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Please make this a continuing feature.

Also, 100% agreed.

One of them, for sure.

Well, duh.

Godfather II wants a word with you. (Granted, I’ve only seen one of those two movies so far.)

No kidding!

Breaking 2: Electric Boogaloo wants a word with you.

The Good, the Bad and The Ugly is your 3:00 appointment.

I agree with ThiefTMA, make this a recurring feature.
There is no such thing as too much Tom Selleck!!!

Better than The Empire Strikes Back? Well, if Magnum P.I. says so I guess it must be true.

That’s great, because the only reason I have not been unreservedly hyped up about this film is my being really underwhelmed by Batman Begins. Thanks for changing my opinion, mustachioed PI!

C’mon, it’s no Empire Strikes Back, and great though it is, it’s not as pop exciting or psychologically challenging as Batman Returns.

Well, I’m the first to say that, while Empire is the greatest of the Star Warses, it’s still not very good, and Dark Knight is almost infinitely better than Batman Returns. I’ve come to appreciate Returns a lot more than I used to over the years, but it’s by no means more psychologically challenging than Dark Knight.

*cough*Godfather II*cough*

Pfft, Selective Selleck is just Declarative Rabbit with slightly less fur and a fake moustache.
You’re not fooling me, rodent!!!

Wait, I don’t remember this “Selleck” creature being in We3.

I much prefer Declarative Rabbit. Having “Selective Selleck” weigh in on anything makes me tend to think you’re being sarcastic. There’s an irony to his image (in this context) that I cannot shake.

Selective Selleck’s function is to provide concise comments that tend to involve choosing one thing over another in a review-like capacity, while dazzling you with his sheer manliness. He rears his chest hair every so often because I don’t have the keys to Declarative Rabbit, and because I think it’s funny.

Wait, I don’t remember this “Selleck” creature being in We3.

Someone doesn’t understand metaphors.

I don’t know if I’d go that far, but it is the best Batman movie ever made by far. It almost makes Batman Returns look like Batman & Robin.

Aliens, Godfather II, Toy Story 2, and Terminator 2 are all awfully great. But The Dark Knight can definitely be spoken of in the same breath as them.

I haven’t seen the new Batman flick & most likely never will (I watch tons of movies & I read tons of comics, but if I want to read a comic I don’t go watch a movie, & for the most part vice-versa), but I have a hard time imagining it could come anywhere near Road Warrior. Which was, you know, the sequel to Mad Max.

“while Empire is the greatest of the Star Warses, it’s still not very good”

If I could give a standing ovation to an online comment about geeky stuff, it would be for this one. Starting with a slow clap, if it’s still possible to do one of those non-sarcastically.

No….that honor belongs to The Godfather Part 2……….followed by The Empire Strikes back.

Totally agree. I’m heading off to see it a fourth time shortly. It’s so much better than ‘Begins’, it’s like they were made by two different people. Or, you know, the same person, with a few more years of experience under his belt and a better cast to work with.

I think Selleck had a senior moment and got confused, writing “The Dark Knight” when he meant “Dawn of the Dead”.

haven’t seen the flick yet, but i’ll take Tom Magnum’s advice any day of the week (although i really love Three Men And A Little Lady)… but seriously, who takes a giant phone to the beach…and is that Robin’s Nest, or the King Kamehahmehah Club?…

(honestly, there’s no theatre in my town…)

No one has mentioned Superman 2. The only superhero film to make the audience feel that the hero was in some sort of danger.

Also, I’m not sure it is fair to compare The Dark Knight with straight sequels. It’s the sixth in the series afterall. It has got to be much harder to come up with something new the sixth time round, than the second.

However if Selective Selleck had said “The Dark Knight’ is the best sixth in the series film ever made”, it would be no less controversial.

Lets see: ‘Halloween 6, The Curse of Michael Myers’, ‘Friday the Thirteenth pt. 6′, ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service’, ‘Rocky Balboa’, ‘Revenge of the Sith and/or Return of the Jedi’. I’m sure there are others, but even this short list throws up a couple of gems.

So how about re-editing Selective Selleck to read, “The Dark Knight’ is the best sixth in the series film ever made, except where James Bond gets married or Rocky goes the distance at 60 years of age”,

I would dare say it´s the greatest super-hero movie EVER. (I was only 2 years old when Superman was released, so i only watched it on TV)

Bernard - Is this the sixth in a series? If we’re including all Bat-movies, shouldn’t we throw in Adam West and make it 7? After all, TDK has no in common with Batman Forever than it does with that. What about Mask of the Phantasm? That was released theatrically. It could be 8.

