What’s the most anticipated Blu-ray release of the year? Think what you like about the relative merits of the likes of “Prometheus” and “The Avengers,” but the one everyone has been waiting for is “The Dark Knight Rises.” The conclusion of Christopher Nolan’s epic trilogy will be available to own at home from December 4th, and fans of limited edition packaging will be thrilled to learn that there will be a very special version of the film, which comes with a model of Batman’s shattered cowl sitting on top of a stand that contains the discs.
But for those of you less concerned with how good the packaging will look (but man, does it look good) we’ve also got word of the special features that will accompany the film, and some fans will inevitably be disappointed that yet again Christopher Nolan has not recorded a commentary. That shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who has bought a Nolan Blu-ray before, and this old quote that Nolan gave to Scott Holleran at BoxOfficeMojo should explain why:
“I hate doing commentaries. I’ve done them on my other films because in each case they came up with a reason or an interesting way to do it. 'Insomnia' was in production. For 'Following,' I was just talking about how to make a film. As for talking about artistic interpretation, if you will, you can’t possibly do that until the film has had its wings—because the film is not complete until it’s had an audience. There’s nothing more mortifying than to watch these commentaries on movies they’ve done before the movie’s come out because you don’t [really] know what the movie was [and how it played before those it was created to serve]. The movie’s not finished until it’s in front of an audience.”
So, yeah, maybe a Nolan commentary on the inevitable anniversary edition twenty-five years from now? What this edition does promise though is a documentary about the Batmobile (which promises to bring “all five Batmobiles together for the first time”) and an impressive seventeen making-of featurettes, which include "The Journey of Bruce Wayne" and examinations of "Batman vs Bane" and "demolishing a city street." It all sounds pretty decent to us. [EW]
