The Big Knight

I have seen The Dark Knight (twice) and it was excellent.  Don’t ask me to choose between Dark Knight and Iron Man though because I can’t do it.  On the other hand I have come to the conclusion that the movie experience can be defined, in part, by screen.

Leading up to the Dark Knight weekend Batman Begins was making its rounds on TV.  I really liked the original, and I still do.  Most of the major characters made their revamped debut there:  Gary Oldman’s Jim Gordon, Michael Caine’s Alfred, Morgan Freeman’s Lucius Fox, and of course Christian Bale’s Batman.  There performances were great in the original, if not even more so in the new Batman.  No matter where you watch the movie that will never change, what does change is spectacle.

Anyone will admit that aside from noise, trailers, and special popcorn the movie experience is defined by the “big screen”.  It all adds to the adrenaline, the rush, the experience.  So what can be done once the summer blockbuster season fades and the DVD release finally provides a daily fix for superhero addictions?

Well, there are a few possibilities.  With the exploding market of LCD, Plasma, and HD TV’s picture quality at home can rival that in many theaters, even size is catching up (though hardly superior).  Home Entertainment Systems , 72” sets, and Blu Ray projectors have all contributed to the quality jump in the home viewing experience.

So maybe I’ll have to see The Dark Knight a couple more time before it leaves theaters, but when Iron Man comes out on DVD (hopefully in September) maybe I won’t miss the long ticket lines so much after all.

“Iron Man” gadgets

I saw Iron Man recently and was completely enthralled.  I’ve now developed a miniature Iron Man obsession that will last at least until I’ve seen the movie two more times (or until Indiana Jones or The Dark Knight takes over).  Iron Man (as a movie) applies to this blog a bit more than either of my other hotly anticipated summer films does.  

Since Iron Man’s first appearance in comics in the 1960’s our digital dependency has grown with the availability of technology.  The internet, the cell phone, the laptop; Tony Stark (the man behind the metal mask) remains a hero in 2008 but in many ways a much more relatable one.  Perhaps JARVIS (the AI persona controlling Tony’s technologically insane mansion) is not a reality for most of us, but computerized personalities and programmable tasks (universal remotes, etc.) in smaller less expensive doses do exist.

While the idea of super armor and the power of personal flight are still not realistic for the average cinematic consumer the hands free telephone call Tony is able to take while in mid flight is a definite real life connection to an audience.  So maybe I can’t take a call while saving the world from terrorism and breaking the sound barrier, but the idea that I too can do two things at once is at least a start.