The film that held Batman to a whole new standard. Breaking Bad & Edgerunners on the patreon! Click here for early access: www.patreon.com/jamesvscinema Have a great day everyone!
The blown up hospital wasn't built to get blown up. It was an existing building scheduled for demolition. The Joker keeps banging the button as it the explosion didn't go off on time. Heath stayed in character abd just kept hitting the trigger.
I remember seeing this opening night. The theater I went to wrote “hahaha” and similar things on all the windows with red washable paint and lots of people were dressed up as the joker. It was an electric feeling and everyone was hooked for the entire film. Best theater experience ever.
The soundbite that is scariest for me is the fake batman camera scene where Joker shouts "Look at me!". When you listen to that again you'll realise how demonic and feral it comes across. Seconds that make a huge difference to my understanding of his psyche.
I remember seeing this way back in theaters (I went a few times) and each time after that line was said I swear you could hear a pin drop in the theater for how quiet people had become.
Really goes to show how the Joker absolutely hates it when he doesn't get the reaction that he wants from people. It also shows how good he is at making people afraid when he actually tries lmao
I've always maintained that the "LOOK-AT-ME" moment is the only time Joker reveals a glimpse into his soul. It's spellbinding and terrifying. Everything else he does is artificial, to get a reaction out of people or just to further his ends.
The score, the cinematography, and the acting make this just a top tier film. Also the Eastern European mob boss (slicked back hair) needs a shoutout... he steals every scene he's in
It's also very elegant how the movie uses Harvey and Joker to parallel both sides of the Bruce/Batman identity without having a big exposition scene to spell it out for you. Harvey initially seems like the guy Bruce wishes he could be, someone who's fighting crime legitimately and actually being effective. On the other hand, he also has a darker side hiding underneath similar to a young Bruce, but without the outlet that Bruce has in Batman. When he gets pushed to the limit, then, he cracks completely whereas Bruce can pick himself back up. Similar to how Batman personifies Bruce's sense of justice, the Joker is a mask for an ideology, but the Joker is all mask all the time whose original identity doesn't even matter anymore. He pushes Batman to the limit because Batman needs to keep walking that tight rope between his two halves while the Joker can dedicate his every moment to proving his misanthropic worldview. As a final aside, I think it's great how the Joker's plan ultimately fails because of *the people* proving him wrong, and not because Batman stopped him in time.
GREAT movie Heath is amazing and Nolan does such a great job with everything he touches! Also here are some Nolan quotes about Dune: "Dune is one of the greatest blends of VFX and cinematography I've ever seen" "It’s a real pleasure and a real gift to film fans everywhere"
"We burned the forest down." I love that line. Shows exactly what it can take to truly beat the sheer madness of someone who just wants to watch the world burn... you let it burn with him in it. Batman refuses to kill the Joker, and in doing so, he loses at the end of this movie..... yet would "winning" really be worth it at that price? “Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
The opening sequence of this is such a beautiful homage to movies like Heat (1995). Really great way to kick this thing off, with an epic bank robbery.
The scene when Joker and the goons crashed the dent party at Wayne’s penthouse, both Alfred and Rachel had lines they were supposed to say, but it was the first time both of them had seen Heath in the Joker get up and they both were just so terrified they just froze Heath improvised for both interactions to get past the lines they didn’t say.
Fun Fact: The scene of Joker and the fake Batman was all ad-libbed by Ledger. They just gave him a phone with a camera and told him to just do what he think he should do. So the actor of the fake Batman his fear is genuine since he didn't know what Ledger was going to do.
Fun Fact:This Joker was inspired by a lot of other villains such as Alex(A Clockwork Orange ),Jack Nicholson Joker,KAKIHARA(Ichi the killer ) and Frank N Furter(Rocky Horror).
I’m 36 years old. Only movie I’ve ever gone to the theaters twice to see. So many elements go in to make this a powerhouse. A true roller coaster. Great review James, one of many. You’ve brought out emotions from some of my favorite scenes and movies over this past year. Thank you, appreciate you, stay healthy.
To this day, I don't think I've ever had a movie going experience that matched the midnight release for The Dark Knight. It was on a whole other level. We lost Heath Ledger way too soon, but I'm glad more people are appreciating his romantic comedies like 10 Things I Hate About You and A Knight's Tale. Also I didn't realize that was Michael Jai White among the gangsters until yeeeears later.
10 Thing is such a guilty pleasure movie of mine, and the main reason I've had a thing for Julia Stiles since high school! 💘🥰🥰🥰💗🤣😂🤣🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣 Great Movie! :D
25:55 if memory serves, "Gotham General" was an actual hospital that was decommissioned, slated for demolition, and was donated or sold to Christopher Nolan's production team to be demolished for this scene.
To many it’s the best, to me it’s the most important film from a filmmaking perspective. It taught me so many elements of cinema from cinematography to score to stunt work to editing (famous Nolan cross-cut) and of course the acting! It taught me that these things are imperative to compliment each other to improve the overall experience the audience is there for. Favourite moment? The sit down between Batman and Joker, the minute Batman shows up it’s his theme as if he’s “in control” but as Joker continues to talk the music transitions into his. So subtle but for me it continues to stand out to this day.
@@errwhattheflip “...To me it’s the most important...” AS IN FOR ME. Not talking about any of ya’ll, I agree, it’s not the MOST important of ALL films. For my journey and love of film/cinema this may have very well been the catalyst. That’s why I deemed it “important”.
hey with spooky season here, i don't know if you take recommendations but i'd love for you to check out nobuhiko obayashi's HOUSE (1977) it's a japanese horror film and there's truely NOTHING like it it changed the way i looked at how movies could be made a crazy fever dream film that perfectly illustrates the nightmares of a child
19:59 it’s a good thing you asked if Joker has any military experience in this movie because Patton Oswalt had a brilliant theory that the Joker in this movie actually could be with someone who has SOME type of military experience. one piece of “evidence” to prove this theory is that when Joker has his monologue with Harvey in the hospital, he states “if a truck full of soldiers blow up nobody panics”, which sounds like a reach but at the same time it does seem to hold weight with that line and everything else Joker was doing to prove Gotham isn’t as good as Batman thinks it is.
