The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

[wormraper]

Originally Posted by Rizor

You've loved almost every one of the two movies Whedon's directed?

I'd love more extras on the Nolan Batman films, but I think what we've gotten is pretty solid. Batman Begins has a great collection of informative featurettes. TDK's extras are solid, even though they tended to focus more on the technical side of things. The extras announced for TDKR sounds pretty good so far. I can't say I care about a commentary. I love a good one, but if he has no desire to record one, better nothing than a bad one.

he's done at least 4 feature films to date and I'm including his tv directing

[Jumpman]

Originally Posted by BluProofie

Firstly, you haven't seen Joss direct anything else, so your opinion on his visual style means nothing. Second, Nolan's visuals are bland and practically devoid of color. Third, Nolan is the most overrated writer working in Hollywood today. His dialogue can be quite bad and pretentious.

Dude, I've seen Serenity, Firefly, and a few episodes of Buffy. I got a good idea if Whedon's work.

Still not that impressed.

[Yojimbo68]

Originally Posted by Jumpman

Yeah, I wasn't. What you described fits Whedon to a T.

In terms of framing and composition from the Avengers, Whedon needs to go back to school. Seriously.

Anyone who has seen Inception, Memento, and especially the Prestige and says Nolan's not a great visual storyteller is completely off their rocker.

His and Wally's Batman work is just as great, with Rises being their crowing visual achievement of the trilogy.

I really dig Nolan's work. Memento, Inception, The Dark Knight...all amazing movies. But I also have to give hats off to Whedon. I thought most of the Marvel movies leading up to The Avengers were mediocre at best. But he made a great superhero movie. I thought it was the best popcorn movie of the summer. The Dark Knight Rises was good but not quite as good as it's predecessors. Then again, The Dark Knight was a hard act to follow.

[Kaiju]

[srinivas1015]

Originally Posted by wormraper

actually you CAN.. it's done all the time... I think someone needs to switch his kool-aid mixture

Bay's work (Only he can make a guy walking in a murky tunnel one of the most beautiful scenes ever..the lighting,the shadows, altering the frame-rates,color grading and editing...this scene is a masterpiece):

Final scene of "The Island" - YouTube

[Jumpman]

Originally Posted by srinivas1015

Bay's work (Only he can make a guy walking in a murky tunnel one of the most beautiful scenes ever..the lighting,the shadows, altering the frame-rates,color grading and editing...this scene is a masterpiece):

[The Island] My Name Is Lincoln - YouTube

Thank you. And he has a ton of these types if moments through out his filmography.

[ccg1978]

anyone know when the Limited Edition "Bat Cowl" Edition comes out? Link?

[neoz]

Originally Posted by ccg1978

anyone know when the Limited Edition "Bat Cowl" Edition comes out? Link?

Nope since the preorders aren't even up for the standard edition it's anyone's guess.

[Sknyfs]

12/4/12 is the release date

[rodie]

Originally Posted by TheMan

I have to admit I literally laughed out loud at that.

[Yojimbo68]

Originally Posted by Jumpman

Don't insult Michael Bay by comparing him to Whedon. He may not be great with story or character but Bay is a visual auteur of the highest order.

Well...I felt that the climax at the end of The Avengers was like a Michael Bay action scene without the spastic editing. I will agree that Bay has quite a visual eye. Too bad it's almost always spoiled by incomprehensible editing.

[shamus]

That's not all - just in time for holiday gift-giving, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment will release 'The Dark Knight Trilogy Limited Edition Giftset,' featuring "Batman Begins," "The Dark Knight" and "The Dark Knight Rises" all in one collection on December 4. This set will also include a premium book exclusive to the collection, which takes fans deeper into the epic franchise, as well as existing special features.

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/sh...nnounced/10271

[Jennifer Lawrence Fan]

Someone mention Michael Bay in here?

[duggie walker]

Originally Posted by Jumpman

Dude, whatever. It doesn't take a genius to know which guy is better behind the camera if you look at their work. This isn't hard.

I don't want to get into the childish stuff about Nolanites and Whedonites. It's kind of pathetic. They're both good directors. Bay has his strong points too. But anyone who knows anything about film-making would concede that all of these people have handled extremely complex productions successfully and that takes talent of some kind.

But it concerns me that some people seem to think directing is just about the visual. As Nicolas Roeg - a great cameraman himself - once famously said, "Any c*** can take a pretty picture".

In fact, in some senses, camera placement is the least of a Director's job, as that is the DP's area of concern. Some directors have a very strong idea of camera placement, some don't. It wouldn't be seen as odd, or weak, on set to simply approve or amend the DP's set-ups.

The job of a director is really to martial resources effectively.

In pre-production, a good director must have a coherent concept for the overall look and design of the film. Nolan is very good at this.

He must have the ability to analyse the screenplay and effectively work with the writers to a shooting script. Whedon is good at this.

