The Dark Knight

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The Dark Knight is an 2008 American superhero action film sequel to 2005's Batman Begins, based on the comic book character created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger. This time, Batman and Lieutenant James Gordon confront a psychotic terrorist known as "The Joker".

Directed by Christopher Nolan. Written by Christopher Nolan and Jonathan Nolan

Contents

[edit] Dialogue

Bank manager: The criminals in this town used to believe in things. Honor... respect... What do you believe in? What do you believe in?
Joker: I believe…whatever doesn't kill you simply makes you… …stranger.
The Chechen: [points to a man driven insane by the Scarecrow's fear toxin] Look what your drugs did to my customers!
The Scarecrow: Buyer beware. I told you my compound would take you places. I never said they'd be places you wanted to go.
The Chechen: My business... repeat customers...
The Scarecrow: If you don't like what I have to offer, you can buy from someone else. Assuming Batman left anyone to buy from.
Alfred: Know your limits, Master Wayne.
Bruce: Batman has no limits.
Alfred: Well, you do, sir.
Bruce: Well, can't afford to know 'em.
Alfred: And what's gonna happen on the day that you find out?
Bruce: We all know how much you like to say: "I told you so."
Alfred: On that day, Master Wayne, even I won't want to… probably.
Sal Maroni: I thought the DA only played golf with the mayor, things like that.
Harvey Dent: Tee-off's at 1:30. More than enough time to put you away for life... "Sally".
[The mob bosses are assembled together]
Joker: [fake laughter done in a deadpan voice] Ha ha ha ha, hahaha, ha, ha, ha, oh, a-hee-hee, ha ha, oh, hee hee, hee ha, ahaha. [returns to normal voice] And I thought my jokes were bad.
Gambol: Give me one reason why I shouldn't have my boy here pull your head off.
Joker: How 'bout a magic trick? [he slams a pencil into the table, point first] I'm gonna make this pencil disappear.
[Gambol's henchman tries to attack him; in one swift motion the Joker then slams the man's head into the pencil, forcing the entire pencil through his eye socket; the man falls over dead]
Joker: Ta-daa! [looks at where the pencil was with mock surprise] It's-it's gone! And by the way, the suit? It wasn't cheap. You oughta know, you bought it!
Gambol's thug: Someone here to see you. They say they've just killed the Joker. They brought the body.
[Gambol inspects what appears to be the Joker's corpse]
Gambol: Alright, dead? That's five hundred.
[The Joker springs to life, putting a knife in Gambol's mouth]
Joker: How about alive? Do you wanna know how I got these scars? My father was a drinker... and a fiend. And one night, he comes home crazier than usual. Mommy gets the kitchen knife to defend herself. He doesn't like that. Not.. one... bit. So, me watching, he takes the knife to her, laughing while he does it. He turns to me and says, "why so serious?" He comes at me with the knife — "why so serious?" Sticks the blade in my mouth, — "let's put a smile on that face!" And... [turns to Gambol's thugs as he kills Gambol] Why so serious?

[Bruce Wayne and Natascha walk up to Harvey Dent and Rachel Dawes]