19:57 It's a long standing fan theory that the Joker actually got his scars in an IED attack in Iraq while in the military. He's very familiar with weapons and explosives, and he specifically mentions soldiers being blown up.
Theater reactions for this movie in a packed auditorium were like nothing I’d experienced before. I remember the audience actually cheering when Batman flipped over Joker’s semi truck
There's so many great details in this film that are so easy to miss. One of my favorites if you go back and watch the hospital scene between Joker and Harvey, Joker puts the gun in his hand and tells Harvey to create chaos, but if you look closely Joker never takes is finger off the hammer. So even if Harvey pulled the trigger it wouldn't go off. He just gave Harvey the illusion of chance, the same way Harvey flips his double sided coin.
Fun Fact: Bruce's Lamborghini is a model known as the Murcielago, which is the Spanish word for "bat". Even his civilian car is a Batmobile. So much for being subtle. As Rachel said in the first one Batman is who he is, Bruce Wayne is the mask.
Yup. About as great a film as I've ever seen (and I'm no superhero/antihero fanboy). It is simultaneously spectacular and sublime. Nolan made a masterpiece. Also, excellent commentary, which we've come to expect, so thanks👏.
I was so lucky to be able to watch this on opening night, midnight on a Friday morning. Waited in line for about 3 hrs (you couldn’t purchase seats beforehand back then at my hometown cinema) and it is to, this day one, of my favorite core memories. I will never forget the dead silence and genuine excitement throughout the entire theatre. People sitting in aisles just to be able to see it.
Seeing this in theaters was one of the best movie experiences I’ve ever had. I didn’t see the first one, I’ve never been a big superhero movie fan, still not. My sister and I just wanted to see a movie and I asked “do you wanna go see the new Batman movie?” I didn’t even know the name of it. But goddamn, Heath Ledger as the joker might be the greatest acting performance ever, given when you know how Heath was in real life. Like I don’t think I’ve seen an actor transform into a character like that before or since.
James. You are so inspirational to me. I have been a fan for quite a while. You have such great perspective on everything. I love your reactions to old school movies from a younger perspective.
The Dark Knight is top tier Comic Book movies and Film in general. I love it even though I prefer the more comic book movies like the 1989 Batman. One thing I love about this film is the fact the movie does a little homage to the comic book origin of Two-Face. With the court scene where the mob guy pulls the gun on Harvey, they changed the fact that instead of a gun the mobster throws acid on his face and horribly scars him and turns him into Two-Face. The nuances to comics/older material that Nolan adds is great.
These movies all have a very strong tie to the time period they were made, with The Dark Knight having very strong parallels to the Iraq War (the second one) and the Bush administration wire-tapping civilians. The Joker isn't given a lot of outright backstory in this, but little clues do suggest he may have been a soldier, perhaps someone operating on a blacksite since he has knowledge of torture and interrogations methods. He mentions how no one bats an eye to a bunch of soldiers dying, but blow up a school (or a hospital, or whatever the quote was) upsets everyone because it's outside the plan. There's also his familiarity with weaponry, right down to the way he handles a rifle in the parade scene. There's an argument that suggests he was a soldier in the middle east who became a nihilist, someone who looked into the abyss and became it. Rather than being insane, he has a very clear philosophy, one he wants to convince Batman of.
@@valdie91285 Google it. I can't provide links in RUclips comments but both the Iraq war parallels and the Jokers military background are common film analysis.
I also remember the hype around this one, mostly due to the momentum from the first one, but also because of what insiders were saying about Ledger's Joker. I'm usually the first one to run away from hype or trends, so it took me a minute to watch this one because of that. But holy shit...it wasn't until AFTER the film that I remembered it was Ledger. Dude was LOCKED IN to this role and just absolutely murdered it in ways I didn't think possible. He plays a brilliant chaos monkey.
So the reason why Maggie Gyllenhaal was acting how she was is because she was legit scared of Heath while in that scene because he was so into it. She was scared and honestly reacting.
Nolan hit hard with this one. He didn't just go in to make a by the numbers superhero movie, he went in to make classic cinema. It's the mindset that matters. And it's also why my country barely makes any good movies. They don't have the mindset for greatness.
Heath Ledger was awarded the Academy Award for best supporting actor for his role in this after his unfortunate passing. The best portrayal of the Joker is arguably Mark Hamill in Batman: The Animated Series and everything that followed
@@TALEOFA, that doesn't matter. It's still a portrayal of the character. The best portrayal of Batman is voiced by Kevin Conroy in the same animated shows and films as Mark Hamill
@@15blackshirt I respect your opinion but it’s live action vs animation, those two are great but can’t compare them to the others on screen who not only use the voice but their body movements sell the characters.
@@TALEOFA, you should watch Batman: The Animated Series/The New Batman Adventures, Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, Justice League, Justice League Unlimited and The Killing Joke, then tell me if live action is better
Might have been mentioned before but I'll throw it in cause I think it's a cool bit of trivia. The "tongue thing" Ledger does was because the prosthetic makeup had a bad habit of coming undone very easily. So rather than having to stop filming and have makeup come and touch him up after every couple of lines, Ledger started licking around his mouth to help keep them in place for longer periods. Being the pro he was he worked it into being a seemingly natural, and off putting, character quirk.
