Throughout Saturday night 18th September, in honour of Batman Day 2021, the iconic Bat-Signal lit up the skies in
London, Liverpool and Glasgow to celebrate The Dark Knight on Batman Day
2021.
The iconic Bat-Signal shone a light on imposing buildings across the UK
on Saturday. The participating cities - London, Liverpool, and Glasgow - had
been revealed in advance, but the exact locations were shrouded in mystery. The
exact locations were teased on Instagram and Facebook by
DC GB Facebook
and
DCUKComics
on the 18th to give Bat-Signal seekers a head start.
Saturday 18th September, 8 - 8.30pm - Batman Day 2021 Bat-Signal on Odeon Luxe
Leicester, London:
Batman Day 2021 Bat-Signal Odeon Luxe Leicester, London
If all goes to plan we are less than half a year away from seeing Matt Reeves
interpretation of The Batman, starring Robert Pattinson on screens.
Fortunately we have a stop gap in the form of Batman Day this Saturday 18th
September.
Similar to the event that took place 2 years ago (and hopefully will take
place annually) the iconic Bat Signal will be shone into the night sky, or at
least 5 buildings at secret locations in London, Liverpool and Glasgow to alert Batman that his
presence is required. As well as signal an Easter Egg hunt with Batman related prizes.
The secret locations have been chosen for their Batman connections. Notably, Glasgow, Liverpool and London have all been used as prominent filming locations for much anticipated The Batman, which will be released in 2022. Glasgow was used as a filming location for The Flash - also set for a 2022 release - which sees Michael Keaton reprise his role as the Defender of Gotham.
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TEAM AND ITS FIRST BIG-SCREEN ADVENTURE, JUSTICE LEAGUE, TO OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
ON 9 NOVEMBER
FOR SALE 1 UNIQUE MOTORCYCLE-ATV HYBRID AKA BATPOD **LIKE NEW** ABSOLUTELY STUNNING (CHICKS DIG THIS BIKE), METALLIC GREY CUSTOM WAYNE TECH. 750CC. VERY GOOD CONDITION. ONE CAREFUL OWNER. 12 MONTHS GOTHAM CITY MOT
Prop Store Auction Preview Exhibition
This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to own a unique and stunning looking (chicks really dig it!) bike. Ready to ride. Starts first time every time on electric start or kick. Power and robustness is what this bike is all about with a custom-made Gotham steel chassis, carbon-fiber and kevlar body. Single seat, Brand new 31" front and rear Hoosier racing tyres,
High performance liquid cooled single-cylinder engine. Registered as a 750cc ;;). With a top speed of 120 Mph / 193 Kmh ;;), 5 Speed chain driven.
Excellent condition, some slight wear to the body, with very little cosmetic work could be made into an absolute beauty. Night time inspired. Metallic Grey as dark as Ra's al Ghul soul. But this is not just a stylized piece - every element has a practical function.
It would not be a surprise to anyone that I'm very much looking forward to David Ayer's adaptation of DC Comics' The Suicide Squad which blasts its way into UK cinemas on Friday 5 August 2016. What's not to look forward to? David Ayer is an intelligent talent who has written a number of fresh screenplays and has a directorial track record of serious dramatic action films made unique by the level of intensity he brings out of his cast like Christian Bale's in Harsh Times, Jake Gyllenhaal & Michael Peña in End of Watch, Arnold Schwarzenegger in Sabotage and Brad Pitt & Shia LaBeouf in Fury.
No doubt Ayers will be bringing a similar level of intensity to the Suicide Squad's already notable cast which includes: Margot Robbie, Will Smith, Cara Delevingne, Jared Leto, Ben Affleck, Joel Kinnaman, Jai Courtney, Viola Davis, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje and Scott Eastwood (who is he playing?)
I loved Batman V Superman and have been hanging for the home release with hopefully a ton of extras. Today it was confirmed that the home release will have 31 minutes of extra footage and will be available for download on 18 July with the Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray, DVD version available to buy from 1 August. Watch the trailer below for glimpses at extra characters and scenes to be featured.
W hat a film! I was absolutely thrilled by and loved Zack Snyder's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice - it truly is an Epic Super hero film in every sense. I haven't felt this excited about a comic film since Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins and I have to say all things considered Zack Snyder's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice might just be my favourite DC film!
