be set in a huge city with many different sections. The only thing i didn't like is Wayne tower got a downgrade for no reason from the first to second movie. The first one had style.
I think some assumptions are being made here. The 3rd film is Manhattan in many wide shots of the whole city, but its mostly Pittsburgh on location. Its manhattan because they needed Gotham to be an Island cut off. They filmed in Pittsburgh instead of Chicago i would assume for reasons of budget and scheduling more than anything. Filming in Chicago and NYC can be difficult and expensive, so you go to substitute cities like Toronto or Pittsburgh. My favorite Chicago movie is Payback starting Mel Gibson. They do add some location shots of other cities, and never name the city, but it's all Chicago. And they make the era a mix of the 70s, 80s, and 90s so you can't tell when its supposed to take place, like all the cars are late 70s to early 80s models, except for some sports cars in a flashback and a limo. The clothing likewise, and the types of crimes and underworld activity, but there are all sorts of 90s artifacts sprinkled in as well.
BB (the best look) & TDKR (the spectacle more than made up for it) & worked for me TDK is my least favourite visuals in any batman movie, surprisingly being the best movie (for villain & story). Tim Burton 89 batman was the one that resonated the most as Gotham. The greatest Gotham though was the pulp like 1940s stories in the Batman TAS (1992-95).
Personally as someone who lives in UK, I feel like New York’s geology/landscape is just too obvious? Like if I see the Central Park and that island, I know this is New York, it’s hard to be convinced otherwise. Meanwhile, Chicago’s overall look isn’t as recognisable to at least ppl from other countries, so it is totally believable that this could be Gotham
I get that a lot of these movies need to film in chicago and ny to get the buildings, but please make it look unique. At least try to make it look different than Chicago and New York.
Very interesting essay. Didn't realize TDKR wasn't film in the same places as BB and TDK. Great work! 👍 I gave you a sub! I make similar videos on my channel, if you give me a sub to help my channel grow that would be much appreciated, but no worries if not. Keep up the great work, friend!
New York is for Superman as #1 , in my world . He came 1st and is in the #1 U.S. city. Batman than fits in Chicago. #2 in #2 CITY , WHICH NO MATTER IS CHICAGO, not Los Angeles. L.A. and every other city doesn't have as large a skyline as N.Y. and Chicago
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Loved this Rick. My favorite quote on DC cities is, "Metropolis is NY in the daytime, Gotham is NY at night."
As someone who’s not from Chicago, I can confirm that I too noticed a great difference in Gotham City, especially throughout TDK and TDKR. I want to thank you for finally being someone who has mentioned this as it has always been something somewhat annoying in the back of my mind when I watch this incredible trilogy.
There is a part in TDKRises where we see what is CLEARLY lower Manhattan complete with Battery Park and an unfinished One World Trade Center.
What a titan of an essay. Crosses all Batman, a collection of films that use Chicago, and passes through City of God and dips a toe in Lawrence of Arabia. Just, bravo.
For me Batman Begins looks like Gotham. Dirty, alleys, docks, Monorail, Nerrows and Wayne Manor.
In TDK & TDKR it's city just empty, and from Batman Begins city here's only Low Wacker tunnel, and Bank Builing in Center (which was Wayne Tower in Batman Begins), well, and Parking Garage.
Gotham is three islands, maybe that's why the 3 versions of gotham feel so different.
Batman Begins was my favorite Gotham in the trilogy hands down. It was the perfect blend of gritty realism mixed with surreal/ otherworldly. I enjoyed the city's portrayal in the sequels, but I've just never felt like Batman blends as seamlessly into his environment in those films. He sorta sticks out like sore thumb, especially in the police chase sequence in TDKR
This is the first essay I've come across where the essayist changed his own mind. Brilliant!
Batman Begins city was definitely the best and most gritty out of the 3. I could actually almost taste the moisture of the dark alley gutters
Sao Paulo is like Gotham: A gigantic skyscraper sprawl that continues out of the picture frame with massive inequality , it's the center of everything but at the same time it's a crime ridden city on the verge of collapse and anarchy.
im brazillian n i totally agree with u, things here are complicated
Tim Burton's gotham city is the best & most comic accurate. Nolan's Gotham city looks like chicago.