I nearly dragged my step sister to see this movie (I watched it a month prior), at the time i worked for the medical investigators office... lots of voluntary overtime, working weekends and not coming to family holidays. She secretly hated me for not being home for family, but after watching this and being horrified by the chaos of crime... she never looked down on me again and treated me like a war hero when i did have time to show up. Being in that line of work is nearly a drug in itself... it becomes your life like Harvey predicted and Bruce ultimately became, if it doesnt destroy you... you become "something else", like a shadow behind the scenes.
I love the camera flip at the end when Batman and Joker are having their last conversation. It's almost like Joker is flying (even though he has no powers) like he's been elevated to true supervillain status. At least that was always how I looked at it
That scene where he talks about being an Agent of Chaos -- that's a big part of why some people think this Joker does have a military background. He never says this is any kind of origin, but the way he puts it sounds like he had orders to let a "truckload of soldiers" die, or had intel that would keep a "truckload of soldiers" from driving into a trap, but the best his superior officers would give him is, "Dude, that's war. Deal with it. People die. Get over it. Stay in your lane." And he just snapped.
I loved the convict who threw the detonator out of the window. This man by his own admission has taken many lives but the drew the line at this. As if to say "I will not be forced to be a murderer by someone else's hand. If I am to take lives, it will be my choice, not someone else's."
There's a lot of hints that point out that joker was a soldier, his ability to use a different variety of weapons ,remains calm under duress, his ability to plan ambushes way ahead of time with precision, he mentions how if a truck full of soldiers blow up nobody panics, which leads me to think he was injured in the line of duty and was discarded as soldiers are considered expendable sadly and no one cares about them and don't forget he was doing the soldier armed salute before he shot gordon.
The scene where Joker blows up the hospital: It was a real hospital that was scheduled for demo anyway but the batteries failing bit was improvised by Ledger because there was a delay in the pyro. So he went with it and now we have a great scene.
Even when I was a kid, Alfred's confession always put a steak through my heart. Only those with a trained ear can hear his remorse and pain when he says "We burned the forest down."
This movie was relentless when I first watched it, it caught me off-guard because I was expecting something more like Begins. That first movie inspired awe in the way they respected the characters, true to the comics, and they really delved into the Bruce Wayne character like no other movie before, not even the comics for awhile. So The Dark Knight instead becomes a crime thriller, and even if they go their own way in their interpretations of certain characters, I felt the spirit of their chaos was really brought to life like never before. Especially Heath Ledger, he transcended the role. Too many iconic scenes with incredible, unforgettable musical scores and soundtracks in both the first films. The story has the right amount of cheese, of comic book flavor, along with the great characterizations throughout, even if in this film it is the plot that drives it, the characters deliver us some powerful, emotional scenes that hit us in the gut, all the way to the end.
No one else has ever captured the sheer madness of the Joker as well as this performance does. He truly is an Agent of Chaos. One day he could say "I like your shoes.. you get to live today." the next day "I like your shoes... you have to die." and every other possible choice in between with absolutely zero way to know which you'll get. The one thing I do agree with the Joker on is chaos is fair in a sense. It's not good or evil... it can't be.
Alfred's story about the Burmese bandit is awesome, and fit's into the story perfectly. I also love how the movie sort of glosses over how Alfred must have been in the British SAS or something.
5:13 that's a very tough question. "Amadeus" is one of my favorites but that feels almost like a cheat code. O Brother Where Art Thou and Pulp Fiction soundtracks are amazing and I believe O Brother's soundtrack won a grammy for album of the year.
Comparing modern soundtracks to Mozart is a bit unfair, but at the same time, the way his music is used in the film, especially the Requiem, is just perfect.
The scene where the Joker blows up the hospital was an actual screw up. There were to be more explosions occurring, but the pyro team were having problems. Instead of breaking character, Ledger played along with the demo problem by fiddling with the prop remote. When the pyro team fixed the issues and detonated the bomb, Ledger’s startled display is for real.
I love the little details in the fundraiser scene where Bruce and the Joker mirror each other. They both make a really loud entrance. They both ask where Harvey is. They both take a glass of champagne but don't drink it. I think people say this is the Joker's movie in part because he's actually a protagonist along with Batman. They're both fighting the mob and for the "soul of Gotham". They agree on what the problem is. They just land on opposite sides of the solution. Batman wants to rebuild the institutions of Gotham and the Joker wants to tear them down. That impulse to want to tear down corrupt and broken institutions is powerful and part of why so many people love this Joker.
Was in Seattle for a weekend when this came out, and the college tour that I was part of had groups going to different events. I peeled off from the hotel we were staying at to go see this on Imax for free, and DAMN was that awesome!
You are right; how this film escaped an "R" rating is beyond me. The subject matter is so very dark that it deservers the "Restricted" badging for sure.
This movie has scenes shot in IMAX and I saw it in an IMAX theater. The opening set up scene of the building/bank to be robbed was in IMAX. The film was shown in widescreen format, but a few scenes filled the screen.
I'm glad you brought up the fact of the idea of how The BATMAN is not just consuming Bruce's identity but his mindset and how it affects his life in terms of personal relationships with people close to him, in fact it actually plays a HUGE role in the next film.
This movie is brilliant. It's such a powerful statement on human nature and an analysis of human psychology. It does this through its complex themes of the dualistic nature of life and particularly the conflict between good and evil, between order and chaos. Amazing movie, in my top 50 movies of all time
My thinking when the convict threw the remote out the window was always: That guy accepts that their boat is basically just full of criminals (and some guards, yeah), all grown-ups; but the other boat has children on board. And, even as a criminal, he wasn't gonna allow children to die so that he and other "bad people" would survive.
