The Dark Knight Rises (4K Ultra HD)

The following review started out as a gentle and respectful reply to another reviewer, so it may not seem as cohesive as other reviews, but I'm now posting it for two reasons: 1) I'm really tired of all the "too long" comments, because I see that response as an indication of the general loss of decent attention spans that now exists in the citizens of our troubled nation (USA, but maybe other nations too?), and 2) there seem to be a lot of shots taken at Chris Nolan-just for being Nolan, and since--IMHO--TDKR is the most "Nolan-ese" of the series, I suppose people who don't like Nolan will find more to dislike than those who like him. And, it may also be true that points 1 and 2 above are connected. On the other, I really like long films, and I really like Chris Nolan's film-making, so I'll admit that my bias in those two areas shows up clearly. Oh well. But, to the "review": I'm not a Batman fanatic, from the comix side, but I do like Chris Nolan, esp Memento & Inception, and I guess this film "felt" more like a Chris Nolan film than the first two. I'll also concede that I am one of those crazy people who actually likes *really* long films! (Ben-Hur and Lawrence of Arabia are two of my favorites.) Having said that, I'll note that I thought TDKR was amazing, and--in some ways--the best of the three. I had not read many reviews of this one until I watched it, so the way the plot unfolded was mostly new to me, and I have to say that I genuinely liked the way Nolan paced that unfolding, especially as Bane was set-up as virtually unbeatable, perhaps even by Batman at his peak. I've heard Bane described as "jolly," or perhaps just too flippant, but I think his attitude is simply a supreme confidence to the point of arrogance, and his arrogance makes him dismiss Batman, and any other opponents, with a vile amusement that is probably flip and sarcastic, and tied very much to his angry and bitter "soul." Also, to note one example that comes up as negative, I have seen the "climb" out of the prison described as "too long," or "boring." Nonetheless, I really liked the technique of revisiting Wayne's attempts until he finally took the blind prisoner's advice and climbed "as a child," without the rope. Now, I'll concede that after the first two attempts, I was already telling myself, "he has to do it without the rope, like a kid," but I think Nolan wanted the audience to be a bit ahead of Wayne on that point, because he kept showing the footage of the kid climbing, and the absence of the rope was pretty obvious. To me, it shows that Batman/Wayne is still having difficulty getting his mind/spirit back to the point where he can battle Bane with any chance of success, and Nolan just lets us see that before the character does. Some folks have criticized Nolan's portrayal of Batman/Wayne as borderline crippled over an 8-year period, but he is just human, after all, and it shouldn't be a shock that his emotional loss in The Dark Knight sparked a long period of withdrawing from everything. If you believe Batman is simply a man in great shape and with great martial arts training, and with a few other skills, then you will accept that all of that can be lost through neglect and carelessness and a sorrowful apathy. OK, I'm in danger of rambling here, but I guess my point, for what it's worth, is that I have watched all three of the films in this particular Batman series. I have really enjoyed all three, but I've been waiting for the true "Nolan" twists to show up. Batman Begins was extraordinarily tame in its "Nolanisms," and then The Dark Knight seemed much more a Nolan product (esp in the Joker protrayal), and finally in The Dark Knight Rises, the "true Nolan" finally shows up, especially in those scenes where the action is so fast and shocking that it is almost bewildering, which is what you get in Inception (albeit for different narrative reasons). As for the ending, should Nolan have left Batman's fate more ambiguous, and would that have been more effective? Possibly, but as it stands, Wayne's fate is something about which only the audience, Alfred, Lucius, and Selena truly know. From an emotional perspective, I just liked that touch(with no excuse). There's other little stuff too, like the way Gordon is brought down and chastized for allowing the lie about Batman to continue. Gordon has been a true shining star up until this film, and he does his best to get his police force back on board, and he ultimately makes sure Batman's image is reversed, but there is a point, after Bane reads his speech, that Gordon is justifiably portrayed as pathetic and helpless. Again, a Chris Nolan technique that produced in me a profoundly sad feeling. Yikes! This was a lot longer than I intended. I'm not trying to slam anyone else's review, or start a "review war;" I'm just pointing out the personal perspective from which I "watched" this one, and I'm hoping some of you on the border might give TDKR another shot. Happy New Year!!! Grace and peace, Rick.