Comic book ridiculous. No place has humongous statues which the taxpayers would've paid for. Well not in a democracy
It is Chicago
And New York
@@xenomorphbiologist-xx1214 Gotham is somewhat based on Chicago and other cities, but it's in New Jersey
The Batman has the best Gotham to me.
It always struck me as purposeful on multiple levels that Nolan had Gordon read from "A Tale of Two Cities" at the end of DKR. Perhaps it was a little meta tongue in cheek.
Burton and Reeves versions of Gotham are the best imo
Just got this in my recommended and damn im shook by the low view count. This deserves waaayyy more. Really good stuff
This is a brilliant video essay, as it combines facts with methods and analysis to culminate in interpretation. I particularly love the transfer from and examplification of "City of God" to support your main theory. Excellently structured, argued and supplemented with video edits. Fantastic!
Wonderful work! I haven’t had a cinema experience that even comes close to seeing The Dark Knight in IMAX at Navy Pier in 2008 having no idea that the finale was going to take place there.
Also love that you said Batman is the Madonna of the DC Universe. That’s a picture I never thought before.
This makes me think TDKR could've used a better team up than just Catwoman.
Great video, one of the best articulations of what I think many people miss about TDKT. It’s a character study of Bruce Wayne first and foremost, so every narrative and aesthetic choice is rooted in that. The choice of villains, of theme, even the vehicles Batman uses. And the shifts in genre for each film are based in the stages of life Bruce is in, as you pointed out.
4:16 Yes!! We love a bit of history 😄
🕷New York is Spiderman's city....Batman looks out of place there. The best Gotham is Tim Burton's Gotham also Batman the Animated Series🦇
💯
I’m gonna respectfully disagree a bit there. Tim Burton’s Batman is a little too stylized and while I think Danny Elfman has great scores (especially for the Simpsons), his Batman score is way to whimsical and clashes with the darkness of Burton’s Gotham
Whoa, I never thought about this before. This video was very good essay.
I hated Christopher Nolans Gotham City. It seemed too realistic. At times it felt like a man in costume running around the sidewalks of New York.
The irony of all of this is that Gotham City was originally NYC. My favorite version of Gotham was the TV show called Gotham which WAS in NYC but they dressed it to look a little like 70s NYC which was their intention. When they blew up the bridges on the East River in TDKR, my heart dropped. Lol
BRILLIANT!! Thank you so much for making this video. It answered so many questions I have about the switch from Chicago to NYC and Pittsburgh. Through your analysis you added so much value to my viewing of these films. Now they make a little more sense and bring some much-needed cohesion to the trilogy and its wildly different tones. I really enjoyed the Gotham history lesson, as well as the recommendation for City of God-I’ll be checking that out. You really did your research, and it shows. Way to go!
Great video dude! I couldn't put a finger on why TDKR felt so strange to me after the first two. Can't believe I didn't even think it could be the setting.
Great video essay! Really enjoyable to watch, and made me think about these films in a new way, which is always fun :)
I love this video so much. It feels like I made it myself since I also love world building and had the same exact issue with this trilogy.
Persoanlly I think that you can use three different cities for scenes. Chicago, New York, and Detroit
I think you're confusing Detroit and Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh is where most of TDKR was filmed.
A really great video. Thank you! :)
This was a great video!
Amazing video!
loved the video, also as a brazilian i really liked when you mentioned city of god. Excellent work!!
I didn't really care for Nolan's version of Gotham city, i thought it looked way to much like an ordinary American city. I prefer Tim Burton's version of Gotham city and i also liked the Gotham city from the Arkham video game series...
Such a good video 👍😊👊
Hey man awesome video! Never seen a video tackle gotham like this before always thought it would be fun if someone did. Im planning on doing a video essay myself, j wrote the script, but im having trouble capturing footage from a movie for the video. May i ask, how do you capture footage from films for use in your videos?
Nice essay
10/10 you were spot on. Wish your channel had more views.
A question, Which do you prefer? Chicago or New York. Just asking because I'm a country boy looking to move to the big city and am undecided because I love both.
