DVD/Movie Set Review: The Dark Knight Trilogy

 

This is a blu-ray box set of the trilogy of live-action Batman movies starring Christian Bale and directed by Christopher Nolan. Any fan of Batman knows that the movie franchise was nearly dead after the dreadful Batman and Robin movie in the late 1990s. The franchise had changed directors once (Tim Burton to Joel Schumacher) and stars three times (Michael Keaton to Val Kilmer to George Clooney). While the Tim Burton/Michael Keaton movies were very good.  Batman Forever (which was the first one directed by Schumacher) was good but edging toward the campy side, and Batman and Robin was almost universally reviled. This trilogy brought the series back in a big way.

First, it brought back stability. Nolan co-wrote and directed all three movies, so the tone, visuals, and feel remained the same. Just as importantly, Christian Bale was in the lead role for all three. Regardless of whether you think he was the best Batman/Bruce Wayne or not, the continuity that not changing actors every movie brought was very important. Secondly, the movies were more than just superhero or action movies. It brought in big-name actors for both the main roles and the supporting roles and focused on not only having good scripts but excellent acting (punctuated by Heath Ledger's performance as The Joker). Those elements were spotty in the superhero genre up to that point. In some movies, you would have big-name actors and a good script. In some, you would have a decent script but only one or two big-name actors, and in some, you would have an awful script. These movies did not rely just on a bunch of special effects and lots of explosions to tell the story. Lastly, Nolan tried to bring a sense of realism where possible. Obviously, these are movies based on a comic book, and most of what you see in them could not happen in real life. But, the fact that the movies were filmed in real cities and that the gadgets he used (especially in Batman Begins) were somewhat realistic (like his grappling gun) made the movies more enjoyable for me.

Of the three movies I actually think the last one has the best overall story. Obviously, however, Heath Ledger's performance as Joker was the touchstone of the three movies. He played the in-control psychotic so well, that it will be hard for anyone to top that live-action version of the character. Even though I think Ledger was the best villain, I think all the movies did a good job with the bad guys. I especially liked that they cast Bane based on acting ability and not just finding a big guy with no talent. Obviously, Tom Hardy is not 7 feet tall or anywhere near it, but his version of Bane was much better than the one in Batman and Robin.

Chances are if you are reading this you have already seen each movie multiple times. While I do not think any of them are absolutely perfect, I think they are as close to perfect as the superhero movies that had come out up to that point had been in a long time. And, you can certainly argue that the success of Batman Begins played a big part in the Marvel movies being taken seriously from the start.  I had hoped that the series that Nolan started would continue in some way. The ending of Dark Knight Rises certainly left that possibility open. But, after this many years, if it were to do so, it would more likely be in a "Batman Beyond" type of situation in which Bale plays the role of Alfred to a new, younger, Batman. 

This set repackages the original blu-ray releases into a decorative outer box. You get the same extras/bonus content (if you like watching that material) that the original discs were released with. There was no new bonus content created for this release. If you bought the movies individually on blu-ray the only new thing you get with this is the outer box. But, if you do not have the movies and have not upgraded to a 4k blu-ray player and a 4K TV, this is a good pickup, and definitely worth watching.

4k-UHD Box Set Review: The Dark Knight Trilogy

 

This is, as most probably know, the trilogy of Batman movies (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and The Dark Knight Rises) that were written and directed by Christopher Nolan, and starred Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman. Batman Begins (released in 2005) represented the resurrection of Batman in live-action movies after the turd that was Batman and Robin had pretty much killed it off in 1999, and arguably set the stage for the success that superhero movies have had to this day, including the MCU movies because Nolan (and the studio) wanted to make a serious movie that was grounded in some kind of reality. The Dark Knight (released in 2008) is best known for the masterful performance of Heath Ledger playing The Joker, and The Dark Knight Rises (released in 2012) was a good conclusion of the story. The movies have a strong supporting cast including Liam Neeson, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Cillian Murphy, Ken Wanatabe, Anne Hathaway, Katie Homles, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhall, Mathew Modine, Tom Hardy, Marion Cotillard, and Joseph Gordon Levitt (among others). 

In this set, each of the movies is packaged in individual cases within a decorative outer box. Each movie is a three-disc set with a 4k UHD disc and two regular blu-ray discs. The UHD discs just have the movies themselves, and then one of the regular blu-rays has the movie (which can be played with an in-movie experience that pops up facts about the movie throughout) and the second regular blu-ray disc just has special features. For each movie, you get 2-3 hours of bonus content with a lot of behind-the-scenes and making-of featurettes that include interviews with members of the cast and crew, as well as featurettes on some aspect of the overall Batman mythology, and trailers. The A/V quality of the UHD discs is awesome, especially for the scenes filmed in IMAX for the second and third movies, and are reference quality, especially if you have a large screen and a great sound system to watch it on.