I imagine the Joker would've laughed his ass off at Deebo yeeting that detonator out of the window. He'd have been pissed, but he would've gotten the joke.
I find it interesting peoples different views of the joker most people see “unhinged chaos” but when you look close you realise it’s planned and precise chaos
My favorite theory about this movies joker is that he's a PTSD ridden veteran (probably fairly high ranking) who has snapped at the society he was sent to his death to defend. It would explain his obvious skill with weapons of all kinds, firearms especially, Interrogation, negotiation, subversion, espionage etc.
My favourite chill reactor reacting to my favourite movie! I've been reading Batman comics for nearly 50 years and though I like all interpretations of Joker but Heath Ledger brought his own something special to the role. Not only is he chaotic, he IS chaos. I loved Tim Burton's Batman but Nolan really brought Batman to life for me. He is arguably one of the best directors in the business. All his characters have so much depth. I would have liked to see what Ledger would do with Joker in the third movie. His unfortunate death still affects me.
Two things. One just after Alfred tells the beginning of the story about the Bandit in the jungle and "some men just want to watch the world burn" it cuts to batman on a roof listening to chatter on the radio. It sounds like a jungle before clearing up. Two, one of the main theories for this Joker was that he was a soilder.
This movie received my second-most number of theater visits. Went 5 different times. And I've seen it many more since. All-time great film. And while I'm glad it changed the nomination number for Best Picture from 5 films to 5-10, it's still a great injustice that The Dark Knight didn't get a nomination when it should've won, as well as not getting a nomination for Best Original Score.
Someone also pointed this out to me. When Dent/Two-Face has the gun to Joker's head and flips his coin. Joker has a finger on the hammer of the gun. Even if Two-Face pulled the trigger, Joker could've stopped the hammer and therefore stopped the gun from firing.
This is my favorite movie of all time, it's so good on every level. And also one theory I remember reading one time and I can't help but think it to be true is Joker having previously worked in intelligence. There was no record of him and also his mention of "never start with the head" like he is telling batman from experience. There's a couple other reasons to that as well
RIP Heath Ledger. Fantastic actor. Best Joker...period. If you haven't done it already, "A Knight's Tale" should be on your list. Also, where is Dune? It's a cinematic masterpiece worthy of a reaction.
The film that held Batman to a whole new standard.
Breaking Bad & Edgerunners on the patreon! Click here for early access: www.patreon.com/jamesvscinema
Have a great day everyone!
React to Zack Snyders Watchmen (2009)
James VS Cinema, How does it compare to Pattinson's movie, which one do you prefer?
The blown up hospital wasn't built to get blown up. It was an existing building scheduled for demolition. The Joker keeps banging the button as it the explosion didn't go off on time. Heath stayed in character abd just kept hitting the trigger.
I’ll never forget the hype surrounding this movie’s release. It was absolutely insane.
Happy it was knocked out the park!
Its still one of the very greatest films in history!
@@jamiemiller6156 - At the end when it said The Dark Knight on the screen, absolute and utter chills. Walked out of the theater on adrenaline.
The hype at the beginning was horrible. People thought Ledger was a terrible cast until they saw the trailer
I remember seeing this opening night. The theater I went to wrote “hahaha” and similar things on all the windows with red washable paint and lots of people were dressed up as the joker. It was an electric feeling and everyone was hooked for the entire film.
Best theater experience ever.
''Sometimes people deserve to have their faith rewarded''. The ending always makes me teary eyed, great movie.
With brilliant themes. Love this!
The soundbite that is scariest for me is the fake batman camera scene where Joker shouts "Look at me!".
When you listen to that again you'll realise how demonic and feral it comes across. Seconds that make a huge difference to my understanding of his psyche.
I remember seeing this way back in theaters (I went a few times) and each time after that line was said I swear you could hear a pin drop in the theater for how quiet people had become.
Really goes to show how the Joker absolutely hates it when he doesn't get the reaction that he wants from people. It also shows how good he is at making people afraid when he actually tries lmao
@@firstakuma4195 even better when you consider he had no written lines in that scene. Fake Batman was actually terrified
I've always maintained that the "LOOK-AT-ME" moment is the only time Joker reveals a glimpse into his soul. It's spellbinding and terrifying.
Everything else he does is artificial, to get a reaction out of people or just to further his ends.
@@THG-3141 oh come on. That fake batman actor was NOT terrified dude
The score, the cinematography, and the acting make this just a top tier film. Also the Eastern European mob boss (slicked back hair) needs a shoutout... he steals every scene he's in
Legit that dude's acting is underrated
It's also very elegant how the movie uses Harvey and Joker to parallel both sides of the Bruce/Batman identity without having a big exposition scene to spell it out for you.
Harvey initially seems like the guy Bruce wishes he could be, someone who's fighting crime legitimately and actually being effective. On the other hand, he also has a darker side hiding underneath similar to a young Bruce, but without the outlet that Bruce has in Batman. When he gets pushed to the limit, then, he cracks completely whereas Bruce can pick himself back up.
Similar to how Batman personifies Bruce's sense of justice, the Joker is a mask for an ideology, but the Joker is all mask all the time whose original identity doesn't even matter anymore. He pushes Batman to the limit because Batman needs to keep walking that tight rope between his two halves while the Joker can dedicate his every moment to proving his misanthropic worldview.
As a final aside, I think it's great how the Joker's plan ultimately fails because of *the people* proving him wrong, and not because Batman stopped him in time.
This is my favorite of the trilogy. Everything worked: the story, the themes, the performances, the music,...everything.
In a age where the word “masterpiece” is causally thrown left and right, The Dark Knight is a reminder what a true masterpiece this film really is.
Eh....
@@valdie91285 ?
GREAT movie Heath is amazing and Nolan does such a great job with everything he touches!