This is the first of two posts concerning Zack Snyder's Batman v Superman in this one I discuss my thoughts on the film and why I loved it so much. In my second post things get more interesting as I go a bit deeper and look at the set-up scenes; Knightmare, Ding, ding, ding, ding, Communion and Cyborg's birth and discuss what they could mean and their impact on the DC film universe.
Batman v Superman has very quickly settled into my minds eye as part of the mainstream continuity of the world created by the comics. Partly because Zack Snyder and writers Chris Terrio and David S. Goyer make such a such a great film that is respectful to the spirit of the characters and the source material, adding depth in such ingenious ways whilst taking it in new and surprising directions that I cant wait to see where they take us next.
And partly because this is the world I have wanted to see on screen for a very long time. Earth's mightiest heroes on screen in a credible modern world. 30 years in the making since Frank Miller's 1986 iconic The Dark Knight Returns mini series laid the framework for the clash of Earth's mightiest heroes.
Batman v Superman Frank Miller The Dark Knight Returns [+]
Prior to that, since there first meeting in 1956 (and subsequent first meetings) Batman and Superman have maintained a good, even close relationship. Batman recognising that a seemingly all powerful man, whose greatest power was never his strength but that he was the living embodied of idealistic hope never faltering in his belief that humanity was at its core good and needed to be protected, an alien that was always the best of us.
Superman acutely understood his friends loss and why he pushed himself past the point of breaking to fulfil his quest of protecting his city, and always maintained that he was the most courageous man he knew - despite not having any powers he put himself in harms way time after time to protect the innocent.
This friendship resulted in the the world's mightiest heroes teaming up as the World's Finest and eventually the Justice League. But as our world changed and readers needs transformed our heroes as they underwent their own character development. Resulting in idealogical differences. With Batman v Superman we explore what would happen if these two different characters were to meet for the first time in our modern world?
BEN AFFLECK as Batman and HENRY CAVILL as Superman in Warner Bros. Pictures' action adventure "BATMAN v SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE," a Warner Bros. Pictures release.[ZOOM]
If you take one thing away from reading this it is that Zack Snyder clearly loves the characters and has made a film for those who love the material, as well as those who want to come along and experience a thrilling and fantastical world filled with exceptional beings.
I wasn't bowled over by Man of Steel. There were many elements I really enjoyed and some I really didn't. But it is clear that Man of Steel had to exist to give us the characters that take the story forward in Batman v Superman. Zack Snyder is playing a long game and its paying off.
There are some spoilers below, even more in my second upcoming post – but for this post I've tried not to be explicit about the story.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice hacked poster [ZOOM]
A couple of weeks ago I received a Bat alert in my inbox that the Batmobile from Zack Snyder's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice had just arrived at the Odeon Leicester Square and could be viewed.
I should mention that for guys my age that grew up having their comic book world broadened by Frank Miller's dark interpretation of the Batman with his The Dark Knight Returns. The tale of an older Bruce Wayne - hard boiled by years of crime fighting and having his world implode in on itself as it slides further into dystopia. That is until The Batman we know uncomfortably shifts from vigilante to revolutionary activist as his chosen path turns him against the world and - makes him the most dangerous man alive as he almost single handedly rages against the machine, the tide and the dying of light. His the end justifies the means and he becomes maybe not the hero the future world wanted but the one it needed.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Ben Affleck's Batman Returns fire up the Bat-Signal (ZOOM)
In Christopher Nolan's The Dark KnightAaron Eckhart's Harvey Dent or Two Face perfectly captures this when he says:
DENT
Well, I guess you either die a hero
or you live long enough to see
yourself become the villain.
This has become de rigueur in our culture - but back then it was like nothing before, well certainly in the mainstream comic world. It changed everything - suddenly the the future our heroes have been fighting for in every comic ever written was stolen. Miller proposed that the future we all believed in does not pan out and is rather just a part of a slow slide into further dystopia and our heroes have to evolve or adapt to survive in this new world.
And whilst Zack Snyder' seems to have turned the whole thing on its head with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice promising to be the start or dawn of something great, rather than the swansong of The Dark Knight - it may be the film I have been waiting 30 years for.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Batman Poster (ZOOM)
A couple of weeks ago we had one of the best nights out in ages, in fact it was possibly the best Halloween night I will ever have. We had an absolutely ace evening of immersive fourth wall crossing, Gothic shocks, surprises and dreams coming true. It all started when I received a creepy email inviting me to a Halloween get together at The Crypt Gallery, Kings Cross to view “The Rogues Gallery - Creation of a Super-Villain”.