Overall, the movies are great. They are, arguably, the best of Batman in live-action. I liked that they set the movies in the "real world" and made his gadgets have some grounding in reality so it looked and felt like the things in the movie could happen in real life. In my opinion, Bale, at least up to that point had done the best job playing both characters (Bruce and Batman) in live-action and being believable in both roles. I think Michael Keaton was a great Bruce Wayne, but was not as believable as Batman. I think Kilmer played a good Bruce Wayne and a good Batman, but he was not as good as Keaton or Bale as Bruce and not as good as Bale as Batman. And Clooney was not great in either role. I think the A/V quality of the UHD presentation is good enough that it warrants the upgrade even if you already own the movies on blu-ray. I definitely recommend this set.

4k-UHD/Movie Review: The Dark Knight Rises

 

This is the third and final movie in the Christopher Nolan Dark Knight Trilogy starring Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman. The film is set eight years after the events of The Dark Knight with Gotham being mostly crime-free and Bruce Wayne holding up as a recluse in Wayne Manor while Batman is vilified for killing Harvey Dent. Dent is still being held out as a hero, and the law passed in his name allowed the police to keep all the criminals he prosecuted locked up. When a new threat to Gotham emerges, in the form of a mercenary named Bane (played by Tom Hardy) who was excommunicated from The League of Shadows, Bruce must bring Batman back to try and save the city.

The 4k-UHD version is a three-disc set. The UHD disc just has the movie itself, and then there are two regular blu-ray discs, one with the film and one with most of the extras. The regular blu-ray with the movie on it does have a second-screen experience that allows you to watch the movie with exclusive content that pops up as the movie plays. The bonus disc has about two hours worth of behind-the-scenes and making-of material, and an hour-long featurette on the Batmobile, basically discussing its evolution during the comics and the various live-action versions. It included interviews with Adam West and the creator of the Batmobile from the 1960s TV show, as well as Tim Burton, Joel Schumacher, and the crew members who designed the cars for the pre-Nolan movies, and then extensive interviews with the design team from the Nolan movies. The A/V quality of the UHD disc is wonderful, especially during the Imax sequences that are scattered throughout the movie. 

Overall, this is a fine end to the Nolan Trilogy, which absolutely revived the live-action Batman franchise and arguably paved the way for the boom of superhero movies that would follow 2005's Batman Begins. The main supporting characters/actors (Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, and Morgan Freeman) were all brought back, and the additions to the cast were, of course, Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway playing Selina Kyle/Catwoman, Joseph Gordon Levitt who is a GCPD member, as well as Ben Mendelsohn (from Rouge One), Marion Cotillard, Adien Gillian (from Game of Thrones), and 80s star Matthew Modine. And, Cillian Murphy makes yet another appearance as Dr. Crane. Some of the supporting character's roles are definitely larger than others. Hathaway does a great job as Selina Kyle, although playing a much different version of the character than any of the other live-action versions of her, and Hardy is very good as Bane, especially having to act through a mask through 99% of his scenes. There were rumors that the original plan was also to work Joker into the third movie, however, after Heath Ledger's death, that role was never going to be recast, and they did not even use archival footage or deleted footage from the second movie of Joker in this one. While I still think that the second movie, The Dark Knight, is the best in the trilogy, this is a worthy follow-up and definitely worth watching.

4k-UHD/Movie Review: The Dark Knight

 

This is, of course, the second movie in the Christopher Nolan directed and Christian Bale led live-action Batman trilogy which not only revived the live-action Batman franchise from near death, but arguably paved the way for the historic run of superhero movies that is still going strong today. The fact that Nolan took these movies seriously, coupled with the fact that the first Iron Man movie (which came out the same year as this) was so well done really took superhero movies out of the "cult following" that had been the majority of their fanbase and opened the genre up to wider appeal.

This movie is set about a year after the events of Batman Begins with Batman having terrorized the city criminals and inspired lackluster (to say the least) copycat vigilantes. Gordon (played again by Gary Oldman) is now the head of the major crimes unit (cleverly nicknamed MCU) which is trying to take down the mob and "capture" Batman. Joker (played brilliantly by Heath Ledger) offers his services to the mob to kill Batman and get the heat off of them put on by Gordon and new Gotham District Attorney, Harvey Dent (played by Aaron Eckhart). Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman also reprise their roles as Alfred Pennyworth and Lucius Fox, and Eric Roberts joins the cast as mobster Sal Maroni.

