Escapist Podcast: Bonus: The Dark Knight Rises Batcat!

[Susan Arendt]

I really liked the movie. Loads, and this was a great podcast. I knew you'd make one and was waiting patiently.

About those who say that Joseph Gordon-Levett's character couldn't be Batman without martial arts training or whatever. Let me point out that he knocked out Teal'c from Stargate in a single blow. Dude's 6'3" and built like a brick privy. They changed Christopher Judge's role (small though it is) because he made Bane look wimpy by comparison if they were in the same scene together because Bane's only 5' 10".

My husband leaned over during that scene and whispered "That's Teal'c." I didn't even recognize him!

 

[thenumberthirteen]

I really liked the movie. Loads, and this was a great podcast. I knew you'd make one and was waiting patiently.

About those who say that Joseph Gordon-Levett's character couldn't be Batman without martial arts training or whatever. Let me point out that he knocked out Teal'c from Stargate in a single blow. Dude's 6'3" and built like a brick privy. They changed Christopher Judge's role (small though it is) because he made Bane look wimpy by comparison if they were in the same scene together because Bane's only 5' 10".

My husband leaned over during that scene and whispered "That's Teal'c." I didn't even recognize him!

I probably wouldn't have recognised him considering he's only in it for a couple seconds, and I have a picture of him on my wall

Thing is I knew he was in it as he announced it a year or so ago. So I was looking out especially for him in every scene. His role was a real disappointment for such a cool actor. Though the guy who played the president also plays the president in the later seasons of Stargate.

And at least they got Owen from Torchwood.

 

[Susan Arendt]

I really liked the movie. Loads, and this was a great podcast. I knew you'd make one and was waiting patiently.

About those who say that Joseph Gordon-Levett's character couldn't be Batman without martial arts training or whatever. Let me point out that he knocked out Teal'c from Stargate in a single blow. Dude's 6'3" and built like a brick privy. They changed Christopher Judge's role (small though it is) because he made Bane look wimpy by comparison if they were in the same scene together because Bane's only 5' 10".

My husband leaned over during that scene and whispered "That's Teal'c." I didn't even recognize him!

I probably wouldn't have recognised him considering he's only in it for a couple seconds, and I have a picture of him on my wall

Thing is I knew he was in it as he announced it a year or so ago. So I was looking out especially for him in every scene. His role was a real disappointment for such a cool actor. Though the guy who played the president also plays the president in the later seasons of Stargate.

And at least they got Owen from Torchwood.

Well, Owen, I recognized. Never did like Owen, though. More of Ianto girl.

 

[Fifty-One]

Littlefinger in TDKR and Joffrey in Batman Begins. Varys must've been in The Dark Knight, telling the Joker what everyone's plans were.

 

[Henriot]

Well, Owen, I recognized. Never did like Owen, though. More of Ianto girl.

Haha! Completely agree.

So, Mike mentioned something about the weight of the rope, and I was under the impression that the rope was that tiny bit too short/taut to be able to make the jump. Pretty sure on his first jump he tugs on it and it looks pretty tight to me (and then it didn't make sense that he continued to jump with it...)

 

[Rassmusseum]

Hey Steve, Mike, Susan, and Greg, I wanted to ask about a possible technical glitch I noticed during the movie.

In the scene where Batman and Catwoman are trying to maneuver the bomb towards the bunker it originally came from, something weird happened at my theater. Batman shoots the truck a couple times as he's flying towards it, then there was a very awkward cut to the truck being crashed. Like, literally 3 seconds after the truck gets shot, Batman, Catwoman, and Gordon are standing there listening to Talia talk about how she's flooding the chamber anyway, so their whole plan is useless.

It almost seemed like there were some missing frames in the film reel or something (the theater in my town is super old and hasn't upgraded to digital yet), but I asked the guy at the ticket booth afterwards and he said that part was in the middle of a reel, so it couldn't have been that. He basically said that what we saw is just how the film was edited. Period.

Did this happen for you at all? I just can't believe that such a jarring cut would be in a movie like this for any reason other than an error.

 

[TwistedEllipses]

I am so glad Susan is on this podcast to defend The Dark Knight Rises on some of the more unfair nitpicking. It's not perfect, but it's still a great film. There are just as many plot-holes as The Dark Knight (especially the Joker's impossible forward planning), but that film is apparently untouchable.

I think Bane's voice was redubbed to make it louder and clearer, because it seemed really unconvincing that the voice was coming from him and I don't mean the fact he sounded like Darth Sean Connery...

The 'flying the Nuke over the ocean' thing does feel played out and there didn't seem any risk of him actually dying.

One thing I would like for them to have done with Bruce escaping the pit is if he didn't escape by climbing out, but rather thought his way out. I was almost certain he was going to think of a clever way out rather than just "jumping really far". So that way he didn't just succeed by being physically stronger than the other guys. The whole taking off the rope thing sort of did that, but I would have loved to see him use that amazing brain Batman is supposed to have.

How it's done in the film is the equivalent of Indiana Jones getting through the trials to the holy grail by being able to run really fast, and not using his head and knowledge to best them.

They kept emphasising that a kid escaped and I thought they were leading up to exactly what you are talking about.

 

[DarkhoIlow]

Great spoiler podcast guys and girl!

I watched the movie digitally(only version available in my town) a few days ago and I found the movie very good,compared to the other two movies.

Best movie for me this summer thus far,followed very closely with The Avengers.

 

[thenumberthirteen]

They kept emphasising that a kid escaped and I thought they were leading up to exactly what you are talking about.

