The Dark Knight Rises (Blu-ray) Official AVSForum Review - Page 2

Man I'm so dam excited for this to come out on Blu-ray!! This is one of my favorite film franchises for sure. I gotta say I truly enjoyed the third film and thought it had a good ending. Thought Nolan's version of Bane was cool. This will be out just in time for my new projector and 125"" AT screen.

Yes that's probably true. Although I haven't experienced the movie on Blu ray. But judging from what I saw in IMAX, I would expect them to be similar.

Great review nevertheless! Cheers!

Well now, I guess you can consider me a fan of TDKR. I saw it twice in the theaters, for the first time since I can remember. The first time I saw it in IMAX and I was impressed with the visuals and liked the story. However, I had a really hard time understanding the dialog and figuring out the plane sequence at the beginning.

I saw the film again in a traditional (standard) presentation and was able to figure out a lot more of the story and dialog- probably due to the technical issues mentioned earlier. Liked it even more. For some reason the ending of the movie had more of an effect on me emotionally than a lot of other action/superhero movies. Maybe it was the feeling of lost hope and despair that lead up to the final sequence.

I also appreciated the political and social overtones to the movie. I'm not sure who said it, but sci-fi movies have a potential to be so much more expressive by using symbolism and metaphors to make a broader social commentary- this is what sets apart great movies from just mediocre ones. In my opinion, this movie had that. Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show) Speaking of which, the characters were very dynamic. Look at the characters in TDKR, and I can't really think of any (except for maybe BANE) who didn't change and evolve throughout the movie.

Bane's reimagining was clever- look at what Christopher Nolan had to work with- a bizarre cartoony character- and made him into something real. I appreciated his witty and unique dialog, it was a welcome change of pace. He didn't play a "dumb brute" but more of a ruthless, driven, and methodical killer.

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Can't wait for the Blu-ray release. I only have to decide which special edtion to purchase.

I can see why some people may have been slightly disappointed with TDKR, but, to me, I thought it was one of Nolan's best films. One thing his films have always been weak on is making me care about his characters--this is why I disliked Inception. I couldn't have cared less if the entire cast lived or died (especially when "dying" was merely living in a dream forever). However, in TDKR, I actually found myself getting a little choked up at all the drama.

I'm glad to hear the picture quality of the 35mm scenes is up to snuff. Thanks Ralph!

Ralph,

Any EE issues like with DK??

I saw this over the weekend on BD....WOW, the IMAX open frame footage was absolutely beautiful. Take a look at time stamp 1:30:31, where the US army soldier talks to one of Banes men. Another scene is the stadium as the boy sings the national anthem.

PS I agree with all of your comments Ralph. This is truly one of the best transfers I have ever seen on BD, especially the IMAX scenes.

Paul

I watched it last night, fantastic audio and PQ loved every minute. Will watch again this Sat night.

I saw it in a regular theater and Bane was incomprehensible and the effects wiped out the dialogue. I'm hard of hearing so I knew there was no hope for me, but even my young son couldn't tell what Bane was saying.

Thanks for the review.

I am looking forward to checking out the soundtrack on the speakers that I have in my dedicated home theater. A while back I picked up some higher end (and older) Klipsch speakers on Craigslist for a tiny fraction of what they are worth, including the big 15 inch Sub that should rock on this movie.

I guess saying "I saw it in IMAX" is equal to saying you saw a movie in a regular theater in the sense that every single theater---IMAX or otherwise---is fine-tuned by different people and will suffer from technical issues.

I too saw it twice at the movies. First at a regular theater, and I thought it was FANTASTIC! Then I was finally able to see it at an IMAX theater, and thought it was MEGA-FANTASTIC! I'm just glad I'm not complaining on either experience, and am ANXIOUS to watch it at home and CRANK IT UP!

IMHO, Chris Nolan did an unsurpassable job on this trilogy. Yes, I saw the final twist coming and all, but I found Hardy's Bane both menacing and enjoyable, even with the mask/voice issues! And, man, Hathaway's Kyle... WOAH! Bale's Batman was just what it needed to be, as well.

Awesome review, Ralph! I had a feeling---or rather a hope---all these technical things people are ranting about all over the place audio- and video-wise would fade away once you had your say, at least for me...so, thanks!

GOT..................TO.....................GET......................MY..........................HANDS....................ON.......................THAT.....................BLU-RAY!!!!!

Like I said, 15/70 IMAX theaters had a different mix... or one with more stage presence in the fronts and surrounds, which drowned out the dialogue. This is always the case at the SF Metreon; that's just how the theater is. They think it's more awesome. For action scenes, hell yeah it is! That last half hour or so rocked my world. However, dialogue was very difficult to hear. I'm not just talking about Bane, either. There were many, many problems being able to hear 10-15% of all the dialogue, and I'm not exaggerating. I could make out what most scenes meant, but honestly I missed out on a whole lot, so I saw it again in theaters the next day. Everything was fine then.

I agree this was a fantastic film and all the actors did an amazing job. I had no issue with Banes voice I liked it.

Second. How did he sound Ralph?

Awesome review as usual btw!

No issues either in understanding him Ralph

I guess I should just reiterate one last time that dialogue was difficult to understand in a true IMAX theater. Not just Bane's voice... everybody's. In a regular theater, this was no problem. On Blu-ray, it sounds like it isn't a problem either.

As always thanks for the great review.

I was a little disappointed, I did see it 3 weeks after opening so the hype let me down. Bane's voice seems to be a big problem, was for me as well. Also the fact that there was actually more Bruce Wayne and less Batman

Disappointed this isn't 7.1. but at end of the day will buy this to finish out the collection.

Yeah, why wouldn't they 7.1 it? Are there advantages to 5.1 over 7.1???

Are there advantages to 7.1 over 9.1?

Touché!

No, really, why go 5.1 if they could go 7.1? What is a good reason for that?

The real question is... what was presented theatrically?

I wouldn't expect a 7.1 on disc if they didn't mix it on the soundstage that way.

Well, yeah, I get that, but why not mix it that way in the first place???

How it should have ended...  I might still pick it up anyway, just for the technical aspects of the film on Blu-Ray.

 

I wonder whether I should get the trilogy set or just TDKR? I already have Batman Begins on DVD and HD DVD. I also have TDK on BD. When TDKR was priced at just a few bucks less, I was going to get the whole set, but now I am not so sure.

I recommend the DigiBook version. Double-view 3D lenticular on quality hard cover, comic book of the prologue plus movie stills on high-quality glossy paper, 3 discs!

I wonder as well. I really want to get this now but if there are more special features in the release in a few months I'll wait. It's a tough decision. Has anyone else heard anything about special edition release of the trilogy?

I'm hoping for a special feature on the Bane Character himself... Dammit I will end up double dipping I just know it..

THIS looks like a deal no?



DJoel