Twenty Minute Video Dissects The Dark Knight's "Nonsensical" Chase Sequence!

Twenty Minute Video Dissects The Dark Knight's "Nonsensical" Chase Sequence!

Jim Emerson presents this in-depth and revealing critique of The Dark Knight's pivotal chase sequence, claiming that it's "sloppy, random, incomprehensible and indefensible"...

News
By JoshWilding - Sep 13, 2011 03:09 PM EST
Filed Under: Batman
Source: Press Play

Over at indieWIRE, Jim Emerson has put together this fascinating dissection of The Dark Knight's impressive chase sequence. While I didn't notice any major faults with what was in my opinion a thrilling piece of movie making, this video is not kind to fan favorite Christopher Nolan's critically acclaimed movie.

This essay takes a long, hard look at roughly the first half of the big car and truck chase sequence from Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight," set on the lower level streets by the Chicago River. It stops, starts, reverses, repeats, slows down... taking the sequence apart (and putting it back together) shot by shot. The idea is to look at it the way an editor would--but also as a moviegoer does. We notice lapses in visual logic whether our brains register them consciously or not. I found this sequence utterly baffling the first time I saw it, and every subsequent time. At last, I now know exactly why.




STARRING:

Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman
Michael Caine as Alfred
Gary Oldman as Commissioner Jim Gordon
Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox
Tom Hardy as Bane
Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle/Catwoman
Joseph Gordon-Levitt as John Blake
Marion Cotillard as Miranda Tate
Josh Pence as Ra's Al Ghul

RELEASE DATE: July 20th, 2012






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Supes17
Supes17 - 9/13/2011, 3:13 PM
This guy seriously needs to get a life -_-
It's just a movie, who the [frick] "dissects" a famous action scene and
takes the fun out of it? smh
I saw this shit on IMAX and walked out like O_O
SHHH
SHHH - 9/13/2011, 3:16 PM
Hey This Is For Mr. Emerson ;)
Supes17
Supes17 - 9/13/2011, 3:21 PM
I honestly don't think this should be on main. Oh well
TheAmazingSpiderMan47
TheAmazingSpiderMan47 - 9/13/2011, 3:23 PM
sorry sir, im gonna have to take your movie watching privilages, no im sorry you're too much of a douch cake
Spidey91
Spidey91 - 9/13/2011, 3:24 PM
this guy is going to receive so many death threats :P
OdinsBeard
OdinsBeard - 9/13/2011, 3:29 PM
Gotham isn't a real city - i really don't care if the streets don't make sense. it's a fictional city.

things blew up, trucks did flips, batman looked awesome. money well spent.
TheAmazingSpiderMan47
TheAmazingSpiderMan47 - 9/13/2011, 3:29 PM
thank god this guy didnt edit TDK
MarkV
MarkV - 9/13/2011, 3:31 PM
Nerds have horrible instincts for films. Give thanks that Nolan isn't a bitter little nerd like this sad sack.
jazzman
jazzman - 9/13/2011, 3:31 PM
this guy is a dick is he going to nitpick every damn movie like that.
batmanrises
batmanrises - 9/13/2011, 3:32 PM
*burp*

You can take a magnifying glass to anything and find flaws.
ManOfKrypton
ManOfKrypton - 9/13/2011, 3:32 PM
I think this dude really needs to get a life, I don't need to see somebody ruin one of my favourite scenes in this film by pointing out all the flaws. Really slow news today.
StarkRaving
StarkRaving - 9/13/2011, 3:36 PM
I think The Dark Knight was a fantastic movie, but I found Emerson's video to be very educational and made some valid points. You guys need to lay off the Kool-aid, and serious, people like us who go to websites like this shouldn't be telling others to "get a life."
bailey90
bailey90 - 9/13/2011, 3:37 PM
his parents must be so dissapointed
PaulRom
PaulRom - 9/13/2011, 3:37 PM
Lame.
And for those wondering, it isn't really a slow news day. Tons of Avengers/Thor stuff. But I agree, I don't think this is main worthy.
headlopper
headlopper - 9/13/2011, 3:38 PM
...and then it comes out in 2012, makes billions, many millions of people see it, and becomes one of the biggest CBM's of all time. His comments are moot: No one really knows what will be in the final edit except the people making the film. This guy needs to shut up- he's a tool.
Spidey91
Spidey91 - 9/13/2011, 3:39 PM
@StarkRaving
"people like us who go to websites like this shouldn't be telling others to 'get a life' "