I was exceptionally impressed by this trilogy as a whole. The Dark Knight blew most people away and set an extremely high standard for this one to meet. I don't think this film met the standard for pure intrigue set almost single-handedly by Heath Ledger in his role as the Joker. I was however very impressed by Tom Hardy's performance as Bane and loved the character. I have heard many complaints about Bane from random people, but he is well constructed and developed, and highly formidable. He is a completely different animal from the Joker, and as the original story told, was meant to be Batman's arch-nemesis. I loved this movie for many reasons, including the depth of plot and for the story itself. Like most great movies, I think that it takes multiple viewings to pick up on all of the subtleties woven into the plot. (Study it closely naysayers, depth is there.) Many people complain of gaps and plot holes, but I don't give those complaints as much credence due to the subtle points woven in. Nolan does a good job of succinctly referencing most of those issues to move the story along quickly, you just have to pay closer attention. So purely as entertainment, I think this movie is incredible and well worth multiple viewings. ~plot spoiler alert from this point on~ This movie is very important, culturally, in my opinion. Nolan clearly draws a lot of inspiration from our society today, and writes a lot of cultural parallels into the movie. Much of what I am referencing here is the class warfare instigated by the cries of Bane for the citizenry to take back their city. A certain portion of the population is fooled into following a certain number of Bane's henchmen (not to mention the criminals set free) under the pretenses of rights to other people's property. This may seem like a digression, but Catwoman's character is a huge part of this side of the story. She is the caught between the two sides throughout much of the movie. She begins as one who sympathizes with movement of the [storm that is coming]. As the movie progresses however, she transforms from one who agrees with the deluded occupiers, to someone actively (however unwilling and detached she tries to be) engaged in fighting alongside the rational opposition to Bane. Catwoman's character is necessary for Nolan because I believe he wanted to show the line of logic that a fence sitter could follow to go from one side to the other. The tipping point for Catwoman was after a family was unceremoniously ripped from their home and Catwoman stood looking at a photo of the family and said "This was someone's home..." to which her friend replied, "No, this is everyone's home." She failed to buy into the propaganda machine controlled by Bane, and subsequently began to oppose those she once stood with. There are many more details showing cultural and societal parallels written into the movie. I won't go into any more, but in case it interests you in addition to the the movie for story's sake, watch for them. That is all, it's an incredible movie.

Slendido cofanetto, magnifico film, immancabile pezzo da collezione sia per i fan del crociato mascherato che non. La riproduzone della maschera spezzata è elegante, impeccabile e piena di significato: un "must have" per chi voglia custodire un film indimenticable nella confezione esclusiva che merita. In poche parole, la bellezza dell'articolo conferma quanto già visto con la limited edition dedicata al Batpod del doppio DVD de "Il Cavaliere Oscuro": la base mantiene la stessa geometria, ma riporta il novo titolo (The Dark Knight Rises), mentre la maschera, pur essendo realizzata in plastica, mostra egregiamente ogni dettaglio (graffi e lesioni) sotto l'effetto della luce. Purtroppo, la stessa cosa non può dirsi per la custodia dei due Blu Ray. Seppure sia discutibile ma simpatica l'idea di estrarre la stessa dal retro della base suddetta, appare davvero frustrante il modo in cui i Blu Ray risultano inseriti all'interno: un disco è posto sopra l'altro, il che non soltanto provoca il rischio di graffiare i dischi a vicenda, ma fa decisamente rimpiangere la presenza di una custodia semplice, come nella versione normale del film, o al più come fatto nella limited edition de "Il Cavaliere Oscuro" nella quale ogni disco occupava una facciata della custodia. Se però si considera che tutto il resto è pregio e che con un po' di attenzione si evita che i dischi si graffino, è un prezzo che si può essere disposti a pagare di buon grado. Riguardo al contenuto dei dischi, c'è tantissimo materiale: se il film, pietra miliare del cinema (comunque non ai livelli del predecessore) risulta magnifico non solo per la storia epica ma ance grazie agli oltre 70 min di riprese IMax, i contenuti speciali inseriti sono davvero tanti e non deludono neppure per qualità, tuttavia questi ultimi presentano una pecca: come al solito, sono presentati solo in lingua originale, ma seppur siano presenti i sottotitoli anche in italiano, spesso risultano illegibili quando lo sfondo sia molto chiaro (o peggio) bianco, col risultato che la loro lettura risulta spesso frammentaria e noiosa. Infine, ma non per importanza, un 10 e lode a Amazon: confezione immacolata, pacco resistente e compatto, tempi di spedizione e arrivo talmente ineccepibili che, continuando su questa strada, sarà probabile che il pacco vi arrivi a casa qualche secondo dopo aver cliccato su "Acquista"!

parfait, rapide, précis un bon deal

Este el segundo caso particular, en el que una preventa sale rápidamente hacia mi hogar. A pesar del rumoreado "boicot" a Amazon.es de las distribuidoras patrias, se me envió rápidamente. Tanto, que tenía cómo fecha el Lunes 3, y el sábado 1 ya la tenía en casa. Y ahora, a lo que interesa. La edición está muy bién. Las escenas IMAX se salen de la calidad que tienen, y e n conjunto es una edición visualmente notable, aunque opino que la paleta de colores elegida, algo apagada, hace que no luzca tan bién cómo otros films, pero es igual, le va que ni pintada. En cuanto al audio, la V.O simplemente es de "DEMO". Brutal, asombrosa, ruidosa, envolvente... la V.E se presenta en un pobre DD 5.1 a 448kpbs. El doblaje y los efectos, por tanto, sufren, dado el bajón de calidad con respecto a la original. Pero cumple si se ha de visionar el film en Castellano. Bane está muy bién doblado y se oye imponentemente. Compra muy recomendable. Se presenta en una edición de 2 BDs, uno con la película y el otro con extras diversos e interesantes. Lo que no me ha gustado es la caja Amaray, una de esas cutrescas con el signo de reciclaje marcado en esta, para ahorrar. Muy cutre para un lanzamiento tan esperado. Recomiendo encarecidamente visionar al menos una vez el film con la Versión Original cómo audio, y activar los subtítulos según necesidad.

