DVD Pick: The Dark Knight (Two-Disc Special Edition)
About.com Rating
Arguably the Best Comic-Book Superhero Movie Ever Made
Directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Christian Bale in the dual roles of Batman and Bruce Wayne, The Dark Knight (2008) is the sequel to Batman Begins (2005). A complex movie with a bleak worldview and a strong cast, the 2008 film is likely to be best remembered for its creepy, demonic villain, the Joker, who is portrayed unforgettably by the late Heath Ledger.
A spine-chilling agent of chaos, the Joker proclaims his weird philosophy: "Whatever doesn't kill you simply makes you stranger." And Bruce Wayne's butler (Michael Caine) says about the Joker, "Some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men just wanna watch the world burn."
The Dark Knight is mostly about a battle of wills between the Joker and the superhero Batman, alter ego of billionaire Bruce Wayne. Wayne is dedicated to protecting Gotham City from criminals, but in the film the citizenry is largely ungrateful. As supercop James Gordon (Gary Oldman) says about Batman in the movie's last lines, "He's the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now. So we'll hunt him because he can take it. Because he's not our hero. He's a silent guardian, a watchful protector. A dark knight."
Bonus Materials and Digital Copy
Disc One of the two-disc Special Edition Dark Knight DVD set contains only the feature film, while Disc Two provides a little under two hours of video extras and a digital copy.
The supplements are so-so. There is no audio commentary, and little is heard from director Christopher Nolan. There's almost no information about filming in Chicago. Also, the bonus materials have nothing at all about the late Heath Ledger.
The best extra is the short discussion by composer Hans Zimmer of creating a musical cue for the Joker. Another reasonably good featurette is "The Evolution of the Knight," which gives a little info on the Batsuit and the Batpod. For the hardcore, the 47-minute Gotham Tonight consists of six episodes of a faux public affairs TV series that gives background information on the city and characters in the movie.
At theaters with IMAX, half a dozen action sequences in The Dark Knight were shown in that format. Disc Two of the DVD set contains those sequences so they can be viewed at home in something more or less like the IMAX aspect ratio. Ideally, the scenes should be in a 1.44:1 aspect ratio, but what you actually see on your television screen depends on your equipment. Of course, watching them on a TV set isn't much like watching them in an IMAX theater anyway.
Also on Disc Two is a digital copy of the feature film. This permits the movie to be easily transferred to a PC, Mac, iPod, iPhone or other portable media player.
DVD Details
Below I have listed all the details for the two-disc Special Edition DVD set of The Dark Knight.
Release Date: December 9, 2008
Number of Discs: 2
Disc One:
Feature Film
Runtime: 2 hours 33 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for Intense Sequences of Violence and Some Menace
Anamorphic Widescreen (2.35:1), Color
English Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
French Dolby Digital 5.1
English Captions for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Spanish Subtitles
French Subtitles
Disc Two:
English Dolby Digital 2.0
English Captions for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
French Subtitles
The Sound of Anarchy (6 1/2 min.)
The Evolution of the Knight (17 min.)
The Dark Knight IMAX Sequences (6 sequences, total runtime = 37 min.)
Gotham Tonight (6 episodes, total runtime = 47 min.)
Poster Art
Production Stills
Trailers (3)
Digital Copy of Feature Film
Arguably the Best Comic-Book Superhero Movie Ever Made
Directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Christian Bale in the dual roles of Batman and Bruce Wayne, The Dark Knight (2008) is the sequel to Batman Begins (2005). A complex movie with a bleak worldview and a strong cast, the 2008 film is likely to be best remembered for its creepy, demonic villain, the Joker, who is portrayed unforgettably by the late Heath Ledger.
A spine-chilling agent of chaos, the Joker proclaims his weird philosophy: "Whatever doesn't kill you simply makes you stranger." And Bruce Wayne's butler (Michael Caine) says about the Joker, "Some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men just wanna watch the world burn."
The Dark Knight is mostly about a battle of wills between the Joker and the superhero Batman, alter ego of billionaire Bruce Wayne. Wayne is dedicated to protecting Gotham City from criminals, but in the film the citizenry is largely ungrateful. As supercop James Gordon (Gary Oldman) says about Batman in the movie's last lines, "He's the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now. So we'll hunt him because he can take it. Because he's not our hero. He's a silent guardian, a watchful protector. A dark knight."
Bonus Materials and Digital Copy
Disc One of the two-disc Special Edition Dark Knight DVD set contains only the feature film, while Disc Two provides a little under two hours of video extras and a digital copy.
The supplements are so-so. There is no audio commentary, and little is heard from director Christopher Nolan. There's almost no information about filming in Chicago. Also, the bonus materials have nothing at all about the late Heath Ledger.
The best extra is the short discussion by composer Hans Zimmer of creating a musical cue for the Joker. Another reasonably good featurette is "The Evolution of the Knight," which gives a little info on the Batsuit and the Batpod. For the hardcore, the 47-minute Gotham Tonight consists of six episodes of a faux public affairs TV series that gives background information on the city and characters in the movie.
At theaters with IMAX, half a dozen action sequences in The Dark Knight were shown in that format. Disc Two of the DVD set contains those sequences so they can be viewed at home in something more or less like the IMAX aspect ratio. Ideally, the scenes should be in a 1.44:1 aspect ratio, but what you actually see on your television screen depends on your equipment. Of course, watching them on a TV set isn't much like watching them in an IMAX theater anyway.
Also on Disc Two is a digital copy of the feature film. This permits the movie to be easily transferred to a PC, Mac, iPod, iPhone or other portable media player.
DVD Details
Below I have listed all the details for the two-disc Special Edition DVD set of The Dark Knight.
Release Date: December 9, 2008
Number of Discs: 2
Disc One:
Feature Film
Runtime: 2 hours 33 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for Intense Sequences of Violence and Some Menace
Anamorphic Widescreen (2.35:1), Color
English Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
French Dolby Digital 5.1
English Captions for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Spanish Subtitles
French Subtitles
Disc Two:
English Dolby Digital 2.0
English Captions for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
French Subtitles
The Sound of Anarchy (6 1/2 min.)
The Evolution of the Knight (17 min.)
The Dark Knight IMAX Sequences (6 sequences, total runtime = 37 min.)
Gotham Tonight (6 episodes, total runtime = 47 min.)
Poster Art
Production Stills
Trailers (3)
Digital Copy of Feature Film
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