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THE DARK KNIGHT RISES was released 11 years ago this week. The closing part of Christopher Nolan’s trilogy and featuring an all-star cast, the behind the scenes story is as spectacular as the film…
A THREAD
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After the success of The Dark Knight in 2008, Warner Bros wanted Christopher Nolan to complete the trilogy. Nolan hadn’t planned a third film and said "How many good third movies in a franchise can people name?” He said he would do it, but only if he could get a good story.
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When David S. Goyer had penned Batman Begins, he also wrote treatments for two sequels, both of which involved The Joker. Heath Ledger’s tragic death had put paid to The Joker returning. However, by late 2008, Nolan had completed a rough story outline for a third film.
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Needing a break from Batman, Nolan went off to make Inception. WB were always planning for the third Batman movie though, and were keen on The Riddler as the villain, played by Leonardo DiCaprio.
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Nolan told them he wanted a villain completely different to The Joker. Taking elements from Goyer’s original treatment, Nolan his brother, Jonathan Nolan, wrote a script. Bane was the villain. Catwoman was a major character. And it was called The Dark Knight Rises.
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Christian Bale returned as Batman. The film was set 8 years after the events of The Dark Knight, where Bruce Wayne is now a recluse. Bale dyed some of his hair grey, to make Wayne look older and more weathered than in the earlier films.
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There was a new Batsuit too. It was made up of 110 separate pieces and made of a polyester mesh used by the military and professional-level sports manufacturers. The cast was sculpted from a cast of Bale’s head and face so it fit the actor perfectly.
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Nolan chose Bane as the villain as he wanted to present Batman physical challenge he’d not faced yet. Having just worked with Tom Hardy on Inception, he offered him the role. Hardy had such faith in Nolan, he signed on without even reading the script.
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Hardy later said he based his voice for Bane on Bartley Gorman, an Irish traveller who was UK bare-knuckle boxing champion in the 1970s. Hardy said of Bane: "He's brutal, but also incredibly clinical… It's not about fighting, it's about carnage."
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In the comics, Bane is a 6’10” man mountain. Hardy trained in mixed martial arts techniques and gained 30 lbs in muscle. Standing at 5’9”, Hardy also wore lifts to appear taller.
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Nolan went through a more rigorous audition process in casting Catwoman/Selina Kyle. Big names screen tested, reportedly including Natalie Portman, Jessica Biel, Kate Mara, and Blake Lively.
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Anne Hathaway said that during her original audition, she thought she was auditioning to play The Joker’s on/off girlfriend, Harley Quinn. By the time she came back in for her full screen test, there was no doubt who she was meant to be…
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Hathaway later said she was desperate to get the part. When her agent called after her screen test and said he had good news, she screamed “I’m Catwoman!” and ran round the room elated. Her agent said he’d called to let her know that she'd been asked to host the Oscars.
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Luckily, he called back later to tell Hathaway she’d been offered Catwoman too. To prepare for the role, Hathaway worked out 5 days a week on a regimen of exercise, martial arts and dancing. She also did a lot of her own stunts…
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Bob Kane/Bill Finger created Catwoman in the 40s and were inspired by film icon Hedy Lamarr. She was an influence on this Catwoman too. Lamarr said she dressed as a maid, grabbed jewellery and jumped out a window to escape her husband. Catwoman does the same in the film.
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Selina’s relationship with her younger sidekick, Jen, is reminiscent of Kyle’s friendship with Holly in Frank Miller’s Batman: Year One. Chloe Grace Moretz and Jennifer Lawrence both auditioned to play Jen before Juno Temple was cast.
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Having worked with Marion Cotillard on Inception, Noland wanted her as Miranda Tate/Talia al-Ghul. Cotillard was pregnant at the time so Nolan changed shooting schedule to accommodate. She started filming 1 month after giving birth and Nolan described her as "Superwoman".
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Cillian Murphy returned in a cameo as Scarecrow/Jonathan Crane. Having appeared in both previous films as well, Murphy holds the record for the most frequently appearing Batman villain.
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When the film was in pre-production, rumours circulated that Nolan was considering using a mix of CGI and unused footage from The Dark Knight to allow The Joker to appear. Nolan said this would not happen out of respect for Heath Ledger. The Joker isn’t even mentioned.
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Nolan has said that where the theme of Batman Begins is fear, and the theme of The Dark Knight is chaos, the theme of The Dark Knight is pain. This goes some way to explaining the inclusion of Bane as the villain.
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Comic books were a major influence. Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns sees an aged Bruce Wayne take up the mantle again. In the No Man’s Land series, Gotham is cut off from the rest of the US. And in Doug Moench’s Knightfall, Bane breaks Batman’s back.
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When Batman shows up again for the first time, an older cop tells his younger partner to "sit back, you're in for a show". This moment is also taken from The Dark Knight Returns.
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When Catwoman disappears from the roof, Batman says "So that's what that feels like". This is taken from Mark Waid’s Kingdom Come, where he says that to Superman.
