# The Dark Knight Rises - Blu-ray Review



## Mike Edwards

[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=9940[/img] *Title: The Dark Knight Rises
Starring: Christian Bale, Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, Josheph Gordon-Levitt
Directed by: Christopher Nolan
Written by: Christopher Nolan, Jonathon Nolan
Studio: Warner Brothers
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 165 minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: December 4th, 2012* 
*Movie:* :4stars:
*Video:* :4.5stars:
*Audio:* :5stars: 
*Extras:* :3stars: 
*HTS Overall Score:*88.5




[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=9941[/img]*Summary*
This has most definitely been the summer of the superhero. First we had “The Avengers”, then “The Amazing Spiderman” and finally we have one of the most anticipated superhero movies of the 2012 summer, “The Dark Knight Rises”, the long awaited conclusion to Christopher Nolan’s very unique take on what was once thought a dying hero. Batman has had a lot of different takes done on him over the years; we originally were introduced to Batman on the silver screen as the goofy superhero with a penchant for having a utility belt for EVERY situation on him with Adam West. Then we had the much darker take with Tim Burton’s “Batman” and “Batman Returns”. Joel Schumacher took Batman back to his cheesy roots in “Batman Forever” and “Batman and Robin”. Finally we have a completely new rebooted Batman, one who is filled with much more angst and rooted in a film noir base. Batman Begins was an incredible movie, a complete facelift on a dying franchise, dark and serious, but still with that same action filled fun that made Batman such a wildly popular superhero. I’m going to say something controversial here, but “The Dark Knight” was not that good of a Batman movie. It was a fun movie, and I enjoyed it a lot, but as a Batman movie it fell short for me. It seemed more of a crime drama that had some masked vigilante named Batman in it rather than an ACTUAL batman movie, some of the lighthearted fun was gone, replaced with brooding angst and a vicious revenge story. Now we have the conclusion, “The Dark Knight Rises”.

Batman has been gone from Gotham city for eight years. The Harvey Dent act has been used to clean up the streets and keep those villains locked away for good without the help of the caped crusader. Bruce Wayne (Bale) has become a recluse, locking himself away in Wayne manor with a wounded knee, never to be seen from again. All of this changes when a cat burglar (hehe) named Selena Kyle (Hathaway) breaks in and steals a precious necklace from him. Tracking her down is easy enough for Bruce but he comes across a new threat to Gotham city, a foe who can match him blow for blow in both wits and brawn. A man raised in darkness and trained by the same organization that gave batman his start….Bane. Bane is intent on doing what Raz a Ghul started a decade ago and bring Gotham to its knees. Bruce Wayne, with the help of some extremely hi tech toys and his faithful man servant Alfred (Michael Caine) must rise once again and don the outfit that has caused him so much pain once more. 


[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=9945[/img]“The Dark Knight Rises” is a very conflicting movie for me. I LOVED “Batman Begins” with a passion, it was funny, dark and full of incredible action from start to finish. It captured the heart of Batman and brought him in to a modern age without some of the baggage of the previous incarnations. “The Dark Knight Rises” is more like “The Dark Knight” in the sense that it felt like a long drawn out crime drama that just so happened to star a masked super rich vigilante. Much of that “fun” was gone from the movie and replaced with a dark and troubled story. I honestly would not have been surprised to see Ray Liotta and Joe Pesci in the movie somewhere if you catch my drift. Now don’t get me wrong I enjoyed the movie a lot, some great fight scenes and the camerawork is done so well it just boggles the mind. It’s one of those situations where on one hand the Comic book nerd in me wants the lighthearted fun that made Batman such a household name and the other side of me which recognizes that Christopher Nolan, while not keeping the tone, has done an excellent job at weaving a very cohesive and tight story over the course of three full films. 

