I stand corrected. You are correct, sir.

Blah blah blah. We're not talking about the DVD anymore, so since I voiced my opinion about the disc and the slight branch-off from that topic, I'm moving on.

Great movie, but was quite disapointed with the extra's on the second DVD. Was hoping to see at least some interviews with the actors and even some behind the scenes stuff. Guess there will be another release later?

I agree completely. I have a feeling that WB is holding out on a "Heath was Awesome" special feature in order to see how the Oscars pan out. If he wins (should he be nom'd), that would be a pretty dramatic moment that I'm sure they'd love to include to cap it all off.

I'm curious about the idea that behind the scenes VIDEO may have been kept to a minimum when filming to avoid anything about the Joker's voice and personality leaking out, since there were several still photos and one alternate scene included in the extras. The alternate scene being the interior of the school bus as the hospital explodes behind it, Joker never looking back. The stills would show his appearance, which did leak to a degree, but not the voice or anything else.

Well, first, a reviewer's opinion is his or her own. And different reviewers can say different things about the same product.

Now, when I first looked at the Blu-ray stills at DVDBeaver, I didn't think any of them were particularly grand. I have watched many HD trailers, and the picture has been so beautiful, I have been blown away. I wasn't getting that from the Dark Knight Blu-ray. The color timing is fine. I just thought I detected a slightly murky quality.

But as I've looked at them further, and compared them to stills from other Blu-ray releases, I've realized The Dark Knight looks more or less the same as any other HD presentation.

My issue is that I imagined HD trailers looking cleaner and sharper than the Blu-ray pictures I was seeing, and I was wrong about that. But then, I didn't have the Dark Knight DVD picture for further comparison, either.

--THX

After I saw the TDK DVD upconverted on a 42 in. Samsung LCD TV I knew it was pretty bad to my eyes since the digital artifacting to me was pretty annoying and since the DVD was not mine but a copy I checked out at my local library I decided to purchase the iTunes version because of what I had heard about it and boy was I right. The iTunes version is the IMAX version of the film and comes from the same source as the Blu-ray so I put it on my iPod touch and hooked up the iPod composite video cables to the same 42 in. TV and I actually found it a much more satisfying experience than on the DVD. Since none of the digital artifacting was there that plagued the DVD version I could actually appreciate more the image presented and was fully entertained by it and was amazed at how good it looked on such a big screen so I am happy I bought it plus those IMAX scenes are amazing. If anyone who can't afford the Blu-ray or has not got a Blu-ray player and has the neccessary equipment to output an iTunes version to a television (especially those who don't own HDTV's but just the old school CRT TV's) get the iTunes version.

I wouldn't say I was "surprised" by the shortage of special features, thanks in large part to having already been disappointed by the lack of features on Batman Begins. I'm hopeful that Nolan will do a third Bat-film, and then perhaps later re-visit his Bat-trilogy with commentary tracks.

I don't, and never will, get why so many people are upset over the absence of a Heath Ledger tribute. Based on the box office totals of his filmography, there weren't that many of you who lined up to see his work in the first place; certainly not relative to the number of people who are lining up to say they've been big fans of his all along.

No disrespect to the deceased, but he was one actor in this film, and his death came subsequent to the production of the film. I can understand having a documentary feature on Brandon Lee on The Crow, but this? Was it sad for his family and friends? Of course it was. Was it disappointing for his fans? Sure. Was it something that needed to be given half an hour's attention as a DVD bonus feature for this film? Not in the least.

You're completely missing the point. I didn't care much for the rest of Ledger's filmography. I'm not looking for a career retrospective, and I don't think anyone else is, either. But let's face it - this movie was all about the JOKER. He was the centerpiece of this film, and it was an amazing, iconic character and performance. His performance HERE as Joker deserves a featurette at the very minimum.

Yup. The fact is, his earlier filmography would never lead you to believe he'd even be cast in this type of movie, in this type of role, in the first place. I would also argue that Brandon Lee's resume was weaker and he was even less well known before The Crow, so if Lee, by MinLSaw's statement, is worthy of a mini-doc, Heath should as well. It wouldn't even need to be a full "Heathstory", just some time spent on how he approached the creation of the character, B-T-S video of him while not filming, different takes, etc. It's not that crazy of an idea.

In the context of his performance as the Joker, then, yes, I can see the relevance of a featurette on Ledger. Some others I've heard bring up this issue--and not all of them are even on this forum, much less in this thread--seem to want a documentary on his death and its coverage. That, I continue to find baffling.

THAT, I'll agree, would be completely unnecessary and a bit over-the-top. A simple doc on bringing the Joker to life would suffice, and they can just add an "In Memory Of..." tag on the end of it.

Picked up 2 copies of this film. The regular 2-disc so-called "Special Edition" and the Target 3-disc Mask "Special Edition."

Now here's a question to those of you who love special features like myself.

WTH is wrong with Warner Bros? I know they were really dropping the ball on their DVD releases lately and cranking out shit releases with fluff bonus features, but for your biggest movie of the year, they could have done so much better.

