Bane on a Plane -- Theatricality at its Finest

I'm getting hyped up about The Dark Knight Rises again, as if it's a new movie coming out. Well, it really is--the blu-ray version!

One of the real scene-stealers of the film is the opening "prologue" sequence. I shouldn't have to tell you what happens in this spectacular opening: the CIA brings a nuclear physicist and three hooded prisoners known to be working for "the masked man" Bane onto an airplane, one of those prisoners happens to be Bane, they hijack and "tow" the plane with a much bigger cargo plane, kill the CIA, stage the death of the nuclear physicist and kidnap him, blah, blah, blah . . .

What's really great about this sequence are the stunts, using minimal visual effects. Christopher Nolan took huge inspiration from James Bond--it shows in Inception and especially in this sequence, which oddly doesn't even feel like a Batman movie. Coincidentally, Chris Courbould, the special effects coordinator, also did work on Skyfall (another fine movie, I might add).

It's stunningly shot in IMAX, and get this--edited from the original camera negative, which means no generation loss, effectively adding up to 18,000 lines (film doesn't use pixels). I always felt like the prologue had a different quality from the rest of the film, and this is why. You practically feel the grass touching your face when the jeep is driving towards the airplane, and when they're in the aircraft, you feel like you're inside with them. In effect, it accomplishes what 3-D tries to do.

"No one cared who I was 'til I put on the mask."

The tension is further built by the musical score, wonderfully composed by Hans Zimmer. I love the way the bass riff starts playing as the plane is flying, you start to hear hints of "the chant" as Bane's presence is felt (deshi deshi basara basara), and then the big drum beats really kick in once the fire rises.

Going back to the visual effects, they are very minimal. That's right--stuntmen are actually tethered jumping from one plane to another, and even the part where they drop the front of the plane from the sky onto the grounds of beautiful Scotland was done for real. Most of everything is shot on camera, and miniatures are used in favor of CGI, which is great because you never get that green screen or animation effect. It's a breathtaking opening scene that just had to be experienced on IMAX.

Watching it at home won't quite be the same, so I hope modern filmmakers up the ante and take note. Theatricality and showmanship are not dead; computer graphics and post-production don't accomplish everything. Open your movie with a bang, and consider screening the first few minutes of the film to audiences in place of trailers.