Special Features
DVD Corner: The Dark Knight
Greg Kaczynski |
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 I’m going to start off and freely admit it: I loved The Dark Knight. It’s the first film in nearly a decade that I’ve seen in a movie theater more than once (the last was Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and I saw that four times). The Dark Knight is a brilliant, moving, gut-wrenching joy ride from start to finish, and the people who said it was too long were out of their minds. Now, finally, the Batman arrives in our living rooms, just in time for the holidays. The movie is gorgeous, the sound is amazing, it’s everything it was awesome for in the first place--but hear me now, do not buy this DVD.
The Dark Knight (Warner Home Video; MSRP: $34.98, Blu-ray: $35.99) was released to consumer electronics stores, the Internet and anywhere else that media exists to much fanfare. And it is a big deal: the highest-grossing movie of the year, plus the tragic timing of Heath Ledger’s death, like it or not, feeding fuel to the buzz fire (to be honest, however, Ledger’s performance is mind-blowing and deserves the hype). This was what everyone was talking about throughout last summer. Indy who? But I reiterate, do not buy this DVD.
This is why: the two-disc “special edition” has very little “special” about it.
The movie resides on the first disc, beautifully transferred in all of its audio/visual glory (the IMAX scenes retain the widescreen format as they played in normal theaters), but there is no commentary. Nothing. Not a word from the talented cast, director Christopher Nolan, nothing from even the executives at Warner.
 Also included on the first disc? Nothing else. Just the movie.
So, one could assume that all of the amazing goodies are crammed onto the second disc, right? All of the behind-the-scenes documentaries, the how-they-did-its, the interviews and an in-memoriam piece for Ledger would be found, waiting to be discovered and enjoyed on that second disc.
One would be assuming incorrectly.
The second disc contains the now obligatory (and still befuddling for its current ubiquity) digital copy. You can download it (restrictions apply) and watch it wherever you want (again, restrictions apply). There are galleries of posters (some of which are, admittedly, impressive) and standard production stills. There are trailers; and now that all of the standard fillers are taken care of, we get to the “special featurettes.”
First, and most interestingly, is the 24-minute, two chapter piece “Gotham Uncovered: Creation of a Scene.” The first section, titled Sound of Anarchy, covers the brilliant work of Dark Knight composer Hans Zimmer. The soundtrack to this film is amazing; it captures the spirit of the movie without being heavy-handed. Unlike his contemporary Batman composer, Danny Elfman, Zimmer chose to create an overall feeling, an encompassing sense of dread as opposed to dazzling audiences with his proficiency and choir boys. As Zimmer describes his process, it becomes stunningly clear the level of craftsmanship and artistry that went into developing The Joker’s theme. This journey is fascinating to musicians and non-musicians alike.
 The second part of “Gotham Uncovered,” Evolution of the Knight, touches on the special effects, gadgets, armor and vehicles of the film. It is so brief (clocking in at a little more than 17 minutes) that it feels more like a tease as the filmmakers race through the Bat-pod, the Bat-suit, the goo gun, the IMAX process…all of these curious topics and more, but only for such brief moments. It ends up being somewhat frustrating, as viewers want to know more about the behind-the-scenes process.
It will become so much more frustrating after you wade through the remaining nearly two hours of rubbish heaped onto this disc, though.
For instance, also included on this two-disc set are the six IMAX scenes, retaining their original format. This is great if you have a 50-foot-tall screen at your house, but for most of us, the slightly bigger screen ratio and richer depth of field is simply not going to impress us like it did back at the IMAX theater. In fact, chances are that while watching these scenes (nearly 40 minutes worth), you won’t notice that much of a difference.
I’ve saved the best for last. The final “gem” included in this set are six episodes of “Gotham Tonight,” the news show hosted by Mike Engel (Anthony Michael Hall). These six episodes were first aired over the summer prior to the film being released as teasers to build excitement. They do feature all of the name actors and characters from the film (except for Ledger’s Joker), and there are little tidbits of interesting backstory, but ultimately, they’re dreadfully boring, terribly acted (shame on you, Eric Roberts, for being the biggest ham) and six to ten minutes of wasted time apiece. They really are embarrassing, even to die-hard Batman fans; the productions values here are clearly below standard.
 So why am I so annoyed? Why do I say this DVD is best left on the shelf? After all, the movie is there. It looks and sounds amazing, and it’s still the same incredible film. The reason I say forget it is that there is no way that Warner Bros. is going to let this massive event movie go without at least two commentary tracks and a serious behind-the-scenes documentary and, being totally honest, I smell a massive double dip from the studio by April of next year. I’m guessing that the “super deluxe edition” with all of those things viewers want will be on the shelves by then, guaranteed. Save your money, and give this one a rent if you feel the need to see The Joker again before then, which I totally understand and commend.
The Dark Knight is now available on DVD.
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