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Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities was an influence too in its exploration of revolution and class conflict. We see Bane finger knitting in scenes, a nod to Dickens’ Madame Defarge. And the eulogy delivered by Gordon at Wayne’s funeral, he reads from Dickens’ novel.
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Wally Pfister returned from the first two films as DP. Like The Dark Knight, a lot of the movie was shot on IMAX camera – 1hr 12mins this time. Also like the previous film, they destroyed an IMAX camera. It was smashed when a stunt rider drove the batpod into it.
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Lindy Hemming was back as costume designer. She said it took 2 years to design Bane's coat. She was inspired by a Swedish Army jacket and a French Revolution frock coat, the intention being to make Bane look equal parts dictatorial and revolutionary.
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Production designer Nathan Crowley was tasked with creating the Batwing. He based it on military designs, including the Harrier Jump Jet, Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey, and the Boeing AH-64 Apache.
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Two Batwings were constructed: one to be stationary and one to ‘fly’. To make the Batwing fly, it was supported by wires, cranes and helicopters, and mounted on a custom-made vehicle with hydraulic controls to replicate the movement of aircraft.
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Nolan offered James Newton Howard the chance to return as co-composer with Hans Zimmer, but he declined. Zimmer collected recordings of chanting to use throughout the score. Bane's theme is a chant of the term "deshi basara", Moroccan for "rise".
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The film was shot mostly in Pittsburgh. Producer Emma Thomas said this was to emphasise Gotham's huge size and scale. And also because they "shot every inch" in Chicago, where the previous two movies were filmed. It was shot under the title Magnus Rex.
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During production, a Pittsburgh man was reportedly arrested for attempting to steal a police car. He claimed to be an actor filming a scene for the movie. A local newspaper went with the headline "Like Batman, car thief's story does not fly."
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In each film of the trilogy, Nolan foreshadows what is to come with the first shot. Here we see the Bat symbol made up of cracking ice. This symbolises Bane breaking Batman as well as the Kangaroo Court’s icy river walk punishment.
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The film’s opening plane hijacking is as spectacular as it gets. It was filmed with a real plane, and the plane was really dropped from the sky. They filmed it over 2 days in a remote part of Scotland and it was planned to the smallest detail for months in advance.
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There is a recurring visual theme of masks. As well as Batman, Catwoman and Bane wear masks. We see a collection of African masks in Wayne Manor, and Miranda Tate holds an expensive masquerade party.
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Nolan hints at Miranda’s identity. She tells Bruce "Invest to restore balance to the world" and later to "do what is necessary." In Begins, Ra’s al Ghul says he wants to “restore balance to the world” and criticises Bruce for not having courage "to do what is necessary."
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Before Bane and Batman’s first fight, Bane’s footsteps are huge and loud, where Batman’s make hardly a sound. Nolan ramped this up and down in the sound design intentionally to contrast the two fighter’s styles.
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One of the film’s most famous lines is Bane’s response to the singer at the football game, below. It was ad-libbed on set by Hardy.
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The NFL game was shot at the Pittsbugh Steelers’ Heinz Field and many of the players were Steelers players including Hines Ward, Ben Roethlisberger, Troy Polamalu and Willie Colon. Former coach Bill Cowher played the coach and Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl a kicker.
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Nolan hired 10000 extras and had them all heavy winter clothing. The scenes were shot during a huge heat wave across the East Coast in summer 2011 so it was pretty uncomfortable.
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The Lazarus Pit scenes were filmed on a set and also on location in India. In the days leading up, the U.S. military killed Osama bin Laden. Nolan’s plan was to fly helicopters for some epic aerial shots but after the military mobilisation, permission was rescinded.
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In the climactic battle, Hardy was throwing punches for fun. He said "Bane is looking for Batman, and has 6 or 7 contacts with police… When we shot it the first time, there were so many police I didn't know which 7 I was supposed to hit! So I was just hitting anybody."
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Matthew Modine plays Police Chief Foley. His death was originally pretty graphic as he was run over by Talia driving the Tumbler. Nolan was concerned it would get the film a NC-17 rating so edited it to have Foley filled off-screen instead.
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Nolan was concerned about the ending of the film and Bruce’s funeral being leaked so had a tombstone mocked up that said ‘Miranda Tate’. He also had Bale on set so he would appear on the call sheet and appear in any press shots.
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In the scene where the clerk reveals Blake's (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) real name, the name Robin was dubbed-in during post to keep it a secret from all of the crew on the set, including JGL.
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Some have called the scene in the restaurant ambiguous – a fantasy dream of Alfred’s. Michael Caine wasn’t having it and said "They were there. They were real. There was no imagination. They were real and he was with the cat lady.”
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When the 6-minute prologue for the film released in 2011, audiences complained that they couldn’t hear anything Bane was saying. As a result, WB reportedly had Nolan amend the sound mixing. Though Nolan would only go so far with it, you can hear changes...
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The film was a huge success. On a budget of $250-300m, it grossed over $1bn at the box office. Today, The Dark Knight trilogy is acclaimed as among the all-time great trilogies.
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