They must be able to assemble a capable team and cast actors appropriately.

They must then create an environment in which those actors give of their best. If they've cast well, there's not much to be done. They must deal with and address any friction within that cast should it arise.

On set, they must solve logistical problems (within budget and on schedule), and block scenes (though the AD's tend to martial extras and invent background action). Bay is good at this stuff.

In post, they respond to initial edits; to the composer's work; to the FX team. The more knowledge of these they have, the better. Basically, they answer a thousand questions a day. They make decisions in line with their original concept. The more of those decisions they get right, the better the film.

So the requirements for directing are intense but it's more about making choices from the options that your department heads present you with.

Very few directors are brilliant at everything. Some may come from a cinematographic or design background (Ridley Scott, say) but be decidedly mediocre when it comes to analysing a screenplay (see PROMETHEUS). And ultimately, it is more important that a films's screenplay and performances work, than that it "looks" nice. There are many visually strong bad films and some very good films shot in amateur fashion.

Nolan is very good on concept. He casts well and chooses a good team. If a location is well-picked, or a set well-designed, the film will "look" good. I'd say, personally, that he is less good at filming action sequences and that he's weak on screenplay detail. INCEPTION was a vastly over-complicated film, imo, in which he actually didn't find a way to visually convey his story; hence all the very long expositional speeches. I don't actually like Pfister's photography that much but that's a matter of taste.

Whedon is obviously strong on script and creates a very good atmosphere amongst his cast and crew. He is, I think, more concerned with content than look but I'd say that's the right way round. As yet, he doesn't have the gravitas of Nolan or the conceptual weight. But he knows and loves his subject matter.

Bay - well, he's probably better than both of them technically. And I bet he's a damn good businessman, which - in Hollywood - is a vital skill. But his subject matter is immature and he doesn't seem to have much ambition to illuminate the human condition. That's fair enough; but it doesn't really matter how great a director you are, you need to make great films, which he hasn't, imo.

Film is a collaborative medium. One person doesn't make a film; not the ones we're discussing here, anyway. To reduce the task down to squabbles about individual men is to severely underestimate it and illustrates only ignorance.

[funnymanishere]

Warner Bros. confirmed to IGN that sometime in 2013 they will release a Ultimate Collectors Edition of The Dark Knight Trilogy!! So there will be alot of double dipping for this movie!

[Bill Clay]

Originally Posted by beckmen

Not exactly unprecedented, though. I fear we may never get a proper release for these movies. Nolan seems to be blocking commentaries, deleted scenes, etc from making the cut. Somebody should tell him the four commentaries and 7+ hours of documentary materials hasn't "ruined the magic" of any of the LOTR films.

I disagree. Nolan is a director. He makes movies, not blu rays. His work gets put on the big screen and it's up to you to form your own opinions and theories on it. That's it. Remember Christian Bale's line from "The Prestige": Never show anyone. They'll beg you and they'll flatter you for the secret, but as soon as you give it up... you'll be nothing to them.

He doesn't have to show how everything was done and talk about every detail just because thats what some other directors do. It's better to leave a little mystery.

[TitusTroy]

least they announced that another Collector's Edition Trilogy box set is coming in 2013...gives people advance warning so they don't have to double dip...sort of like what Cameron did with the first bare bones Blu-ray of Avatar...have to give them credit for that at least

[Anth0ny]

Originally Posted by funnymanishere

Warner Bros. confirmed to IGN that sometime in 2013 they will release a Ultimate Collectors Edition of The Dark Knight Trilogy!! So there will be alot of double dipping for this movie!

In my case, triple dipping -_-

[Cook]

Originally Posted by Bill Clay

I disagree. Nolan is a director. He makes movies, not blu rays. His work gets put on the big screen and it's up to you to form your own opinions and theories on it. That's it. Remember Christian Bale's line from "The Prestige": Never show anyone. They'll beg you and they'll flatter you for the secret, but as soon as you give it up... you'll be nothing to them.

He doesn't have to show how everything was done and talk about every detail just because thats what some other directors do. It's better to leave a little mystery.

I would agree with that sentiment if film and its methods were some great unknown process only the select knew of. In this day and age with special features and internet many know how films are made. I make no illusion that film is mystery. I can see the cgi, set dressing, matte paintings, production hints etc. I know how film is done as do many. What i like is to hear the director talk of his work and others talk of his work. It gives insight into the director and due to his special vantage point it allows
viewpoints to be gleaned that i otherwise couldnt without listening to the director. I like to see their process. I like to see the foundations. This goes for all works of art. I just love to hear people talk about their passions. That's when their spirit shows.

[MykeHavoc]

Well, theoretically, what more could they give us? More featurettes? New transfers? Nolan Commentaries?

All that seems unlikely. It will probably just come in a bigger box with a higher price point, and DVD/DC discs to pad it out. I'll be getting the limited edition cowl and I'll be content.