As for the story itself, this outing is the weakest of the trilogy, but not by a whole lot. My main gripes had to do with the seemingly random inclusion of Blake (JGL) into the story and several of the fairly ridiculous plot holes (Batman breaks his back and can somehow heal without a traditional doctor in 3 months’ time?). However the characterization and the sheer DEPTH of his characters is a tribute to Christopher Nolan. Even Selena Kyle, who I thought couldn’t’ even come close to the job that Michelle Pfieffer did, is exquisite. Sleek, slinky, yet not meowing and carrying a whip, Annie brought the core of the character to light without actually calling herself cat woman or saying “meow” once. Gary Oldman slips into the quiet and subdued role of Commissioner Gordon with nary a hint of his wild over the top acting that made Gary famous. 

Now don’t get me wrong, I didn't dislike the movie one bit, I had a blast watching these movies from beginning to end, the flaws that I have pointed out aren't to say that I didn't enjoy the movie but rather point out the issues that I think pulled the movie down from Incredible, to just plain good, overall, a well done movie that’s a little bit toooooo drawn out for its own good, but still an epic conclusion for a well done trilogy nonetheless. For those of you who loved “The Dark Knight”, you’re going to love this one every bit as much, the gang is back in town and the villains don’t stand a chance. I for one will be sad to see the trilogy end and we can only hope that Batman can come back in another reboot (as Warner is working on right now)so we can see our favorite superhero once more.





*Rating:* 

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, some sensuality and language



*Video* :4.5stars:

[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=9942[/img] Warner’s “The Dark Knight” was an interesting grab bag of problems and positives back in the day. Riddled with DNR and edge enhancement during the film scenes and brilliant during the IMAX scenes it was a transfer of much controversy. Luckily for us they decided to up the ante this time and give us a much better transfer. Except for one major flaw “The Dark Knight Rises” is a near perfect transfer. Colors pop off the screen, Blues and dark greys permeate the color palette but all the colors represented are crisp and rich as can be. There are no major compression artifacts to be seen and thankfully no traces of the abhorrent edge enhancement or DNR as well. “The Dark Knight” was famous for blending certain IMAX scenes into the 2.35:1 film transfer causing the movie to switch aspect ratios at times. Nolan decided this time to give us even more IMAX scenes, a whopping 72 minutes worth to be exact. So this time instead of switching every once in a while between aspect ratios we switch every few minutes. Most of the action scenes were IMAX so we are given a splendid visual treat with such copious use of the brilliant IMAX cameras. The regular film scenes aren’t as brilliant as the IMAX scenes due to the nature of two different cameras’ being used but still amazingly detailed in its own right. Detail in the IMAX scenes are so incredibly razor sharp that it almost looks TOO real at times. Now for the flaw that brings this video score down from a 5 star rating. The movie is a dark movie to begin with but Warner has decided to crush the blacks seriously for most of the film. The IMAX cameras seem to resolve blacks a good bit better than the 2.35:1 film, but still, blacks are crushed and shadow detail is robbed incredibly during extremely dark scenes. Overall an amazing transfer with one serious flaw to keep it from perfection





*Audio* :5stars:

[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=9943[/img] “The Dark Knight Rises” takes the cake for a fantastic audio track. Aggressive, yet accurate it takes us by the tail and whips us around for an epic ride. Dialogue is crisp and clean, locked into the center channel, only marred by Bane’s overly muffled voice sometimes making it hard to hear him. The dynamic range is through the roof, in one scene we can hear Batman rasping to Selena Kyle in a whispered voice only to wake my wife out of a dead sleep fearing the house was falling down the next as he escapes in the bat wing. Channel separation is flawless and engrossing; surrounds are used impeccably and serve to draw the viewer into the whirlwind. Bullets whizzing from every direction, fists sucker punching you out of the dark, all sound as if they were in the room with you instead of just in front. Now my favorite part of the movie, the LFE; without a doubt “The Dark Knight Rises” is one of the more LFE films in my collection. When the batwing revs up for the very first t time my walls were shaking so badly that my wife came out wondering what in blazes was going on (and she’s been privy to my system for long enough to not usually be startled like that). Deep and throaty it permeates the track whether it be the thunderous sound of the bat wing or the low rumble of tires rolling across a street LFE stays strong and aggressive throughout the film. Lastly, I have to say that Hans Zimmer did an absolutely fantastic job at creating a score that could pull the viewer around emotionally with such ease. The score can excite you one moment and then have you fearful for the safety of Bruce/Batman all in twist of the conductor’s wand. Fantastic from beginning to end this is a track that holds up with biggest and baddest of them all.