Bruce Wayne: Rachel! Fancy that.
Rachel Dawes: [deadpan] Yeah, Bruce. Fancy that.
Bruce Wayne: Rachel, Natascha. Natascha, Rachel.
Rachel Dawes: Natascha... aren't you the...
Bruce Wayne: ...Prime ballerina for the Moscow Ballet.
Rachel Dawes: Wow. Harvey's taking me next week.
Bruce Wayne: [to Harvey, sarcastically] Really? So, you're into ballet.
Rachel Dawes: Bruce, this is Harvey Dent.
Harvey Dent: [shaking Bruce's hand] The famous Bruce Wayne. Rachel's told me everything about you.
Bruce Wayne: Well, I certainly hope not. So, let's put a couple of tables together.
Harvey Dent: I'm not sure that they'll let us...
Bruce Wayne: Oh, they should. I own the place.
Harvey Dent: When their enemies were at the gates, the Romans would suspend democracy and appoint one man to protect the city. It wasn't considered an honor. It was considered a public service.
Rachel Dawes: Harvey, the last man they appointed to protect the Republic was named Caesar, and he never gave up his power.
Harvey Dent: Okay, fine. So you either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain. Look, whoever the Batman is, he doesn't want to do this for the rest of his life. How could he? He's looking for someone to take up his mantle.
Natascha: Someone like you, Mr. Dent?
Harvey Dent: Maybe. If I'm up to the challenge.
Bruce Wayne: Do you remember when you said that one day, when the world no longer needed Batman, we'd be together? Did you mean it?
Rachel Dawes: Bruce, don't make me your only hope for a normal life.
Party guest: [after being threatened by the Joker] We're not intimidated by thugs!
Joker: You know, you remind me of my father. [puts a knife up to the guest's face] I hated my father!
Joker: [to Rachel] Well, hello beautiful. You must be Harvey's squeeze. And you are beautiful. Oh, you look nervous. Is it the scars? Wanna know how I got 'em? [grabs her chin as she continuously tries to look away] Come here, look at me. See, I had a wife, she was beautiful… like you, who tells me that I worried too much, who tells me that I ought to smile more, who gambles and gets in deep with the sharks. Hey. [she squirms, and he forces her to keep looking at him] One day they carve her face. We have no money for surgeries. She can't take it. I just want to see her smile again, hm? I just wanted her to know that I don't care about the scars. So… (Rachel tries again to look away, he grabs her face and forces her to look at him.) I stick a razor in my mouth and do this… to myself. [Directs attention towards the scars on his face] And you know what? She can't stand the sight of me! She leaves! Now, I see the funny side. Now, I'm always smiling!
[Rachel knees him and pushes him off her]
The Joker: [laughs] A little fight in you. I like that.
Batman: [appearing suddenly] Then you're gonna love me. [punches the Joker]
[After a scuffle between Batman and Joker's men, Joker puts a gun to Rachel's head]
Batman: Drop the gun!
Joker: Oh, sure! You just take off your little mask and show us all who you really are! [shoots out the window]
Batman: Let her go!
Joker: Very poor choice of words! [Throws Rachel out the window]
Bruce Wayne: Criminals aren't complicated, Alfred. We just need to figure out what he's after.
Alfred: With respect, Master Wayne, perhaps this is a man that you don't fully understand either. A long time ago, I was in Burma. My friends and I were working for the local government. They were trying to buy the loyalty of tribal leaders by bribing them with precious stones. But their caravans were being raided in a forest north of Rangoon by a bandit. So we went looking for the stones. But in six months, we never met anyone who had traded with him. One day I saw a child playing with a ruby the size of a tangerine. The bandit had been throwing the stones away.
Bruce Wayne: So why steal them?
Alfred: Well, because he thought it was good sport. Because some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.
Bruce Wayne: People are dying, Alfred. What would you have me do?
Alfred: Endure, Master Wayne. Take it. They'll hate you for it, but that's the point of Batman. He can be the outcast. He can make the choice that no one else can make — the right choice.
Bruce Wayne: Well, today I found out what Batman can't do. He can't endure this. Today, you get to say, "I told you so."
Alfred: Today I… I don't want to. [they walk to the elevator] But I did bloody tell you. [Bruce laughs] I suppose they'll want to lock me up, too, as your accomplice.
Bruce Wayne: Accomplice? I'm gonna tell them the whole thing was your idea.
[Batman slams Joker's head into the table]
Joker: [groggy] Never start with the head! The victim gets all... fuzzy. He can't feel the next...
'[Batman punches Joker's hand; Joker pauses for effect]
Joker: See?
Batman: You wanted me. Here I am.
Joker: I wanted to see what you'd do. And you didn't disappoint. You let five people die. Then, you let Dent take your place; even to a guy like me, that's cold!
Batman: Where's Dent?
Joker: Those mob fools want you gone so they can go back to the way things were, but I know the truth. There's no going back. You've changed things. Forever.