The Rogues Gallery - Creation of a Super-Villain
What was this all about? I wondered. But as I was very keen to visit The Crypt Gallery an underground venue that had piqued my interest over the years – we were in. The invite was accompanied by a rather disturbing and edgy recording purporting to come from the inside of Arkham Asylum and the voice sounded a lot like Mr Long Green, the Laughing Man, The Ace of Knaves, Joe Kerr, Dr. J Reko, the Harlequin of Hate or the Clown Prince of chaos himself The Joker.
Of course this was all pointing to one thing - The Rogues Gallery may be a super villain team synonymous with Central City's Flash but since the 80s The Rogues Gallery has slowly shifted to also mean a super group of foes based around Gotham. Had the Crypt been turned into Arkham Asylum?
Sponsored Video: O2 Priority - Star Wars
On the evening as I looked out across the river it was almost as if a signal was shooting up and lighting the sky alerting me to start our journey north to Kings Cross.
Last Sunday I headed to East London, more specifically to the creative hub of Shoreditch, which constantly surprises me with its wealth of inventiveness. But I wasn't just there to enjoy freshly baked pastries and artisan coffee whilst perusing body modifications and 3D printed Objet d'art (and sometimes a mix of the two).
Rather I found myself under the Gotham'eske train bridges outside the Old Street entrance to Kachette, a contemporary event space which was hosting a Batman: Arkham Knight Cape & Cowl Exhibition. A similar envy inducing event that was held for San Diego Comic Con 2014. Sadly I only heard about the exhibition the Friday before and after a week long run it ended on Sunday, so I didn't get a chance to fire up the bat signal But I did manage to squeeze in a quick visit and was really stoked that I did. All photos from my visit can be viewed on our Flickr Channel.
The Establishing Shot: BATMAN: ARKHAM KNIGHT CAPE & COWL EXHIBITION - GOTHAM CITY HOLDING CELLS & HAYDEN CAVE BY HAYDEN KAYS - KACHETTE, LONDON
To celebrate the console game release of Rocksteady Studios' Batman: Arkham KnightWarner Bros Games UK and Moniker Projects commissioned 20 artists and celebrities to turn a Batman Cape & Cowl as a blank canvas and create their own unique work of art, which was then exhibited for the public in a dark and moody Arkham Asylum like gallery.
Batman: Arkham Knight Cape & Cowl London Exhibition
Some say he has precision skills that can only come from being cast from a mould made from melted parts of an Autobot (that was immediately broken afterwards), some say he is half human half machine, some say he was rebuilt from the parts left after the original T-800 was decommissioned but we say Ben Collins is as dapper as they come and possibly one of the few people on earth that understands vehicles like they are people.
Earlier today I went along to a preview of the Bond in Motion exhibition at the London Film Museum Covent Garden, it's going to take a little while for me to process all of the raw awesomeness of the day but thought I would start by getting this post up first. I had the opportunity to have a quick chat with Ben Collins Stunt driver on Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace and Skyfall. Of course for any lover of cars, particularly film cars or advance driving skills will know that Ben Collins is much more than the Stunt Driver on Bond films.
Long before he became celebrated as the anonymous and helmeted Top Gear driver known only as The Stig, he was a notable and legitimate racing car driver that competed across the board from Formula Three, Nascar, GT racing and stock car racing. Since Top Gear he has commandeered the cars for their stars on 10 blockbusters including; Quantum of Solace, The Dark Knight Rises, Fast & Furious 6, Skyfall, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit , John Carter of Mars (what now? I hear you say, I come back to this later) as well as upcoming features The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Matthew Vaughn's The Secret Service.
It is finally here and it is a thing of beauty! Christopher Nolan’s re imagining of the Batman franchise beginning with 2005’s Batman Begins enjoyed phenomenal critical and box-office success. Now on 30th September7 OCTOBER, Nolan’s three Batman films – Batman Begins, The Dark Knight,
and The Dark Knight Rises – will be released by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment as The Dark Knight Trilogy: Ultimate Collector’s Edition.
The six-disc set features all three films with their existing extra content, plus two new featurettes and exclusive new collectible memorabilia. This must-own collection for fans of DC Comics’ Caped Crusader is available in premium packaging and includes UltraViolet™ copies. UltraViolet allows consumers to download and instantly stream in high definition to a wide range of devices including computers and compatible tablets, smartphones, game consoles, Internet-connected TVs and Blu-ray players.
