Batman Begins is a 2005 superhero film based on the fictional DC Comics character Batman. Christopher Nolan directed the film, which stars Christian Bale as Batman, as well as Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Liam Neeson, Katie Holmes, Cillian Murphy, Morgan Freeman and Tom Wilkinson. The film reboots the Batman film series, telling the origin story of the character with inspirations from classic comic book storylines such as Batman: The Man Who Falls, Batman: Year One and Batman: The Long Halloween.

After a series of unsuccessful projects to resurrect Batman on screen following the critical and commercial failure of Batman and Robin (1997), Nolan and Goyer began work on this film in 2003. Aiming for a dark and realistic tone, the filmmakers created a new interpretation of the Batmobile, here a military vehicle called the “Tumbler”. The film was primarily shot in England and Chicago, and relied on traditional stunts and miniatures; computer-generated imagery was used minimally. Batman Begins was critically and commercially successful, and a sequel titled The Dark Knight was commissioned for a 2008 release with both Nolan and Bale returning.

Source

Christopher Nolan is set to return as director of the film. His brother Jonathan, AKA Jonah, is writing the screenplay. David Goyer is credited for writing the story along with Chris Nolan. The title of the film is THE DARK KNIGHT. This is the first Batman film without “Batman” in the title.

Christian Bale will reprise his role of The Batman/Bruce Wayne (This is the first time the same actor has played The Batman in back to back films since Michael Keaton did so in BATMAN and BATMAN RETURNS).

• Heath Ledger will portray The Joker.

• Sir Michael Caine will reprise his role as Alfred Pennyworth.
• The character of Harvey Dent will be in the film.
• According to producer Chuck Roven, a preshoot will take place in January ‘07 with full production set to begin in April.
• Hans Zimmer confirmed that he and James Newton Howard would return and score TDK.
• TDK will be released JULY 18, 2008.
• Lindy Hemming will return as costume designer for TDK.
• Wally Pfister will return as the director of photography for TDK.
• Nathan Crowley will return as the production designer TDK.
• TDK will return to Chicago, Illinois, USA for location filming during the summer of ‘07.
• Katie Holmes will not return and be a part of the cast of THE DARK KNIGHT.
• Aaron Eckhart will portray Gotham D.A. Harvey Dent.
• Maggie Gyllenhaal has joined the cast as “Rachel Dawes” in TDK.
• Morgan Freeman is returning to reprise his role as “Lucius Fox.”
• Chris Corbould is the F/X Supervisor for TDK. Nick Davis will supervise Visual Effects.
• William Finchtner is portraying a “bank manager.”
• Eric Roberts is portraying mob boss Sal Maroni.
• THEDARKKNIGHTMOVIE.COM goes live, 5/11/07.
• Nestor Carbonell is portraying the mayor of Gotham.
• IBELIEVEINHARVEYDENTTOO.COM goes live, 5/19/07.
• Anthony Michael Hall has been added to the cast.
• Bruce will live in a downtown penthouse ala the 70s comics.
• The Batman will wear a new Bat-Suit in TDK.
• A new Bat-Vehicle will be used in TDK — The Batpod.
• Melinda McGraw and Nathan Gamble have joined the cast as Jim Gordon’s wife and son, respectively.
• Michael Jai White has been cast as the gangster “Gamble.”
• Monique Curnen has been cast as “GPD Detective Ramirez.”
• Vincenzo Nicoli has been cast as a “Mob Boss.”
• Nydia Melroy has been cast as a “Gotham Judge.”

Source

The last 24 hours have been full of conspiracy theories, sadness, reaction, and grief. Not only from family and friends, but also the many millions of fans Ledger had around the world.

The first medical examination of his body has now taken place, and the results were reported to be inconclusive. The medical examiner has said that it will take about 10 days for the results. This is unfortunate as it will just add fuel to the rumours that there was more to Heath’s death than first meets the eye.

Whatever the cause, the whole of the movie industry has been shocked and saddened by the loss of such a promising young actor, and someone many people admired as just a nice guy.

His friends and colleagues have paid their respects and shared their grief over his premature death.

Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain director told Hell.Ca:

Working with Heath was one of the purest joys of my life.

While Mel Gibson said:

I had such great hope for him. He was just taking off and to lose his life at such a young age is a tragic loss.

And Khaled Ali (stage manager for a Broadway show) eulogised:

I felt a connection with him as an actor, as a fellow in the theater community. With Brokeback Mountain he touched me personally in telling the story of my community. It was very touching.

There’s no doubt Ledger will be missed dearly, and my thoughts go out to everyone who knew him personally. This is certainly going to make watching The Dark Knight a unique experience this summer.

Source

The Dark Knight is an upcoming 2008 American superhero film based on the fictional DC Comics character Batman and is part of the Batman film series. The film is a sequel to 2005’s Batman Begins, which rebooted the Batman film series after an eight-year hiatus. Christopher Nolan returns as the director, and Christian Bale reprises the lead role. Batman’s primary conflicts in the film come from his fight against the Joker (Heath Ledger) and his strained friendship with district attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart).

For the film Nolan took inspiration from the Joker’s first two appearances in the comics, and like the first film, he used Batman: The Long Halloween as a major influence on the story. The Dark Knight was filmed primarily in Chicago, (as was Batman Begins), as well as several other locations in and outside the United States. The director used an IMAX camera to film four major action sequences, including the Joker’s first appearance in the film. The Batsuit was redesigned, with a cowl allowing Bale to move his head. A recreation of the Batcycle, known as the Batpod, will be introduced.

