Rating: PG-13 (intense sequences of violence and some menace)
Length: 153 minutes

Widescreen 2.40:1 Color (Non-Anamorphic 1080p)

ENGLISH: Dolby TrueHD 5.1
ENGLISH: Dolby Digital 5.1
ENGLISH: Dolby Digital 2.0
FRENCH: Dolby Digital 5.1
SPANISH: Dolby Digital 5.1

English, French, Spanish

Gotham City is under attack by a strange individual with a warped sense of humor. He decides to steal from the Mob so he can then rule them. Needless to say, Batman isn't real happy with what he's been up to and is still trying to figure out who he can trust in the corrupt city. Let the fun begin!

This movie lasts over 2.5 hours and it manages to keep your attention the entire time. The storyline is captivating, the picture and sound are stunning and all the acting is superb! After Heath Ledger's untimely death, his performance has gotten most of the attention. He did steal the show, you wouldn't even recognize him if you didn't know he was the joker, but everyone else also turned in outstanding performances. Many of the same key actors returned (Bale, Caine, Freeman) with the exception of Katie Holmes who was replaced by the very lovely and talented Maggie Gyllenhaal. And I do hope the ending means there will be more Batman fun in the future!

I only have three gripes with this release. First, with the obvious lack of serious extras it's fairly apparent that we can expect Warner Brothers to release this movie again with tons of extras; I really hate when the industry use their cash cows as a way to get us to double-dip. My second gripe is less serious but for people with large dvd collections it's still a pain; the title itself. If, like me, you keep your collection alphabetized, this movie will not be with the other Batman movies released previously. I know, a petty complaint but a valid one nonetheless. Last, but not necessarily least, is Batman's voice. What were they thinking?

• Focus Points During the Movie
• "Batman Tech" Featurette
• "Batman Unmasked - The Psychology of the Dark Knight" Featurette
• "Gotham Tonight" Featurette
• Art Galleries
• TV Spots
• Theatrical Trailers

I try not to let extras influence my rating very often but it did in this instance. When the unannounced TRUE special edition comes out next year, it will get a five. This should be on the shelf of every action movie fan and we'll just have to double-dip in the future. It's worth it even though it is annoying. This is simply a great film!

Christopher Nolan   [Batman Begins, Insomnia, Memento, The Prestige]

Christian Bale - Bruce Wayne / Batman

[American Psycho, Batman Begins, Equilibrium, The Prestige, Reign of Fire, Shaft (2000), Swing Kids]

Michael Caine - Alfred Pennyworth

[A Bridge Too Far, Batman Begins, The Battle of Britain, Dressed to Kill, The Eagle Has Landed, The Prestige, The Quiet American, Secondhand Lions, Zulu]

Nestor Carbonell - Mayor Anthony Garcia

Ritchie Coster - The Chechen

Monique Curnen - Det. Anna Ramirez

Ron Dean - Detective Wuertz

[The Breakfast Club, The Fugitive]

Aaron Eckhart - Harvey Dent / Two-Face

[The Core, The Missing, Paycheck, Suspect Zero]

Morgan Freeman - Lucius Fox

[Amistad, Batman Begins, Deep Impact, Dreamcatcher, Glory, Lucky # Slevin, Outbreak, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Se7en, The Shawshank Redemption, The Sum of All Fears, Unforgiven, Wanted]

Maggie Gyllenhaal - Rachel Dawes

[Donnie Darko, Secretary]

Anthony Michael Hall - Mike Engel

[The Breakfast Club, Edward Scissorhands, Vacation, Weird Science]

Chin Han - Lau

Heath Ledger - The Joker

[The Brothers Grimm, A Knight's Tale, Monster's Ball, The Order, The Patriot]

Cillian Murphy - Scarecrow

[28 Days Later, Batman Begins, Sunshine]

Gary Oldman - James Gordon

[Batman Begins, Bram Stroker's Dracula, The Fifth Element, Hannibal, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, JFK, Léon, Lost in Space, True Romance]

Eric Roberts - Salvatore Maroni

[DOA: Dead or Alive, The Odyssey]