Also here are some Nolan quotes about Dune:
"Dune is one of the greatest blends of VFX and cinematography I've ever seen"
"It’s a real pleasure and a real gift to film fans everywhere"
Ah that’s awesome!! Nice way to put Dune in this one hahaha
@@JamesVSCinema 😂 Won't lie when I saw you reacted to Batman Begins I immediately started planning this for your reaction to Dark Knight
"We burned the forest down." I love that line. Shows exactly what it can take to truly beat the sheer madness of someone who just wants to watch the world burn... you let it burn with him in it. Batman refuses to kill the Joker, and in doing so, he loses at the end of this movie..... yet would "winning" really be worth it at that price?
“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
The opening sequence of this is such a beautiful homage to movies like Heat (1995). Really great way to kick this thing off, with an epic bank robbery.
And here it is. My favorite movie of all time.
Hopes you enjoy!!
The scene when Joker and the goons crashed the dent party at Wayne’s penthouse, both Alfred and Rachel had lines they were supposed to say, but it was the first time both of them had seen Heath in the Joker get up and they both were just so terrified they just froze Heath improvised for both interactions to get past the lines they didn’t say.
I remember getting goosebumps when the Joker appeared early in the film. He was super unsettling.
Unsettling is the right word for it!
Fun Fact: The scene of Joker and the fake Batman was all ad-libbed by Ledger. They just gave him a phone with a camera and told him to just do what he think he should do. So the actor of the fake Batman his fear is genuine since he didn't know what Ledger was going to do.
That’s awesome damn!
Yeah his fear was genuine. He actually thought he might be murdered because he didn’t know what the actor Heath Ledger would do
just here to verify what OP is saying is true! Ledger is a one in a million talent. he is missed
@@theprelude7566 Oh come on lol
@@theprelude7566 murdered lol chill mate it’s a movie. He wasn’t scared of being murdered
Fun Fact:This Joker was inspired by a lot of other villains such as Alex(A Clockwork Orange ),Jack Nicholson Joker,KAKIHARA(Ichi the killer ) and Frank N Furter(Rocky Horror).
I’m 36 years old. Only movie I’ve ever gone to the theaters twice to see. So many elements go in to make this a powerhouse. A true roller coaster.
Great review James, one of many. You’ve brought out emotions from some of my favorite scenes and movies over this past year. Thank you, appreciate you, stay healthy.
To this day, I don't think I've ever had a movie going experience that matched the midnight release for The Dark Knight. It was on a whole other level. We lost Heath Ledger way too soon, but I'm glad more people are appreciating his romantic comedies like 10 Things I Hate About You and A Knight's Tale. Also I didn't realize that was Michael Jai White among the gangsters until yeeeears later.
10 Thing is such a guilty pleasure movie of mine, and the main reason I've had a thing for Julia Stiles since high school! 💘🥰🥰🥰💗🤣😂🤣🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣 Great Movie! :D
I absolutely love A Knights Tale. He and Paul Bettany and Keira Knightley where absolutely fantastic in that movie
@@THG-3141 Knightley isn't in that :) You're thinking of Shannyn Sossamon :)
@@THG-3141 but yes, the cast is amazing! :)
You have Vision, Robert Baratheon and Joker all on the same team! :D
@@michaelriddick7116 yep, my bad lol. Oops
25:55 if memory serves, "Gotham General" was an actual hospital that was decommissioned, slated for demolition, and was donated or sold to Christopher Nolan's production team to be demolished for this scene.
RIP Heath Ledger (April 4, 1979 - January 22, 2008), aged 28
You will always be remembered as a legend.
That Experience back in 2008 seeing this film on the big screen was best theater experience I've ever experienced!
🦇🦇🦇🃏🃏🃏
Tiny Lister's cameo was awesome! Loved him in Friday, Fifth Element, Jackie Brown, Little Nicky. Heath Ledger was flawless also. RIP
To many it’s the best, to me it’s the most important film from a filmmaking perspective. It taught me so many elements of cinema from cinematography to score to stunt work to editing (famous Nolan cross-cut) and of course the acting! It taught me that these things are imperative to compliment each other to improve the overall experience the audience is there for. Favourite moment? The sit down between Batman and Joker, the minute Batman shows up it’s his theme as if he’s “in control” but as Joker continues to talk the music transitions into his. So subtle but for me it continues to stand out to this day.
It’s really great hearing everyone’s experience with this film. Appreciate the comment!
I don't think it's the most important movie in filmmaking, but it's utterly brilliant.
@@errwhattheflip “...To me it’s the most important...” AS IN FOR ME. Not talking about any of ya’ll, I agree, it’s not the MOST important of ALL films. For my journey and love of film/cinema this may have very well been the catalyst. That’s why I deemed it “important”.
@@TheMightyMike692 Oh, my bad then. I thought you were referring to important to the medium of movies, rather than for your own growth.
@x So shall we both gush over how much better that movie is made? I’ve got no complaints :)
hey with spooky season here, i don't know if you take recommendations but i'd love for you to check out nobuhiko obayashi's HOUSE (1977)
it's a japanese horror film and there's truely NOTHING like it
it changed the way i looked at how movies could be made
a crazy fever dream film that perfectly illustrates the nightmares of a child
Such a Great Movie. For me its one of the best movies of all time. And not just as a action/comic movie but all movies.
19:59 it’s a good thing you asked if Joker has any military experience in this movie because Patton Oswalt had a brilliant theory that the Joker in this movie actually could be with someone who has SOME type of military experience.
one piece of “evidence” to prove this theory is that when Joker has his monologue with Harvey in the hospital, he states “if a truck full of soldiers blow up nobody panics”, which sounds like a reach but at the same time it does seem to hold weight with that line and everything else Joker was doing to prove Gotham isn’t as good as Batman thinks it is.
