Where were you during that first week, ten years ago? I was with brothers, completely shaken after two and a half hours of relentless drama. Took me a while to understand what just happened at the time. I remember us driving back home in complete silence. It was the hype of the decade and somehow Nolan still managed to surpass my expectations.
I worked at a theater when I was was a teen. Got off a little early and ran into the last showing, barely making it before the opening scene. That movie changed my life.
IMAX Melbourne on the first day. The only time where my expectations have been unreasonably high and then been absolutely surpassed in every way. Was physically shaking as I left the theatre. I suspect it will remain "the" film experience for me.
I kinda hate my 12 year old self for not pushing friends or family harder to see this in theaters. Only saw this one a year later, which solidified my love for Nolan’s films and film in general, but ultimately I lost out on the cinematic experience.
IMAX day one and I remember the hype aged 36, Batman Begins had been a revelation and I'd been a Nolan fan since seeing Memento on DVD so the expectation was high.
Then the hype kicked in when this was announced and the tragic death of Heath Ledger took it to another level. I remember exiting the cinema with my Wife and a group of friends who'd met up to see it stunned and amazed we'd just witnessed such artistry and verve in a blockbuster film.
I saw it again some weeks later on a normal screen and was just as impressed, it's never dropped in my estimation although Memento and The Prestige will remain my favourite of Nolan's.
It's a landmark in cinema and the closest I'd seen mainstream cinema reach the heights of it's golden age, that being Jaws (my all time favourite film) and Raiders Of The Lost Ark (top 5).
I remember seeing it very vividly. I didn't see it in IMAX, but I saw it in the local Odeon cinema which was brand new at the time, was well above the other theatres by a large margin. The Dark Knight being the first film to see in it brought back memories of my dad testing out his new sound system way back when by watching Star Wars.
The way the film begins and you just hear those notes of the Joker's theme, how it seeped into the cinema through the speakers set the tone amazingly. It was a packed house, everyone was tense throughout and gasping at certain points, namely
the pencil trick, the truck flip, Rachael's death.
It's an exhausting film. I felt drained right after and I had to run to catch the bus. It just throws so much at you without pulling any punches. I loved Batman Begins but I was not prepared. I don't think many people were.
But it's also incredible. It became the gold standard, not just for superhero or comic book adaptations, but blockbusters.
