Batman Begins

[lamas]

lookin really good.  hope it doesn't get fucked up along the way.

[MacGuffin]

Quicktime Trailer here.

[Myxo]

Trailer crashes for me towards the last 2/3..

[Ghostboy]

Trailer crashes for me towards the last 2/3..

Is that a euphamism for saying you don't like the last two thirds, or did the file just not play?

If it's the former, I agree with you.

[Gamblour.]

I have enough faith in Nolan to not judge this trailer. I think this looks fantastic, I trust what he's doing with it.

[cine]

Trailer crashes for me towards the last 2/3..

Is that a euphamism for saying you don't like the last two thirds, or did the file just not play?

If it's the former, I agree with you.

The last third makes Batman out to be a horror villain.  

[Myxo]

Never understood why they strayed so far from Burton's look of Batman 1 and 2. I mean, come on. I mean please, George Clooney as Batman? I'm really glad to see a relative unknown back behind the mask. Here's to a really great film noir version of the Dark Knight.

Of course, we have the villains. (Cillian Murphy is from 28 Days Later, for those who don't know. He is the lead in that movie. Interesting choice for Scarecrow. I kinda wish they'd just stick to one bad guy though and give us some character development like the Joker had.)

For those who want to know more about the bad guys..

(SPOILERS)

Ken Watanabe ....  Ra's Al Ghul

-Powers-

While Ra's al Ghul possesses no super-human powers, he has remarkable strength and stamina. He is a skilled hand-tohand combatant and a master swordsman.

Whenever Ra's is near death, he can extend his lifespan and renew his vitality through his immersion into the Lazarus Pit, a combination of secret chemicals that roil and bubble in a vat deep within al Ghul's headquarters. Its only known side effect is the demeanor and strength of a madman that it temporarily induces in al Ghul once he surfaces.

-History-

Ra's al Ghul is a megalomaniac who places himself above society's laws and conventions in pursuit of his private vision of a "better world." To that end, he commands a small army of fanatical followers who are adept with both ancient and futuristic weaponry. Despite his great power and lofty goals, however, he will never be successful in taking control of the world...not so long as the Batman has anything to say about it.
   
Very little is known of Ra's al Ghul's background. Ra's al Ghul ("the demon's head" in Arabic) is assumed to be an alias, his real name lost to the mists of time. No one is entirely certain of his age, save that he has lived far beyond a normal human lifespan thanks to the regenerative powers of the Lazarus Pit, a bath of unknown chemicals fatal to others but always able to restore al Ghul to health and life. What is known is that, during World War II, al Ghul commanded an organization of his own which he often used to combat Axis powers. Two of his most trusted agents perished at Hiroshima, leaving al Gul to care for their teen-aged son as if the youth were his own. From the moment of his parents' death, the boy became fatalistic and moody and adopted the name Qayin, after a variation on Cain, the Biblical murderer. Sadly, it was Qayin who was then responsible for the death of al Ghul's beautiful wife, Melisande, whom he accidentally pushed into the Lazarus Pit; she met her gruesome end in front of Talia, the al Ghul's only child.

Many years later, Batman met Talia when he rescued her from a former employee of Ra's al Ghul's who intended to create a criminal cartel to rival his former master's. Shortly thereafter, al Ghul proceeded to test the Batman's fabled skills by arranging for a "mysterious party" -- secretly himself-- to kidnap both Dick Grayson (the first Robin) and Talia, but the Dark Knight was on to Al Ghul almost from the start. Once Robin was freed and safe, Batman was appalled to learn that he was being tested for his worthiness as a husband for Talia and an heir to al Ghul's international cartel. Despite his attraction to Talia, the Batman declined the offer.

Since then, the Batman has tirelessly opposed al Ghul's acts of worldwide terrorism. The job has not been easy; not only is al Ghul's personal fortune far in excess of even the Batman's, but Ra's is his foe's equal in brilliance and long ago deduced the secret of Batman's double identity of Bruce Wayne. On rare occasions, al Ghul has even fought at Batman's side, such as the time the two men worked together to apprehend the adult Qayin, who had become a formidable Mideastern terrorist.

Cillian Murphy ....  Dr. Jonathan Crane/The Scarecrow

-Powers-

One of the most intelligent foes the Batman has ever faced, the Scarecrow is a brilliant, yet twisted, scientist. The Scarecrow's finest creation is his "fear gas," a powerful hallucinogen that brings a person's greatest fears to life. A surprizingly good hand-to-hand combatant considering his physique, the Scarecrow has studied the crane style of kung fu and perfected his own unique fighting style which he calls "violent dancing."

