Why I'm not that excited about The Dark Knight Rises coming to Blu-Ray (Dec. 4th)

The DC animated feature Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 1 was released to home video last month, and it did not disappoint. I'll do a more thorough review in the future, but the short story is that it's the second best Batman animated feature, in my opinion, next to Batman: Under the Red Hood. It was more of a creative interpretation than a [virtually] direct adaptation a la Batman: Year One. I thought the voice acting and thumping musical score was superior to Year One, and while the newscaster scenes dominated too much screen time (as they did in the graphic novel panels), the choreography of the fight scenes/action sequences and especially the ending really pumped me up. Even the 80's-ness (is that a word?) holds up. I'd like for a Batman animated feature to see a theatrical release like Batman: Mask of the Phantasm did, but one can dream.

I picked up my copy of The Dark Knight Returns the morning it was in stores, and watched it the same night. I'll undoubtedly do the same for The Dark Knight Rises when it's released on December 4th this year, but I do not look forward to the day as much as I did for Returns. Why wouldn't I be counting the days to completing my Dark Knight Trilogy at home? Because that means it won't be in theaters. As the League of Shadows say, "Theatricality and deception are powerful agents".

Rises is currently the best motion picture you can experience in a classic IMAX cinema, and I don't see anything replicating it in the future. One of the reasons for this is that filming in IMAX is very expensive and cumbersome, but the result is a format unlike any other. No matter what, you can't duplicate that experience at home. You would need a 145-inch 8K Ultra High Def TV (which would run 85,000 dollars) and a sound system that would have your neighborhood dogs barking. That would give you the best "home theater" experience, but it wouldn't come close to IMAX. You'd need a six story building to fit the 1.43 ratio screen and dual projectors the size of cars running the 550 lb. film. There are many more intricacies that go into it, including the seating angle/distance and the sound, costing a total of $4.5 to $5 million for a proper IMAX theater. That's not including the massive amount of electricity it takes to run it. At $14 to $19 for a ticket, consider it an access fee to the best theatrical experience that was once reserved for 45-minute documentaries of nature.

In the age of streaming video, quick-to-home blu-ray releases, Redbox, and large, affordable HDTV's, I think it's important to still have reasons to go to the theater. I compare it to gaming: it's one thing to play a racing game at home on your console using a control pad; it's another thing to be at an arcade driving a racecar simulator. Same game, different experiences. I want Rises to be in theaters as long as possible, but I know its time will be up once Skyfall (the new James Bond flick) displaces it (Skyfall is not filmed in IMAX, by the way). Perhaps Rises will see an IMAX re-release like The Dark Knight did. And hopefully that won't just mean bullshit IMAX digital like they did with Raiders of the Lost Ark. My hope would be a 15/70 IMAX re-release of The Dark Knight Trilogy (even though Batman Begins wasn't filmed for IMAX, it originally screened at film-only IMAX locations). In the meantime, once it's out of theaters, home theater will do. For now.

Bane's Right-Hand Man, an Unsung Character

Am I the only one who sat through The Dark Knight Rises (multiple times) and wondered about Bane's right-hand guy? The actor's name is Josh Stewart, possibly familiar to people who has seen him on television on shows like No Ordinary Family or Criminal Minds.

In The Dark Knight Rises, he was Bane's obedient but nameless lackey. We see him every time we saw Bane, pretty much -- even at the very beginning, as he pretended to "turn in" the men, along with his boss, to the  CIA agent (it's a trap!). From the start, I noticed Bane surrounded himself with nice looking, young men (cough). 

A quick jaunt over to IMDB, I learn that his character's name is Barsad in the film. Although his character didn't have any development in the movie, I liked the way he played him. He is quiet next to Bane but when he speaks, there is a specific quiet confidence he projects. Like in the scene on the bridge when he was confronted by the military. He delivered his lines with a soft and knowing smile: "No, but you do." 

I have so many questions about Barsad. 

Where did Barsad come from? Why is he loyal to Bane? Is he loyal to Bane or to the League of Shadows? Is he a well paid mercenary or a terrorist who was willing to sacrifice himself? What led him to this life of killing for a so-called greater good? What is his favorite color and does he have a girlfriend? 

I guess we will never know. I doubt I'm the only one who wondered about him as much as I did. I better avoid searching for the Fanfics.