The Dark Knight is ten years old today

[Forkball]

It hit mainstream theaters on July 18th 2008, but the New York premiere was on the 14th. Check your calendars, because The Dark Knight turns ten years old today(ish).

A decade on, this is still my favorite superhero movie. Some have come relatively close, but don't touch the complete package that is The Dark Knight. There are so many iconic scenes and performances that it stands out as one of the best summer blockbusters ever in my mind. While many since have topped it in terms of sheer spectacle, none have touched it's depth, tensity, and emotional power. And you can't make a thread about TDK without mentioning Ledger's unforgettable performance.

So feel free to reminiscence about this movie or be that guy who says, "ACTUALLY this movie isn't very good because...". I will never forget the GASPS in the theatre during the pencil scene.

 

[Alethiometer]

Joker is the only entertaining thing in the whole movie. Little to no rewatch value due to the boring story and pacing issues. Still better than anything from DCEU, though.

 

[Tux_]

Biggest Oscar snub of the decade. It was damn good.

 

[Jiggy]

Phew... that ending

As soon I finished watching it, I wanted to go right into another theater and watch it again

Still my all time favorite comic book movie, and probably my favorite piece of Batman media in general

 

[Smurf]

Still, by far, the best super hero movie.

 

[cartoon_soldier]

Such an amazing experience

 

[Jack Remington]

Both of the boats should have simultaneously exploded.

 

[signal]

10 years of "why so serious" shirts......*wipes tear*

 

[Kasey]

Saw it opening night, took a date to it about 5 days later, then went again for my birthday on the 31st.

Fuckin love this movie. No other comic book movie compares.

 

[Soj]

Joker is the only entertaining thing in the whole movie. Little to no rewatch value due to the boring story and pacing issues. Still better than anything from DCEU, though.

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Pretty much.

 

[Brian McDoogle]

It's a great movie, one of the best comic book movies, and somehow still inflated on the internet because it's a comic book movie for nerdy boys.

The biggest negative is the sequel it spawned, which is bad, and how no one likes to discuss its conservative roots.

Nevertheless, it does rank above Nolan's best works and is a genuine moment in popular cinema. Ledger really elevated the movie.

 

[adrem007]

GOAT

I love it

 

[SurrenderDorothy]

Was 14, I remember not knowing about it(wasn't into films in general at the time).
My dad(who is mainly into westerns/spaghetti westerns) randomly picks TDK and wow, what a day that was.
My love of films came from that experience.

 

[Yautja_Warrior]

And still a great movie. Recently watched it again and it still holds up.

 

[ZeroX]

Still the GOAT, by a long shot.

The biggest negative is the sequel it spawned, which is bad,

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If by 'bad', you mean "better than every other superhero film except The Dark Knight and Batman Begins", sure.

 

[sir_crocodile]

the first time I saw it I thought it was amazing.

the next time I saw it a few months later was at an IMAX marathon of 89, Returns, Begins & Dark Knight.

I then thought it the weakest of the four with a flabby middle section in great need of being cut down. Still a good movie, but it's not one I go back to see by choice, feels too plodding now.

 

[TheGreatDirector]

One of the finest blockbusters ever made. The acting, direction, and music is all on point. It's a masterpiece.

 

[_Karooo]

Each and every scene is a masterpiece. That's what makes it so re-watchable.

 

[Bananastand]

I still have very distinct memories of watching this in the theatre. What an experience, this movie felt so much more intense than any other Batman movie I have seen since.

 

[YuYu]

Still the best comic book movie.

 

[sir_crocodile]

Still the best comic book movie.

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Mask of the Phantasm imo

 

[shaneo632]

Joker is the only entertaining thing in the whole movie. Little to no rewatch value due to the boring story and pacing issues. Still better than anything from DCEU, though.

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[Brian McDoogle]

Still the GOAT, by a long shot.


If by 'bad', you mean "better than every other superhero film except The Dark Knight and Batman Begins", sure.

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No. I mean The Dark Knight Rises is an incoherent movie, muddled with political themes that run against itself, and is a movie on par with the worst James Bond films. It's a muddled mess, a political movie that places the prisoners of Gotham on par with the Occupy Wall-street movement, and is shot terribly. It's a giant clusterfuck that only gets elevated by fanboys and people desperate for the The Dark Knight trilogy to be positioned as a "GOAT" thing. It has no sense of time and place, and wastes its ideas. It's a fucking mess. If it is on par with other superhero or comic book movies, it's more of an inditement of the low quality of those movies than anything else.

 

[jviggy43]

I saw this 6+ times in theaters. It was an incredible experience.

 

[hordak]

Batman Begins was more of a comic book movie - there was a ninja camp, costumes, and a really stupid plot by some criminal mastermind to destroy a city.

Dark Knight was basically a series of heist movies. I mean you could have replaced the Joker and Batman with just regular people and it would have been almost as good. I just think it was too grounded in reality. But still a great movie.