sadly,you got a point good sir
OdinsBeard
OdinsBeard - 9/13/2011, 3:42 PM
"hey look at me! i went to film school! i know all the rules! but for some reason i don't make films... i hate the hollywood film industry while secretly wishing i could take advantage of it and be a working film maker! but for now i'll play monday morning quarter back and laugh at all the idiots!"
MaddMonkk
MaddMonkk - 9/13/2011, 3:43 PM
This guy obviously didn't get it. Harvey was sitting to the right of the screen and the guard was on the left of the screen making it seem that each of them was near the back doors.Harvey was on the right side in the back just as he sat . The guard was sitting on the left in the back. idiot.
marvel72
marvel72 - 9/13/2011, 3:43 PM
i think its a good film but people can dissect any movie they want.
SpideyDude
SpideyDude - 9/13/2011, 3:43 PM
why are people saying you shouldnt dissect stuff like this? people dissect films all the time!
GothamKnight
GothamKnight - 9/13/2011, 3:44 PM
I like how the guy no one has ever heard of decides to rip Chris Nolan, Wally Pfister, and Lee Smith. Oh, by the way, all three have either won or been nominated for Academy Awards.
Ironnick
Ironnick - 9/13/2011, 3:47 PM
this guy is completely full of crap.
AC1
AC1 - 9/13/2011, 3:48 PM
Funny, I was gunna say his critique of the chase scene was also "sloppy, random, incomprehensible and indefensible".

I only noticed two continuity errors in that scene: The disappearing van, and the odd flips the Tumbler does as it explodes (it's about to land upside down, then cuts away, only to cut back with it the right way up).

Most of what he was saying was just incoherent, convoluted bullshit. He was just trying to sound smart. And why was he whining about which side of the van Harvey was sitting on so much?! People can get up and switch seats you know! and who cares which end of the van is which? Just watch the damn movie and shut up!
OdinsBeard
OdinsBeard - 9/13/2011, 3:51 PM
spideydude@ i see you're point, but I think its just a little bothersome that someone would take out this much time and come up with all of this, edit it together, and publish it all to bring a negative connotation to something almost universally loved. You're absolutley right, people should do this in order to learn more about film. but this just feels like "hey, this thing that you all think is really cool actually isn't and here's why...i don't respect this movie... but i've seen it 1000 times" i mean at the end of the day movies are an art form so this is just this guy's opinion vs the opinion of chris nolans team. and after all the effort put into making this video im sure if this guy ever did run into chris nolan somewhere this would be the last thing he would think about bringing up after bowing down and licking his balls.
TheShakeBake
TheShakeBake - 9/13/2011, 3:51 PM
Honestly i always thought how the hell the Joker's truck T bones the SWAT car without all the other vehicles running into the back of the truck, but instantly forgot because well action is happening lol
gamecreatorjj
gamecreatorjj - 9/13/2011, 3:52 PM
wow, and i thought i over analyzed films, i understand what he is doing, but most of the points he makes are out of assumption
imnotahero
imnotahero - 9/13/2011, 3:53 PM
I get where hes coming from but none of the stuff is distracting or confusing. The only weird thing is when cars disappear.
BarackObama
BarackObama - 9/13/2011, 3:56 PM
Well however may make my fellow Americans, this guy still makes some good points.
PaulRom
PaulRom - 9/13/2011, 3:56 PM
Stuff like this also encourages the anti-DC stuff to continue. Many DC haters wipe their ass with this film regardless of how good it is. "Heath Ledger won an Oscar because he died". "Wearing a Batsuit isn't realistic". "Ledger's Joker wasn't like the comics' version". I can go on, but most complaints have little to do with the story itself and merely just nitpicking. Or it's just some Marvelite trying to find something wrong with a real masterpiece.
RyanLantern77
RyanLantern77 - 9/13/2011, 3:57 PM
Guess you have to use your useless film degree for something.
Fogs
Fogs - 9/13/2011, 3:57 PM
The only part he was really relevant was when the swat van falls into the water... and even then we don't know if the van made a 180 degrees turn when hit by the truck.

But this video is so stupid and picky... these 20 minutes I've just lost will never return.

And this guy probably thinks he's a genius or something. Dickhead.
jarel93
jarel93 - 9/13/2011, 3:59 PM
Don't agree with anything this guy said. If he knows how it should be done, how come he isn't the one being hired by these studios to do the dirty work? It's incomprehensible to critique the masters if you aren't one.
Fogs
Fogs - 9/13/2011, 4:02 PM
@PaulRom - calling the guy a "marvelite" doesn't help either :P

I, for example, have my issues with Nolan's Batman but none regarding his filmmaking, which I think is simply fantastic. It's his approach to the classic Batman character what I believe could be improved.

It's a great movie anyway.
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