The Dark Knight Trilogy Ultimate Collector’s Edition Box (Click to enlarge)
Some surprising facts about The Dark Knight Rises that you may not know…
The epic conclusion to Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises, comes out December 3 and in the build-up, we were sent a list revealing some behind the scenes facts from The Dark Knight Rises - and even though I am the biggest Batman fan even I was surprised by a couple of them.
So as the legend ends we reveal The Dark Knight Rises facts you didn’t know…
If you have seen Skyfall you probably felt that there were some similarities to Christopher Nolan’s films as I did and I have been bemused when others have said that Skyfall is The Dark Knight to Casino Royale’s Batman Begins but couldn’t really substantiate the point past trying to draw a link between The Dark Knight and Sam Mendes's quote regarding The Dark Knight - see below. So I thought I would throw out some thoughts on possible parallels and synchronicity I see between Skyfall and Christopher Nolan’s
films. I would suggest that if you have not seen Skyfall yet you stop reading this now.
In discussion with Drew Taylor of
The Playlist
regarding parallels between Nolan's Batman films and
Skyfall Sam Mendes has
said:
”In terms of what [Nolan] achieved, specifically ‘The Dark Knight,’ the second
movie, what it achieved, which is something exceptional. It was a game changer
for everybody," he explained about how it influenced his approach.
We’re now in an industry where movies are very small or very big and there’s
almost nothing in the middle," he continued. "And it would be a tragedy if all
the serious movies were very small and all the popcorn movies were very big
and have nothing to say. And what Nolan proved was that you can make a huge
movie that is thrilling and entertaining and has a lot to say about the world
we live in, even if, in the case with ‘The Dark Knight,’ it’s not even set in
our world. It felt like a movie that was about our world post-9/11 and played
on our fears and discussed our fears and why they existed and I thought that
was incredibly brave and interesting. That did help give me the confidence to
take this movie in directions that, without ‘The Dark Knight,’ might not have
been possible.
Because also, people go, ‘Wow, that’s pretty dark,’ but then you can point to
‘Dark Knight’ and go ‘Look at that – that’s a darker movie, and it took in a
gazillion dollars!’ That’s very helpful. There’s also that thing – it’s
clearly possible to make a dark movie that people want to see”
So in essence it sounds like Mendes is saying that The Dark Knight’s influence on Skyfall was all about the tone and how it
was as a measure for whether a dark film could still make a profit at a
blockbuster level.
Whilst I agree that The Dark Knight may not have been the biggest
influence on the story of Skyfall - as The Dark Knight Rises
is clearly more of an influence I felt I identified further synchronicity
and references to Nolan’s works past the tone and couldn't help wonder if the
Bond team were giving Christopher Nolan a little of his own - as he has
openly admitted to plundering from Bond films over time for his own needs - or
if it was more of an acceptance of Nolan’s not so subtle request to direct a
Bond film?
It may have been 8 years since the Dark Knight returned but only 3 months till The Dark Knight Rises arrives on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital Download from 3rd December. In the epic conclusion to filmmaker Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight trilogy, Gotham City is threatened by the masked terrorist Bane, forcing Batman to return from an eight-year absence and fight for his city one more time.
The Dark Knight Rises will be available on 2 disc Blu-ray and on single disc DVD The Blu-ray features the film in hi-definition on Blu-ray and in standard definition on DVD. “The Dark Knight Rises” Blu-ray disc takes advantage of the marriage of IMAX and 35mm formats by using the hybrid master to replicate the unique theatrical experience of integrated film formats. The Blu-ray is also available in limited edition Bat Cowl packaging. Both the Blu-ray and the single disc DVD include UltraViolet which allows consumers to download and instantly stream the standard definition version of the film to a wide range of devices including computers and compatible tablets, smartphones, game consoles, Internet-connected TVs and Blu-ray players.
Also available on 3rd December, just in time for holiday gift-giving, is “The Dark Knight Trilogy Limited Edition Giftset,” featuring “Batman Begins,” “The Dark Knight” and “The Dark Knight Rises” all in one collection. Available on Blu-ray or standard definition DVD, “The Dark Knight Trilogy Limited Edition Giftset” will also include a premium book exclusive to the collection, which takes fans deeper into the epic franchise, as well as existing special features.
TheDark Knight Rises the most EPIC of stories hampered by the format of film, it has an Epic first quarter, a saggy middle followed by the most Epic of Epic endings in the history of Epicness.