Warner Bros. created an aggressive viral marketing campaign for The Dark Knight, developing several websites revealing details of the film, such as screenshots, as a reward for collaboration among Batman fans, leading to some press attention concerning how its campaign might be altered by Ledger’s January 22, 2008 death, as the Joker had been a chief promotional focus. Other marketing ventures include a new toy line as well as an animated direct-to-DVD anthology titled Batman: Gotham Knight that is set between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. The film will be released on July 17, 2008 in Australia, on July 18, 2008 in North America, and on July 25, 2008 in the United Kingdom. Early footage screened at ShoWest 2008, a cinema industry convention held in Las Vegas from March 9 through March 13, 2008, has received “an enthusiastic response.”

source

I’m gonna watched this movie because of the Joker… I think the Joker will give me nightmares… but nevertheless I will still watch it for the Joker!

Batman Returns is a 1992 superhero film based on the Batman character created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane. Tim Burton directed the film, which has Michael Keaton reprising the role of Batman, as well as Danny DeVito, Michelle Pfeiffer and Christopher Walken. The film’s plot primarily concerns Bruce Wayne struggling to provide peace in Gotham City after the appearance of a mysterious “Penguin-like man” and the sudden birth of Selina Kyle into Catwoman. In this wake, Bruce romances with Selina, both as Bruce Wayne and Batman while trying to prove Penguin to be a criminal towards the citizens of Gotham.

Burton originally did not want to return for a second installment due to his mixed emotions from the original film. After being impressed with a script by Daniel Waters, he thought otherwise. Wesley Strick would later be brought on for an uncredited rewrite, deleting characterizations of Robin and Harvey Dent. The film was entirely shot at Warner Brothers studios in Burbank, California (the first film was shot at Pinewood Studios in England), with Danny Elfman returning to compose the film score, citing it as a stressful experience, but still overly positive. Batman Returns was both a commercial and critical success, but did spawn controversies (being seen as “too dark” for younger children). Comic book veterans would express mixed thoughts and reviews. The film would also receive nominations at the Academy Awards, MTV Movie Awards and the Razzie Awards.

Source

Batman & Robin is a 1997 film starring George Clooney as Batman, Chris O’Donnell returning as Robin and introducing Batgirl (Alicia Silverstone), a niece of Bruce Wayne’s butler Alfred (Michael Gough). Michael Gough and Pat Hingle (Commissioner Gordon) are the only two people to feature in all four of the original Batman films. The villains in this movie are Poison Ivy, played by Uma Thurman; Mr. Freeze, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger (who received top billing for this film) and Bane, played by Jeep Swenson. This is the final film in the original Batman movie story arc (1989-1997), as it is reset with 2005’s Batman Begins.

Source

I basically liked this movie because of the Soundtrack and Alicia Silverstone’s hot…aside from that this movie sucked…

Weird thing : Barbara Gordon is Commissioner Gordon’s daughter not Alfred’s niece…

No Consistency to the real story.. one of the reason why this movie sucked…

Batman Forever is an Academy Award-nominated 1995 superhero film based on the fictional DC Comics character Batman. It is the third film in the Batman film franchise and the first one directed by Joel Schumacher, who replaced Tim Burton, the director of the first two films in the franchise, Batman and Batman Returns. It is also the first and only film in the franchise to star Val Kilmer as Batman, who replaced Michael Keaton from the first two films. The film also marked the series debut of Robin. The film’s cast included Tommy Lee Jones, Jim Carrey, Chris O’Donnell, Nicole Kidman, Drew Barrymore and Debi Mazar. However, Michael Gough, who featured in the first two films, returned to reprise the character Alfred in this film.

Source

The film served as a major departure from its predecessor Batman Returns, whose dark tone was rejected in favor of a lighter tone designed to appeal to younger audiences. This included dramatic changes to the cast, design, and Danny Elfman’s score, which was scrapped completely. Batman Forever was commercially successful at the box office. However, it received mixed reviews from critics.

One of the fine points for this movie goes to the soundtrack which I truly dig!

www.cinemablend.com

In the Dark Knight, Maggie Gyllenhaal replaces Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes. In her interview with Metro.co.uk, she talks about her role defending her character as a damsel in distress.

She said there are moments of that in the film but the director, Chris Nolan, would push her in other ways to make her character powerful. Gyllenhaal plays a lawyer who has real relationship with the people that she’s interacting with in the movie. She speaks of her character as a real rounded and smart person. She says further that since she is the girl in Batman, she’s definitely going to be a damsel in distress at some point; however, she has really great character (referring to her role).

There has been clamor for another installment of the Chris Nolan Batman film franchise, especially with the success of the last film ‘The Dark Knight’, which was made extra memorable by the late Heath Ledger’s awesome and timeless performance.

While many from the film like producer Charles Roven have expressed a positive attitude towards another movie – this sentiment was naturally echoed by Warner Brothers, who are looking to another money train with the release of another Batman movie – all have agreed that the reins lie with Chris Nolan and David Goyer, who developed the story for the last two films.

Chris Nolan, for his part, has refused to commit to another Batman film, citing that he is still looking whether or not there is another storyline he sees himself investing in. However, he says some ideas have been thrown around, so we’d best wait and see what happens.

Heath’s death, weighed heavy on the film but it performed better than expected partly due to the respect many gave to him. The Dark Night had him undergoing extensive research and experimentation to take on the character of the Joker. There are talks of more films but no solid facts have yet been put on paper but the characters have expressed interest.
There have also been no digital editing to the parts he made in the film, in order to preserve his overall character. The death of a stuntman mentioned in the previous post also tainted the film yet Heath topped all issues due to his untimely death being one of the hottest actors in Hollywood to date. He lived to the fullest and died so suddenly, people were so shocked at news of his demise. He is forever going to be part of the movie phenomenon that is Batman.