The Dark Knight

Trivia: To prepare for his role as the Joker, Heath Ledger lived alone in a hotel room for a month, formulating the character's psychology, posture and voice (the last one he found most difficult to do). He started a diary, in which he wrote the Joker's thoughts and feelings to guide himself during his performance. He was also given Alan Moore's comic "Batman: The Killing Joke" and "Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth" to read. Ledger also took inspiration from Alex in A Clockwork Orange (1971) and Sid Vicious.

Trivia: Off-duty Chicago Police Officers along with Officers from Elyria OH, Hammond IN, Buffalo Grove IL and Joliet IL played Gotham Police officer extras.

Trivia: The tall building overlooking Gotham City that Batman perches himself on while deep in thought is actually the Sears Tower in Chicago (mentioned in making-of TV special), where most of the film was shot on-location.

Trivia: Because of a ruling shortly before the Academy Awards ceremony, Heath Ledger's daughter Matilda will gain possession of his Oscar statuette on her 18th birthday in 2023.

Cubs Fan

Trivia: The opening bank heist was partly inspired by the climactic bank heist in Michael Mann's thriller Heat. Coincidentally, the Gotham bank manager is played by William Fitchner, who had a supporting role in Heat as an accountant.

Cubs Fan

Trivia: In the restaurant scene, right when it begins with Harvey and Rachel talking, if you look to the bottom right of the screen, Heath Ledger, who is not wearing the Joker makeup, is sitting at a table with someone. [This is up for debate, as it's a strong likeness but not definitively him. Regardless, worth a look.] (00:19:15)

Trivia: In the banquet scene, when the Joker and his troop arrive, the man that the Joker says reminds him of his father is Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont. Senator Leahy is a huge Batman fan and has lent his voice to the animated series and also had another small cameo appearance in Batman and Robin.

Trivia: This marks the second time movie characters adapted from another source have lept off the Two-ifc, the world's third or fourth tallest building, in Hong Kong. (The similar-looking building that Batman enters is the building's shorter and earlier-constructed twin, the One-ifc.) The first was in Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life in which Lara and Terry Sheridan leap off the still-under-construction building to escape their pursuers.

Trivia: The creepy way the Joker sucks at his cheeks was the result of Heath Ledger playing with the makeup they put on him. He did it constantly and the director thought it was so strange looking that they left it in as a character idiosyncrasy.

Trivia: Heath Ledger was given an advanced screening of the opening bank heist scene. That six minute sequence was the only part of the completed film he saw before his death.

Cubs Fan

Trivia: The film was delivered to some theaters under the name "Oliver's Army".

Trivia: Heath Ledger became very attached to his role. He would show up on the set, in full costume, even on the days he wasn't filming.

moviedude345

Trivia: Dwight Yoakam turned down two roles in this movie. Originally he was offered the part of a cop; then he was offered to play a banker who had dealings with the Joker (Heath Ledger). Yoakam passed on both roles because he was working on a Buck Owens tribute album.

Trivia: This was the first Batman film to win an Academy Award in one of the four acting categories.

Cubs Fan

The Dark Knight mistake picture

Continuity mistake: During the interrogation scene, when Batman beats up Joker, Joker's hands are holding Batman's forearms upside down (from underneath). When the frame changes his hands are now on top of Batman's forearms, then it cuts back and his hands are under again. (01:28:00 - 01:29:00)

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The Joker: I believe whatever doesn't kill you, simply makes you... Stranger.

More quotes from The Dark Knight

Question: Just how does Batman's grapple gun work? In Batman Begins, Fox says, 'It's magnetic' so I assume it can attach to anything metal. But the magnet would have to be extremely strong to support the weight of Batman, which begs the question how does it then detach from what he's fired it on? Also, where does he keep all the wire for it, and how does it have the magic ability to wrap its self around the Joker's ankle, when he's been thrown off the building and Batman shoots it at him?

Answer: The gun fires using compressed carbon dioxide as a propellant. The cable is wrapped in a coil around a motorized turbine within the gun. The pulley system in Batman's belt buckle allows him to reel himself in hands-free and still maintain equilibrium. There is a four-pronged grapple at the end of the cable. This is what is magnetized, creating an attraction between it and the monofilament cable. This ensures that the grapple will attach itself to the cable for a secure hold. This is why the magnet itself does not need to be especially strong to support any amount of weight. It also explains the relative ease with which it can be detached and its seemingly "magical" ability to wrap itself around various objects.

Phixius

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