That’s what my FaceBook status said after seeing Chris Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises his final chapter in his Dark Knight Trilogy. But of course that does not tell the whole story. Here are some light weight thoughts, that will be followed by a more in depth analysis when enough people have seen it for a proper post not to be considered spoilerish. Also bear in mind that I have only seen The Dark Knight Rises once typically Chris Nolan’s film need to be seen at least twice to absorb the detail.
In the countdown to the epic conclusion of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy - The Dark Knight Rises I was invited down to the plush screening room of Warner Bros. to reacquaint myself with Christopher Nolan’s Batman.
Here are some thoughts on the highs and lows of Batman Begins the film that started the most epic of super hero tales. I’m not going to do an in-depth analysis as there are countless books out there discussing Batman’s origins, history, legacy, the psychology of the man and the mask, Jungian archetypes and Freudian like discourses on the relationships of Batman. Besides a proper analysis would take more time and patience than you have. This post is some thoughts off the top of my head given the opportunity to re- watch Batman Begins.
“They told me there was nothing out there, nothing to fear. But the night my parents were murdered I caught a glimpse of something. I've looked for it ever since. I went around the world, searched in all the shadows. And there is something out there in the darkness, something terrifying, something that will not stop until it gets revenge... Me.”
First off I have to say re-watching Batman Begins I was reminded of how much it is a cinematic experience that needs to be enjoyed on the big screen with a decent audio system backing it up. I have watched the Batman Begins Blu-ray countless times (on my not too shabby big screen projection & 7.1 surround system) format and seeing it in a proper cinema again it was obvious it was really designed to be seen in a large format. But this post starts almost a decade ago… the year was 2004 the comic to screen adaptation landscape was dominated by family friendly fare standing tall above the graveyard littered with comic based films unable to take their graphic roots seriously enough to commit to the budget needed to bring a comic to life appropriately. As much as the technology to create credible effects debate is brought up – I still believe story is king and everything else can be built around it.
H ot on the heels of the interesting little hint we received from Oscar winning Costume Designer Lindy Hemming about Bane’s The Dark Knight Rises outfit over. We bring you a close up look at both the original outfits worn by Christian Bale’s Batman and Tom Hardy’s Bane in The Dark Knight Rises.
Yesterday in the build up to The Dark Knight Rises THe Establishing Shot was lucky enough to crack an invite to a screening of Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins, the tale that kicked off his dramatic Dark Knight trilogy that ends with The Dark Knight Rises. Just before the screening I got to check out both the original Bat suit and Bane suit used in The Dark Knight Rises.
This week the British Board of Film Classification passed The Dark Knight Rises with no cuts and a 12A certification for Moderate Violence and an official run time of 164m 27s (2 hours 44 and a half Minutes) and my Dark Knight Rises Limited edition Nokia Lumia 800 TDKR Nokia App telling me that Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises premieres in exactly 12 Days, 9 Hours and will be in cinemas in 2 weeks on Friday 20 July.
With that thought in mind I bring you an interesting little tidbit of Dark Knight Rises information. Yesterday I popped down to the iconic towers of The Barbican to the very first session of Designing 007 – Fifty Years Of Bond Style at the Barbican Centre and bumped into Christopher Nolan's secret weapon Costume Designer Lindy Hemming.
A big part of the Designing 007 – Fifty Years Of Bond Style exhibit is dedicated to the clothes featured in James Bond films from across its 50 year heritage and rightfully so, as the clothes of Bond have been one of the most important and enduring elements in the films raising the Bond films a cut above. After the actors and Ladies of Bond, past the action, the cars and the gadgets the clothes have made the man.
The clothes of Bond have been an intricate part of raising the status of the Bond legacy and will forever be the suave and sophisticated secret agent because of this.
The person responsible for design of the costumes of James Bond from 1995’s GoldenEye through to his masterful reinvention in 2006s Casino Royale was none other than Oscar winning Costume Designer Lindy Hemming. Ms. Hemming’s eye for detail , flair and excellence in her craft have been praised for films like; Topsy-Turvy,Four Weddings and a Funeral, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and both Batman Begins and The Dark Knight as well as her involvement in countless other Blockbusters and independent features
I have been away for the last couple of weeks and missed a bunch of stuff. So this is a catchup post - just before I jetted off an email landed in my inbox giving me the heads up on the release of the limited edition The Dark Knight Rises Nokia Lumia 900, available exclusively from Phones 4u.