[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=9938[/img]*Extras:* :3stars:
• Second Screen Experience
• Production 
• Characters 
• Reflections 
• The Batmobile
•Trailer Archive





*Overall:* :4stars:

Nolan’s trilogy was a complete 180 from the downward spiral that Joel Schumacher started years ago and probably the one thing that kept Batman from retiring his cape forever, and for that all of us Batman fans can be eternally grateful. “The Dark Knight Rises” is a movie that needs to be seen more than once to appreciate all the little nuances and nods to the previous two movies. In all reality I think all 3 movies should be watched one right after the other as one cohesive story to truly appreciate all of the work that Nolan did. I for one had a blast watching this in the theater and an even better time watching it in my home theater when I could watch all three movies back to back. A truly well done conclusion to a well done series; while the series (and the blu-ray) may not be 100% perfect, I must say, Christopher Nolan, I tip my hat to you. 

*Buy The Dark Knight Rises on Blu-ray at Amazon*

*Recommendation: Watch It!​*


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## JBrax

Thanks for the review Mike. I absolutely loved this final installment and had the pleasure of watching it via the IMAX experience. This is a must own in my opinion so buy, buy, buy!


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## ALMFamily

Thanks for the review Mike! :T

I saw this at the theater as well - loved it. I pre-ordered through Amazon Prime so it is due here today! :yay:

One question - with the aspect switching, I wonder if my AE-7000 is going to be continually swapping lens modes.......


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## typ44q

Great review! I have been a huge fan of the Christopher Nolan Batman movies (all of his movies actually)and this was no exception. I agree it did have some minor flaws but nothing that I can not overlook. I drove over an hour to see this at a IMAX theater and it was worth it. 
I will be picking up the steelbook copy of this at best buy while I am at lunch today.


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## ManCave

Can't wait to get my hands on this film. My neighbours are gonna hate me tonight!


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## tonyvdb

ALMFamily said:


> One question - with the aspect switching, I wonder if my AE-7000 is going to be continually swapping lens modes.......


It will change as its detecs the aspect ratio change. Its really annoying that the transfer to Bluray has this. It works well in Imax but not at home. The only choice you have is to turn off the :"auto" setting for the aspect ratio change and manually select the one you want for the entire movie.


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## ALMFamily

tonyvdb said:


> It will change as its detecs the aspect ratio change. Its really annoying that the transfer to Bluray has this. It works well in Imax but not at home. The only choice you have is to turn off the :"auto" setting for the aspect ratio change and manually select the one you want for the entire movie.


I think I might watch it once with it on to see how annoying it is......


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## tonyvdb

It wouldn't be so bad if it did not have the "Processing" flashing in the middle of the screen as its doing the change but I dont think you can turn it off.


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## Osage_Winter

I'm going to have my review of this up as soon as I grab my copy and run it through its paces; lots of things going on here, personally, in my life/household...

I am put off as well by the "IMAX switching" debacle with regard to the aspect ratio, as _Dark Knight_ had -- however, as I stated in my preview thread for this release, I eventually got used to it and because Nolan's storytelling is so compelling at times, I don't really notice the ratio switches unless I'm looking for it...


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## Dwight Angus

I blind bought the BD and watched it last night. Great flick. I really enjoyed the dynamic aspect ratio. Works very well on 16:9 screen. Great review Mike


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## ManCave

Great movie! Awesome audio! What you'd expect from a DC Comic movie! Was kinda long though!


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## Todd Anderson

I wish there wasn't switching between aspect ratios... For those of us with 2.35:1 screens, it's a pain!

Great flick, though. I agree it is long... For me it stalled out about 2/3rds of the way into it (movie length fatigue, I guess). BUT I thought the ending had a ton of intrigue and really piqued my interest and re-affirmed my love of the series.