-History-

Thin and lanky as a child, Jonathan Crane was shunned by his peers and found lonely and solitary comfort in books. As Crane got older, he buried himself deeper and deeper in his studies. He created a disaffected outer persona to hide the hurt and anger within him, releasing his rage only to frighten small, defenseless creatures. Cultivating this interest in fear led to Crane getting his doctoral degree in psychology, specializing in the study of phobias. Fired from his teaching post at Gotham University because of his bizarre teaching methods, Crane instead turned to a life of crime. Taking a cue from an old childhood nickname, Crane became the Scarecrow -- taking his delight in frightening his victims as he steals the wealth he needs to fund his next experiment in terror.

[Gold Trumpet]

A trailer's just a trailer, but I found myself dissapointed by the trailer before Ocean's. I could tell they prolly used a very limited amount of the footage in the film for the trailer, but it seemed like another action film with the usual action film tricks. It is nice the film is stepping back into a more appropriate style, but the first Batman holds up very well to this day for me so they'll have to add something more.

[MacGuffin]

New photos:

 

[Kal]

the suit looks cool... i cant wait!

[Gloria]

Soooo comic book. Very cool!

Hmmm...Batman seems to be wearing lipstick in this one.  

[Myxo]

Dark Horizons Set Report

When it comes to the BATMAN movies, the last thing I remember is leaving the cinema on a cold June day in 1997. I had just watched Joel Schumacher hammer the final nail into coffin in which lay the beloved Warner Bros. franchise. Online speculation had been rife and early word suggested that this wasn't exactly the film that fans had hoped for. The naysayers were correct, and even over $US100 million worldwide has failed to soften the negative impact that this film had on the series.

Now, with a few months left before it's release, the world is waiting to see how talented director Christopher Nolan will breathe new life into the Warner Bros. franchise with BATMAN BEGINS. Starring 5 Oscar nominees, this version couldn't be more different than Schumacher's project. The trailers have been intriguing, the artwork is impressive and the film could be exactly what we've been waiting for.

September 2004. Dark Horizons has been invited to visit the set of BATMAN BEGINS, which is currently filming for Warner Bros. in England. A series of 'fortunate events' have led me to London and it is at my new home in the UK that I get the call from Garth to report for duty.

On a windy but pleasant day, I find myself in one of the largest aircraft hangers in the world, located just outside London. As we take our seats within the hanger, we are told that we should get to meet director Christopher Nolan (MEMENTO, INSOMNIA), his partner and producer Emma Thomas, production designer Nathan Crowley and hopefully some of the cast, which includes Christian Bale as Batman, Michael Caine as Alfred, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman as Lt. Gordon, Liam Neeson as Henri Ducard, Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes and Ken Watanabe as our villain, Ra's Al Ghul.

Christian Bale and Gary Oldman are both on set today and on the live feed from the shooting set, we can see repeated takes of Batman jumping out of his newly designed batmobile and after some dialogue which explains that *SPOILER ALERT* someone is about to release a toxic nerve gas on the city of Gotham. In take after take, we see Batman throw Lieutenant Gordon the keys to the awesome vehicle. Oldman seems in great spirits and when he appears to have trouble catching the keys, he bursts into laughter and jokes that he may as well give up. Not to worry Gary, only a couple of days left on this shoot - we are visiting on day 126 of 128.

In total there have been 163 sets built for this production and we are about to see one of the most incredible, which is Christopher Nolan's vision of the Gotham City slums. Production designer Nathan Crowley began his career as a Junior Set Designer on Steven Spielberg's HOOK and has since worked on BRAVEHEART, MAVERICK, MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 2, BEHIND ENEMY LINES and INSOMNIA. As he leads us through the enormous hanger, it becomes evident that Nolan has taken his cue from the Burton installments of the caped crusader's story, and completely ignored the hyper-realistic neon circus of Joel Schumacher's outings. Yellow cabs in various states of disrepair litter the streets below the elevated train tracks and to the side of one building lies a full sized train carriage-set, which is graffiti sprayed and I imagine authentic right down to the gum beneath the seats. Everything looks and feels like a dirty, cold, and dangerous city. We are brought into an area called 'The Narrows', the part of Gotham which is the slums and has been designed with images of a poor 'shanty town' in mind. The fully realized buildings rise towards the ceiling of the hanger, and seem to be linked by a web of clothes lines which stretch from one window to another. Nathan Crowley tells us that these buildings were heavily based on areas just outside Hong Kong, where the poor residents live in layers upon layers of small flats, which have grown almost organically upon one another.

Nathan introduces us to Andy Smith, who helped design and build the new batmobile. Moving away from the sleek cat-like design of the first four films, Christopher Nolan and Crowley tried to create a more functional and "realistic" car for our hero to drive. Andy and his team then built 5 of these fully working "sports-tanks", and an interior set (for shots inside the vehicle). Smith actually a hand in the design of the previous car according to Tim Burton's specifications, however this is the car he really wanted to build.

