The Dark Knight Rises (Ultra HD/BD) [Blu-ray]

For me this is easily the best movie of 2012. Im not a fan of Bond anymore so I cant speak for that. Avengers was awesome and Bourne legacy was good though not a patch on the original trilogy. This though has it all, a thoughtful story of redemption, action and a fitting end to the best superhero reboot of them all. I have to confess on first viewing I was sceptical. The hype was huge and I got swept along. That is always a recipe for disaster where anything less than perfection leaves you feeling cheated and since everyone will want something a little different you will never make everyone happy. I also felt the film seemed to plod in a few areas but miss out vital months where you would have liked to see what led to events. As it is I suspect a lot of cuts were made as this still runs at over two and a half hours. These films are the thinking persons superhero movies. A normal person made super through gadgets and a drive to go beyond the normal confines of dealing with problems. The acting is spot on, the soundtrack is one of the best applications since Gladiator. For a classical score it is rousing and gets the adrenaline pumping or fuels emotion. Its one of few recent soundtracks where I will hear part of the main theme on tv and instantly know where its from. The action sequences are superb. At first I was critical that they seemed slower but this is in context as our hero is getting older, he is nearly out of steam and this is his chance for one last push against someone faster, stronger and more violently driven. I was resentful that my hero seemed to be made to look stupid and weak but this is all necessary for his final redemption. Then there is the message that has underpinned the whole trilogy 'Batman is a symbol' and once you remember that you appreciate the setup. For me, Christopher Nolan has made a superb trilogy that can not be beaten. Yes there were a few things that could have been slightly improved but once you start going back and altering films you end up with the mess that is the current version of Star Wars. It should be left alone now, no more reboot attempts like Spider-Man. In many ways these films have followed the original Star Wars trilogy - Batman Begins was a breath of fresh air, the Dark Knight was the trilogy's 'Empire Strikes Back' - dramatic sobering and emotional, THe Dark Knight Rises is the swan song that whilst not as strong or complete as the others, draws the curtain in a satisfactory way. Dont watch it with stupidly high expectations and you will enjoy it. Some have criticised the transfer but I thought mine looked very sharp compared to the DVD.

Very Entertaining!

I'm guessing that plenty of people reading this review will have seen this movie and know how fantastic it is. If you haven't, then make sure you watch the first two films before this one - as an end to the trilogy it is brilliant. While it can be viewed as a standalone film, it makes MUCH more sense after you've seen Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, and can be appreciated all the more as a splendid piece of filmmaking. Onto the Blu-Ray itself. The picture quality is absolutely fantastic - this is the best of the films to get on blu-ray as it has the most IMAX footage in it (about 72 minutes worth, or a third of the film all told - compared to about 26 minutes for The Dark Knight). When it switches to IMAX, the aspect ratio flips to fill your whole television, creating a fantastically detailed and immersive image. This is only available on the blu-ray - the DVD keeps the same 16:9 aspect ratio throughout. Nolan utilises IMAX well, from simple establishing shots to whole chase and fight sequences. Sequences such as the plane hijacking and the bomb chase sequence are made to stand out all the more with the visual gravitas the IMAX lends them. Sound-wise, this is a film that demands to be watched loudly - if you set the volume low, dialogue (especially Bane or Lt. Gordon when he is hospitalised) can easily be lost. Instead, turn this film up loud, and take this as an opportunity to really give your sound system a workout, to truly lose yourself in the high spectacle of this grand finale to one of the greatest trilogies ever made in any genre. The special features (on a second disc) are fantastic - detailed, interesting and informative, by far the best special features of all of Nolan's Batman films. The steelbook itself is also worthy of mention. The artwork chosen for both the exterior and interior of the case really is superb, encapsulating the spirit of the film well. The case also has a much more premium and moody feel to it, which compliments the film in a way that the regular blu-ray case doesn't - whilst the cover art on that is fine, the back loses any sense of artistic merit in it's use of bright garish colours that boast of the special features contained in the pack. All that is lost in the steelbook feature-wise is the UV copy, which is fine by me as I have found it to be a poor, flawed substitute for a real iTunes digital copy. This steelbook, then, is a worthy collectors piece to celebrate a real feat of film-making, and (when viewed alongside the rest of the trilogy) a series that perhaps represents the peak of Christopher Nolan's career so far - to my mind the greatest living director (with the possible exception of Steven Spielberg). This item comes thoroughly recommended!

First of all, this film was mostly a great watch, the action sequences were first class, the acting was very good, and the villain was suitably menacing. The last 45 minutes go past very quickly, and it was a superbly composed final hour by Nolan. Bales performance as Batman was a little lighter than The Dark Knight with a few more laughs but not many, and Hardys performance as Bane was towering and unsettling. He really was a man mountain in the film. Could I write more praise? Sure, I mean the film score is superb, I bought the soundtrack too and it's fast paced and really well composed and I love it a lot, Catwomans theme is fantastic but the whole score is sensational. I remember seeing this in the Imax in Kingston and it was extraordinary, the action exploded in your face, the sound was deafening but not loud enough to hurt your ears, it was enough to put you right in the heat of the action and I enjoyed the film a lot more because of that. There are downsides in the film, the ending still has me a little confused, I believe it does actually happen but it's hard to see HOW it happened, if you know what I mean. There's no real indication of how it happened, this all sounds very vague but it has to be for fear of spoiling the film for others. The film's probably a little overlong, could have been half an hour shorter and would have been better for it. As for Bane, for such an imposing character, again it's very anticlimatic, and you'll know what I mean there again. We don't see much of Batman at all in the film, he's on screen for maybe half an hour or more, and most of the time it's just Bruce Wayne. Not enough of Banes backstory was shown, how he came to be such a man mountain, how he entered the Lazarus pits, why he was there etc. There's a lot of vagueness in the film, with fill in the blanks moments for us to work out ourselves. Now there's talk of the next film being set in the 1980's focusing on the Justice League or something, I have no idea really. I did enjoy the film but there were a few too many vague moments for me to truly enjoy it to its full potential, and to be honest The Dark Knight was better. But if you haven't seen this yet and own the previous 2 films you'd be a fool not to buy this.

The best Batman trilogy ever.

thank you

They do not make movies like this anymore and they never will again, pure classic deep and moral story telling of sacrifice with pure action. I dislike watching movies, there isn't one modern movie I have forced myself to watch and never fell asleep half way to NEVER come back to it again. Now I am just waiting for the end of the world and for Jesus to come back.

First of all, Nolan has made the greatest trilogy of all time, and while the film probably won't demand repeat viewings like The Dark Knight, it's narrative structure and beautiful photography by Pfister, make this film the superior one in the series. Where the first movie explored fear, and the second movie chaos and anarchy, this film is based on redemption and pain, because as many people have stated, both Bane and Bruce experience pain throughout the movie. And this is what makes Bane an interesting villain, because he is the polar opposite to Batman, but the same, as Nichy once said, 'you stare into the abyss long enough, it will stare back at you'. Bane is Batmans abyss, what he could have become if he had joined the League. Structurally the movie fits in perfectly with the others, and this is what makes this the best trilogy of all. Everyone is dedicated to Nolans vision, from the cast, to the crew, they believe in what he has done, and this makes it better viewing for the audience. The cast are fantastic, and the question of the ending? it's perfect, Wayne has paid his due to Gotham, and Gotham to him, after all it took away his parents, and made him unhinged. But this movie finally, shows him at peace, and the last scene confirms that this epic trilogy is over. It's sad to think this, Nolan resurrected a franchise that went out of control, and then some, and has managed to give the movie a conclusion, that not only respects the source material, but the movie goer too.