Format:Box Set, Pal Languages:English (Original Language), French (Original Language), Spanish (Original Language), German (Original Language), Italian (Original Language) Rating:Suitable for 12 years and over Media:Blu-ray Region:2 Aspect Ratio:2.40:1 Number Of Discs:3 Running Time:293 Minutes Shipping Weight (lbs):0.4 Dimensions (in):6.9 x 5.4 x 1.3
Two of the best superhero films of recents timesJanuary 2, 2009 brainleek007(Manchester, UK) This is a very strong double pack. Christopher Nolan has done a stellar job with the reboot of this franchise.
Batman, over the years has taken a fair old flogging as a franchise. I used to love the cheesy TV show when I was a kid and was completely thrilled with Tim Burton's two Batman films which are still up there in my reckoning, the first one being particularly outstanding. Then we had the shocking efforts of Joel Schumacher on Batman & Robin and Batman Forever which upped the 'camp' to ridiculous levels . Schumacher is either on it with the likes of 'Falling Down' and 'The Lost Boys' or way off the mark. Anyway Back to Batman!
Now comes Christopher Nolan with these masterful re-imaginings. At first I was not overley impressed with Batman Begins. It didn't grab me in the least and yet almost against my will I bought the dvd version on a whim. I watched it again and was blown away. What Nolan has done with this franchise is make it so much more believable. I've rarely seen a character depicted with such drive in a film as Bruce Wayne. However, the story is told so well you absolutely know where all this energy is coming from as it pushes Bruce Wayne to become Batman and attempt to somehow redress the balance in Gotham City.
Using his trademark flashbacks Nolan superbly fills in all the backstory to the young Bruce Wayne as he is being trained by 'Ducard' (Liam Neeson) under the pretense of working for Ra'a al Ghul and shows the viewers how a pre-batman Wayne received most of his training. I love this element of the film. After being asked to execute a man and refusing, Bruce has to escape his master and the league of shadows to stay true to what he believes in and save his own life.
The disc in this pack is pretty good. Not up to the standard of the Dark Knight but it's a definite big step up from DVD. The general consensus is that this disc is a straight copy of the HD-DVD version and as such uses less bandwidth (Average around 20mbps) for the video than regular high-end Bluray releases. It's consistently around 8-12mbps a second lower than the Dark Knight's data rate which average around the high 20's to low 30's and peaks right up into the high 40's when things get busy - numbers HD-DVD could only dream about (thank god the better format won this time). Anyway, it's not a bad transfer just not as good as it could be. No doubt a remastered Bluray specific edit will show up and I'll definitely buy it. This will certainly suffice in the meantime.
Both discs have lossless Dolby TruHD soundtracks so that's good.
The Dark knight moves the story on superbly from the first film. I've posted a separate review of that film so check it out. Suffice to say I think the Dark Knight is the best superhero film I've seen by a long way (Spiderman can't compete, X-men can't compete, the Superman re-boot can't compete). It simply trounces everything with excellent pacing, Heath Ledger of course, great gadgets, story development, believability and great twists.
This is a great pack containing two of the best superhero films and is highly recommended.
Undisputed ClassicsDecember 29, 2008 Stevie G(Manchester, England) 3 out of 5 found this review helpful
Christopher Nolan's dark re-boot of the Batman franchise is better than anyone could have expected. After all, the last film before Begins was the shockingly abysmal Batman & Robin. Unsurprisingly, Begins is an origins story, with the campness nowhere in sight.
And even with the mountain of hype surrounding the recent Dark Knight, Nolan manages to meet, and in most cases exceed these expectations. Film of the year, and for my money the greatest superhero movie of all time. Much has been said about Heath Ledgers performance, and with good reason. He gives a truly haunting performance as The Joker. Whether its awarded an Oscar remains to be seen, but will be remembered for a very long time.
On Blu Ray these films are superb. Theres a phenomenal level of detail, even by HD standards. In addition, theres a fanatical amount of extras/ making of's / documentaries etc. Anyone interested in this sort of thing will be kept busy for a while.
De la BOMBE !!!!!!!!!!!!December 27, 2008 DEPHREY(Paris, FRANCE) 0 out of 2 found this review helpful
2 films d'une qualite incroyable, tout simplement les meilleurs films tire des comics !!!!!! Les films ont une piste francaise (non quebecoise), et les bonus sont sous-titre en francais. Bref que du bon, pour le prix, ya vraiment pas a hesite! Faites chauffer la carte bleu ;)
The 2 Batman Movies That MatterDecember 15, 2008 Sabina 6 out of 7 found this review helpful
I loved Batman Begins, even though I am not a big fan of the older Batman movies. So, I was looking forward to the Dark Knight, though I felt it couldn't be better than the previous movie (Batman Begins).
I wouldn't compare them and say which is better or worse, but I will say that they are two impressive movies. The Dark Knight doesn't have the mystical touch that Batman Begins has, and it seems to be just an action comic-book movie in the beginning. However, it proves to be much more than just that as all the pieces fall into place. There is a consequent theme throughout, which might not be obvious right away.
It was a strange experience, well worth the invested time. The cast is outstanding, and Christian Bale is incredible, as usual. Heath Ledger gave his performance of a lifetime... truly. Michael Caine is magical, even though he is much less prominent in the Dark Knight than he was in Batman Begins. His role in Batman Begins was superb.
All in all, this is a great package, worth 5 stars, full of extras that I haven't watched yet, but am leaving as a separate pleasure for another evening.
Audio track in Castilian Spanish tooDecember 12, 2008 jjaviroquai(Spain) 11 out of 12 found this review helpful
Just to inform, those Blu Rays has too the audio track in CASTILIAN SPANISH, BRAZILIAN PORTUGUES, FRENCH, ITALIAN and GERMAN. And you can see too all the extras with subtitles in those languages.
Both films have extraodinary and fantastic extras, and specially the movie The Dark Knight is one of the best of the last decade.
![The Dark Knight / Batman Begins (Double Pack) [Blu-ray] [2005]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51F0o9ghNOL._SL160_.jpg)