I was born and raised in Chicago, so it will always be my home. I went to college in NY, and while I will always love the time I spent there I ultimately realized it wasn’t for me. The pace always kept me on edge, and I found it difficult to be happy. But your mileage will undoubtedly vary.
Hey, Rick, first of all, congratulations, great video!
I'm currently working on an essay for my channel (in Portuguese) about how the changes in Gotham tell part of the story arc in the Dark Knight trilogy.
During the research for writing the script, I've stumbled into your video, which is really good, again, congratulations.
I was wondering if it would be okay for me to possibly quote you in my video (of course, naming you while doing it)
I'm still writing, so I don't know exactly if and what I would use, but wanted to ask nonetheless.
Even if the answer is no, I'll still be sharing your video in my sources and additional material.
Keep up the good work!
@@rachelxkendra Thanks, I'll definetely take a look at them! And I'll definetely credit and link back :)
I'll send it to you, but I'll send the translated script as well (by Google translate and I'll make minor changes, would take too much time otherwise haha)
Bravo!
People say that Nolan's Gotham City has no personality, but in the first film, I actually think it has one. The director tries to give the city a dirty look, something that I feel disappears as the sequels progress, where the city gradually becomes more like Chicago.
👍... fantastic
I like the implication that if Chicago went 8 years without organized crime it becomes Manhattan
Nolan's Gotham city is not Gotham city that's just New York
not enough videos recognize the similarities between batman and madonna
That’s what I’m sayin’!
I’m impressed with Chicago and New York filming the dark knight trilogy.
Unless you really are into the comics and really examine every detail, when you watch the movies they just seem to be set in a huge city with many different sections. The only thing i didn't like is Wayne tower got a downgrade for no reason from the first to second movie. The first one had style.
I think some assumptions are being made here. The 3rd film is Manhattan in many wide shots of the whole city, but its mostly Pittsburgh on location. Its manhattan because they needed Gotham to be an Island cut off. They filmed in Pittsburgh instead of Chicago i would assume for reasons of budget and scheduling more than anything. Filming in Chicago and NYC can be difficult and expensive, so you go to substitute cities like Toronto or Pittsburgh.
My favorite Chicago movie is Payback starting Mel Gibson. They do add some location shots of other cities, and never name the city, but it's all Chicago. And they make the era a mix of the 70s, 80s, and 90s so you can't tell when its supposed to take place, like all the cars are late 70s to early 80s models, except for some sports cars in a flashback and a limo. The clothing likewise, and the types of crimes and underworld activity, but there are all sorts of 90s artifacts sprinkled in as well.
BB (the best look) & TDKR (the spectacle more than made up for it) & worked for me
TDK is my least favourite visuals in any batman movie, surprisingly being the best movie (for villain & story).
Tim Burton 89 batman was the one that resonated the most as Gotham.
The greatest Gotham though was the pulp like 1940s stories in the Batman TAS (1992-95).
Personally as someone who lives in UK, I feel like New York’s geology/landscape is just too obvious? Like if I see the Central Park and that island, I know this is New York, it’s hard to be convinced otherwise.
Meanwhile, Chicago’s overall look isn’t as recognisable to at least ppl from other countries, so it is totally believable that this could be Gotham
Gotham is like 1990s New York
It was worse in the 70s and 80s.
Like 1970’s/modern San Francisco.
I get that a lot of these movies need to film in chicago and ny to get the buildings, but please make it look unique. At least try to make it look different than Chicago and New York.
Chicago was real gotham city
Very interesting essay. Didn't realize TDKR wasn't film in the same places as BB and TDK. Great work! 👍 I gave you a sub! I make similar videos on my channel, if you give me a sub to help my channel grow that would be much appreciated, but no worries if not. Keep up the great work, friend!
New York is for Superman as #1 , in my world . He came 1st and is in the #1 U.S. city. Batman than fits in Chicago. #2 in #2 CITY , WHICH NO MATTER IS CHICAGO, not Los Angeles. L.A. and every other city doesn't have as large a skyline as N.Y. and Chicago
No... Nolans gotham is easily the most disliked gothams
You do a grezt Anthony Bourdain impression.