Aside from Ledger's casting, which was controversial when it was announced, the other big casting change from the first movie was replacing Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes with Maggie Gyllenhaal. At the time, it was speculated the Holmes' marriage to Tom Cruise and participation in Scientology was the reason, but Nolan has gone on record saying that she was simply not available to do the sequel. Whatever the reason, while I personally would have preferred for Holmes to return (mainly because I am not a fan of recasting).Gyllenhaal does a good job with the role. 

This set has three discs, the 4K-UHD disc that has just the movie itself, a regular blu-ray disc with just the movie, and a second blu-ray disc with most of the special features. The regular blu-ray disc does include a making-of documentary called Gotham Uncovered, and the movie can be played with a picture-in-picture option that includes some of the material from the Gotham Uncovered documentary. The rest of the features are on the second blu-ray disc and include a featurette on Batman's tech, the psychology of Batman, a series of Gotham Tonight episodes, hosted in-character by Anthony Michael Hall's character from the movie and featuring some of the other cast members, and the trailers, and a gallery of the different Joker cards.

Overall, the movie is great. One of the best superhero movies of all time in my opinion. While Ledger was only in the movie for a minimal amount of screen time (all totaled), he dominated pretty much every scene he was in, and his appearances were spaced out well so it seemed like he was in the movie much more than he was. The only thing I would have done differently is [SPOILERS AHEAD] kept Two-Face for the next movie. Maybe make him disappear and then exact revenge in the third movie instead of killing him off after only four scenes. From what I had read, the plan was originally to bring Joker back for the third movie in some capacity. Of course, Ledger's death shortly after filing wrapped made that impossible and by that point, the movie was finished and it would have been too expensive to go back and totally change the ending.

Regardless, the movie is great and the A/V quality of the UHD disc, especially in the IMAX scenes is wonderful.  It is definitely worth the upgrade to the 4k blu-ray. 

4k-UHD Review- Batman Begins

 

Batman Begins was the 2005 reboot of the live-action Batman franchise which had mostly been killed off by the hot garbage of a movie that was Batman and Robin. This movie was co-written and directed by Christopher Nolan who, at the time, was best known for movies like Memento and Insomnia. It starred Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne, Michael Caine as Alfred, Gary Oldman as Jim Gordon (who was a Sergent at the time), and Morgan Freeman as Lucious Fox. It included a supporting cast of Katie Holmes, Liam Neeson, Rutger Hauer, Tom Wilkinson, and two who would become Nolan regulars, Ken Watanabe and Cillian Murphy.

The movie was another origin story for the character of Batman, but unlike other adaptations in which the murder of Bruce's parents is shown and then there is a time jump to him being established as Batman, this movie shows the process of Bruce becoming Batman, and what he had to do to get to that point, including training with the League of Shadows, a society of assassins who practice ninjutsu and want to restore law and order to the world. Then the movie shows Bruce returning to Gotham to take on the criminal underworld (mainly Tom Wilkinson's Carmine Falcone) that has taken over the city.

The 4k-UHD set is a three-disc set. There is the UHD disc that just has the movie, a regular blu-ray disc that also just has the movie on it, and then a second blu-ray disc that has all of the special features. The A/V quality of the UHD disc is very good, near reference quality, and definitely an upgrade from the original 1080p release. There are well over two hours worth of bonus content on the third disc, including several making-of and behind-the-scenes featurettes, which detail nearly every part of the filmmaking process from the creation of the new Batmobile to the stunt training. The first six-minute opening sequence of the second movie in the trilogy, The Dark Knight is also included, as is the theatrical trailer for Batman Begins.

Overall, the movie is great. It is much better than the Joel Schumacher-helmed movies, and very much on par quality-wise with, but much different than Tim Burton's movies. Nolan grounds the movie in reality as much as he can, making Gotham look like a real city and using as few CGI effects as he possibly can. Bale, as much as he can be a jackass in real-life at times and seems to take himself way too seriously, does a great job both as Bruce Wayne and as Batman. He absolutely threw himself into the role (as he does for all his movies), and was really the first actor that I think nailed both roles in live-action. Katie Holmes was very good as Rachel Dawes, Bruce's childhood friend turned assistant District Attorney who was one of the few officials in Gotham who was not corrupt, and Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman were great in their respective roles. So, if you are a fan of Batman it is a must-see movie, and the 4k disc is definitely worth the upgrade.