FILM · 2008 · UK
The Dark Knight
- Directed by
- Christopher Nolan
- Runtime
- 152 min
- Studio
- Warner Bros. Pictures, Legendary Pictures, Syncopy
222 archived facts 8 topics 2 sources Last reviewed Oct 2026
Batman raises the stakes in his war on crime. With the help of Lt. Jim Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent, Batman sets out to dismantle the remaining criminal organizations that plague the streets. The partnership proves to be effective, but they soon find themselves prey to a reign of chaos unleashed by a rising criminal mastermind known to the terrified citizens of Gotham as the Joker.
Summary: TMDB
14 Facts on the Deeper Meaning of The Dark Knight
- #006
The Dark Knight was built around the theme of escalation: Batman's extraordinary efforts against common crime would provoke an opposing escalation by criminals and draw in the Joker, who uses terrorism as a weapon.
- #008
Nolan said The Dark Knight represented his own fear of anarchy, with the Joker standing for somebody who wants to tear down the world around him.
- #014
Christopher Nolan said the title of The Dark Knight refers to Dent as much as to Batman.
- #015
Christopher Nolan saw Dent as sharing a duality with Batman, which he considered to offer interesting dramatic potential.
- #057
Heath Ledger worked on the Joker's voice with a vocal coach for several months. He used ventriloquist dummies as inspiration for its disconnected, mocking quality.
- #058
In August 2018 it was confirmed that, if the ferry passengers triggered the detonator, they would blow themselves up rather than the adjacent ferry. This follows the Joker's theme of deceiving his victims.
- #081
Unlike his counterparts in the comics and in Batman (1989), the Joker in this film does not have his hair and flesh permanently bleached by toxic waste. His trademark grin was never definitively described as a deformity in the comics. His appearance here, however, with scars carved into his flesh, echoes the character Gwynplaine in Victor Hugo's novel The Man Who Laughs (1928), the character's original inspiration.
- #101
To prepare for the role of Two-Face, Aaron Eckhart studied what burn victims experience psychologically.
- #123
(At about 1 hour 55 minutes) If you look at the left edge of the screen as Maroni gets into the car to go see his wife, you can see Two-Face attacking one of his men. Later, when Maroni stops to check his watch, Two-Face appears in the side mirror, and he has enough time to get in.
- #154
In the film's script, the Chechen explains that he brought his rottweilers when he arrived to meet the Scarecrow because he knew in particular that Batman would come, and also knew that a rottweiler's powerful sense of smell could let them sense human flesh even in complete darkness, so they serve as a deterrent against Batman's use of the dark to frighten the criminal element. This explanation, although it was implied, was ultimately cut from the film.
- #164
The Joker's 'cut' smile is known as a 'Glasgow smile,' called a Glesga smile by people in Scotland; a wound caused by cutting small slits at the corners of the victim's mouth and then beating or stabbing them until the muscles in their face contract and cause the cuts to extend toward the ears. It is a violent act well known among prison inmates worldwide. The severity of this injury reveals why the Joker tells various stories about how he got his "smile" as a way of dissociating himself from the trauma while also showing his tendency to joke.
- #178
When the Joker crashes Wayne's penthouse party and fires his shotgun into the air, every guest flinches except Alfred. This is most likely due to his extensive background with firearms, briefly mentioned most clearly during the Burma story he tells Bruce.
- #198
The Bat Symbol at the start of each film in the trilogy foreshadows something that is to come. In this case, the Bat Symbol is made of fire and symbolizes the burning of Harvey Dent's face, which later becomes Two-Face.
- #200
Besides being a "bat"mobile, the Lamborghini's color scheme is a tribute to Batman. The wheels are black, the color is dark gray and the brake calipers are bright yellow. In the animated series and some comic book versions, the cowl and cape are black, the suit is dark gray, and the oval around the bat symbol and the utility belt are yellow.
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
Sources for the entries on this page
- Wikipedia The Dark Knight — Wikipedia
- IMDb IMDb kaydı
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