19:57 It's a long standing fan theory that the Joker actually got his scars in an IED attack in Iraq while in the military. He's very familiar with weapons and explosives, and he specifically mentions soldiers being blown up.
Just can’t emphasize enough how great of a team Nolan/Zimmer/Bale are!
I’ll never forget the gasps from the packed house when the Joker made a pencil disappear…..R.I.P. Heath Ledger, you were a terrifying Joker.
Theater reactions for this movie in a packed auditorium were like nothing I’d experienced before. I remember the audience actually cheering when Batman flipped over Joker’s semi truck
I have to.... it's the funniest quote in the movie
"I'M NOT WEARIN HOCKEY PADS!!!"
There's so many great details in this film that are so easy to miss. One of my favorites if you go back and watch the hospital scene between Joker and Harvey, Joker puts the gun in his hand and tells Harvey to create chaos, but if you look closely Joker never takes is finger off the hammer. So even if Harvey pulled the trigger it wouldn't go off. He just gave Harvey the illusion of chance, the same way Harvey flips his double sided coin.
Fun Fact: Bruce's Lamborghini is a model known as the Murcielago, which is the Spanish word for "bat". Even his civilian car is a Batmobile. So much for being subtle.
As Rachel said in the first one Batman is who he is, Bruce Wayne is the mask.
I always get the chills at the End to, and sometimes some tears. This movie is just so good.
Yup. About as great a film as I've ever seen (and I'm no superhero/antihero fanboy). It is simultaneously spectacular and sublime. Nolan made a masterpiece. Also, excellent commentary, which we've come to expect, so thanks👏.
I always get chills at the ending of this film.
I was so lucky to be able to watch this on opening night, midnight on a Friday morning. Waited in line for about 3 hrs (you couldn’t purchase seats beforehand back then at my hometown cinema) and it is to, this day one, of my favorite core memories. I will never forget the dead silence and genuine excitement throughout the entire theatre. People sitting in aisles just to be able to see it.
A perfect film in my opinion. Gripping start to finish, all time acting, all time score, all time directing, just all around perfect
It isn't perfect, but a masterpiece nonetheless
Finally the time has come...
RIP Heath Ledger, the best joker of all time🙏
🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽
The clown mask the Joker wears in the beginning is an homage to the clown mask Caesar Romero wore in a episode of the 1966 Batman show.
3:36 The movie literally begins with a broken window, a reference to The Broken Window theory that small crimes lead to more and bigger crimes.
Seeing this in theaters was one of the best movie experiences I’ve ever had. I didn’t see the first one, I’ve never been a big superhero movie fan, still not. My sister and I just wanted to see a movie and I asked “do you wanna go see the new Batman movie?” I didn’t even know the name of it.
But goddamn, Heath Ledger as the joker might be the greatest acting performance ever, given when you know how Heath was in real life. Like I don’t think I’ve seen an actor transform into a character like that before or since.
James. You are so inspirational to me. I have been a fan for quite a while. You have such great perspective on everything. I love your reactions to old school movies from a younger perspective.
Dark Knight will never not be the greatest superhero movie ever made. Heath Ledger played the Joker role so fantastically well
Happy to hear everyone loving this film. We’ll deserved!
Depends on how you define that, I guess. It's very much a movie that resents comics.
@@aerthreepwood8021 and what's the point u made here?? ... Doesn't make sense ..
@@aerthreepwood8021 so?
The Dark Knight is top tier Comic Book movies and Film in general. I love it even though I prefer the more comic book movies like the 1989 Batman. One thing I love about this film is the fact the movie does a little homage to the comic book origin of Two-Face. With the court scene where the mob guy pulls the gun on Harvey, they changed the fact that instead of a gun the mobster throws acid on his face and horribly scars him and turns him into Two-Face. The nuances to comics/older material that Nolan adds is great.
These movies all have a very strong tie to the time period they were made, with The Dark Knight having very strong parallels to the Iraq War (the second one) and the Bush administration wire-tapping civilians. The Joker isn't given a lot of outright backstory in this, but little clues do suggest he may have been a soldier, perhaps someone operating on a blacksite since he has knowledge of torture and interrogations methods. He mentions how no one bats an eye to a bunch of soldiers dying, but blow up a school (or a hospital, or whatever the quote was) upsets everyone because it's outside the plan. There's also his familiarity with weaponry, right down to the way he handles a rifle in the parade scene. There's an argument that suggests he was a soldier in the middle east who became a nihilist, someone who looked into the abyss and became it. Rather than being insane, he has a very clear philosophy, one he wants to convince Batman of.
You're uh ....really reaching there buddy.
@@valdie91285 Google it. I can't provide links in RUclips comments but both the Iraq war parallels and the Jokers military background are common film analysis.
I also remember the hype around this one, mostly due to the momentum from the first one, but also because of what insiders were saying about Ledger's Joker. I'm usually the first one to run away from hype or trends, so it took me a minute to watch this one because of that. But holy shit...it wasn't until AFTER the film that I remembered it was Ledger. Dude was LOCKED IN to this role and just absolutely murdered it in ways I didn't think possible. He plays a brilliant chaos monkey.
To say nothing of the fantastic moral and ethical dillemmas scattered throughout the narrative. Just brilliantly done by Nolan.
Heath Ledger posthumously took home the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role asthe Joker
So the reason why Maggie Gyllenhaal was acting how she was is because she was legit scared of Heath while in that scene because he was so into it. She was scared and honestly reacting.
This is definitely the best out of the Nolan trilogy. It's a top tier blockbuster with an insanely dark vibe for a movie of it's stature.
