The Dark Knight (Full-Screen Single-Disc Edition) - Harry Potter 6 Books

Product Description

Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 12/09/2008 Run time: 151 minutes Rating: Pg13

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #24 in DVD
• Brand: Warner Brothers
• Released on: 2008-12-09
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, French, Spanish
• Dubbed in: French Canadian, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 152 minutes

Amazon.com
The Dark Knight arrives with tremendous hype (best superhero movie ever? posthumous Oscar for Heath Ledger?), and incredibly, it lives up to all of it. But calling it the best superhero movie ever seems like faint praise, since part of what makes the movie great--in addition to pitch-perfect casting, outstanding writing, and a compelling vision--is that it bypasses the normal fantasy element of the superhero genre and makes it all terrifyingly real. Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) is Gotham City's new district attorney, charged with cleaning up the crime rings that have paralyzed the city. He enters an uneasy alliance with the young police lieutenant, Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman), and Batman (Christian Bale), the caped vigilante who seems to trust only Gordon--and whom only Gordon seems to trust. They make progress until a psychotic and deadly new player enters the game: the Joker (Heath Ledger), who offers the crime bosses a solution--kill the Batman. Further complicating matters is that Dent is now dating Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal, after Katie Holmes turned down the chance to reprise her role), the longtime love of Batman's alter ego, Bruce Wayne.

In his last completed role before his tragic death, Ledger is fantastic as the Joker, a volcanic, truly frightening force of evil. And he sets the tone of the movie: the world is a dark, dangerous place where there are no easy choices. Eckhart and Oldman also shine, but as good as Bale is, his character turns out rather bland in comparison (not uncommon for heroes facing more colorful villains). Director-cowriter Christopher Nolan (Memento) follows his critically acclaimed Batman Begins with an even better sequel that sets itself apart from notable superhero movies like Spider-Man 2 and Iron Man because of its sheer emotional impact and striking sense of realism--there are no suspension-of-disbelief superpowers here. At 152 minutes, it's a shade too long, and it's much too intense for kids. But for most movie fans--and not just superhero fans--The Dark Knight is a film for the ages. --David Horiuchi

Amazon.com
The follow-up to Batman Begins, The Dark Knight reunites director Christopher Nolan and star Christian Bale, who reprises the role of Batman/Bruce Wayne in his continuing war on crime. With the help of Lt. Jim Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent, Batman sets out to destroy organized crime in Gotham for good. The triumvirate proves effective, but soon find themselves prey to a rising criminal mastermind known as The Joker, who thrusts Gotham into anarchy and forces Batman closer to crossing the fine line between hero and vigilante. Heath Ledger stars as archvillain The Joker, and Aaron Eckhart plays Dent. Maggie Gyllenhaal joins the cast as Rachel Dawes. Returning from Batman Begins are Gary Oldman as Gordon, Michael Caine as Alfred and Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox. Stills from The Dark Knight (click for larger image)

Customer Reviews

Great Movie but the DVD Seems Like a Studio Afterthought
The Dark Knight is among my favorite all time films. Unfortunately, Warner Brothers seemed to put all their effort into the Blu-ray version of the film, which is itself a bit disappointing if its customer reviews are any indication. Nevertheless, the DVD versions of the film seem like afterthoughts.

I originally intended to purchase the Two Disc Special Edition version of The Dark Knight because I purchased that version of Batman Begins (Two-Disc Special Edition) and very much enjoyed the Special Features. After reading the negative customer reviews of The Dark Knight Special Edition DVD's special features, however, I purchased the single-disc widescreen version of The Dark Knight. Buyers should note that the single-disc version of The Dark Knight contains no special features whatsoever.

The lack of any special features on the single-disc version was a bit of a surprise to me, but not a huge disappointment. After all, there are Special Edition and Blu-ray versions available. However, the Blu-ray version's special features were found lacking by a number of reviewers. Specifically, it lacks a true "Making of" documentary and lacks in-depth looks at how the stunts were created.

The DVD Special Edition has even fewer special features than the Blu-ray version, according to their product descriptions (I do not own multiple versions of this film, so please comment with corrections if I am mistaken). It has the IMAX scenes presented in their original format, but not as integrated into the movie, as the Blu-ray does. It also lacks the brief Creation of a Scene featurettes, which were apparently the highlight of the Blu-ray special features. This led me to conclude that the special features weren't worth their price. This was true for the Blu-ray format as well, which obviously got more attention than the DVD versions.

In summary, this is a great film that has been treated with a mediocre DVD/Blu-ray release. While I was disappointed at the special features options on the Special Edition DVD and Blu-ray, I am glad to own this excellent film. Just beware that the film, and not the special features, is about all you're buying in any of its versions.

Dark Knight
Whenever I order straight from Amazon and not a seller I get really good customer service. It's easy and fast. Many times the seller is cheaper but I get less than superb service even with high ratings. I will be choosing to pay the higher price with Amazon rather than cutting a lower deal with a seller with a high rating.

The Best Batman
This is the best Batman ever. It's the way the Batman movies should have been made. Christian Bale blew Michael Keaton out of the water as Batman. Much better than Batman Begins. It is more in line with the comic book. Plus there are no more cheesy lines or stupid villians. Heath Ledger killed as the Joker. He really got into the role that he became the Joker.