Nice review (again.  )


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## Osage_Winter

I thought the exact same thing regarding the length -- and pointed it out several times in replies within my own review of the title; this one was "visually exhausting"...:gulp:


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## Osage_Winter

27dnast said:


> For those of us with 2.35:1 screens, it's a pain!


Even for those with more "ordinary" TV displays it is, as well...:T

Though, as I said, Nolan's storytelling is so compelling at times, you kind of ignore this after awhile...


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## tonyvdb

Has anyone tried just leaving it locked to the 2, 35:1 aspect? does it crop too much of the video off the top and bottom to be useful then?


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## JBrax

Osage_Winter said:


> I thought the exact same thing regarding the length -- and pointed it out several times in replies within my own review of the title; this one was "visually exhausting"...:gulp:


It was definitely a long movie but at no point did I feel the story lagged. One last point on the changing of aspect ratios. I wonder why the whole movie wasn't shot in the IMAX view? I found the picture quality in those scenes to be stunningly beautiful.


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## ALMFamily

tonyvdb said:


> Has anyone tried just leaving it locked to the 2, 35:1 aspect? does it crop too much of the video off the top and bottom to be useful then?


I have not had a chance to watch it yet, but I will probably watch it twice when I do. Once with auto processing on and once with it off to see which one I prefer. I will chime in after I get a chance to do it.


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## tonyvdb

Ya, I pre ordered my box set from Amazon so I should have it by tomorrow.


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## ALMFamily

Off topic - but only 8 posts to 10,000 Tony!


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## typ44q

JBrax said:


> It was definitely a long movie but at no point did I feel the story lagged. One last point on the changing of aspect ratios. I wonder why the whole movie wasn't shot in the IMAX view? I found the picture quality in those scenes to be stunningly beautiful.


I think because of the physical size of the IMAX cameras it really limits their practical use for a lot of scenes.
I really found myself looking forward to the IMAX scenes, the amount of detail in them was incredible :drool:


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## tonyvdb

ALMFamily said:


> Off topic - but only 8 posts to 10,000 Tony!


LOL, I actually did not notice I was that close  Crazy


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## Osage_Winter

JBrax said:


> It was definitely a long movie but at no point did I feel the story lagged. One last point on the changing of aspect ratios. I wonder why the whole movie wasn't shot in the IMAX view? I found the picture quality in those scenes to be stunningly beautiful.


Towards the end it got tiring and long-winded, I found, but curiously, I didn't recall feeling this way in the theater...

With regard to the IMAX sequences, I found the same thing on _Dark Knight_ -- the IMAX shots in that film, on the Blu-ray, were a tad sharper and more stunning than the 2.40:1 shots Nolan used...I pointed out the fact that _The Dark Knight Rises_ exhibits this same phenomenon in my review of the title; further, media outlets like _Home Theater Magazine_ found the same thing about the previous film's IMAX/non-IMAX shots, when they reviewed the disc...


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## Osage_Winter

tonyvdb said:


> LOL, I actually did not notice I was that close  Crazy


And I just broke 1,000!

Whooooo Hooooo!!!!!! :whistling::clap::clap::clap:


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## Mike Edwards

JBrax said:


> It was definitely a long movie but at no point did I feel the story lagged. One last point on the changing of aspect ratios. I wonder why the whole movie wasn't shot in the IMAX view? I found the picture quality in those scenes to be stunningly beautiful.


it was because IMAX cameras are INCREDIBLY expensive to use. he had a bigger budget to work with than Dark Knight so Nolan was able to use the camera's a good bit more but it's still very cost prohibitive to use them (that and because they are so loud they can drown out the vocals and studio dubbing would be needed. if you noticed most of the IMAX scenes didn't have a lot of dialogue but were more action oriented scenes).