Nolan hit hard with this one. He didn't just go in to make a by the numbers superhero movie, he went in to make classic cinema. It's the mindset that matters. And it's also why my country barely makes any good movies. They don't have the mindset for greatness.
Heath Ledger was awarded the Academy Award for best supporting actor for his role in this after his unfortunate passing. The best portrayal of the Joker is arguably Mark Hamill in Batman: The Animated Series and everything that followed
An underrated pick for my favorite portrayal of the Joker is definitely Joe Dimaggio's Joker from Into the Red Hood.
Yeah but that’s not life action
@@TALEOFA, that doesn't matter. It's still a portrayal of the character. The best portrayal of Batman is voiced by Kevin Conroy in the same animated shows and films as Mark Hamill
@@15blackshirt I respect your opinion but it’s live action vs animation, those two are great but can’t compare them to the others on screen who not only use the voice but their body movements sell the characters.
@@TALEOFA, you should watch Batman: The Animated Series/The New Batman Adventures, Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, Justice League, Justice League Unlimited and The Killing Joke, then tell me if live action is better
5:58
Batman is such a monster he can stop a speeding van dead in it's tracks by stomping on it.
Might have been mentioned before but I'll throw it in cause I think it's a cool bit of trivia.
The "tongue thing" Ledger does was because the prosthetic makeup had a bad habit of coming undone very easily. So rather than having to stop filming and have makeup come and touch him up after every couple of lines, Ledger started licking around his mouth to help keep them in place for longer periods. Being the pro he was he worked it into being a seemingly natural, and off putting, character quirk.
I just saw this film and was EXCTATIC that you have a reaction to it. This film really lives up to the hype and more
The Two Face CGI is really amazing
I always say Aaron Eckhart's performance in this film was very underrated
You know those movies that are so much part of your DNA that you can recite them? This is one of em haha
Love the scene with the hospital explosion. His improvised reaction when the explosives didn’t go off when he was told they would 🔥
Love this one grew up watching it and rip Keith Ledger
I nearly dragged my step sister to see this movie (I watched it a month prior), at the time i worked for the medical investigators office... lots of voluntary overtime, working weekends and not coming to family holidays. She secretly hated me for not being home for family, but after watching this and being horrified by the chaos of crime... she never looked down on me again and treated me like a war hero when i did have time to show up. Being in that line of work is nearly a drug in itself... it becomes your life like Harvey predicted and Bruce ultimately became, if it doesnt destroy you... you become "something else", like a shadow behind the scenes.
I love the camera flip at the end when Batman and Joker are having their last conversation.
It's almost like Joker is flying (even though he has no powers) like he's been elevated to true supervillain status.
At least that was always how I looked at it
That scene where he talks about being an Agent of Chaos -- that's a big part of why some people think this Joker does have a military background. He never says this is any kind of origin, but the way he puts it sounds like he had orders to let a "truckload of soldiers" die, or had intel that would keep a "truckload of soldiers" from driving into a trap, but the best his superior officers would give him is, "Dude, that's war. Deal with it. People die. Get over it. Stay in your lane." And he just snapped.
I loved the convict who threw the detonator out of the window. This man by his own admission has taken many lives but the drew the line at this. As if to say "I will not be forced to be a murderer by someone else's hand. If I am to take lives, it will be my choice, not someone else's."
There's a lot of hints that point out that joker was a soldier, his ability to use a different variety of weapons ,remains calm under duress, his ability to plan ambushes way ahead of time with precision, he mentions how if a truck full of soldiers blow up nobody panics, which leads me to think he was injured in the line of duty and was discarded as soldiers are considered expendable sadly and no one cares about them and don't forget he was doing the soldier armed salute before he shot gordon.
Your comment on how everyone is involved is very thoughtful. Most action movies ignore ridiculous amounts of collateral damage.
The scene where Joker blows up the hospital: It was a real hospital that was scheduled for demo anyway but the batteries failing bit was improvised by Ledger because there was a delay in the pyro. So he went with it and now we have a great scene.
Don't know where this idea came from but it's not true. It was all planned and went flawlessly.
Even when I was a kid, Alfred's confession always put a steak through my heart. Only those with a trained ear can hear his remorse and pain when he says "We burned the forest down."
This movie was relentless when I first watched it, it caught me off-guard because I was expecting something more like Begins. That first movie inspired awe in the way they respected the characters, true to the comics, and they really delved into the Bruce Wayne character like no other movie before, not even the comics for awhile. So The Dark Knight instead becomes a crime thriller, and even if they go their own way in their interpretations of certain characters, I felt the spirit of their chaos was really brought to life like never before. Especially Heath Ledger, he transcended the role. Too many iconic scenes with incredible, unforgettable musical scores and soundtracks in both the first films.
The story has the right amount of cheese, of comic book flavor, along with the great characterizations throughout, even if in this film it is the plot that drives it, the characters deliver us some powerful, emotional scenes that hit us in the gut, all the way to the end.
No one else has ever captured the sheer madness of the Joker as well as this performance does. He truly is an Agent of Chaos. One day he could say "I like your shoes.. you get to live today." the next day "I like your shoes... you have to die." and every other possible choice in between with absolutely zero way to know which you'll get. The one thing I do agree with the Joker on is chaos is fair in a sense. It's not good or evil... it can't be.
Alfred's story about the Burmese bandit is awesome, and fit's into the story perfectly. I also love how the movie sort of glosses over how Alfred must have been in the British SAS or something.
5:13 that's a very tough question. "Amadeus" is one of my favorites but that feels almost like a cheat code. O Brother Where Art Thou and Pulp Fiction soundtracks are amazing and I believe O Brother's soundtrack won a grammy for album of the year.
Comparing modern soundtracks to Mozart is a bit unfair, but at the same time, the way his music is used in the film, especially the Requiem, is just perfect.
