''
The Dark Knight'' is a 2008
superhero film directed, produced, and co-written by
Christopher Nolan. Based on the
DC Comics character
Batman
Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...
, the film is the
sequel to 2005's ''
Batman Begins'' and the second installment in Nolan's ''
The Dark Knight Trilogy''. In the film, Bruce Wayne/Batman (
Christian Bale) forms an alliance with Police Lieutenant
James Gordon (
Gary Oldman) and District Attorney
Harvey Dent
Two-Face is a supervillain appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, commonly as an adversary of the superhero Batman. The character was created by Bob Kane and first appeared in ''Detective Comics'' #66 (August 1942). As one of Batman ...
(
Aaron Eckhart) to dismantle organized crime in
Gotham City, but are thwarted by a criminal mastermind known as the
Joker (
Heath Ledger) who seeks to undermine Batman's influence and create chaos in Gotham. The film also stars
Michael Caine as Bruce Wayne's
butler
A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantry. Some a ...
(
Alfred Pennyworth),
Maggie Gyllenhaal
Margalit Ruth "Maggie" Gyllenhaal (; born November 16, 1977) is an American actress and filmmaker. Part of the Gyllenhaal family, she is the daughter of filmmakers Stephen Gyllenhaal and Naomi Foner Gyllenhaal, Naomi Achs, and the older sister o ...
as
Rachel Dawes, and
Morgan Freeman
Morgan Freeman (born June 1, 1937) is an American actor, director, and narrator. He is known for his distinctive deep voice and various roles in a wide variety of film genres. Throughout his career spanning over five decades, he has received ...
as
Lucius Fox. It was released in Australia on July 16, 2008.
''The Dark Knight'' grossed over a billion dollars worldwide, becoming the fourth film in history to gross more than $1 billion worldwide and the
highest-grossing film of 2008. It is currently the
47th highest-grossing film of all time. ''The Dark Knight'' also received a high critical acclaim, accumulating an approval rating of 94% on the review aggregator site
Rotten Tomatoes.
''The Dark Knight'' garnered numerous awards and nominations with particular praise for Heath Ledger's performance of the
Joker. The film received eight
Academy Award nominations at the
81st Academy Awards in 2009, winning two for
Best Sound Editing
This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow List of film awards, film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards.
Best Actor/Best Actress
*See Best Actor#Film awa ...
and
Best Supporting Actor (
posthumously awarded to Ledger).
Notably, the film's Best Sound Editing win prevented
Best Picture winner ''
Slumdog Millionaire'' from having a clean category-sweep.
At the
People's Choice Awards—in which the winners are determined by the choices of the people (audience) in the
Gallup polls—''The Dark Knight'' won five awards, including: Favorite Movie, Favorite Action Movie, Favorite Superhero (
Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman), Favorite On Screen Match-Up (Christian Bale and Heath Ledger), and Favourite Cast.
The film was included in top-ten films of 2008 lists by multiple publications, including the
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees.
Leade ...
and the
National Board of Review.
In 2020, the film was selected for preservation in the United States
National Film Registry by the
Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Accolades
See also
*
2008 in film
The year 2008 involved many major film events. ''The Dark Knight'' was the year's highest-grossing film, while ''Slumdog Millionaire'' won the Academy Award for Best Picture (out of eight Academy Awards).
Evaluation of the year
2008 has been wi ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dark Knight, The
Lists of accolades by film
Accolades