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## Mike Edwards

Osage_Winter said:


> Towards the end it got tiring and long-winded, I found, but curiously, I didn't recall feeling this way in the theater...
> 
> With regard to the IMAX sequences, I found the same thing on _Dark Knight_ -- the IMAX shots in that film, on the Blu-ray, were a tad sharper and more stunning than the 2.40:1 shots Nolan used...I pointed out the fact that _The Dark Knight Rises_ exhibits this same phenomenon in my review of the title; further, media outlets like _Home Theater Magazine_ found the same thing about the previous film's IMAX/non-IMAX shots, when they reviewed the disc...


yeah, the IMAX cameras are INCREDIBLY sharp and detailed, great great visuals that regular 35mm film cameras have a harder time replicating.


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## jdent02

Looking forward to picking this up soon. Glad to hear such high marks for the audio, after seeing it in the theater I was worried as it sounded horrible there.


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## JBrax

It's definitely a reference movie on both audio and video aspects. I'm not sure what kind of theater you go to but the IMAX version was spectacular. The aspect ratio changes were a bit of a nuisance in the beginning but once you're engrossed into the movie not so much.


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## Savjac

Yeah Mike you hit it on all cylinders, great top to bottom, beginning to end. I did think my room would fly apart at times, but the builder must have used screws instead of nails. Whoa, what a trip visually and sonically. I think this one gets my vote for one of the top demo discs out there. :clap:


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## Trizzly

Has anyone rented this from redbox yet?

I would like to know if the rental has HD audio or not.


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## JQueen

Well I finally watched Dark Knight Rises last night and it was great!!!!!:bigsmile: going to watch it again this weekend


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## bkeeler10

JQueen said:


> Well I finally watched Dark Knight Rises last night and it was great!!!!!:bigsmile: going to watch it again this weekend


Well, I'm much more behind the times than you on this -- I watched it two weekends ago.

I just have to comment about the soundtrack on this thing. I have never heard a soundtrack with an LFE channel as aggressive as this one. From the moment the larger plane came into the scene on the first sequence, I knew that I'd be in for a treat. And then the flying batmobile (whatever it's called), was even deeper and more powerful. I heard rattles in my room that I'm quite certain I've never heard before :hsd:  I think I'll be watching this one again soon (after starting from the beginning of the trilogy).


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## tonyvdb

Im doing the same thing, I re watched the first two this weekend and will finally put in the last one sometime this week. Im looking forward to it.


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## JQueen

I personally didn't believe it would be better then dark night but I was wrong!


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## Mike Edwards

:yikes:


bkeeler10 said:


> Well, I'm much more behind the times than you on this -- I watched it two weekends ago.
> 
> I just have to comment about the soundtrack on this thing. I have never heard a soundtrack with an LFE channel as aggressive as this one. From the moment the larger plane came into the scene on the first sequence, I knew that I'd be in for a treat. And then the flying batmobile (whatever it's called), was even deeper and more powerful. I heard rattles in my room that I'm quite certain I've never heard before :hsd:  I think I'll be watching this one again soon (after starting from the beginning of the trilogy).


That "bat plane" sequence where he launches it out of the ally is a sub strainer for sure. Graphs have it at an oscillating frequency shooting all the way down to SIX HERTZ! :yikes:


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## bkeeler10

Mike Edwards said:


> :yikes:
> 
> That "bat plane" sequence where he launches it out of the ally is a sub strainer for sure. Graphs have it at an oscillating frequency shooting all the way down to SIX HERTZ! :yikes:


6 Hz?! I know that my in-room response drops off pretty quickly below the upper 20s Hz, and I was still surprised at that scene. I can only imagine what it would be like with subs that have some in-room output at single-digit frequencies. Time for a new pair of subs I guess . . . :spend: Curse this hobby!


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## BruceW

Rises is one of the best part among all of the series..


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## Sonnie

Hmmmm... I don't think I ever saw this movie. Not even sure how I missed it.


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## Nuwisha

Sonnie said:


> Hmmmm... I don't think I ever saw this movie. Not even sure how I missed it.


I have somehow managed to miss it as well. I shall have to keep an eye out for it. I love giving my sub a workout


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## Osage_Winter

Sonnie said:


> Hmmmm... I don't think I ever saw this movie.


How is that possible? :gulp:

Did you see any of the other Chris Nolan-helmed Batman films in the trilogy?


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