Not only do these limited edition Nokia Lumia 900s come with a number of special features including: Microsoft’s latest Windows Phone 7.5 software iteration, a fully customisable Live Tiles homescreen, a host of intuitive native apps including: Internet Explorer 9, Nokia Drive and Nokia Music as standard. A 4.3-inch super AMOLED display and an exclusive iconic Batman logo laser etched into the jet black polycarbonate rear case.
As well as - The Dark Knight Rises Nokia Lumia 900 allows you to access exclusive Dark Knight Rises content: Browse your phone in all Gotham’s shadowy greatness with a limited edition black and grey skin. Download the exclusive Claim Gotham City! Game and take part in the Foursquare powered territory war between Batman and Bane which allows further exclusive media to be unlocked including: wallpapers and ringtones to complete The Dark Knight experience.
According to my Bat Countdown on my Bat phone or rather my Nokia Lumia 800The Dark Knight Rises Edition we are still 115 Days or 4 months away from seeing Christopher Nolan’s finale in his Batman trilogy – the decidedly epic The Dark Knight Rises.
Recently Christopher Nolan showed his first four hour rough cut of The Dark Knight Rises to Warner Bros. executives and I’m sure we’ll be hearing more about their thoughts as information is leaked. But until then, I thought I would finish my analysis of The Dark Knight Rises trailer which I started way back when it was released - but have been time poor so didn’t really get around to finishing it. As I’ve been fairly busy of late with no end in sight and cant really write up new stuff (of which there is much) I dusted off my analysis and thought I would get it out.
I was asked a little while back the amount of effort required to analyse bits from the The Dark Knight Rises and whilst it is an effort. I'm a long time fan of Batman and knowing the complexity that Christopher Nolan puts into his films and trailers taking the time to analyse them properly goes some of the way to fully comprehend them and appreciate them.
The Dark Knight Rises offers up a surprising amount of information to a Bat fan as well as raises many questions. Which is why we love Christopher Nolan and I have to say kudos to him and his team for keeping as much of the film under wraps despite the very public filming.
As I say the Dark Knight Rises offers up a lot of subtext and semiotics for us to engage with. And you don’t have to be a Detective to figure it out.
Batman Begins (2005)
[Thomas Wayne carrying a young Bruce back to Wayne Manor]
Alfred Pennyworth: Took quite a fall, didn't we, Master Bruce?
Thomas Wayne: And why do we fall, Bruce? So we can learn to pick ourselves up.
[as Wayne Manor is burning down]
Bruce Wayne: What have I done, Alfred? Everything my family... my father built...
Alfred Pennyworth: The Wayne legacy is more than bricks and mortar, sir.
Bruce Wayne: I wanted to save Gotham, I failed
Alfred Pennyworth: Why do we fall sir? So we might learn to pick ourselves up
Bruce Wayne: You still haven't given up on me?
Alfred Pennyworth: Never
I’m guessing those quotes from Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins way back in 2005 will be all the more poignant with The Dark Knight Rises.
Bear in mind that although I mention Christopher Nolan’s name a lot below, some of the credit should be going to his brother Jonathan Nolan who wrote the screenplay along with Batman familiar David S. Goyer I use Nolan's name as a hold all for the team.
Also this is all educated speculation rather than based on any inside knowledge of the production or any unofficial spoilery media floating around the web.
and here we go...
The Establishing Shot: The Dark Knight Rises Trailer Analysis The Dark Knight Rises Trailer is 2:04 minutes long and rather than doing a frame by frame analysis it makes more sense if we break it down by scene.
You have probably been wondering where I have been & where my analysis of the full Batman trailer is. Well I’ve been spending every free second pouring over the Bat phone! No not Batman’s red retro hotline to Commissioner Gordon, although that is pretty cool though.
I've been getting a couple of requests for my thoughts on The Dark Knight Rises prologue, some, from guys nowhere near an IMAX so below I’ve tried to give as much detail as I can. My post is split into 3 segments; the first outlining why The Dark Knight Rises could be good, the second running through the footage of the prologue and 1 minute montage from The Dark Knight Rises with commentary and the third some thoughts. So you can skip to the bits that interest you.