Living in Chicago and driving on those exact streets at night always gives me satisfying chills
The scene where the Joker blows up the hospital was an actual screw up. There were to be more explosions occurring, but the pyro team were having problems. Instead of breaking character, Ledger played along with the demo problem by fiddling with the prop remote. When the pyro team fixed the issues and detonated the bomb, Ledger’s startled display is for real.
It wasn't a screw up pal
Joker says he isn't a guy with a plan, but when he is speaking to the people on the boats, he is reading his speech from a notebook.
I love the little details in the fundraiser scene where Bruce and the Joker mirror each other. They both make a really loud entrance. They both ask where Harvey is. They both take a glass of champagne but don't drink it. I think people say this is the Joker's movie in part because he's actually a protagonist along with Batman. They're both fighting the mob and for the "soul of Gotham". They agree on what the problem is. They just land on opposite sides of the solution. Batman wants to rebuild the institutions of Gotham and the Joker wants to tear them down. That impulse to want to tear down corrupt and broken institutions is powerful and part of why so many people love this Joker.
amazing,my favorite movie ever im really happy to have watch this with you thank you
For me, the dark knight is the best Batman movie of all time! the story, the acting, the music, the stress! so so so GOOD!
Too young to see this when it came out. But got to see it last year in the cinema. This is a must watch movie to see on the big screen
No way...thats awsome to watch it back on cinema, i remember the premire it was the best time and place to watch this masterpiece.U Lucky!
Congrats! Totally agree - should always have showings imo! I saw it in imax 4 times ahead it came out 😁
Was in Seattle for a weekend when this came out, and the college tour that I was part of had groups going to different events.
I peeled off from the hotel we were staying at to go see this on Imax for free, and DAMN was that awesome!
You are right; how this film escaped an "R" rating is beyond me. The subject matter is so very dark that it deservers the "Restricted" badging for sure.
This movie has scenes shot in IMAX and I saw it in an IMAX theater. The opening set up scene of the building/bank to be robbed was in IMAX. The film was shown in widescreen format, but a few scenes filled the screen.
I'm glad you brought up the fact of the idea of how The BATMAN is not just consuming Bruce's identity but his mindset and how it affects his life in terms of personal relationships with people close to him, in fact it actually plays a HUGE role in the next film.
Still One Of The Greatest Movies Ever Made.
This movie is brilliant. It's such a powerful statement on human nature and an analysis of human psychology. It does this through its complex themes of the dualistic nature of life and particularly the conflict between good and evil, between order and chaos. Amazing movie, in my top 50 movies of all time
My thinking when the convict threw the remote out the window was always: That guy accepts that their boat is basically just full of criminals (and some guards, yeah), all grown-ups; but the other boat has children on board. And, even as a criminal, he wasn't gonna allow children to die so that he and other "bad people" would survive.
I imagine the Joker would've laughed his ass off at Deebo yeeting that detonator out of the window. He'd have been pissed, but he would've gotten the joke.
I find it interesting peoples different views of the joker most people see “unhinged chaos” but when you look close you realise it’s planned and precise chaos
ironically one of heath's joker's noticeable facial ticks, the lip licking, was because of the prosthetic.
Joker: Introduce a little anarchy, upset the established order and everything becomes... chaos!
2020: Couldn't agree more
BRUH lmfao
Joker: got a little fight in you, I like that
Batman: "THEN YOU'RE GONNA LOVE ME"
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
STILL one of the best dialogue exchanges!
This movie affected me so positively that I watched it 8+ times in theaters during its run. This trilogy is amazing, Batman or otherwise!
My favorite theory about this movies joker is that he's a PTSD ridden veteran (probably fairly high ranking) who has snapped at the society he was sent to his death to defend.
It would explain his obvious skill with weapons of all kinds, firearms especially, Interrogation, negotiation, subversion, espionage etc.
My favourite chill reactor reacting to my favourite movie! I've been reading Batman comics for nearly 50 years and though I like all interpretations of Joker but Heath Ledger brought his own something special to the role. Not only is he chaotic, he IS chaos. I loved Tim Burton's Batman but Nolan really brought Batman to life for me. He is arguably one of the best directors in the business. All his characters have so much depth. I would have liked to see what Ledger would do with Joker in the third movie. His unfortunate death still affects me.
Two things. One just after Alfred tells the beginning of the story about the Bandit in the jungle and "some men just want to watch the world burn" it cuts to batman on a roof listening to chatter on the radio. It sounds like a jungle before clearing up.
Two, one of the main theories for this Joker was that he was a soilder.
That line about “… just watching the world burn” feels so much more more applicable to todays realities than back then.
the one thing missing from Heath Ledger's Joker was the iconic laugh.
This movie received my second-most number of theater visits. Went 5 different times. And I've seen it many more since. All-time great film. And while I'm glad it changed the nomination number for Best Picture from 5 films to 5-10, it's still a great injustice that The Dark Knight didn't get a nomination when it should've won, as well as not getting a nomination for Best Original Score.
Someone also pointed this out to me. When Dent/Two-Face has the gun to Joker's head and flips his coin. Joker has a finger on the hammer of the gun. Even if Two-Face pulled the trigger, Joker could've stopped the hammer and therefore stopped the gun from firing.
This is my favorite movie of all time, it's so good on every level. And also one theory I remember reading one time and I can't help but think it to be true is Joker having previously worked in intelligence. There was no record of him and also his mention of "never start with the head" like he is telling batman from experience. There's a couple other reasons to that as well
RIP Heath Ledger. Fantastic actor. Best Joker...period.
If you haven't done it already, "A Knight's Tale" should be on your list.
Also, where is Dune? It's a cinematic masterpiece worthy of a reaction.