Why couldn't they have produced an extensive making of documentary? If they hired a good DVD producer like David Prior, they could easily have done an extensive 2 hour documentary covering pre-production, principal photography and post production. Instead we get fluff EPK features and IMAX scenes which are pretty much useless for most of us.

Also agree that they could have easily produced a 10-15 minute featurette on Ledger and his contributions to the film.

And what about a commentary from David S. Goyer and Christopher Nolan? Were they too busy?

Mainly, I'm really disappointed that Warner just doesn't seem to give a shit about special features anymore.

Two points: 1) Neither the aforementioned Batman Begins nor The Prestige had a commentary track of any kind, so I suspect Nolan himself is responsible for the absence. 2) Before we go blasting Warner too hard, let's not overlook the onslaught of decked out boxed sets they rolled out this holiday season. I personally would rather have the big she-bang upon initial release, but it appears this is the business model we can look expect for the time being.

Sounds like a great idea, but wouldn't we get the same effect if we do the same thing with the bonus digital copy included with the 2-disc set? I'm watching the bit torrent sites to see if anyone converted the Blu-Ray to a Divx or Xvid file to see if there's an improvement.

Does anyone know if the BLU-RAY THE DARK KNIGHT plays in ALL REGIONS? I am selling one and a buyer in ITALY wants to know if it will play there. Thanks in advance.

--Dorfler

There is an HD subforum. You really oughtta take your questions over there.

Finally watched the entire 2-disc SE over the span of two nights (one for the film, one for the features disc). I confess to not being near the tech junkie many posters are, so I didn't have any particular problem with the look of the DVD save one. There is a shot somewhere in the middle of the film, I believe, of Batman against a blue sky; I clearly saw what I can only describe as "digital rings" for the background. Otherwise, no complaints (though I have no doubt the Blu-ray version is superior, as has been described elsewhere).

I have to say, though, that this is the single most disappointing DVD purchase I can recall making. Even compared only with the 2-discer of "Batman Begins," this is a let-down. Two featurettes--one just of Hans Zimmer letting us know how hard he worked to create the greatest score of all time--are about all there is. The six "Gotham News" segments were interesting, though hardly required viewing. Otherwise, all we got were the IMAX-shot scenes isolated in their OAR (you know, because we all have IMAX screens at home to really appreciate this), three trailers and production stills. What, were they afraid filmographies would overwhelm us?

Actually, I *can* recall the next most disappointing DVD release I've bought--the 2-disc "Casino Royale." I suppose I'll eventually bite and pay to upgrade to the 3-disc of that, and unfortunately, I'll do the same for "The Dark Knight" and Warner Bros. knows it.

The greatest score of all time? I can't even remember it when I walked out the theater. I'm sure the next DARK KNIGHT dvd will have the great extras and transfer with movie cash for the 3rd BATMAN movie .

How about how they came about on the make-up for the Joker.
Heath's thoughts about Ceasar Romero's and Jack Nickelson's performance.
Why Heath choose to do this movie.
And if Heath wins the Oscar that would be a nice bonus to add on the box for the double dip.

A featurette on the history of the portrayal of The Joker would be interesting; I would suggest also interviewing Mark Hamill. (If it helps, "Mask of the Phantasm" had a theatrical release.) Not sure if Ledger's reasons for doing the film are DVD bonus feature-worthy, but at least it would be something.

I keep reading posts where people want him to win the award, and then have something about him winning it added to another DVD release. Firstly, I will never understand why so many fans even care who wins awards--it's not like you're winning them, and chances are you don't even personally know anyone who does. Secondly, I can only think of a handful of DVD's that even address the awards it won beyond a blurb on the insert. Those are "The Wizard of Oz," "Lawrence of Arabia" and things like that.

Is this a precedent we really want to establish? A skimpy DVD release prior to awards season, and a re-release with acceptance speech clips and people fawning over actors? Isn't that what we have E! for?

What a letdown of a movie. Way too long and boring. Gave it a 5 out of 10 on Imdb.

Batman Begins were miles better. Both structure and characterization.

Image quality on the DVD looked find to me. Soundwise it was great.

BTW, mine is Region 3

Ok, I'm really late to this, but I finally had a chance to watch the DVD version last night. It started out pretty good, but as soon as the scene with the scarecrow in the garage came on, it was horrible. I have never had a DVD with such a bad picture. I don't know much about EE, Noise Reduction, etc., but the picture was not good at all. It looked like the image was compressed, if that makes any sense. Do I have a bad copy and I need to return it or is this the problem everyone is talking about? I can't believe the picture can be that bad. It was very annoying to watch.

Every single movie I've watched on DVD over the past two weeks (and that even includes a double-feature on one disc), I've pretty much just sat there yelling at the screen "Even THIS looks better than The Dark Knight!"

You got a bad copy. Mine is clean and clear from beginning to end.

I don't think there's "bad" copies out there. The transfer simply just isn't very good. I too noticed lots of various digital artifacts throughout. Most reviews I've read mention them as well.