Batman: So why do you want to kill me?
Joker: [laughs] I don't wanna kill you! What would I do without you? Go back to ripping off Mob dealers? No, no… no! No, you…you… Complete… Me.
Batman: You're garbage who kills for money.
Joker: Don't talk like one them! You're not... even if you'd like to be. To them you're just a freak, like me. They need you right now, but when they don't, they'll cast you out. Like a leper. See, their morals, their "code"... it's a bad joke, dropped at the first sign of trouble. They're only as good as the world allows them to be. I'll show you. When the chips are down, these "civilized people", they'll eat each other. I'm not a monster. I'm just ahead of the curve.
[Batman grabs Joker by the lapels and lifts him up]
Batman: Where is he?
Joker: You have all these rules, and you think they'll save you!
[Batman slams Joker into the wall]
Batman: I have one rule.
Joker: Then that's the rule you'll have to break to know the truth.
Batman: Which is?
Joker: The only sensible way to live in this world is without rules, and tonight, you're gonna break your one rule!
Batman: I'm considering it.
Joker: There's only minutes left, so you'll have to play my little game if you want to save one of them.
Batman: Them?
Joker: You know, for a while there, I thought you really were Dent. The way you threw yourself after her... [laughs]
'[Enraged, Batman flips Joker over onto the table]
Joker: Look at you go! Does Harvey know about you and his "little bunny"?
[Batman slams Joker's head into the mirror and punches him]
Batman: WHERE ARE THEY?
Joker: Killing is making a choice...
[Batman punches him again]
Batman: WHERE ARE THEY?
Joker: Choose between one life or the other: Your friend the district attorney, or his blushing bride-to-be...
[Batman punches him again]
Joker: [laughing hysterically] You have nothing! Nothing to threaten me with, nothing to do with all your strength!
Alfred: [Rachel's voiceover as Alfred reads the letter she left for Bruce] Dear Bruce, I need to be honest and clear. I'm going to marry Harvey Dent. I love him, and I want to spend the rest of my life with him. When I told you that if Gotham no longer needed Batman we could be together, I meant it. But now, I'm sure the day won't come when you no longer need Batman. I hope it does. And if it does, then I will be there, but as your friend. I'm sorry to let you down. If you lose your faith in me, please, keep your faith in people. Love now, and always, Rachel.
The Chechen: Joker man, what will you do with all your money?
Joker: See, I'm, a guy of simple tastes. I enjoy gunpowder, dynamite... and gasoline! You know what they have in common? They're cheap.
[Joker's men douse the money with gasoline]
The Chechen: I thought you were a man of your word!
Joker': Don't worry; I'm only burning my half. [He throws the Chechen's cigar onto the money, setting it ablaze]
Joker: All you care about is money. This city deserves a better class of criminal, and I'm gonna give it to 'em. Tell your men they work for me now; this is my city.
The Chechen: They won't work for a freak!
Joker: [mocking The Chechen's accent] "Freak"? How about we cut you up into little pieces and feed you to your pooches, and then we'll see just how loyal a hungry dog really is! [Joker's men lead the Chechen away] It's not about money... It's about... sending a message. Everything burns!
[Joker walks into Harvey Dent's hospital room, and Harvey tries to strike him]
Joker: Hi. You know, I don't want there to be any hard feelings between us, Harvey. When you and, uh...
Harvey: RACHEL!
Joker: When you and Rachel were being kidnapped, I was in Gordon's cage. I didn't rig those charges.
Harvey: Your men, your plan!
Joker: [serious, smirks slowly] Do I really look like a guy with a plan? You know what I am? I'm a dog chasing cars. I wouldn't know what to do with one if I caught it! You know…I just do things. The mob has plans. The cops have plans. Gordon's got plans. You know…they're schemers. Schemers trying to control their little worlds. I'm not a schemer. I try to show the schemers how pathetic their attempts to control things really are. So when I say… [grabs Harvey's hand, Harvey struggles a little] ah, come here. When I say that you and your girlfriend was nothing personal, you'll know that I'm telling the truth. [starts unstrapping Harvey's wrists from one side] It's the schemers that put you where you are. You were a schemer, and you had plans. And, uh... [starts unstrapping Harvey's other wrist] look where that got ya.
[Once Harvey's other wrist is free, he attempts to grab The Joker, the two struggle with each other until The Joker grabs a hold of Harvey's hands, moving them from side to side]