As he describes it, this batmobile is for men who really appreciate cars. Weighing in at 2.5 tonnes, the car has a 5.7 litre 350 Chevy engine and can do "0-60 in less than 6 seconds". After making sure that cameras and sound weren't rolling on the set, Andy actually started the engine of the car. Loud doesn't even begin to describe the noise from this beast. Whilst shooting exteriors in America, Andy said they really got to "try her out" and there is simply no contest between this and previous models.

After getting a good up-close look at the car, and wandering past the immense front steps to Arkham Asylum, we are taken back to our waiting room, where Christopher Nolan's wife and producer Emma Thomas explained how they approached the mammoth task of delivering the new Batman film and possibly revive the troubled franchise. "I don't think that we're feeling that pressure specifically, its not like we've got to do this, and they're breathing down our necks and [saying] 'This is our Golden Goose'' and 'revive it'. I think more than anything else Chris saw a story that he felt hadn't been told and really would love to make. This is a separate film and it's something Chris felt passionate about and has always wanted to do. It's not a specific pressure that we're feeling although obviously that is what we're doing." The studio has been sent dailies from the beginning and although it's more interesting for press to report clashes between the production and the studio, Emma explains that they have been "more supportive than interfering...and very hands off since we've been shooting".

When he first heard that another film was being discussed at the studio, Chris went to Warner Brothers and told them his initial ideas for the project. Then, Emma continues "we brought David Goyer on and came up with a much more firm idea of what the script was going to be and we went in and we pitched that, and the studio loved it. They absolutely adored what it was going to be and we were all very much on the same page right from the beginning."

Clearly impressed with the cast that they have managed to assemble for this film, Emma told us how lucky she feels to have an actor of Bale's caliber as their leading man. "Christian is a hugely talented actor and one of the things that our film does differently than the others is that you see a lot more of Bruce Wayne than you did in the other movies. He's as much of a character as Batman, and what Chris wanted to do was really understand who Bruce Wayne was so that Batman becomes a character that the audience can identify with or understand rather more. And so we need to cast an actor who had the range to play a fully fledge character and Christian is an enormously driven guy who is very very focused on his work and I think that that's a very important quality that Bruce Wayne has and so there's a certain identification between the two and he's quite amazing"

Emma mentioned her relief to the positive coverage the film has been receiving online. "I'm very happy that so far people seem to be happy with the choices that we've made and I hope that they'll continue to be happy. I mean one of the biggest pressures about making a film like this is that Batman is such a beloved character, that not only do we have to match our own expectations, but there's a lot of other people who've expectations that we need to live up to as well and that's enormously important to us. Having said all that, we do have to [be] focused on what we're doing and make the best film that we can make and hope that everyone agrees".

There have been rumors that Guy Pearce would make an appearance as Harvey Dent (who as many of us know, becomes the villainous Two-Face). Emma laughs and responds, "I love all these rumors. I won't be ruining it by saying he's NOT in the film. But I LOVE all these rumors, I don't know where they come from." We're also informed that there are no other surprise cameos.

It was almost lunchtime, and next up we were given some precious time with the man in charge of bringing this new version of Batman to the screen, acclaimed director Christopher Nolan.

First of all Nolan echoes everyone else's feelings that they are in control of a very important franchise, but must carry on and do what he feels is best. But why go from smaller, intimate thrillers to a big budget blockbuster? "I grew up watching huge blockbusters and really enjoying them as a kid and everything so I've always enjoyed films that, create a whole world and provide escapism [and that] create worlds outside of the one that you're actually in so it's been a great opportunity to actually try that."

"I mean obviously they had this great character sitting there and they weren't doing a thing with it because the previous round of sequels had sort of run their course. So I heard they were looking for something to do with it....[They were] looking for somebody to have a vision for what they'd do with it. And I was just very interested in the idea of creating a Batman from what I thought had never been made, which is in a way the one which you would expect them to make first, which is the origin story and the journey of the character from an ordinary person to Batman."

The thought of sequels is far from Nolan's mind at this stage. "I'm just concentrating on this one for now to be honest and trying to put as much as possible into this one. But clearly, the character has a limitless potential in terms of stories and movies. He's lasted as long as he has for that very reason." This film is clearly based more in reality than previous films. Nolan calls it a "heightened reality". As he explains "It's a recognizable world, it's a contemporary world, and yet extraordinary things are happening within it. It's trying to find a grounded basis in reality for all of the more extraordinary elements of the story."

As we board the coach to head back to London town, June 2005 seems too far away. The excitement on the set of BATMAN BEGINS is infectious, and as costume designer Day Murch had hoped, this one will erase any bad feelings about this particular franchise.

[MacGuffin]

Super Bowl TV spot

[Pubrick]

Super Bowl TV spot here.

the intended response to all superbowl teasers, especially War of the Worlds and now this: "CARCHASES!"

[Ghostboy]

These Batman teasers are just getting increasingly boring the more action they show.