The movie is getting a bit dated buy I still think it is one of the best in the series.

Man muss Christopher Nolans Batman-Reihe nicht lieben. Nolans Trilogie hat durchaus erzählerische Lücken. Aber er hat das geschafft, woran andere große Regisseure kläglich gescheitert sind. Nolan hat eine in sich geschlossene, fesselnde und überzeugende Interpretation von Batman geschaffen - und das über eine Spanne von drei Filmen. Dabei hat es Nolan geschafft, dass jeder Film seine eigene atmosphärische Wirkung entfaltet. keiner der drei Filme ist sich ähnlich, aber doch wirken sie alle wie aus einem Guss. "The Dark Knight Rises" ist der krönende Abschluss der Batman-Verfilmung, die seinesgleichen sucht. Nolan hat nicht einfach nur seine Filmreihe zu Ende gebracht, er hat die Messlatte für die kommende Comciverfilmungen extrem hoch gelegt. Der Film ist keine simple Comicadaption. Christopher Nolan hat das Kunststück geschafft, dem Comic-Genre eine zuvor nicht gekannt Tiefe zu verleihen. Der Film strotzt nämlich nur so von sozialkritischen Anspielungen: Nolan legt politische als auch wirtschaftliche Korruption offen, er stellt die Frage, was die Gesellschaft im Inneren zusammenhält und wann wir bereit sind, unsere zivilisatorischen Errungenschaften aufzugeben. Während andere Comciverfilmungen sich auf eine reine oberflächliche Schwarz-Weiß-Darstellung von Gut und Böse beschränken, lotet Nolans Batman-Verfilmung sämtliche Motivationen und Beweggründe seiner Figuren aus. "The Dark Knight Rises" fesselt den Zuschauer von Anfang an. In keinem Batman-Film leidet und hofft man mehr mit dem dunklen Ritter. Dabei treibt Nolan Batman an seine physischen und psychischen Grenzen, wie man es in keinem Film zuvor gesehen hat. Der Film ist größer, packender aber auch schmerzvoller als die bisherigen Teile. Christian Bale gelingt es dabei jederzeit überzeugend Bruce Wayne und Batman darzustellen. Zugegeben, der Film ist ziemlich gefüllt mit allerlei Handlungssträngen. Die Entwicklung von Bruce Wayne nimmt dabei den Hauptteil ein. Batman selbst taucht aber im Wesentlichen nur zu Beginn und am Ende des Films auf. Wer einen Fim wie "Batman Begins" erwartet wird enttäuscht, da Nolan so ziemlich jeder Filmfigur enorm viel Screentime einräumt und Batman dabei zu kurz kommt. Wer die erzählerische Raffinesse eines "The Dark Knight" vor Augen hat, wird ebenfalls mit einer Entäuschung rechnen müssen. Die Story um Bane und die Liga der Schatten ist bei weitem nicht so ausgeklügelt wie noch der Vorgänger. Zudem ist Bane als Antagonist zwar gut gewählt worden und Tom Hardy überzeugt in der Rolle (Auch wenn die deutsche Synchronisation von Bane unter aller Kanone ist), jedoch merkt man es dem Film an, dass ein schwerwiegender Bösewicht wie Heath Ledgers Joker fehlt. Die großartigen, kammerspielartigen Konfrontationen zwischen Batman und dem Joker aus "The Dark Knight" sucht man in TDKR vergebens. Letztendlich ist die Story zwar fesselnd, es fehlt ihr aber an der faffinierten Konstruktion des Vorgängers. Das alles ist aber alles jammern auf hohem Niveau. "The Dark Knight Rises" ist weniger ein Batman-Film, als ein Bruce-Wayne-Film. Dennoch ist er extrem unterhaltsam, spart nicht an Action und überzeugt vor allem durch seine enorme pathetische und emotional packende Erzählweise, die auch Nebencharakteren wie Alfred, Selina Kyle, Commissioner Gordon und John Blake enorm viel Spielreaum einräumt. Anne Hathaway, Gary Oldman und Joseph Gordon-Levitt wissen in ihren Rollen dabei voll zu überzeugen. Der heimlich Star ist aber Michael Caine, der Alfred so beklemmend und packend darstellt wie in keinem der Filme zuvor. Der Film geht an die Substanz, ist erzählerisch gewaltiger als seine Vorgänger und weiß mit einem atemberaubenden Schluss zu überzeugen. "The Dark Knight Rises" ist ein würdiger Abschluss der Reihe, der einen mit rasenden Herzklopfen zurücklässt.