Joker: I just did what I do best. I took your little plan and [sing-song tone] I turned it on itself! [Harvey stops struggling, The Joker looking down at him] Look at what I did to this city with a few drums of gas and a couple of bullets. Hm? You know–you know what I noticed? Nobody panics when things go "according to plan"… even if the plan is horrifying. If tomorrow I told the press that, like, a gang-banger will get shot, or a truck load of soldiers will be blown up, nobody panics, because it's all part of the plan. But when I say that one little old mayor will die… well, then everyone loses their minds! [lets go of Harvey's hands and pulls out a gun, the handle facing Harvey] Introduce a little anarchy. [puts the gun into Harvey's hand, cocking the gun] Upset the established order, then everything becomes…chaos. [guides the gun to his own forehead, smacking his lips] I'm an agent of chaos. Oh, and you know the thing about chaos? It's fair.
[Harvey thinks for a minute, and shows Joker the unscarred side of his coin]
Harvey: You live...
Joker: Mmm-hmm?
Harvey: [turning the coin on its scarred side] You die!
Joker: Now we're talkin'!
Joker: [struggling to keep Batman down] We really should stop this fighting. Otherwise, we'll miss the fireworks!
Batman: There won't be any fireworks.
Joker: And here we… go!
[After a long moment of hesitation, the businessman sets the detonator down. The Joker looks at his clock, which says midnight]
Batman: What are you trying to prove? That deep down, everyone's as ugly as you?! You're alone!
Joker: You can't rely on anyone these days. You got to do everything yourself. [to Batman] Don't we? That's okay. I came prepared. [takes out a detonator, presumably the one that will blow up both ships] It's a funny world that we live in…speaking of which, know how I got these scars? [motioning towards the scars on his mouth]
Batman: No... but I know how you got these!
[Batman fires his steel spike protrusions from his gauntlet, hitting the Joker in the face.]
Joker: You... you really are incorruptible, aren't you? You won't kill me out of some misplaced sense of self-righteousness, and I won't kill you because you're just too much fun. I think you and I are destined to do this forever.
Batman: You'll be in a padded cell forever!
Joker: Maybe we could share one! You know, they'll be doubling up at the rate this city's inhabitants are losing their minds.
Batman: This city just showed you that it's full of people ready to believe in good!
Joker: Until their spirit breaks completely. Until they get a good look at their district attorney, and the heroic things he's done.
Batman: [horrified] What did you do?
Joker: I took Gotham's white knight and brought him down to our level. It wasn't hard. See, madness, as you know, is like gravity: all it takes is a little push!
Batman: What happened to Rachel wasn't chance. We decided to act! We three!
Two-Face: Then why was it me who was the only one who lost everything?
Batman: It wasn't.
Two-Face: The Joker chose ME!
Batman: Because you were the best of us! He wanted to prove that even someone as good as you could fall.
Two-Face: And he was right.
[Gordon's son follows Gordon down to where Batman lies unmoving next to Two-Face's corpse]
Gordon's Son: Dad! Dad, is he okay?
Gordon: [relieved as Batman slowly pulls himself up to his knees] Thank you.
Batman: You don't have to thank me.
Gordon: Yes, I do. [both look at Two-Face's body on the ground] The Joker won. Harvey's prosecution, everything he fought for - undone. Any chance you gave us at fixing our city dies with Harvey's reputation. We bet it all on him. The Joker took the best of us and tore him down. People will lose hope.
Batman: They won't. They must never know what he did.
Gordon: Five dead, two of them cops? You can't sweep that up!
Batman: No. But the Joker cannot win. [kneels down next to Harvey, whose scarred left side is facing up] Gotham needs its true hero. [turns Harvey's head so that his unmarred side faces up]
Gordon: [immediately understanding] No!
Batman: [quoting Harvey Dent] "You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain." I can do those things because I'm not a hero, unlike Dent. I killed those people. That's what I can be.
Gordon: No, no! You can't, you're not--
Batman: I'm whatever Gotham needs me to be. [hands Gordon his radio] Call it in.
Gordon: They'll hunt you.
Batman: You'll hunt me. You'll condemn me, set the dogs on me. [In the voiceover, Gordon destroys the Bat-Signal, Alfred burns Rachel's letter, and Fox destroys the sonar device] Because that's what needs to happen. Because sometimes... the truth isn't good enough. Sometimes people deserve more. Sometimes people deserve to have their faith rewarded.
[Batman runs]
Gordon's Son: Batman? Batman! Why is he running, Dad?
Gordon: Because we have to chase him.
Gordon's Son: He didn't do anything wrong.
Gordon: Because he's the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now. So, we'll hunt him, because he can take it. Because he's not our hero. He's a silent guardian. A watchful protector. A Dark Knight.

[edit] Taglines

  • Why So Serious?
  • I believe in Harvey Dent.
  • Welcome to a world without rules.
  • Can you avenge evil without becoming it?
  • Out of the darkness....comes the Knight.

[edit] Cast

[edit] External links

Wikipedia
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