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.
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In the chasing scene where the Peterbilt truck hits a swat van, the truck's right front light is damaged. In the next scene, the light seems to be undamaged and then, damaged again. See more...
The Dark Knight (2008) - 27 trivia entries
Directed by Christopher Nolan, starring Aaron Eckhart, Christian Bale, Cillian Murphy, Eric Roberts, Gary Oldman, Heath Ledger, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman (add more)
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.
This was the first film since The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King to remain #1 at the American box office for four consecutive weeks. It was finally knocked out of the top spot by Ben Stiller's Tropic Thunder.
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.]
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.
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.
Heath Ledger found inspiration for his portrayal of the Joker from Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious, among other sources. Gary Oldman (who plays Commissioner Gordon in the film) played Vicious in the biopic Sid and Nancy.
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
During the car chase, just before diverting underground, the swat van passes the burning fire truck. In front of it lays what appears to be debris from the vehicle, but pausing during the scene it becomes clear the fire truck is only on fire, not blown up. The 'debris' on fire appears to be burning fabric, i.e. the firefighters.
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