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You MUST Watch The Dark Knight's IMAX Short Film on I Am Legend
by Alex Billington
December 12, 2007
I have never in my life felt this excited after watching just a trailer. I'm a fanboy and I get excited for a lot of things, but the IMAX 7-minute short preview that Christopher Nolan made and is playing in front of I Am Legend is incredible. Dare I say it may even better than I Am Legend on a whole, or at least is worth sneaking into I Am Legend multiple times just to watch it over and over. And in other news, I Am Legend has been approved to play at midnight on Thursday night, so check your local theater listings, as that when you'll want to catch both the Dark Knight short on IMAX and I Am Legend. Though the short film is playing in front of ALL IMAX showings, not just the midnight.
I know we've been covering The Dark Knight excessively recently and I know you've all probably read the description of the short film anyway, but I couldn't live without writing about my own excitement. If you're unaware of what's going on, here's the breakdown.
Director Christopher Nolan has put together a 6-to-7 minute short film shot entirely on IMAX cameras that is playing exclusively in front of I Am Legend on IMAX screens. The short is a prologue to The Dark Knight and shows the Joker (played by Heath Ledger) robbing one of Gotham City's banks. The one-and-only William Fichtner has a great cameo in this short, too. It also features a few clips from the movie in trailer format, including of Detective Gordon breaking their Batman signal light with an axe and Batman riding his new BatPod through the city.
I literally had shivers down my spine the entire time. First things first, the visual quality was phenomenal. I'll admit, I hate watching 35mm movies converted to IMAX, as they just don't look as good on the giant screen, in fact they usually look like shit. The Dark Knight is the first movie in Hollywood history to use actual IMAX cameras to film. The difference is that IMAX film is 70mm versus 35mm in size and the cameras are much bigger and much heavier. Knowing how much I hate watching anything on IMAX, this is the first time in my life I was ever blown away by the visual and aural quality of the footage. It looked beautiful. "Good" doesn't cut it, this looked stunning. I have never said that before about anything in IMAX, not even Beowulf, but this time I am. Now I really can't wait to see the rest of the scenes that were shot on IMAX.
As for the rest of it, when I say I got shivers, it's true. Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard's awesome Batman theme was playing and this sweeping camera shot of Batman standing on the edge of a building came up and I almost screamed out loud with excitement. This is going to be THE movie of 2008, hands down. Not only is the footage going to look absolutely gorgeous, thanks to Nolan shooting on IMAX cameras, but the movie itself and Heath Ledger as Joker is all going to be amazing.
That said, everyone MUST go watch this short film in front of I Am Legend! You CANNOT see this online, you CANNOT see this in regular theaters, you MUST watch it in IMAX. I don't care if you have to drive 2 hours or more to find the nearest IMAX screen - do it! You will not regret it one bit. What you'll see may just change your life forever, like it nearly did for me. The Dark Knight is going to be the movie to see in 2008 and I cannot wait.
23 Comments
1
Thats badass but hey Alex I am not goign tot be able to make it to the midnight but we are going to the 11:45 showing on Friday... and when I call the theater about trailers they are completely incompetent, Like when I called about the Cloverfield trialer.. "Ummm we don't know what trailers are playing" and I was liek "Bullshit... don't lie to me!" *click*. So yeah is it every showing of the Imax version with it or just the Midnight?
CSpuppydog on Dec 12, 2007
2
AAAAAAAHHHHHHH I'm so excited!!!! I can't wait till thursday!! its gunna be my first midnight with you guys in a looooong time 🙂
ha1rball on Dec 12, 2007
4
5
Well... fuck... I will try to go... I usually try to go to you guy's things but I don't know if I can school and all... but i will try.
CSpuppydog on Dec 12, 2007
6
7
Well you have a point... I will see... maybe a random snow day... that would be badass.
CSpuppydog on Dec 12, 2007
8
Alex , I just want to make sure that you realize that it is actually the first 7 minutes of the movie?