To me, TDK is very clearly the second in a particular series of Batman movies. It’s not like, when they were developing it, they thought to themselves “Well, we better not do anything Schumacher or Burton or Leslie H. Martinson already did.”

“Bernard - Is this the sixth in a series? If we’re including all Bat-movies, shouldn’t we throw in Adam West and make it 7? After all, TDK has no in common with Batman Forever than it does with that. What about Mask of the Phantasm? That was released theatrically. It could be 8.”

I did consider including Adam West’s film and Phantasm, but felt that they stood outside the series - rather like the first Casino Royale or Never Say Never Again, do to the James Bond series.

The Burton/Schumacher/Nolan films share a common visual style - the costume, vehicles and hardware look much the same. The Gotham City’s other-worldly/cartoony quality is constant throughout these six films, as is Batman’s characterisation.

Now that is not to say that Nolan’s films aren’t greatly superior to the previous four - they are - but they clearly are all part of the same franchise.

By-the-by, if we did count TDK as the eighth in the series, then it would have to stand comparison with ‘Live and Let Die’. Now, Bale and Ledger are great actors, but they really pale beside Roger Moore’s eyebrows.

The costume I’ll give you, but the vehicles? The Batmobile couldn’t possibly be more visually different from Tim Burton’s movies to Nolan’s. And Batman’s characterization? I’ll give you that Keaton and Bale are similar, maybe even Kilmer, but Clooney’s wisecracking Batman is nothing like any of them.

In any case, I realize we could go back and forth about this forever, which would quickly get tedious. But I do think that, if nothing else, the radically different take on The Joker in TDK is a signal that is an entirely different Bat-world than we saw in the 80s and 90s.

I never felt like Superman was particularly in danger in Superman 2, but man was I worried for Batman and pretty much everyone else in existence in TDK. The Joker very convincingly had the ability to just kill anybody there.

“The Gotham City’s other-worldly/cartoony quality is constant throughout these six films”

This I can’t even slightly agree with. The Schumacher Gotham might just be Burton’s with a bunch of neon and florescent paint strewn all over it, but Nolan’s bears no resemblance at all to either, unless the monorail pushes it over into the same “cartoony” realm, which I’m not prepared to grant at all. I’d argue that the urban backdrops are totally different in look and feel, with the name “Gotham” being the only thing in common, unless you count being generally urban.
I’d have to say that “Begins” was a hard enough reboot for me to side with those who want to call this a sequel, not the sixth in the previous series.

Jack Norris is completely right. Nolan’s Gotham City looks nothing like the one from previous Batman films- rather, it looks like an actual, real world city, mainly because most of the movie was shot on location in Chicago.

YOU WILL BELIEVE A BATMAN FLIES

“Well, I’m the first to say that, while Empire is the greatest of the Star Warses, it’s still not very good”

I’m not a Star Wars fan but if you think of Empire as a deconstruction of the heroic myth used in the rest of the series it is particularly clever. Not the greatest thing ever since all of those flaws are still there but clever.

A “downside” to this view is that it makes the rest of the series that much worse particularly Return of the Jedi since it makes a point of throwing away all of that deconstruction for the sake of grabbing at the standard heroic arc again.

As for Dark Knight, give me a year and then I’ll let you know my answer. It’s too soon still.

Well, the Nolan Bat-Flix are certainly better than the earlier ones, but I can’t help but feel somewhat disappointed in them. Main complaints:stupid looking costume. If you want armor, go the whole hog and put in mirrored/white lenses. They do this for about a minute in TDK and it looks great,much more terrifying/effective than eyeholes. That’s why Batman’s eyes are always white in the comics; it looks better.

Second main complaint: Bale’s “growly” Bat-Voice. It doesn’t sound menacing; it sounds like Ethel Merman or something. Much better to dub in the voices they use in Batman TAS or Batman Beyond TAS—now, THAT’S a good Bat-Voice!

Oh, and as for best sequel–don’t think so. It’s not even the best superhero sequel; my vote for that goes to Spider-Man 2!!!

STill and all, TDK is a pretty good movie!

Now that is not to say that Nolan’s films aren’t greatly superior to the previous four - they are - but they clearly are all part of the same franchise.

Come on people, Bernard is obviously just winding everybody up. The crew of Batman Begins was repeatedly saying it had nothing to do with the previous movies in the promotional interviews during that time. it’s not even a discussion.

Better than the New Testament?

Everyone knows the box office of the New Testament was boosted by the death of its star.

I don’t agree that it’s the Best Sequel Ever because Godfather II owns that crown - but yes, Dark Knight is FAR better than The Empire Strikes Back. And it makes Superman II look like The Muppets Take Manhattan.

The Dark Knight is the best superhero film ever made, though. It raised the bar for all other superhero movies.