With two weeks to go till various IMAX cinemas in the UK show us a 6 minute preview footage, supposedly a prologue regarding the main villain of the piece - Bane. The Dark Knight Rises viral marketing has stepped up it's intensity. In a similar fashion to the Inception viral parts of a wiki leaked style C.I.A report were sent to both Wired and Empire Magazine.
Wired received the first page of the bulletin, which is a report regarding the disappearance of Doctor Leonid Pavel, a 63 year old Russian Nuclear Physicist last seen in Chelyabinsk, Russia. In The Dark Knight Rises Leonid Pavel is the character played by Alon Abutbul.
So far all we can divine from the pages is that he was last seen in Chelyabinsk, which was at one time the former Soviet Union’s main military production centre. Pavel was born around the time the many Chelyabinsk residents were feeling the effects of radiation poisoning. Leonid Pavel is probably very knowledgeable in the realm of Nuclear Energy as he spoke at a IEEE (The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) symposium and the US Government believe that he is a high value commodity because of his knowledge of Nuclear fuel cycle technology and reactor designs.
By now if you are a fan of The Bat you know about the chant. I am of course referring to the chant that can be heard in the background of the The Dark Knight Rises website. When the audio file was opened up in an audio application the twitter #TheFireRises was revealed. When the tag was re-tweeted each tweet revealed a bit more of the first look of Tom Hard as Bane.
The chant is rumoured to mean "The Fire Rises" in English and that it may be a chant used by Ra's al Ghul's League of Assassins signalling the rise of Ra's al Ghul from his Lazarus Pit. Which brings us to:
Composer Hans Zimmer invites you to take part in the Dark Knight legend. Add your voice to thousands of others for a chance to be included in The Dark Knight Rises.
Christopher Nolan transformed London in to Gotham City for Batman Begins, and nowhere is that more striking than the real‑world location used for Arkham Asylum. Visiting the site reveals how Christopher Nolan grounded the film’s darkest moments in a tangible, atmospheric space that still carries the weight of its on‑screen history. Giving Gotham a grounded, architectural realism. Visiting the filming location reveals how the production transformed the site into one of the film’s most memorable settings.
In anticipation of Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises the finale of his Batman trilogy, my chosen iconic Film Location this time round is from the film that started it all – Christopher Nolan’s 2005 Superhero masterpiece Batman Begins.
As well as locations in Hertfordshire where Christopher Nolan went to school, Nolan has a fondness for London locations that he knows and likes. Having spent time in London studying at both the University College London and Raindance Film School. Nolan knows his way around London and certainly has favourite locations that he re-uses in a number of his films.
Sadly Chris Nolan's epic finale to his Batman - The Dark Knight Trilogy is a year away from being released into cinemas on 20 July 2012. The bulk of London based filming has now finished and this week we were treated to the release of the first 1:29 minute The Dark Knight Rises teaser trailer. For those who aren't familiar with the Batman mythology, it may seem as mysterious as the first Inception imagery to be released however for those who know the Batman mythology, although visually engaging as all Nolan's work the narrative shown seems to be fairly clear.
Having said that as always Nolan has more tricks up his sleeve than the Joker at a card game. After reading a particularly bad and uninformed discussion of the teaser trailer earlier on a national paper's website I thought I would do a quick analysis over lunch so those less familiar with Batman mythos can be brought up to speed.
With the UK leg of The Dark Knight Rises shoot kicking off this week The Establishing Shot brings you another rare and exceptional set of photos from Stefan Lange. This time from his work on the set of Tim Burton's Batman.
Batman was shot on locations all over the UK including Pinewood Studios where Gotham City was recreated - as you can see in the photos below.
I love the London Film Museum, not only are they the home for props, memorabilia and costumes from some of my favourite films ever (Bond, Excalibur, Aliens, Batman, Superman, Star Wars and currently a Ray Harryhausen Exhibition - as well as many, many, many more) but some of my best recent film related memories are attributed directly to them (Star Wars Exhibition, celebrating Mr. Ray Harryhausen’s 90th Birthday, Meeting Bond alumni; George Lazenby, Maude Adams & Britt Ekland as well as meeting both Herbert Lom & Burt Kwouk (responsible for some of the funniest moments on the silver screen from my childhood) and, and shooting the breeze with Terry (still not a Sir yet) Gilliam, Sir Peter Jackson and John Landis).
And that’s just the stuff off the top of my head.
London Film Museum: John Landis & (still not a Sir yet) Terry Gilliam enjoying Harryhausen's Myths and Legends Exhibition launch and Birthday by Craig Grobler