Stephen on Dec 12, 2007
9
Alex the only scene that was filmed with the IMAX is where Chris Nolan introduces Joker in the movie.
Jon on Dec 12, 2007
10
So did batman's new suit look good on imax because from what i've seen with the costume I'm not sure whether I like it or not. Sometimes pics don't give the movie justice but in action it's way better. The only problem I have with the new costume is the neck part. It makes his head look huge but at least he move his head now
Bruce on Dec 12, 2007
11
This isn't the first 7 minutes of the movie, it's actually gonna be separate. I believe they confirmed that it is it's own short film.
Bruce on Dec 12, 2007
12
The closest IMAX screen to me showing it is Lincoln Square in New York city. Its 15 bucks a ticket to get into it. And I have to take 2 trains to get there, thats 30 bucks for me and my one friend to get there and back. So thats 60 dollars total, to see a movie. F*** this exclusive IMAX bullshit. I can tell you right now I'm seeing I Am Legend at my local theater, and then downloading this Dark Knight trailer on Saturday night, someone will cell phone record it. If they're going to be doing this exclusive IMAX bullshit so often now, then they need to build a lot f****n more of them.
Mike on Dec 12, 2007
13
Thanks for the "review". I haven't got to see it yet but from what I have heard it's really cool. I think you forgot to mention if I AM LEGEND is any good, ha ha! On YouTube there's a very neat mini-documentry on them using the IMAX camera. You should check that out. Thanx, Tommy
Tommy on Dec 12, 2007
14
Great, I would need to get on a plane first and fly all the way to the US to watch this. Lets see 15 bucks for the IMAX ticket plus 600 bucks for the plane ticket and an additional 40 bucks for a new passport. Well ... what the heck, I am coming over 😉
Markus on Dec 12, 2007
15
I want to see it so bad!!!!!!!!! Batman is my favorite superhero! I guess I need to see it on Youtube or somewhere. That sucks.
Ryan on Dec 13, 2007
16
To be quite honest the regular trailer is better than the prologue. Is the prologue gonna be separate to the actual movie? I hope so because it's better that way. It didn't feel like six minutes at all. It felt more like 3 minutes. No joke.
Franklin on Dec 14, 2007
17
does anybody know where i can find this new trailer/short film on the internet? i dont have an imax anywhere near me and i need to see this.
tom on Dec 14, 2007
18
i saw i am legend tonight (friday) and im not sure wether i saw it in imax or not because it didnt say imax on the showtimes but it said imax in the theater and there was a trailer for the dark night and im not sure its this or not im completely confused on if there are two different trailers out or if this is the one i saw (UPDATE PLEASE) thanks
casey on Dec 15, 2007
19
IMAX film is 70mm, but I agree with your opinions on the movie and the IMAX footage. Just wanted to inform you on the actuals.
Mike on Dec 15, 2007
20
Tattered Hoody has arrived with a goody. Wouldn't you rather the IMAX experience ? If so, follow me. Give my name a click. You'll be glad you did. That which does not kill you only makes you stranger. GooTube
Tattered Hoody on Dec 16, 2007
21
Just wanted to confirm that four separate key scenes were shot in IMAX, not just the Joker's introduction. And I believe the prologue shown before I Am Legend (every bit as badass as described here) is indeed the first 6 minutes of the film, allowing everyone to see it in July. Oh, and there is an official trailer at "www.thedarkknightmovie.com" (I think that's right). Hope that helps!
Adam on Jan 3, 2008
22
This short film is flawless. There were no production company logos or anything. It just rolled into this movie and you thought you were watching just some trailer for an awesome bank heist movie. Then halfway through you realize this is a Batman movie and it just the most exciting thing ever. Awesome.
Ryan Conaty on Jan 7, 2008
23
YEAAAAA i saw it a couple of days ago and it was amazing, i cant even describe the feeling hahah
kinzie on Mar 18, 2008
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