 

[GamerJM]

I remember coming out of the theater a couple weeks after it came out and thinking it was good but overrated, with Heath Ledger's performance being amazing but the only thing really great about it, with everything else being just decent/meh. I rewatched it several times in the following few years in hopes that I would "get" it and it sort of fell into place when I watched the entire Nolan Batman trilogy in one sitting. The three movies fit together so well, with Bruce Wayne developing so much over the course of them, and TDK is a key part in that. But I still don't think it's anything fantastic; the thing is just too long in some respects and the boat scene in particular doesn't really work. And the whole thing just feels a little too dark and self-serious without really having enough to say. But the casting and characters are phenomenal, and Heath Ledger's Joker performance is an all-time great.

 

[TheSkullPrince]

The best superhero movie ever made, not sure if anything will be able to top it.

Heath Ledger as The Joker is also the greatest acting performance of all time, don't @ me.

 

[Emergency & I]

Weird this feels older than 10. Probably the internet's fault.



Also TDKR is a terrible fucking movie.

 

[principal]

makes me sick

 

[Prolepro]

mattdamonaging.gif

Still the best super hero movie to this day.

Shame the sequel was so disappointing by comparison.

 

[rude]

It shocked me how terribly paced this is on rewatch. Movie is a real slog. Still better than everything Nolan's made afterward though.

Miss me with the Interstellar and Dunkirk mentions.

 

[Zaied]

The Dark Knight still has one of the best car chase sequences I've ever seen. The lack of music and how reliant it is on the sound design and dialogue, and that transition from the Tumbler to Batman riding on the Batpod was a brilliant unveiling with even greater imagery. The Joker was great, Gordon was great, Dent was great, but the highlight of the film was Batman; he just had so many standout scenes that help cement Nolan Batman as one of my favorite versions of the character. Bale is by far the best movie Batman, too.




I can't put into words how much I miss the duo of Christian Bale & Christopher Nolan. Between Affleck, Snyder, and WB's handling of their cinematic universe, I couldn't be less interested in future live-action Batman material. At least I can still keep rewatching this and Batman Begins.

 

[Neo0mj]

This movie showed that you can deliver more than just a good super hero movie based on a comic as long as the right people are on board.

 

[dr_octagon]

marvel had about 20 attempts to make a film as good as the dark knight, not quite there yet

 

[Lurcharound]

A great film with terrific performances - from Ledger in particular - that (oddly for the genre) is clearly more concerned with its themes and characters than set pieces (though it has a few great ones) and actually winds down from the truck chase to a series of focused confrontations rather than the typical big finale.

On occasion - shot of Joker hanging out the car for example - it's truly poetic in its compositions.

I doubt we'll see anything like it for a while; particularly after Snyder so disasterously tried to channel Nolan's approach with his DCEU films.

 

[Deleted member 6257]

.

 

[Scarecrow]

Got to see a private Imax showing a week before it came out. The only bad part was having to wait that long to see it again.

 

[Quinton]

The woman I was with at the time asked if we could go see it, so I did. Haven't seen it since. I might rewatch it sometime.

 

[zoukka]

I miss these auteur blockbusters.

 

[BDS]

One of the best movies of all time in my opinion.

 

[Halbrand]

Eh the 18th is the real birthday, should have waited

 

[Deleted member 42105]

Best superhero film of all time. Best blockbuster of the 21st century.

I genuinely feel bad for any of you youngsters who didn't get to experience it during it's theatrical run.

 

[Hyun Sai]

An incredible movie. It will always hold up. Aaron Eckart performance was incredible.

 

[jett]

I was crazy for this movie back in the day, watched it three times on opening weekend.

Ten years later, not so much, but it's still a landmark film for the comic book genre, and Heath Ledge's performance as the Joker is as great as ever.

I miss these auteur blockbusters.

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There have been a few of those since.

 

[Akai]

I miss Heath Ledger and his Joker role. :'(

 

[Noisepurge]

marvel had about 20 attempts to make a film as good as the dark knight, not quite there yet

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Winter Soldier is close.

 

[Linus815]

one of the few superhero movies I can not only stomach, but straight up love.

 

[Nightwing123]

TDK is still the best live action super hero movie ever made GOAT. Tho other super hero movies like Black Panther, GotG1, and Winter soldier were also really good.

 

[Deleted member 18568]

Saw it at the Arclight with with a buddy from WB. It was a few days before general release and the word wasn't quite out yet, especially on the Joker. One of the best cinema experiences I've had. Listened to the soundtrack for days after.

 

[Nemesis121]

Winter Soldier is close.

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Not even..

The reason why Dark Knight is great, all the actors did and AMAZING JOB, I don't know if this Marvel studios but Chris Evan's performance as Steve Rogers is bland, you watch his movies outside MCU and the guy can act, go watch Gifted and you will see a completely different actor from his Marvel character...