I'd think that him thinking his way out would have been better for the character. He's not Superman, and he can't beat every villain by being stronger than them. Bane's supposed to be stronger than him. Sort of the point of the character (though thankfully not the only point) so I'd be nice to see him beat him other than, well, beating him. I'm glad the Riddler wasn't in this movie as Batman wouldn't be able to solve his riddles.

Hey Steve, Mike, Susan, and Greg, I wanted to ask about a possible technical glitch I noticed during the movie.

In the scene where Batman and Catwoman are trying to maneuver the bomb towards the bunker it originally came from, something weird happened at my theater. Batman shoots the truck a couple times as he's flying towards it, then there was a very awkward cut to the truck being crashed. Like, literally 3 seconds after the truck gets shot, Batman, Catwoman, and Gordon are standing there listening to Talia talk about how she's flooding the chamber anyway, so their whole plan is useless.

It almost seemed like there were some missing frames in the film reel or something (the theater in my town is super old and hasn't upgraded to digital yet), but I asked the guy at the ticket booth afterwards and he said that part was in the middle of a reel, so it couldn't have been that. He basically said that what we saw is just how the film was edited. Period.

Did this happen for you at all? I just can't believe that such a jarring cut would be in a movie like this for any reason other than an error.

That sounds like a cut piece of footage. The truck crashed by falling into the underpass (Terminator 2 style) so if that part wasn't there then it would be a fault with the film. Maybe it was on the beginning/end of a reel and it was cut by mistake or damaged. At my cinema at least the film comes in lots of canisters that are stitched together into one big reel on the projector, and then broken down again before it's sent back. A mistake in putting it together or a cut piece of film would explain that. It'd be very unusual as it'd be a new print, and that's a lot of film to skip; a good 30 seconds so that's 720 frames (at 24fps), a good few feet. It could be an error in the print, and not the cinema's fault. Even digital prints have faults. We had a digital print where an entire scene (at least a minute long) was shown twice. Nothing we could do about it

 

[Rassmusseum]

They kept emphasising that a kid escaped and I thought they were leading up to exactly what you are talking about.

I'd think that him thinking his way out would have been better for the character. He's not Superman, and he can't beat every villain by being stronger than them. Bane's supposed to be stronger than him. Sort of the point of the character (though thankfully not the only point) so I'd be nice to see him beat him other than, well, beating him. I'm glad the Riddler wasn't in this movie as Batman wouldn't be able to solve his riddles.

Hey Steve, Mike, Susan, and Greg, I wanted to ask about a possible technical glitch I noticed during the movie.

In the scene where Batman and Catwoman are trying to maneuver the bomb towards the bunker it originally came from, something weird happened at my theater. Batman shoots the truck a couple times as he's flying towards it, then there was a very awkward cut to the truck being crashed. Like, literally 3 seconds after the truck gets shot, Batman, Catwoman, and Gordon are standing there listening to Talia talk about how she's flooding the chamber anyway, so their whole plan is useless.

It almost seemed like there were some missing frames in the film reel or something (the theater in my town is super old and hasn't upgraded to digital yet), but I asked the guy at the ticket booth afterwards and he said that part was in the middle of a reel, so it couldn't have been that. He basically said that what we saw is just how the film was edited. Period.

Did this happen for you at all? I just can't believe that such a jarring cut would be in a movie like this for any reason other than an error.

That sounds like a cut piece of footage. The truck crashed by falling into the underpass (Terminator 2 style) so if that part wasn't there then it would be a fault with the film. Maybe it was on the beginning/end of a reel and it was cut by mistake or damaged. At my cinema at least the film comes in lots of canisters that are stitched together into one big reel on the projector, and then broken down again before it's sent back. A mistake in putting it together or a cut piece of film would explain that. It'd be very unusual as it'd be a new print, and that's a lot of film to skip; a good 30 seconds so that's 720 frames (at 24fps), a good few feet. It could be an error in the print, and not the cinema's fault. Even digital prints have faults. We had a digital print where an entire scene (at least a minute long) was shown twice. Nothing we could do about it

Alright, thanks much for the clarification. I'm knew it had to be damaged film or something--the guy at the theater talked about how films are sometimes damaged in transit when they arrive, so that's probably what it was.

 

[DanHibiki]

The Prison thing: it was mentioned that Bane cleaned up the prison and changed it after he took over.

The Government not doing anything: Just assume they have an equivalent of Bush as president.
I think New Orleans is still waiting for disaster relief aid.

 

[Thespian]

I've never been a big fan of Nolan batman movies, but I enjoyed this one. Granted I had low expectations going in, but still. I think Catwoman was the shining achievement of the movie, if not the whole series. I love that depiction of Catwoman. Kinda hate how she was shoe-horned into a love interest but ah well.
I dunno, these movies are just sort of non-entities to me. It's like a weird Bizzaro world filled with people who vaguely resemble these characters I love, but aren't quite them. That's why Ledger's Joker never entranced me. Honestly, I enjoyed Hardy's performance of Bane as much as I enjoyed Joker.
This movie was pretty cool. Bane got ruined by the ending, and I still think that the Nolanverse batman is ludicrously boring. No Batman movie should end with Batman running off to a sunny idyllic cafe with cat-woman, for god's sake.

-snip-

By the by, I think that Catwoman's friend was probably Holly Robinson. She's her friend and sort of protege, who Catwoman is super protective of. That's the impression I got from it based on reading Batman: Year One by Frank Miller. And Nolan seems to use some stuff based on Miller comics quite a bit.